To be annoyed I gave up my seat on train

[NameChangedJune]

4 hour journey, late train so pretty empty carriage, most seats unreserved.
i take a seat on an empty table of 4 which has a laptop charger.

before train moves, a family get on (there are loads of empty twin seats but no empty table), but say they are a group of 3 and a baby them, do I mind moving from the table so they can have the table to lie the baby on?! They say they have reserved the seats but the seats themselves say unreserved. I see they have a small baby so say fine and close my laptop and move to a twin seat (now have no table or laptop charger).

the three adults (couple and I assume grandparent), and baby sit on the table. Baby doesn’t settle so after a few mins mum takes baby to another free twin seat to feed and they both settle to sleep there. The father then move to another empty double seat nearby and sleeps. This leaves the sleeping grandparent taking up the entire table with feet up on the seat opposite (plus a few baby bits/scattered about).

AIBU to now be annoyed I gave up the table and the chance to catch up on work as the other tables don’t have power sockets?

I wouldn’t have given up my seat. I would have offered them the other three and they should have made one person of their group sit else where.

In which case I would have woken then up

I am guessing you either don't work or never have to travel while working. Also with ticketing and network rail card being digital I often need to charge my phone too if I have been out all day to be able to show these to the railway staff or get through!

I have no qualms about sitting at a table with 4 seats if I need to use the table and the charger. 4 singles can and often sit together.

Actually I think the OP is unreasonable.

She should have charged her laptop before travelling and there is never any guarantee that you will be able to work on a train.

Anything can happen: wifi that does not work, having to stand up because all the seats are taken and, as she found out, nowhere to charge a laptop.

I also think that a family is more entitled to have the 4 seats than a single person.

If this was a quiet train just move carriages instead to find another plug...

I just wouldn’t have moved in the first place. You were there first, so tough luck. Lesson learnt for next time I guess.

It was kind of you to give up your seat so I wouldn’t regret that. But the thing which would have annoyed me most about the other group is the feet on seats. Grandparent or not, they shouldn’t be doing that!

I would have said no.
I might have added that I need access to the charger.
Seats with no reservation ticket are free for all.
You'll know next time.

I was also going to say that a lot of the double seats have a charger tucked under the middle bit.

A conductor helped me with this when I was wandering around with a dead phone looking for a socket.

You were kind to give up your seat but they took the pee, maybe not deliberately but still, you live and learn.

@deviantfeline

The family sound massively 'but we've got a baaaaaayyybeee' entitled types.

This is how I see them too.

Startingagainandagain

I also think that a family is more entitled to have the 4 seats than a single person.

I don't. 3 of them can have one each, the fourth can sit somewhere else. No entitlement to seats for baybay famblies in my book.

Exactly this.

The annoyance is that the OP couldn't work but several things could have happened to prevent this, you should never rely on getting a table and a charger point.

We've slowly got into the habit of expecting to 'get things done' on train journeys instead of reading, listening to music , relaxing etc.

Yes it can be useful for regular commuters if you can but the WIFI is never good enough, there isn't enough chargers and too many distractions.

So it comes down to one person hogging a table for 4 because they could get to it quicker.

I never choose a table when travelling alone as I don't want to end up being penned in by a family

YANBU, too late for me to vote though. I am kicking myself over the exact same scenario on the EDI to KingX. I reserved seat but it had no table. I found a table saying the seats were available and sat down to charge my tablet and read through some paper reports. Other passengers did the same, so 4 of us sharing the table.

An older couple comes up right after the train leaves a station about an hour in, and says to the two of us in the window seats that they had reserved them. I was like “oh but it says they’re available” the man shot back “I’m not lying”. So we quickly got up and moved…

I am wishing I had demanded to see their tickets with the seat reservation before moving. My reserved seat was just diagonally apart from them and I watched them blank the conductor who was checking tickets of people like them who had got on after EDI. That was when I felt like they were a couple of scammers and I’d been pushed from my seat for no reason other than their brazenness. It’s easy ofc. Look for a table where it doesn’t show a reservation and then pretend those are your reserved seats.

If people are that reliant on needing a power source when travelling, buy a power bank!
I have one, it's small, didn't cost much, works brilliantly.

I would have started by asking to see their seat reservations to see if they had the right carriage and seats - sometimes trains forget to put reserved up. If they had indeed booked it I would have moved (usually on 2 seater carriages there ARE chargers by the way these days so may be I would have tried walking up entire train to try to find a charger seat)

I’m finding it slightly hilarious to read how OP should be relaxing on the train instead of working… the work still needs doing and I would rather spend the time working then relax in my own home, than relax on the train and work at home…

I wouldn't have moved - I can't fit my laptop on the stupid flip down table in standard and need a proper table.

Me too. My employer expects us to do a bit of work while on a train. I get paid a wage while travelling and would also feel bad if I did nothing the entire journey between London and Scotland.

Is this in the UK? If so, I would sadly say this seems to be the standard level of people's manners these days 😔

And you are usually expected to work on the way to a meeting. I can get loads done in the 4.5 hours to Edinburgh.

Sorry what?! You're travelling for work but have to make up the lost work time at the weekend?! Really? What kind of company do you work for. Work to live don't live to work!

YANBU. You should have just said you have important work to do, but you were being kind. Next time just say no.

No good deed goes unpunished OP!

My laptop only lasts an hour in full charge, a power bank doesn’t help much.

The annoyance is that the OP couldn't work but several things could have happened to prevent this, you should never rely on getting a table and a charger point.

And presumably if there were simply no space when she got on Op would have chalked it up to poor luck. But there was a perfectly suitable space, and Op had it.

Moving so a family can be together is one thing. Moving so a family can leave one person taking up a full table, with their feet up and sleeping so no other people can share the table, is another thing entirely.

Just to add most of the trains I travel on have fold down tables on the twin seats and every few twin seats also has a plug point. Granted I don't go on trains everyday (maybe once or twice a month) but this seems to be the norm round here (South coast) if its not the norm for your area then in future don't move.