Seat reservations is a topic that I feel very strongly about. If I know a service is going to be busy, then I'll go to a ticket office and reserve a seat the day before. I know that I have a seat for that journey, so I have no problem.
Unfortunately, about a month ago I travelled on the 1713 Bristol Temple M to Paignton service. Despite the fact the Cheltenham races were on, CrossCountry still thought that a single 220 would be enough capacity for this service, even though on non-race days this service is still particularly busy as its peak time out of Bristol. I was travelling with a friend and we were booked for the two window seats opposite a table, one backwards one forwards. We were travelling to Exeter. When I got on the train, three out of the four seats across the table were occupied. One guy was facing backwards and was fast asleep and I woke him up and said he was in my friend’s seat and he moved. The two other people sat opposite in both forward facing seats were a young couple travelling from Tamworth to Newton Abbot; they were in the right seating area but not in the correct seats. They were booked for the two aisle seats across the table. However they thought they were next to each other. I politely told the male who was sat on the outside that he was in the wrong seat and asked him to go to the correct seat; unfortunately, he was very drunk (this was in the Quiet Zone as well!). He said 'I'm not being funny but can you show me evidence as I'm not a good mood as it is'. I told I wasn’t either and I showed him our seat reservation ticket and he said okay. He then asked where exactly we were supposed to be sat. I told him the two window seats, pointing at them. He failed to grasp that he and his partner were supposed to be in the aisle seats, even though I showed him the seating plan above and the reservations on the overhead racks. As the train was already running about ten minutes late and this ''debate'' between myself and this male companion was going on for at least five minutes, people were still trying to get on the train so I said 'Look, we'll sit on the outside instead, but you need to know what you're doing next time''. It did make sense in the end as we were getting off before them so it was better to sit on the outside. The guy had moved opposite his partner at this point. However, we then ended up striking a ''friendship'' (if you could call it that) and he was talking general rubbish as he was so drunk! In the end I said we were getting off at Taunton and moved to the next coach as I'd had enough at this point!! I noticed that he’d had seven cans of Stella since Birmingham!
I get increasingly annoyed with people who sit in your reserved seat, despite the fact that there is a white label sticking out of the seat saying it's reserved. On my usual train I tend to reserve the same seat, where possible, and I know where it is in the carriage when I board. I caught one businessman one day looking at the reservation on my seat as I was getting on and making my way to it, and he read the reservation label, but continued to sit in it anyway! When I told him it was my seat, he acted all innocent and said 'oh, sorry, I completely misread'. Rubbish!
In fairness, I'm a little more forgiving for elderly or disabled passengers or pregnant women, but for people who just sit there anyway really do annoy me. I have to admit, I’m particularly fussy as I can’t travel backwards and I do need a window seat as I get claustrophobic in the aisles and like to rest my body against the window slightly, but even so.