AIBU to ask who was right in this situation... Couple refused to move for a 'mum' and her 3 children on the train. (When the mum had reserved the seats.)

[FreshWinterMorning]

Just that really. Whose side are you on here?

I won't say much yet as I don't want to skew the poll results.

So pick YABU if you think the mum is in the wrong.

And pick YANBU if you think the couple is in the wrong.

Thank you for participating.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7602911/Furious-mother-three-slams-elderly-couple-refusing-seats-reserved.html?ito=social-facebook&fbclid=IwAR0C3fJhfMxidfTyOfm8wJ2C7v7st2ZgeCZi3aDr8YlabYhoaoMWM_lI_Ik

Of course @cairnterriorist (and for anyone else who doesn't want to click on the DM rag.)

A furious mother-of-three has slammed an elderly couple for not moving from seats she had reserved for her and her family.
^^
Amanda Mancino-Williams claimed the couple refused to move after she advised them that she had pre-booked seats on the packed train from Cheltenham to Nottingham.

The 37-year-old said the couple had 'posh accents' and had told her that her reserved tickets 'didn't matter'.
Once Amanda consulted the train conductor on Tuesday afternoon she was offered four seats in first class with her children.

Amanda had reserved seats on the train and the couple above had refused to move from them

Her three children (pictured above) were forced to cram onto two seats, after the couple said their seats 'didn't matter' Outraged by the incident the writer took a picture of the couple, and of her three children sharing two seats, after they were alleged to refuse to move to another part of the train.

People took to Twitter to defend the family (pictured) after they said an elderly couple wouldn't move
Posting on Twitter, Amanda said: 'If a mum with 3 kids and bags has 4 reserved seats for a long train journey, and you're sitting in their seats on a full carriage, don't tell them that their tickets don't matter in a posh voice and then say you're not moving and refuse to make eye contact. Don't be these people.'
She then posted a follow-up tweet of her children sitting cramped, with her 12-year-old 'staring the couple down'.

She added: 'I would always give up a seat, reserved or not, for someone who needed it more. But for her to tell me that my tickets meant nothing and then refuse to acknowledge me? Do people just expect you to slink away?'
Speaking to the Sun, a spokesperson for CrossCountry trains said the family had been 'let down by others who ignore the labels'.
Her original tweet has since received nearly 2,000 comments and nearly 17,000 likes.
Also speaking to the Sun, she claimed she had showed the couple her ticket, who told her they 'wouldn't be moving'.

Amanda now says there is no point in reserving a seat if people can take them away at anytime, but claimed that if the couple had wanted to seats for a good reason, then she would have given them up for her.

'Her instant dismissiveness of me and the children told me all I needed to know about her. I didn't feel it was my responsibility to acquiesce to that kind of behaviour.

Couple in the wrong, and made it worse by being rude and unapologetic about it

Oh, and I didn't realise this was a 4 y.o. article. Sorry folks. Thanks for posting anyway. Still an interesting debate xx

Oh and yeah I am on the mum's side. I mean, of course I would let an elderly couple have seats over and above my children - assuming the children are well, and able to give up their seats.

It was the attitude of the couple that stinks!

Exactly!

There weren’t any reserved seats. That’s the whole point of this drama. All seat reservations had been cancelled.

I think reservations should come with a disclaimer that they may not be available if another passenger requires them for safety reasons.

Those kids looked fine sharing two seats tbh.

Yeah, I bet that annoyed the couple!

If that is the case, then it's first come served, and Mammy and The Kiddywinks hadn't a leg to stand on, and what is the point of this thread?

No, it doesn’t.

Outraged by the incident the writer took a picture of the couple

ah, therein lies the detail.....grist for her mill and all that. Totally self-serving.

A reservation is a reservation unless they’re invalidated for the whole train. I’ve been the person with the reservation who couldn’t sit in their seat because someone else refused to budge. The guard didn’t support me either.

I think you lose any moral high ground when you sell pictures of your kids to the Daily Mail.

They all sound twattish😅 plus her repeating that they’re posh, they were rude and she took extra offence because she had a chip on her shoulder and they were idiots back. Plus I don’t think I’d brag about my teenager giving a death stare to an elderly couple!! None of those kids will ever offer a seat when they grow up

Sounds like the conductor did what they felt best to put an end to the situation.
What would you suggest the conductor do? Put the entitled old couple in first class so the mum and kids can keep their reserved seats?

He did.

The article doesn't explain that the couple had reserved seats on an earlier train which was cancelled. 2019 was a shit show on every train route, particularly around September. When cancellations and alternatives routes are put into force, reservations are no longer valid. However the conductor will do their best to accommodate people who have a need for a seat etc. There is no side to take as such. The family were more mobile, so it was decided that they would move.

The conductor upgraded the mum and kids because of the hassle

That doesn’t remotely suggest they were the ones in the wrong

Yeah I think the conductor did the right thing. He put the mum and her 3 kids in first class.

If you need a seat for safety reasons you make your own reservation surely?

I don't care about the ages involved - the seats were reserved.

The reaction above is utterly childish and petty though. Surely adults don't have to resort to this sort of thing?

They were invalidated for the whole train.

I haven't clicked on the article

Speaking as someone who MN would probably consider 'elderly' (I don't think I am!) I wonder how old they actually are. And did they have mobility issues?

@Ponoka7

the couple had reserved seats on an earlier train which was cancelled

So they had no reservations. And neither did the mummy-family, since reservations were cancelled for the whole train. So it comes down to a battle of wills, and I say fair play to the older couple.

The couple sound like entitled twats.

Of course they were in the wrong.
The woman reserved seats for a reason.

If you need a seat, then you reserve one or sit in an unreserved seat.

Whats the point in having rules if people don’t abide by them.

I can’t stand selfish twats like that.
I bet they would have moved for a 6ft man.

The seat reservations had been cancelled. That article is very selective and hasn’t mentioned the important facts.

Exactly this. Why didn't the couple reserve seats themselves - if they desperately needed seats?