When Lucy Brown went on a first date, she came away knowing that the guy she’d met wasn’t for her.
Once she’d left, she messaged to politely let him know she wasn’t interested in meeting up for a second time.
To her surprise, the guy replied with his bank details and a request for her to refund the cash he’d spent on drinks, saying he was “devastated” that they wouldn’t be meeting again - all after just one date.
Lucy refunded the money, but not without letting him know how funny she found the whole situation.
Lucy, 38, from London, had signed up to dating apps Plenty of Fish and Tinder when her three-year long relationship ended just before Christmas.
On Saturday 4 February, she went on her second date since turning single at a Clapham pub.
It was going well and Lucy thought the guy was “normal and sweet” but something didn’t sit right, so afterwards she texted him to let him know she wasn’t interested in meeting up a second time.
She was left in disbelief when the man replied to say he was “devastated” and asked for a “contribution” for the drinks he bought her – finishing the message with his account number and sort code.
After she had ended up taking his watch home by mistake, the mystery man even informed her it was worth €20 (roughly £17) but told her not to post it back because “it’d be too painful to receive the watch in the post and remind me of you”.
Lucy responded to let the man know she had paid him his £42.50 back and donated the same amount again to a donkey sanctuary, claiming she had never laughed so hard.
Lucy, a clothes designer, said: “I had only been using dating apps for about a month, mainly Tinder and Plenty of Fish.
“I met him on Plenty of Fish and I thought he seemed really nice and normal, with a good profession as I’m a career girl and he seemed quite sensible.
“I have been a bit of a date monster [before my last relationship], but I’d only been on one other date with someone else before I met him.
“When I got the text, I was crying with laughter – I honestly thought he was joking. But then I realised he was serious.
“Everyone in my office has been snorting and crying with laughter at the text too.
“People have just been like ‘oh my god, is he joking’ after seeing the message.
“My life does feel a bit ridiculous at the moment. I just think ‘why me?’”
In the text, her canny companion expressed his adoration and disappointment at being jilted and admitted he had saved up to take her on a nice date.
The text reads: “Hi, thanks for your honesty. I had a really nice time with you and the truth is I’m a bit devastated atm having read your note. I really fancied you and saved up some money to take you on a nice date; as it didn’t work out I’d be grateful if you could send along something to contribute for the drinks I spent on you thinking I’d at least get to see you again.
“The total cost of the night was c.£85, and as it’d be too painful to receive the watch in the post and remind me of you I thought that you might be interested to know the cost of that was €20. Happy for you to do what you feel is right, especially considering my badly damaged feelings atm.”
Lucy refunded the guy his money, but not without letting him know how funny she found it all.
She said: “I am a bit surprised – how can he be so devastated about just one date?
“I only ended up with his watch because we were both messing around and he was wearing my hat, so in return he gave me it to wear.
“When we both went to say goodbye we both forgot I still had his watch on.
“I decided to pay him the £42.50 back for my share of the cost, but I also donated the same amount to a donkey sanctuary.
“I saw a post on Facebook about them and I think they are such a lovely charity and they post really funny pictures.
“He has since messaged back and he put ‘I feel like the donkey sanctuary has come out better from this situation’. I just text him back saying ‘eeyore’.”
The Donkey Sanctuary were delighted to hear that Lucy’s quick sense of humour would benefit their animals.
Savanna Myszka, publicity officer at The Donkey Sanctuary, said: “Here at The Donkey Sanctuary we appreciate every donation that funds our life changing work. We were very pleased to hear that Lucy continued to support the Sanctuary in such an interesting situation.”
Lucy’s dating life has become such a topic of ridicule in her office that her colleagues even suggested she write a book about her misfortune and include dating disasters from both her and her friend’s experiences on Tinder and other dating apps.
She said: “Some of my friends have been swapping funny pictures of people on Tinder. There’s definitely different themes of people’s profile pictures.
“There are the guys who post pictures of big fish or the sexy ‘come to bed’ ones with grotty wardrobes behind them or those who are half naked. A lot of others post pictures in front of urinals.
“But I’d say this guy who asked for his money back was definitely the weirdest date I’d ever had.”