AIBU to have not given up my parking spot?

[KHR1606]

Sorry for the long post.....

I parked my car in the IKEA car park this morning. The bays next to me were for electric vehicles. I got out my car & went in the back to get my 18 month old DS out his car seat & to put his coat on. We then went to the boot to get his trike out. DS is stood next to me as I'm unfolding & securing the trike.

A woman then approaches me politely asking for my spot so she can charge her car. I look at the ground to see if I've parked in the electric bay. I see that I haven't & say "I can park here" she says, "I can too!" I politely say no because that'd mean me undoing the trike & putting it away then taking my son's coat off & putting him back in his seat then driving around for another spot. Just the thought of it wore me out! She offered to help but again I politely said I'm not willing to do it because it's just too much hassle.

The woman persisted & persisted & persisted, I'm not exaggerating. She kept saying I have an appointment & I need to charge my car. Again I said no. I said if I was without DS I would have given you my spot. She wouldn't stop asking so I got really fed up & shouted loudly, "Oh for f**k sake!" It's only then that she walked away to her car which was 2 bays away....... charging!!!!!

I didn't even realise her car was on charge because I was too busy getting DS in the trike. As I was strapping him in I heard her say "bitch", "evil", the sound of spitting but not actually spitting. All this time I was looking at DS's face talking & smiling with him. It's only when I was ready to walk off that I asked, "did you say something!?" She sarcastically smiled & said no!

She then went on again about it wouldn't have taken me long to move my car. I again repeated myself that I was parked in a suitable bay & I wasn't going to inconvenience myself & DS for her. I told her that being out with a child is sometimes difficult. She said I have a child too. I replied "Then you know! Stop being entitled!" All of this was being shouted. We had people looking at us.

I walked off and said have a lovely day!! It's only when I walked off & called my sister to vent that I realised her car was charging. Why the f**k did she want my spot then? Why ask a mother & toddler to move?
I'm glad I didn't move, especially after calling me a bitch and evil. She must not know about Jeffrey Dahmer if she thinks I'm evil!

But the only thing that makes this whole encounter make any sense is that you were, and you were/are mistaken. That’s why people aren’t unreasonable to think that might be the case.

it’s more likely than anything else. Occam’s razor.

I was not mistaken. The floor markings indicated which bays were for EV.
The ground of the EV bays were painted in green with the chargers at the head of the bay. It's really not that difficult to tell them apart.

Are you sure you weren't hogging the space so you could charge the trike while your DH went round Ikea???? 😂😂😂 Just to add some confusion to those who haven't actually read your posts properly!

Haha!!!
Pleeease, no more confusion!

@KHR1606 are you sure you're being honest and you weren't in a car-AVAN.... 🤔 towed by the trike of course,
with the dreadful nefarious plan to hitch it up to the ECV and use all the electricity FOREVER!!! (Insert evil laughter here.....)

All these people saying to just move the car to help her out as if the lady isn't kind. Why should the lady move her car when she was approached in the complete wrong manner, Getting a child in and out if the car is long anyway. It can be done and I'm sure it would of if the lady approached her nicely and explained why she needed the spot. She just sounds like an entitled spoilt brat.
Well doner OP I would of done the exact same thing 😊

Can’t stand weirdos like that! Nowt so queer as folk though. YWDNBU.

We don’t know the other driver’s backstory. May be she needed the space more. We don’t know. Not to say at all that OP is wrong, just that the other driver’s perspective could be just as compelling.

Don't be silly!

OP was hogging the space so she could charge her husband while the child pushed IKEA around on the trike and OP danced merrily on the roofs of all the EV cars

Why should she move? You are being ridiculous.

yes , you can see why it is harder for a mother with a toddler to move !

Not the OPs problem if someone can't plan to get their vehicle charged though is it?

Ya both petty af there's worse things going on in the world than worrying about who parks where in IKEA fgs be thankful u can afford a car to start with with so many people having to choose between heating and eating 2 grown ass adults arguing over a parking spot I honestly despair.

So nobody is allowed to talk about anything other than heating and eating?

Mumsnet would be pretty depressing right now if that's all the threads were about.

Don't be daft.

Kitty, surely mumsnet wouldn't exist without these sort of topics, are you the mumsnet ethics police

+1

YANBU even for swearing. When you buy an electric car this is what you sign up for. The infrastructire for EVs is not quite there yet for there not to be periods of inconvenience such as waiting for a charger or only being able to access a slow charger. It's not your problem if she hasn't planned well enough or factored in contingencies for her journey. It was reasonable of her to ask if you were next to a fadt charger, but she was not reasonable for not accepting your first answer. You don't owe anyone an explanation for why you said no.

Oh and you having to justify a trike in Ikea is ridiculous.