It all sounds like something of a misunderstanding...I would like to know if it's actually a club, as in non profit, or if it's a commercial enterprise and the owner is just that. I'm in France, where we do have a lot of non profit associations, and usually the pilot is expected to sort out the return to base. If, for whatever reason, this isn't possible then the club will normally send another aircraft, with the ferry pilots paying half usual rate. The club swallows the rest. There is also a bit of insurance thrown in with the FFA membership that we all have, to cover such happenings. We tend to only claim on the problems that happen a long way from home.
Fifteen minutes away? Might send a car.
Just one thought. Was this a fairly local flight or were you returning from a fair distance away? Because if it was a short trip, something went wrong with the trip planning and forecast. Did it look like the wx was going to be comfortably VMC all day? Personally, and that's just my two pennies worth, I would have been inclined to stay with the aircraft and wait for a short clearance, unless it was getting close to dark.