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

@WashItTomorrow why do you keep saying the reservations were cancelled?

You can also reserve the priority seats, you just phone the train company or download the app.

Because they were - by the train company. That article gave a very biased view of what happened, missing out most of the saliant facts.

But that wouldn’t work here, because there were two trains’ worth of passengers on one train, due to the cancellation of the earlier train.

The couple shouldn't have been occupying reserved seats - but taking a photo of them and putting it in the public domain is absolutely disgusting behaviour, and makes me wonder about the whole story. Anyone who would do that would be capable of lying about anything.

The only thing to do in this situation is tell the ticket inspector that someone is sitting in your reserved seats and refuses to move. They will sort it out (as they did in this story).

The public shaming is despicable, and it's so sad that someone's first thought is to take a photo (without someone's consent) and put it on Twitter. That is far worse than taking someone's seat. The couple's "posh" voices are neither here nor there.

But how do you know that @WashItTomorrow?

Reservations are free - but they are often not adhered to when either the carriage is missing from the train or the reservations are not allocated to the seats at all. It looks as if the 3 children were in 2 seats that were reserved for them - so i assume they had reserved all 4 seats.

Why make such a fuss about it.

@WashItTomorrow I just want to say I admire your work on this thread. You are a one-person 'cancel-the-cheque' warrior and for that I applaud you 👏

The mum got first class seats in the end but still internet shamed an older couple. Nice. They had probably also reserved seats - seats are frequently double-booked or cancelled altogether by that company.

Yep this. Absolutely shocking the mum posted their photos.

You rarely see paper ticket reservations these days - it's all electronic. A display will show something like "Reserved York - Birmingham" or "Available" or "May be reserved later" (on services where you can reserve up to 5 minutes before departure from your station). The upside is that people can't remove the reservations if they feel like it; and you know you are OK to sit there if the reservation doesn't start till after your station. The downside is that it's vulnerable to technical failure.

The Blackshirts were disbznded about 90 yrs ago.

Why hold an outdated grudge?

I don’t think it’s that they were sat in her reserved seats that’s pissed her off, it’s that they were rude and entitled about it. If they had said oh I’m sorry, but we’re really worried about standing because xyz she would have been fine. You can’t just sit in someone’s reserved seats and say ‘I’m not moving’ with an attitude and expect a good response. I think good on her for escalating it!

Er no. A reservation trumps no reservation every time. And being old is not a valid excuse to be a rude, entitled twat.

I think moving the mom with kids to first class and leaving the old people in their cramped little seats was a "well-done" for the conductor. But, supposedly there is more to the story here than what the DM printed.

I think the woman's campaign of spreading it all far and wide is uncalled for, to be honest. She got upgraded and reading the rest of the story does not shine a favorable light on her. She seems to have forgotten a few facts along the way, if the other side of the story is true.

Escalating is talking to a guard not posting it on Twitter. Maybe she was also rude and entitled about it but they didn’t get to tell the Daily Mail. There were evidently no valid reservations on this train.

@stayathomer

They all sound twattish😅 plus her repeating that they’re posh

She'd probably think I'm dead posh. What are those of us who speak RP meant to do? Put on an Estuary accent? I'd sooner die!

Won’t click on it but demand a ‘summary’. Do you know how idiotic you sound?

Why has this story being published again in some online papers over the last few days when it was in papers years ago? I hope the couple aren't going to get a wave of online hate if it's true that all the reservations were cancelled and not applicable.

It sounds like the train staff met the needs of both groups and it's not the couples fault the train reservations were all cancelled so surely it should be the train company the mum is tweeting about instead of other passengers who sound like they're in the same boat as her in that their reservations were cancelled too.

Possibly.

TBH I've lost interest as this is an old half story, and I vaguely remember previous pointless discussions (not on MN) about this or something very similar.

The couple are just posh arrogant twats.

It would have been very different if they'd said, I'm so sorry for sitting in your reserved seat, would you mind if I kept it because I have a heart condition, or whatever. But they said "we won't be moving" because they are arrogant and thought they are just better than the mum/kids and helped themselves to what that woman had reserved.

So the woman was able to sit in first class with her family so got more comfortable seats for no extra cost yet still felt the need to post about it on social media? Some people are so self obsessed it's unreal.

Very rare for them to give away first class upgrades. Usually the staff keep first class as empty as possible because that's where they all hide when the train is overcrowded, to avoid all the complaints.

@privateano if the train companies don’t put them out it doesn’t matter what the ticket says they are not valid. I commute daily on the train and it causes a lot of hassle but it’s not that uncommon. It makes sense though as otherwise you would never be able to get onto a train and choose a seat as it could be a secret reservation.

It's in the comments to the very article you yourself posted. The train was missing carriages, therefore any and all reservations for that trip were summarily canceled. Which makes it first cone, first serve.