Occitanie: he takes a Blablacar between Montpellier and Toulouse… and spends the night on a motorway rest area
This Monday, January 2, a 20-year-old student was abandoned by the driver of his BlaBlaCar on the Narbonne-Vinassan area, on the A9, while he was making the Montpellier – Toulouse trip. He will spend the night on the motorway rest area before the Blablacar platform comes to his rescue.
Here is a year 2023 which begins in difficulty for this young student of 20 years, Briccio. This Monday, January 2, the latter was literally abandoned by his driver BlaBlaCar on the Narbonne-Vinassan area, on the A9, report The Independent.
That day, the young man had to travel between Montpellier and Toulouse. For this, he reserves a place in the vehicle of an expert Nathan, via the carpooling application. The departure is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in Montpellier. “The driver was rated 4.9/5, he explains. There were about thirty comments that were correct. I generally trust reviews.
In the vehicle, a second person is present and together they take the road towards Toulouse. “Around 6 p.m., we arrived at the Narbonne-Vinassan motorway rest area, he adds. I needed to go to the bathroom.” The student then gets out of the vehicle and explains that when he returned, the BlaBlaCar driver was no longer present. “At first I thought he had just changed places. I then tried to call him, but I got his answering machine.”
The night in a convenience store
After more than half an hour of hoping, the young man realizes that his driver left without him. It was therefore around 6:30 p.m. that he began to seek help. “With the convenience store staff, we tried to call taxis or Ubers, but they weren’t available. I tried to warn BlaBlaCar and hitchhike, but without success. In the end, I passed at night in the convenience store on the motorway rest area.”
For now it’s 01:22 am and I’m still stuck on a motorway service area so if someone passes between Narbonne and Montpellier help please rt it’s cold I’m two hours from home https://t.co/1JeqZzx62H pic.twitter.com/roWNoQtnXe
— bridicule (@bdsweavy) January 3, 2023
It was not until the next day, Tuesday January 3 around 11 a.m., that Briccio managed to get in touch with the carpooling platform. “They sent me a taxi, says the student. It allowed me to go to Narbonne station. From there, I boarded a train to go to Toulouse. I took another to go to Albi where I had to go the day before. I finally arrived home, but 24 hours late. I tried to contact the driver again, but I got no response, he leaves me in sight.”
Contacted by email, BlaBlaCar ensures that “When his messages were reported to us, our priority was to contact him to provide him with assistance and to organize the end of his trip by taxi and train. His journey as well as his additional expenses will be reimbursed to him.” The platform also states that “However, these are very rare cases, which are treated on a case-by-case basis to provide the most appropriate and humane solution.”
Regarding the driver, no decision has been made yet. The site wishes to take “the measures planned as soon as the exact circumstances of this event are defined.”