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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Leaving someone stranded at 1am at night

449 replies

dranaksjd · 30/08/2016 15:32

Honest opinions wanted here.

Here's the scenario. My friend (she's 26) foudn herself having to return home much later than she expected. This meant she had to get the last train home from Birmingham city centre.

There was a mix up on the departure board which meant she got on the wrong train and ended up in a tiny train station in a village quite far from any major city.

She was clearly distressed as she got off the train and a couple overheard her conversation to her friend. She explain she had only £10
On her, no bank card on her and no idea where she was and no charge on her phone to call anyone to see if they could pick her up.

The couple said they would take her to the main train station in the nearest city which was 10 minutes drive away.

So she got in the car. They dropped her off at that train station at 1am.

She then found a pub willing to let her charge her phone and then when the pub closed she returned to the train station at 2 am. It was at 4am before she realised she could do an emergency transaction using her natwest online banking app.
She comes across as someone who would be comfortably well off so I'm guessing the couple thought she had money but she had explained she did not have her card on her.

She then paid a lot of money for a taxi home.

Now obviously it was nice of the couple to give her a lift the the main train station, but it didn't actually help her much. And they left her at 1am with no cash on her, outside a train station which was boarded up and closed.

That doesn't sit well with me and isn't something I would do. Or am I being unreasonable? Obviously it was unwise of her to travel back at that time but she was not expecting that morning when she left the house to be travelling at that time.

Honest opinions wanted here. And I'm genuinely not the person this post is about.

Just genuinely interested in what others opinion is.

OP posts:
bloodyteenagers · 30/08/2016 15:35

Was she with her friend or talking on the phone to her friend when at the quiet station?

HateSummer · 30/08/2016 15:36

I don't get it. What did you expect them to do? They offered her a lift and she chose a major train station Confused

Original poster
dranaksjd · 30/08/2016 15:36

Just speaking on the phone. She was alone.

OP posts:
Astoria797 · 30/08/2016 15:37

Tbh she's lucky the couple even gave her a lift that late. I personally wouldn't have.

Original poster
dranaksjd · 30/08/2016 15:37

She didn't choose that. The couple only offered to take her to a main train station. She thought it better than nothing so accepted.

She has actually said she's really grateful. It's only me that thinks it's a bit wrong to have left her there. But I'm willing to be corrected.

OP posts:
OlennasWimple · 30/08/2016 15:38

Better to be alone at a major station where there are other people and possibly taxis than in the middle of nowhere, surely? Confused

I think the couple did a nice thing by giving her a lift, and it's a shame people would think badly of them for it

MaudGonneMad · 30/08/2016 15:39

What did you expect them to do with her? Bring her home with them?

Sirzy · 30/08/2016 15:39

So they were kind enough to take her somewhere central yet they are in the wrong for it?

Your friend should have been more careful to make sure she had got the right train and had her cards with her - lesson learnt for in future.

steff13 · 30/08/2016 15:40

Why didn't she just call for a taxi from the pub?

FeckinCrutches · 30/08/2016 15:40

I think they were very kind to drop her at a main station. Did you think they should have driven her all the way home at 1am?

Witchend · 30/08/2016 15:40

I think they were really kind to give her a lift anywhere. Most people wouldn't.

And the "I've only got £x and need to get to far off place" is a known scam-often from quite nicely dressed/spoken people so that's what people tend to assume.

HeCantBeSerious · 30/08/2016 15:41

At 26 she should know better than to travel so ill-prepared.

bloodyteenagers · 30/08/2016 15:41

But her phone was dead?

So what would you have wanted them to do.. Take her with them. Pay for a b&b/hotel. Drive her to her own home?

ElspethFlashman · 30/08/2016 15:41

She had enough charge to be on the phone to someone??

Confused

Also I'm sorry but your friend sounds like a total flake.

No bank card?

Takes an hour in a pub to charge her phone???

Goes back to a deserted train station at 2am??

Only thinks about online banking 2 hrs later? And how did she pay a lot of money for the taxi with no card?

Is this a wind up?

TheCrowFromBelow · 30/08/2016 15:41

Not sure what you're asking really - they got her back to somewhere she could get a cab from. Do you think they should have taken her home? Or found her a hotel?
Is this a test scenario for a natwest advert?

SillyMoomin · 30/08/2016 15:41

Grin steff my thoughts exactly!

Idliketobeabutterfly · 30/08/2016 15:41

Yikes, she's not a kid.

jumpjumpformylove · 30/08/2016 15:42

She made a mistake with her train, but had the money to get a taxi home. What's the problem?

AIBU in thinking some people like to find blame where there's no blame due?

LadyintheRadiator · 30/08/2016 15:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jackie0 · 30/08/2016 15:44

She was very fortunate those people gave her a lift, that was quite a risky thing for them to do.
She doesn't seem very responsible .

YelloDraw · 30/08/2016 15:46

Better to be at a major station than in the middle of no where - taxi's, people etc.

Couple did a nice thing. What else should they have done? Taken her home, given her a cup of hot chocolate and tucked her up in bed?

As a PP says, its a total scam the "I've only got £10 and need to get to [x]". Friend could have found a police station and sought help there to call a friend or parent if she was so distressed by her situation.

pauldacreshairlessnutsack · 30/08/2016 15:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
dranaksjd · 30/08/2016 15:47

Her phone died after speaking to her friend. She stayed in the pub that long trying to get a lift. Didn't have the money to get a taxi until she realised about online banking.

she didn't think of ordering a taxi with the promise of her getting her card from
Home and returning to a cash point. That's what I would have done.

If you plan to leave at 5pm then you're not that likely to have a spare £100 in your bag for emergencies.

OP posts:
Sirzy · 30/08/2016 15:47

Who was she trying to get a lift from in the pub?

HeCantBeSerious · 30/08/2016 15:48

Why did she go out for the day without any bank cards?