Leaving someone stranded at 1am at night

[dranaksjd]

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.

Competely irrelevant but this thread has reminded me of when I used to work in a pub in a rural village. The manager gave the glass collector a lift home once (he'd missed the last bus) and it took 45 minutes to do a 10 minute journey because the glass collector only knew the bus route home.

I wonder if pudding and the glass collector are related?

How long would it take to charge a phone enough to get your contacts up and write down a couple of numbers?
Although, can you reverse charge call a mobile?

And if she had looked more 'vulnerable' according to your standards (not well dressed/well spoken), the likelihood is that they would not have offered your 'friend' a lift at all so there's that shit theory of yours blown to pieces (oh they didn't offer to drive me friend for an hour out of their way and back because I she looked too posh).

There is no way in hell I'd be offering to drive some strange woman at 1am to get back at 3am myself because she's an idiot. First of all, I wouldn't know if it was because she was an idiot and secondly, I'd have no way of knowing whether she was likely to have a nice group of thugs waiting for us at the other end.

The couple were very sensible and your friend is a flake.

Secondly, rather than waiting hours for the phone to charge, why did she not go to a public telephone, ring her friend and reverse the charges? Friend could have then called a cab.

I literally have no idea how to reverse the charges for a phone call. I've only seen people do it in films, and then they speak to the operator. Does the operator still exist?

Remember, her 'friend' us only 26 - not old enough to remember having to take 50p on walks for the phone box!

I thought that sawdust. People under 30? probably don't know what reversing the charges is, know anyones phone number because they are all in their phone and have probably never used a phone box. Do working phone boxes even exist any more?

StorminaBcup but why didn't the manager just say to the glass collector, 'Where do you live?' and take him there?

She was genuinely distressed on the phone to a 'friend' yet you're annoyed at the couple that helped?

I'd be more annoyed at the friend on the phone for not trying to help somehow.

And did she get their contact details to send a thank you?

Just going back to the free police taxi service, the only way to call the police for free is on 999. 101 costs 15p.

And if, as a grown adult, you call 999 to say you need a lift home, you'd probably have the phone put down on you.

I can't believe the 'friend' had enough of a conversation for the kindly couple to overhear and offer her a lift, but it wasn't long enough to mention where she was to the friend?!

Wouldn't the conversation go

Friend-Hi, pudding-is everything ok, it's 11pm?!
pudding-no, it's not! I'm stranded at 'tiny' station!!

I can't imagine how else the conversation would have gone?!!

Frankly, I think they were unusually kind. Your friend sounds like she's 14, not 26.

FrancisCrawford

I suspect you are younger than me - certainly less cynical.

There is now a generation of Mumsnetters who will ask the operator to call "123" whatever number they really want.

I imagine calling the operator by banging down on the phone and speaking in a clear cut BBC voice to these women. I clearly watch too many old films.

Liney he knew he lived local so he just said I'll give you a lift. It wasn't until they'd been driving round for a bit that he asked him. No one would expect to be taken the bus route home would they?

Lurking

Smashing reference. And oh how well "Team Ploppy" would fit in with the other "P" Spices

It wasn't until they'd been driving round for a bit that he asked him. No one would expect to be taken the bus route home would they?

There's the old joke about 2 guys walking home from the pub - it's a long way, and it starts raining just as they walk past the bus garage ...

"Hey mate" says one "We could steal a bus and get home dry"
"Good idea" says the other

They go in and one starts to get into the first bus he sees - the 21. His mate is just about to join him, but then goes to the one parked next to it the 33.

"Hey mate" he says "if we steal this one, it'll go past your house"

"Won't need a spike as much as a toast rack"

...

Great joke LH.
It has made me remember that I once went to a NYE party in 'roughcitywithstaringmen' as mentioned in this thread and we couldn't get a taxi home. We actually found a bus driver, who with a little monetry encouragement, drove us all home to our various addresses out to the sticks...or was that just a bus service and we were all too pissed to realize I wonder?

Still no sign of OP?

Still no sign of OP?

Waiting for their phone to charge up, probably.

OP ran out of steam ages ago, went off track and bit. All the signals were there.