It all worked out, they got charged up at their hotel.
I think a lot of it was use error as he was pretty stressed by the whole day. They got off to a bad start by realising that they’d booked a hotel at the wrong port* and, while they were trying to sort this out, it was biblical rain and a thunderstorm so tempers were quite frayed in general. They now on their way to here so I’ve suggested they have a break and charge up at Le Mans. They don’t really need to charge there but there’s a choice of Izivia and Ionity there, both of which have always been rock solid for me. Hopefully that will give them a bit of confidence.
*They arrived at Cherbourg and booked a hotel in Caen, which is their departure port. I haven’t yet asked where they’ve booked for the way back 