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

Amanda Mancino-Williams said the couple had 'posh accents'

Maybe we could say Amanda is posh because she has a double-barrelled name, usually the preserve of the posh.

I would have got the 2 girls to sit on the table, backs right up to the old twats.

Being old is NOT a disability.

Ive been disabled from birth, My DS who inherited it is also disabled from birth as we have nurological damage its invisible but effects movement and reaction times standing on a train is dangerous. My other child is 2, shes tiny and has no balance because shes barely more than a baby and I can't carry her due to my disability... why on earth should we stand if we booked tickets because you ASSUME old people must be disabled.

My nana made it into her 90s as fit as a fiddle, woman use to run up and down the stairs a hundred times a day. I have never been that able in my life. If her brain hadn't eventually given up on her (dementia) she could have gone on to live forever.

They weren’t “wrong” as such. None of the parties was “wrong”. The conductor handled the situation well.

Why? Why should you be able to get away with not booking your own seat if that's what you know you need?

Did you miss where I said ‘potential’ disability?

Given the mum and kids weren’t disabled, I would have given the elderly couple the benefit of the doubt in this situation. Even the mum said ‘I’m sure they’re lovely’.

I don't understand why this is a story now if it happened 4 years ago? I didn't click on the mail link but I saw it on a different social media page.

If the seats were reserved for the mum and her children then the couple were in the wrong.
However it's also unreasonable to post their pic on twitter (I think that's where she first posted) especially when she got preferable seats anyway.

They did book their own seats!

But we haven’t got the elderly couple’s side of the story.

Maybe the reserved seats were all taken so they couldn’t book, as the press says the train was jammed.

Maybe the family were more than 10 minutes late to their seats so their reservations were rescinded.

Maybe the reservations were cancelled altogether, so it became a free for all.

I also frequently travel by train and I have never ever heard any such thing. They just say the reservation system is unfortunately not active due to whatever e.g. earlier cancellation/fewer coaches than planned etc., if you desperately need a seat speak to staff. It’s everyone for themselves if the reservations aren’t valid, tough luck. I wouldn’t even bother asking someone to move.

@FreshWinterMorning OP
Why is mum in inverted commas? It was about a mum and 3 children?

Hmmmm, I'm on the fence about this. She did reserve the seats. I'm glad that the family were re-seated in First Class.

But -

If the couple were elderly, they are less able to stand than 12 year old children. And given the "sad face" Daily Mail story, it is unlikely that this mother is teaching her DC to think of others before themselves (particularly given that she thinks that a "posh" voice is a moral failing).

It's a difficult situation. An on-the-ball train manager should have dealt with it, but usually there's only one on a 6 to 8 carriage train.

If the reservations were not put out (which is what seems to have happened from a quick internet search on the story) then they are effectively cancelled. I’m amazed how many people don’t understand this.

No contest. Reserved seats are that. Reserved. The couple should have been made to move or chucked off the train. What is the point of reserving seats if it can't be enforced.

I've seen this on a train, when an older woman with her two grandchildren refused to move for a monther and her children who had made the booking. When challenged by the guard she said she'd made a booking but wanted these seats because there was a table there.
Being older is no excuse for this behaviour, it's just ignorant.

must admit i didnt realise this was an actuall thing that they had to have the tickets in the seats ?

I think the mum is in the wrong, and I'm a parent of you g children myself. Why didn't mum reserve seats?

But even if the tickets are not out, the official reservation is marked on the tickets so they still exist. Who is to say that the cuckoos in someone else's seats have not removed the reservations anyway?

Well you’re as entitled as the old couple then. 94% of people disagree with you.

?

Well obviously the mum. We’re constantly told on here that we must stump up to book seats so we can make sure we sit with the dc. Then someone older pipes up and it’s all suddenly worthless.

But they were found seats together in first class, so equally I’d have let it go.

Well because disabled people have the right to travel at short notice like everyone else.

But there are designated priority seats exactly for that purpose.

Because the official reservations had all been cancelled by the train company! There were no valid seat reservations on the train

If they were concerned about their own safety/needing seats, why didn't they reserve some for themselves? (I didn't read the article).

Unless there was an announcement that said reservations were cancelled, the couple are in the wrong and rude to boot.

I’ve found people in my reserved seats and the amount of people who can’t believe they may have made a mistake or shouldn’t move is ridiculous.

I’ve had a similar situation with an older couple when travelling with my parents and two small children on a train from London to Rotterdam. I reserved a table seat for all of us and went to find it and an older couple were sitting in two of the seats. I checked my ticket several times before approaching them and I politely explained that I had these seats reserved. Wife rudely tells me I’m wrong and that these are their seats. I show her my ticket and point out the sign that has the letter of the car. They were in the correct number seat but the wrong car. The husband apologised profusely and began moving. I told them “it was all right, it happens” smiling, no annoyance or anything because it does happen. The husband smiled and nods while the wife said nothing and just stared at me before following her husband. Don’t understand why it’s hard to apologise if you’re wrong or be polite when you’ve been met with politeness. Thankfully the majority of people who I’ve found sitting in my reserved seat are apologetic and do move.