> >The funniest thing I saw was when a someone tendered a $100 note to a
> >ticket examiner for a $2.40 fare - he said "no problem", wrote out the
> >ticket, took the $100 note, then wrote out a receipt for $97.60, telling
> >them to go to their local station in the morning and submit an
application
> >for refund - it would take about three weeks, he told them - they VERY
> >quickly found the correct money!
>
> I'm all for automated fare systems; they speed boarding and reduce
> costs.
>
> But is the "Smart Alec" attitude of the ticket examiner in the above
> case *really* conducive to enticing motorists out of their cars and on
> to public transport?
>
> If a shop treated a customer like that, they'd pretty quickly lose
> custom, wouldn't they?
You are forgetting that the passenger was travelling without a ticket -
which in NSW is a CRIMINAL offence, that the courts CAN (but seldom do)
impose a conviction giving the offender a criminal record!
Anyway, what was the ticket examiner supposed to do? Carry around hubdresd
of dollars worth of change on the off chance that he would be offered a
$100 note, thereby rendering himself open to attack? Or decline to chanrge
a fare (no doubt what the passenger had intended)!