Express bus driver ignoring passengers

[Via Garibaldi 8]

FINALLYYY. ..I've come back to kick the science. .

Hmmm where do i start, Well jabroni its been a long time sailor boy. .and i can see you've still got questions about the ops having their rules n regulations about operating A BUS, We are Captains of the ship and you will do and go where ever we go, If not please take the next bus. ...this goes for anybody who has questions for your Capt. ...Now as far as buses flagging stops, I don't condone that but perhaps there are reasons for this. ..ONLY THE BUS OP KNOWS. ..QM1ave. ..you've rode on my bus so you know my style. ..don't start nothing, Wont be nothing n you will end up at your destination safe and sound. ...Yes there are some a holes behind the wheel but we all don't wanna play 20questions either so pay your fare, Comb your hair n everything should be fine. ...P.S.Make sure you stand in the correct place in the stand and wave. ...you want us to know you want US. ..there.could be 5other exp and local buses that stop there. ...i await y'all replies to this post

 

LMAO!! Don't even say that!! I can't even say how stupid those people that do that crap look and some of them even jump up and down.  I'm doing that crap.  I just stand in the right spot and position my body as if to say I'm taking this bus and my MetroCard is out and that's that and if necessary I'll stick my hand out like I would if I was hailing a taxi if it's evident that the B/O isn't sure about me wanting said bus.  At 6'4" I'm not exactly hard to miss and jumping up and down like that.... I'd look like an even bigger a-hole than the ones that I despise for doing such a thing. 

[QM1to6Ave]

FINALLYYY. ..I've come back to kick the science. .

Hmmm where do i start, Well jabroni its been a long time sailor boy. .and i can see you've still got questions about the ops having their rules n regulations about operating A BUS, We are Captains of the ship and you will do and go where ever we go, If not please take the next bus. ...this goes for anybody who has questions for your Capt. ...Now as far as buses flagging stops, I don't condone that but perhaps there are reasons for this. ..ONLY THE BUS OP KNOWS. ..QM1ave. ..you've rode on my bus so you know my style. ..don't start nothing, Wont be nothing n you will end up at your destination safe and sound. ...Yes there are some a holes behind the wheel but we all don't wanna play 20questions either so pay your fare, Comb your hair n everything should be fine. ...P.S.Make sure you stand in the correct place in the stand and wave. ...you want us to know you want US. ..there.could be 5other exp and local buses that stop there. ...i await y'all replies to this post

 

Quarter pounder you gotta realize our routes are designed to save.time during rush hours but that s the key word. ..RUSH HOURS, L.i.R.R. Is A better bet if you can afford it.

If any op gets caught off route that may be 20 days in the street but hey US at CP are rebels (myself included )

 

HAHA glad to see you back on here. I'm always more than happy to dip my metrocard, pick my seat, say thank on the way out, and everyone goes home happy. And I always wave for EXP buses so I don't get missed. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

HAHA glad to see you back on here. I'm always more than happy to dip my metrocard, pick my seat, say thank on the way out, and everyone goes home happy. And I always wave for EXP buses so I don't get missed. 

LMAO!! Oh God I can see it now... There was this Asian guy that would take the express bus with me sometimes.... Young college looking preppy dude... He'd see the bus coming and he would start jumping up and down (literally) and waving at the bus and I would say to myself, God if this guy knew how stupid he looked jumping up and down like a kid... 

[QM1to6Ave]

LMAO!! Oh God I can see it now... There was this Asian guy that would take the express bus with me sometimes.... Young college looking preppy dude... He'd see the bus coming and he would start jumping up and down (literally) and waving at the bus and I would say to myself, God if this guy knew how stupid he looked jumping up and down like a kid... 

Lol I didn't say I jump up and down, I put my hand out like hailing a cab. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Lol I didn't say I jump up and down, I put my hand out like hailing a cab. 

Hallelujah, my express bus brother from another mother.  

[QM1to6Ave]

Hallelujah, my express bus brother from another mother.  

hahaha, yes, don't worry, I play it cool with the bus. No foaming, no jumping up and down. I'm naturally a quiet person. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

hahaha, yes, don't worry, I play it cool with the bus. No foaming, no jumping up and down. I'm naturally a quiet person. 

Must be an adventure getting Knightrider as your personal chauffeur... 

[QM1to6Ave]

Must be an adventure getting Knightrider as your personal chauffeur... 

You know it! 

[YankeesPwnMets]

Lol I didn't say I jump up and down, I put my hand out like hailing a cab. 

Same for me...  just a bit of a wave catches his attention... unless they're in the left lane. I'm not going to go through 3 lanes of traffic just to get to a bus

 

And KR... you're back got some new interesting codebreaks for the rest of us to see?

[busrider5000]

First post here after reading this forum for awhile.  I live along the QM5 route and enjoy the convenience of the express bus, and since I primarily take bus into the city during the evenings, I often encounter bus drivers not really paying attention to passengers at bus stops.  Sometimes they really fly down 73rd.  I see them fly by from the window of my apartment sometimes.  

 

The bus stop I use (along 73rd avenue) is not really well-lit at night.  This, along with some QM5 drivers going very fast city-bound in the late afternoon/evening, means that it's difficult to flag down the bus.  During the winter, it's hard to catch a bus after 5PM.  Many times I've jumped up and down, walked into the street, to have the bus barely notice me at the last second.  A few times, I've had to shout "stop the bus!".  Luckily, I've never been passed by, but it has come close.  Even drivers have said "I barely saw you", and that's with me holding out a bicycle-style blinking light and waving and shouting .

 

Sometimes, bus driver seem almost irritated that i'm boarding the bus into the city.  Maybe they hope they won't pick up anyone on the way to the city.

 

I also get nervous when the QM5 is traveling directly behind a Q88.  At night, I feel like I'd have no chance to catch a QM5 city-bound if it were driving closely behind a Q88.  

 

If the MTA publishes service on the QM5, the drivers should be on the lookout for passengers at all times.  From the packed rush hour buses to the 11PM Glen Oaks to Midtown bus.  

 

Also, I've been on a few off-peak and weekend QM5s that skipped the Fresh Meadows stops.  Once, the bus driver basically said "eh, no one gets on there anyway" and another time the bus driver said "no, i wasn't supposed to pick up there".  In the second scenario, it was a weekend, so he definitely was supposed to go down to Fresh Meadows.  

 

Good thread with some good comments about a real issue with the express buses.  

 

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

First post here after reading this forum for awhile.  I live along the QM5 route and enjoy the convenience of the express bus, and since I primarily take bus into the city during the evenings, I often encounter bus drivers not really paying attention to passengers at bus stops.  Sometimes they really fly down 73rd.  I see them fly by from the window of my apartment sometimes.  

 

The bus stop I use (along 73rd avenue) is not really well-lit at night.  This, along with some QM5 drivers going very fast city-bound in the late afternoon/evening, means that it's difficult to flag down the bus.  During the winter, it's hard to catch a bus after 5PM.  Many times I've jumped up and down, walked into the street, to have the bus barely notice me at the last second.  A few times, I've had to shout "stop the bus!".  Luckily, I've never been passed by, but it has come close.  Even drivers have said "I barely saw you", and that's with me holding out a bicycle-style blinking light and waving and shouting .

 

Sometimes, bus driver seem almost irritated that i'm boarding the bus into the city.  Maybe they hope they won't pick up anyone on the way to the city.

 

I also get nervous when the QM5 is traveling directly behind a Q88.  At night, I feel like I'd have no chance to catch a QM5 city-bound if it were driving closely behind a Q88.  

 

If the MTA publishes service on the QM5, the drivers should be on the lookout for passengers at all times.  From the packed rush hour buses to the 11PM Glen Oaks to Midtown bus.  

 

Also, I've been on a few off-peak and weekend QM5s that skipped the Fresh Meadows stops.  Once, the bus driver basically said "eh, no one gets on there anyway" and another time the bus driver said "no, i wasn't supposed to pick up there".  In the second scenario, it was a weekend, so he definitely was supposed to go down to Fresh Meadows.  

 

Good thread with some good comments about a real issue with the express buses.  

Hopefully most of these issues will be solved with Bus Trek but you're right.  B/Os often times assume too much, esp. on the express bus runs.  Granted we all make mistakes but a lot of them really don't pay attention... I've seen passengers bypassed in the day time smiply because the B/O just assumed that such and such person didn't want the bus and some of this is based on perceived perceptions.... Such and such can't want this bus because of how they're dressed or how they look...

 

Others are too preoccupied with skirts and other things or better yet they'd rather assume that people don't want the bus and pass them by, regardless of what the person looks like or how they're dressed because they don't want to pick up anybody.  However, it works both ways.  

 

You have passengers that are morons too. I was on BxM2 the other night heading to the city.  I was on the only passenger, and the B/O and I (a guy I usually get when heading to the city at night) was chatting it up with me.  We're going along and a stop along the Henry Hudson Parkway.  The B/O slows down because there's a passenger waiting there.  He continues to stand there as if he wants the bus so the B/O stops the bus, but he makes no motion towards the bus and continues to stand there and look.  Then the B/O is about to pull off and he starts walking to towards the bus and then waives him off.  We both replied f*cking a-hole. 

 

If I don't want a bus then I step away from the bus stop and the B/O should be smart enough to get that I don't want the bus.  If I do want the bus, I'll walk towards it with my MetroCard out and make eye contact with the B/O so that he knows that I want the bus.  Now I've been at express bus stops in the city and have had local buses stopping as if I wanted to get on and I'm looking at the B/O like what in the hell are you stopping here for when the local bus stop is way down the street??  What annoys me is some of the B/Os on the local buses know damn well you don't want the local bus but they'll pull up into the stop and sit there as if you're mistaken or something and get an attitude.  No I know what bus I want. Thank you.

 

The one thing I'm getting sick of though is these damn passengers in the city trying to board express buses in Drop-off only segments.  I mean does the bus say M7 on it??? Umm NO!! So then that means that's not your bus.  I mean how hard is it to read the damn sign... 

[qjtransitmaster]

Hopefully most of these issues will be solved with Bus Trek but you're right.  B/Os often times assume too much, esp. on the express bus runs.  Granted we all make mistakes but a lot of them really don't pay attention... I've seen passengers bypassed in the day time smiply because the B/O just assumed that such and such person didn't want the bus and some of this is based on perceived perceptions.... Such and such can't want this bus because of how they're dressed or how they look...

 

Others are too preoccupied with skirts and other things or better yet they'd rather assume that people don't want the bus and pass them by, regardless of what the person looks like or how they're dressed because they don't want to pick up anybody.  However, it works both ways.  

 

You have passengers that are morons too. I was on BxM2 the other night heading to the city.  I was on the only passenger, and the B/O and I (a guy I usually get when heading to the city at night) was chatting it up with me.  We're going along and a stop along the Henry Hudson Parkway.  The B/O slows down because there's a passenger waiting there.  He continues to stand there as if he wants the bus so the B/O stops the bus, but he makes no motion towards the bus and continues to stand there and look.  Then the B/O is about to pull off and he starts walking to towards the bus and then waives him off.  We both replied f*cking a-hole. 

 

If I don't want a bus then I step away from the bus stop and the B/O should be smart enough to get that I don't want the bus.  If I do want the bus, I'll walk towards it with my MetroCard out and make eye contact with the B/O so that he knows that I want the bus.  Now I've been at express bus stops in the city and have had local buses stopping as if I wanted to get on and I'm looking at the B/O like what in the hell are you stopping here for when the local bus stop is way down the street??  What annoys me is some of the B/Os on the local buses know damn well you don't want the local bus but they'll pull up into the stop and sit there as if you're mistaken or something and get an attitude.  No I know what bus I want. Thank you.

 

The one thing I'm getting sick of though is these damn passengers in the city trying to board express buses in Drop-off only segments.  I mean does the bus say M7 on it??? Umm NO!! So then that means that's not your bus.  I mean how hard is it to read the damn sign... 

people are stupid what else is new

[busrider5000]

The other issues I've noted is coming into Manhattan during the evening hours--many drivers are reluctant to go past 37th and 6th, even if they have a long layover until their next run out.  Granted, I understand it isn't the best usage of MTA's resources to have a bus drive me up to 55th and 6th, but the service is there on the schedule.  But the biggest issue is the drivers whizzing by at night and not checking each stop, and barely noticing someone jumping and yelling and holding a bicycle light.

 

Of course, I don't mind the corners cut when the drivers want to take the LIE down to Main Street or even farther down on the way back--once we even got to go as far as 188th Street on the LIE because no one was getting off before Fresh Meadows.  

 

Anyway, guess we have to be happy to have the service, especially such good service on the QM5, running through the evening, nights, and weekends.  

[qjtransitmaster]

The other issues I've noted is coming into Manhattan during the evening hours--many drivers are reluctant to go past 37th and 6th, even if they have a long layover until their next run out.  Granted, I understand it isn't the best usage of MTA's resources to have a bus drive me up to 55th and 6th, but the service is there on the schedule.  But the biggest issue is the drivers whizzing by at night and not checking each stop, and barely noticing someone jumping and yelling and holding a bicycle light.

 

Of course, I don't mind the corners cut when the drivers want to take the LIE down to Main Street or even farther down on the way back--once we even got to go as far as 188th Street on the LIE because no one was getting off before Fresh Meadows.  

 

Anyway, guess we have to be happy to have the service, especially such good service on the QM5, running through the evening, nights, and weekends.  

Interesting didn't know QM5s did that nice.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The other issues I've noted is coming into Manhattan during the evening hours--many drivers are reluctant to go past 37th and 6th, even if they have a long layover until their next run out.  Granted, I understand it isn't the best usage of MTA's resources to have a bus drive me up to 55th and 6th, but the service is there on the schedule.  But the biggest issue is the drivers whizzing by at night and not checking each stop, and barely noticing someone jumping and yelling and holding a bicycle light.

 

Of course, I don't mind the corners cut when the drivers want to take the LIE down to Main Street or even farther down on the way back--once we even got to go as far as 188th Street on the LIE because no one was getting off before Fresh Meadows.  

 

Anyway, guess we have to be happy to have the service, especially such good service on the QM5, running through the evening, nights, and weekends.  

That's the problem right there... Too grateful... The express bus lines with the best service tend to be those with the most complaints...

[qjtransitmaster]

That's the problem right there... Too grateful... The express bus lines with the best service tend to be those with the most complaints...

why? I thought people loved having em are they complaining about speed?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

why? I thought people loved having em are they complaining about speed?

We do... My point to busrider is that with all of the nonsense he has to deal with when he's standing at the actual bus stop, I'm sure if people complained more they'd get better service.  When I was being bypassed at a stop last year that I used on the BxM18, it took a bit of time but I wrote in and complained constantly about B/Os not stopping there and then went into the  there at 347 Madison and spoke with some people there and we eventually got a dispatcher to come out and inspect the situation and he took care of the problem.  He had them fix the error on the run sheet.  Some genius had made a mistake and listed the stop as being at 43rd and Madison...   Aside from that there were reliability issues too.... Buses would be late regularly because we kept getting fillers... One guy would do the first three days who didn't know the route that well, then you'd get another filler with the same thing and the cycle would continue the following week.  New guys constantly being trained and then we had this old timer that would sit there on the bus and train them.  Either that or she would ensure that they picked up at the right stops.  That was changed and we got a regular every day and then once Bus Time came in service got MUCH better.  When I was in the old office and using that stop I could just walk to the stop and be picked up in 10 minutes or less.  Overall service is much better now.  This morning my BxM2 was right on time and got me to my destination promptly despite the poor weather.

[busrider5000]

I've used the online complaint system before--it's pretty useless.  Once, I complained because the QM5 bus stop sign on 57th and 3rd was once actually closer to 57th and Lexington, at the same stop as the local buses that go down 57th street.  Seems that at one point the QM5 stop was further down towards 3rd Avenue at a stop along with the QM 1/2/6/20, but maybe was moved to that other stop so the buses wouldn't crowd all at that same stop towards 3rd.  Anyway, seems like it was a good idea, but the QM5 drivers never used that newer stop towards Lex.  Drivers told me that "Yeah, the stop was changed, but we were never told so we still stop at the old stop".  I said, "So you won't pick up someone at the actual QM5 stop", and I would get "Nope, we only stop at the old stop with the QM1/2/6/20 sign".  Wow, great, how would a new bus rider know that?

 

So I started e-mailing the MTA via the website form and I got a response that I'd have to take the issue up with the bus sign unit of the dept of transportation to have the sign moved.  I called them, and they took my information but didn't seem to care.  I then sent a much more forceful letter to the MTA via the website, and a few weeks later, I noticed that the QM5 sign was back with the other express bus signs at the stop closer to 57th and 3rd.  

 

Imagine that, trying to catch the midnight QM5 or something, and you were a first time rider and  you tried to get it at the actual QM5 sign, but you got passed by because you didn't know where the "real" stop was, at the QM1/2/6/20 sign?  Would be a nice $50 cab ride back to Queens, that's for sure.  

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I've used the online complaint system before--it's pretty useless.  Once, I complained because the QM5 bus stop sign on 57th and 3rd was once actually closer to 57th and Lexington, at the same stop as the local buses that go down 57th street.  Seems that at one point the QM5 stop was further down towards 3rd Avenue at a stop along with the QM 1/2/6/20, but maybe was moved to that other stop so the buses wouldn't crowd all at that same stop towards 3rd.  Anyway, seems like it was a good idea, but the QM5 drivers never used that newer stop towards Lex.  Drivers told me that "Yeah, the stop was changed, but we were never told so we still stop at the old stop".  I said, "So you won't pick up someone at the actual QM5 stop", and I would get "Nope, we only stop at the old stop with the QM1/2/6/20 sign".  Wow, great, how would a new bus rider know that?

 

So I started e-mailing the MTA via the website form and I got a response that I'd have to take the issue up with the bus sign unit of the dept of transportation to have the sign moved.  I called them, and they took my information but didn't seem to care.  I then sent a much more forceful letter to the MTA via the website, and a few weeks later, I noticed that the QM5 sign was back with the other express bus signs at the stop closer to 57th and 3rd.  

 

Imagine that, trying to catch the midnight QM5 or something, and you were a first time rider and  you tried to get it at the actual QM5 sign, but you got passed by because you didn't know where the "real" stop was, at the QM1/2/6/20 sign?  Would be a nice $50 cab ride back to Queens, that's for sure.  

If it got really bad, there are other avenues you can take and I'm not stating them on here but I can share them with you in private because it is a last effort.  B/Os have an obligation to pick up everyone at said stops, period, and if they aren't then there's a big problem and like I said, me and some other passengers at the stop that we were being bypassed at kept the pressure on until the issue was rectified, esp. since some of us either worked for the previously OR currently work for the , which is even more of an insult when you work for the and can't get a friggin' bus home from a fellow co-worker.  In my case having worked for them I knew which avenues to take and another guy works for them and had some high up contacts...  

 

Now from what I understand, the stop we were getting bypassed at had been there officially for some time yet the so called typo on the run sheet hadn't been fixed for MONTHS at least, so after I confirmed with the Department of Buses that the stop was supposed to be there and wasn't being moved, that's when I turned up the heat because the stop is officially posted at Madison and 44th and there was NO reason to justify those drivers stopping at 43rd and Madison where there was nothing but a friggin' a No Standing pole basically with no BxM18 sign or anything of the sort, yet they drive right by the official stop where the bus stop is shown as big as day.  

 

I took photos of the stop and sent it in and that's when they had this chick (I assume a B/O as well or a higher up) start riding the line basically a few times a week to notify all of the B/O's as to where the correct stop was because I was going to take it higher up if something wasn't done. Not picking up passengers is not something that's just eh okay.  The does take it seriously.  The problem is that there are so many chains to go through, but you have to know who to talk to.  Luckily for us we had contacts so we were able to get a dispatcher to come out and inspect the situation and he pulled the driver over at the stop and forced him to stop.

 

Now to show you what an a-hole the B/O was he was even mouthing off with the dispatcher talking about the stop isn't there when the damn sign is listed with the BxM18 Riverdale display as big as day.  The dispatcher informed him that he had walked up and down the block and saw no other BxM18 sign anywhere else, so that meant that the bus stop was NOT at 43rd and Madison but at 44th and Madison where it was shown.  Eventually after going back and forth he finally opened the damn door and let us on and I told him upon getting off that I was going to make some more phone calls if this situation continued because it was not acceptable to have not just me but other passengers being bypassed at that stop.  

 

That situation was rectified and I didn't have any problems with any B/Os not stopping there for the time that I continued using that stop.  I'm willing to bet that if you took your complaint to a higher up that it would be rectified eventually, but it would take time.  Everything is a friggin' process with the , including confirming that a stop is in the correct place... 

 

Anywho, what you describe happens on the BxM2 at the Central Park South stop.  Some B/O's stop at the actual stop, while others stop all the way where the local buses stop at where the M6 used to terminate at. I almost got bypassed there and I was not a happy camper so I just stopped waiting there but I've seen other passengers have problems there.  I'm pretty sure that tons of people have written in because it's impossible to know where to wait at when each B/O has their own set of rules. If you wait over by where the old M6 stopped at then they'd say well the stop is over there the X1 buses terminate at.  Problem with that is the damn Yukon drivers block up the stop so you would have to wait in the street and then hail the bus down.  They should just move the friggin stop to where the local buses stop at and call it a day, thus avoiding any confusion, but now I see that all B/O's turn slowly to check at both locations.

[QM1to6Ave]

The other issues I've noted is coming into Manhattan during the evening hours--many drivers are reluctant to go past 37th and 6th, even if they have a long layover until their next run out.  Granted, I understand it isn't the best usage of MTA's resources to have a bus drive me up to 55th and 6th, but the service is there on the schedule.  But the biggest issue is the drivers whizzing by at night and not checking each stop, and barely noticing someone jumping and yelling and holding a bicycle light.

Yeah, I agree--it is annoying when the B/O tries to put you on another bus so that s/he does not need to go up to 57th. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Yeah, I agree--it is annoying when the B/O tries to put you on another bus so that s/he does not need to go up to 57th. 

Why exactly is it such a big deal for them to go up there?? If I recall correctly, they still get to layover anyway don't they?

[QM1to6Ave]

Why exactly is it such a big deal for them to go up there?? If I recall correctly, they still get to layover anyway don't they?

I completely understand that it can be a pain to go up to 57th and then come back to 34th to do another run, and I certainly don't mind if there is another bus waiting at 34th. But I've had B/O's make me wait 5 or 10 minutes for another bus to come, which frustrates me when I am in a rush. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I completely understand that it can be a pain to go up to 57th and then come back to 34th to do another run, and I certainly don't mind if there is another bus waiting at 34th. But I've had B/O's make me wait 5 or 10 minutes for another bus to come, which frustrates me when I am in a rush. 

What pain??? They're getting paid to go up there.  It's not like they're going up there for free.  I've never had a B/O do that with me.  If anything maybe they'll try to take a shortcut to get me there faster but I've been a QM's before (QM1, QM5 and QM6) and was going to 57th and I just sat on the bus until he was ready to head up to 57th.

[QM1to6Ave]

What pain??? They're getting paid to go up there.  It's not like they're going up there for free.  I've never had a B/O do that with me.  If anything maybe they'll try to take a shortcut to get me there faster but I've been a QM's before (QM1, QM5 and QM6) and was going to 57th and I just sat on the bus until he was ready to head up to 57th.

I've had that, too, but it is usually because we got to 34th street early and needed to wait to pick up passengers for a return trip which is the right thing to do. 

[Cait Sith]

FINALLYYY. ..I've come back to kick the science. .

Hmmm where do i start, Well jabroni its been a long time sailor boy. .and i can see you've still got questions about the ops having their rules n regulations about operating A BUS, We are Captains of the ship and you will do and go where ever we go, If not please take the next bus. ...this goes for anybody who has questions for your Capt. ...Now as far as buses flagging stops, I don't condone that but perhaps there are reasons for this. ..ONLY THE BUS OP KNOWS. ..QM1ave. ..you've rode on my bus so you know my style. ..don't start nothing, Wont be nothing n you will end up at your destination safe and sound. ...Yes there are some a holes behind the wheel but we all don't wanna play 20questions either so pay your fare, Comb your hair n everything should be fine. ...P.S.Make sure you stand in the correct place in the stand and wave. ...you want us to know you want US. ..there.could be 5other exp and local buses that stop there. ...i await y'all replies to this post

 

Quarter pounder you gotta realize our routes are designed to save.time during rush hours but that s the key word. ..RUSH HOURS, L.i.R.R. Is A better bet if you can afford it.

If any op gets caught off route that may be 20 days in the street but hey US at CP are rebels (myself included )

 

Lmao @ comb your hair. I remember you almost had to tell someone off on your QM6 way back when...