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.

Ah WorraLiberty you cracked it

If there were a few people at wrong station wouldn't they of all got a taxi back to correct station?? Or did the kind couple give them all lifts too?

I'm sorry these threads annoy me she went without her card, no money, got the wrong train, drained her battery, by the sounds of it went walking, a couple helped her get to a train station, she was allowed in a pub (which was open considerably late) charged her phone ( phone charger and purse in her handbag but not a card) and she's a victim because she did all this stupid shit and decided to pay £100 for a taxi instead of wait

YABU to think the couple should have done more. It is always nice where people help stranded people but it shouldn't be expected.

I got stranded in the wrong town in the middle of the night with no money after falling asleep on the national express (very very drunk and only 19, had no idea what to do) and was lucky to be helped by two women who took me home with them, fed me, and gave me taxi numbers (I didn't tell the taxi driver I didn't have any money, well I told the first one I called and they hung up but I didn't tell the other one and got my boyfriend to pay at the other end). Nice of them to help but completely understandable if they wouldn't have.

I don't drive so I'm not much help for stranded people by myself but I made my OH give a woman a lift home from the station after she asked on the train if anyone was going her way (7km to our town from the station so a long way for someone to walk with a suitcase) as the person who was supposed to pick her up had cancelled last minute.

I'd love to know where she was dropped at!

That's the only not ridiculous part of this story

All sounds very odd to me. How did she not realise that she was on the wrong train until she got off in the middle of no where? Most trains have announcements or some indication of where they're going. Why didn't she find the guard and explain what had happened and ask for help - trains are nearly always staffed.

She was very lucky that the couple found her and took her somewhere more central. She's 26 not 12 and should have been more prepared. Sorry but YABU - advise her to always travel with a debit card and / or some emergency cash stashed about her you never know what might happen

she's 26 !! I was travelling around Australia and America alone at that age!
Couple helped her
She's only responsible for herself
Sounds like friend should not be let loose like this!
YABU

Oh this is the person who was having her nephew to stay and only £5 to buy food for two days. And then went and bought a dozen eggs and chocolate.

I didn't say on that thread but it sounded to me like the sort of people who like to make things into dramas, having read this one, I'm now sure she is. And I suspect her unfortunate situations are mostly of her own making. I would say the version OP gets is slightly embellished for entertainment purposes too.

Agree with everyone else couple did what they could in the situation taking her to major train station where more taxis were available. Im on a line out of birmingham near a big town and its a huge scam here with people saying they havent any money in this sort of situation. The police have been outside the train station saying never ever to give money but direct people to police station. She wasnt stranded anyway as she got a taxi from the pub. Why did your friend go out without cards etc....

Relevance of age is twofold I think PrivatePike- either OP is giving full disclosure here and is prepared to accept that a 26 year old should be able to look after herself so knows that it's a vital piece of info to assess whether couple were being unreasonable.

Alternatively OP thinks that 26 is young and that it is going to bolster the argument that it was unreasonable to leave "a young woman" on her own at a closed station at night.

My honest opinion: this didn't actually happen.

This reminds us all of the importance of making sure we've got plenty of juice on our mobiles before we go out. Obviously being stranded at that time in the morning wasn't something she could prevent due to the mix-up. It's hard to see what else could have been done as an alternative.

It is a well known scam.
We have often had people knock at the door with a variation of this tale - no phone charge etc.
I offer to phone a cab for them , and they mysteriously aren't interested if it means they pay themselves when they get home.

she was clearly wasted and stayed at the pub as she thought she was on a promise

The couple were very kind to have given her a lift to a major train station.

Mrsguyofgisbo do you live next to a place that people often get stranded? They have actually knocked on your door more than once with this scam?

Can you explain to me again what the problem is? I really don't get it!

Sorry "a place where it is plausible for scams tees to say they have got stranded" that should have said.

Scamsters.

I think it did happen but that the OP was the friend on the phone and didn't want to go to the station to pick her up.

I think she feels guilty now and that's why she's blaming the couple.

Also loving "Your friend is an absolute pudding"

Personally I think the friend is an absolute child, who needs to grow up and learn from this.

I think if your friend exists then she needs to spend a bit more time prepping for leaving the house. Checking her purse for cards and cash, checking she has funds in her account, buying a portable power bar for charging her phone on the go (and making sure power bar is charged before leaving the house, checking train/ times cancellations, having some local taxi numbers saved in her phone and some for wherever she is travelling to (I wouldn't normally advise this but she seems particularly stupid), also a good idea to memorise her card details in case her bag gets lost or stolen. I know mine off by heart from entering them on so many online stores but it's proven useful at times when i haven't got my card to hand. Also she might be wise to take herself a rape alarm if she plans on getting trains to the ads end of beyond again.