Had an interesting one today, whilst on the GNE 20.

I boarded at Durham Bus Station, and a lad in front of me wanted a single to Sunderland Interchange. He was quoted £4.10, and questioned it as too expensive. Driver confirmed that was the fare, so he took his ticket. He then turned back to question it, as the ticket stated 'South Shields Market Place' on it.

Rather than take the time to explain simplified fares and the fare table to the customer, the driver decided to be rude and obnoxious instead, insisting that the customer can "take it or leave it", "if he has an issue wait till you get to Sunderland and complain to a supervisor", and "it's not my problem. the machine issues fares not me.".

As this argument went on for a good 2-3 minutes, and we were getting no where, I stepped in to explain the simplified fares, and that the ticket will actually print the furthest destination you can travel to within that fare bracket. The customer seemed to accept this and sat down.

I can't see why the driver would take the approach he did, given that he only had to produce the fare table that the service is legally required to carry and produce on request.

Baffling, and hardly a great example to set to that customer, and the queue of customers behind.