WIBU to have abandoned this guy at a petrol station?

[HeadFairy]

So I'm coming home from a late shift, it's half past midnight and I pull in to an unmanned Asda petrol station round the back of a 24hour store to get some petrol. I notice a young guy in a hoodie standing a few feet away from the pumps, he appears to be on his phone. I fill up and as I finish he comes up to me and asks if I'm able to call him a taxi as his phone has run out of charge and could I call him a taxi. I'm not local so finding a taxi number would have involved me standing there for a few minutes having a look on google, and I wasn't keen. No real reason, he was really apologetic and polite, but I just wasn't keen. There are a few shops around there, so I thought maybe he could walk and see if there was a taxi shop somewhere locally. But now I'm feeling a bit bad that I left him there. So WIBU?

YANBU. I'd not have given this a second thought, I'd have got in my car and left.

I would have called from the safety of my locked car. Is there a reason that wasn't an option?

If he had a car, perhaps it had broken down- to the poster saying if he had money for a taxi he had money for his petrol.

I also can't believe people don't get that 24hr means 6am Monday to 10pm Saturday, then Sunday 10-4. Usually.

I think logically, a petrol station is a good place to approach for help; loads of CCTV and usually manned CCTV at that. Brightly lit.

Also it can cost you a shit load of money if it turns out they aren't what you think
Coming home from a late shift, guy in the middle of the road doing the universal flag someone down I need help. I slowed as the road was too narrow to get around him anyway. He came running towards my car then suddenly starting swearing and shouting
Locked my car doors as he tried to get in and as I went to drive off, he thumped my car. Long story short the police caught him running after my car and he had damaged the frame above the window. £900 worth of damage. I had to pay the £350 excess and because the insurance couldn't claim it back due to him being a pedestrian I lost my no claims
They weren't protected as it was a brand new car that came with free insurance (and they don't protect your no claims I learnt!)

Only you knew how you felt in that situation op.
You felt uncomfotable and you acted on it.
End of.

My DS1 (19) walked 12 miles home on country roads with no footpaths or lighting in the early hours of the morning because his phone had run out of battery and he felt that he couldn't ask anyone if they could make a call for him to ring us to go and collect him.

All these people saying lock the car and ring from inside - can your windows not be broken?! It's not exactly unusual if you have your phone out in a car.

Right call OP.

YANBU

PUG it's a good idea to tell older children that there is money for an emergency cab, in an agreed spot in or outside of the house. Mine is in an old tin in the shed.

YANBU.

This is an unmanned petrol station round the back of the store so it sounds quite tucked away....strange place to wait for help to phone a cab surely??

Also you said that he appeared to be on his phone when you arrived yet he claimed the battery was dead.

Something not right - trust your gut feeling

Llanali ppl might be struggling to understand because here in Scotland open 24hrs means...wait for it....open 24hrs!

Not open 24hrs during the week, open two thirds one day and then one quarter of the day another. Pisses me off so much. Why don't they just say 'extended opening hrs' or 'open 24hrs during the week'.

OP was right to turn them away if uncomfortable.

I live in England and didn't know that 24hr supermarkets closed on Sunday nights/Monday mornings!

Our nearest one is miles away and I've never had need to use it other than during the daytime (never even drive past it on a Sun/Mon so wouldn't have known)

Not open 24hrs during the week, open two thirds one day and then one quarter of the day another. Pisses me off so much. Why don't they just say 'extended opening hrs' or 'open 24hrs during the week'.

They don't need to say it because it is absolutely standard and would be illegal for them to open 24 hours a day 7 days a week! They're assuming (clearly overoptimistically) that their customers will presume that they're following the law... Incidentally, I do hate Sunday trading laws, but parliament voted to keep them in 2015, so we're stuck with them.

I notice a young guy in a hoodie standing a few feet away from the pumps, he appears to be on his phone.

So, potentially lying about the battery.

he looked mid 20s, over 6foot (I'm 5'10" and he was a good couple of inches taller) and there were lorries coming in and out of the Asda, I'm not sure if the shop was open or not but there were definitely staff there, I could hear their voices as they unloaded so he wasn't totally abandoned.

And therefore you were not his only option by a long shot, but he approaches you, a lone woman.

I'd have done the same as you, OP. It would take much for me to have spotted the above and decided it wasn't worth trying to help.

Absolutely not unreasonable to follow your instincts, OP. Yes, we weren't there, but if we treat it as a logic problem then the answer is clear: in the absence of any information about his circumstances or intentions, the potential threat to you is higher than the potential threat to him, and you are the one making the decision, so it makes perfect sense to preserve your safety in whatever way feels right. As PPs have said, don't worry about it any longer. Yes, maybe it toook him a bit longer to get home; not the end of the world. You did the right thing.

Omg maybe the shop was closed!
'Go to a payphone' i can't remember the last time i saw one!
As for 'why was he at a petrol station' he must be dodgy'
Have none of you ever got lost before??
Like away i got lost walking home from uni before at night, it's easily done! I headed for things i thought people would be to ask for directions!
Oh and my iphone forever runs out of charge because the battery is shit.

JonesyAndTheSalad you would still need to be able to call for a taxi in the first place

He should've known better than to approach a lone woman in that situation.

A healthy man can easily walk to get help. There would be a phone box or an open shop that could phone a taxi within half an hour's walk in most places big enough to have a 24 hour supermarket.

I recently refused a request for help from a man in a services. It was the middle of the day, there were people about. He was wanting money for fuel or a lift. I would normally be happy to give someone a couple of quid for fuel but no way would I ever have given him a lift. However it just didn't feel right and I smelt a rat so I said no. I do think that most men genuinely needing help would, if there is the option, ask another man or a couple before approaching a lone young woman

Agree that if men want to be able to approach lone women at night they need to stop raping and assaulting women.

A point I don't think anyone has made yet - would anyone's DH/DP approach a lone woman in an isolated place this way? (obviously for genuine reasons) Or would they realise they might intimidate and scare someone just by doing this? I know my DH (very tall, tattooed etc) comes across as intimidating to people (especially elderly shoppers in Marks and Sparks. He offered to get something off a high shelf for someone the other day and they nearly called the police ). He works shifts and if he is for example, near a lone woman walking home he would be careful not to come across as following them by walking closely behind them etc. I thought it was just common sense and normal - for want of a better word - that men realise women sometimes have good reason to be fearful and recognise this in their behaviour.

I will be making sure my sons are equally aware.

I know where the nearest pay phone is right now. Perhaps it is my 70s childhood but I always keep one eye open for them. Or I'd just walk home.

yanbu

I agree trust your gut.

I'd be more likely to respond positively to "can you phone x at this number and ask them to pick me up as my phone's dead" rather than "can you phone a taxi whose number I don't know for me".
Next time he will prioritise saving his phone's battery for calling a taxi. I think an isolated fuel station is a very poor choice of place to try and get help from strangers

They don't need to say it because it is absolutely standard and would be illegal for them to open 24 hours a day 7 days a week!

MargaretCavendish Is it standard? standard for what? I was in England recently where the "24hr" ASDA was shut at Sunday 5pm, but the 24hr McDonalds a mere 100 yards away was open....24hrs!

I live in a city where 24hr supermarkets are open 24hrs, 24hr fast food restaurants are open 24hrs and 24hr taxi company's are open 24hrs. Crazy or what!!???

So CLEARLY to advertise as 24hrs when in fact you're not open 24hrs is misleading. It's pathetic. Like train companies that advertise that their trains are on time 95% of the time, but forget to mention that a train being 30mins late qualifies as being "on time".

If I saw somewhere advertising as open 24 hours I'd assume they meant what they said as well. Otherwise it's just extended hours, or late opening.

I would not sit in a parked car in the dark at midnight for a stranger who made me feel uneasy. As many have said he cpuld have started walking home.

Honestly frightening and sad how many women here dismiss every individuals right to respect their own fear and instinct.