"I would like to confirm a reservation"

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Copperhead

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This is a matter of privacy.... What would you do? Names changed - all else is real.
Yesterday received a call in the AM caller ID states "John Smith". Male voice states he is calling to confirm a reservation for Jane Doe. I ask for when, he states he is unsure of the date. (First red flag) I state I need more information, he said it would be this month. I looked, no Jane Doe reservation and told him so.
As indicated, it was suspicious but we do get some business bookings that others call to confirm - or even a couple, one booking the other calling to confirm.
Then yesterday evening another call from same number. Same male voice states he is calling to confirm a reservation for Joe Smith. (Humm???) I confront him with the fact he had called earlier in the day. He, squeamishly replys yes. I quickly told him that I could not confirm this information with anyone else than the person with the reservation.
Of course this could possibly be a legitimate call, but if so, he should have acted quickly to state his reason. I could not in good faith give this person any info. He could be a jealous ex-boyfriend or a suspicious husband - who knows and although I am not in favor of that type of behavior, they are adults and must find their own way. And as for "John Smith" he would be best to move on...he must have other reasons to speculate.
 
Copperhead said:
be a legitimate call, but if so, he should have acted quickly to state his reason. I could not in good faith give this person any info. He could be a jealous ex-boyfriend or a suspicious husband - who knows and although I am not in favor of that type of behavior, they are adults and must find their own way. And as for "John Smith" he would be best to move on...he must have other reasons to speculate.
Copperhead, you did the right thing. And for the reasons you lay out here. If Jane wanted John to know she was staying there, she'd have told him. If he's snooping around to find out, that only means trouble.
These things can not only get ugly, they can get downright dangerous.
You did the right thing to stay clear of it.
The only thing I might do at this point is to contact Jane and let her know about the call. If it's a legitimate scheduling question or just confusion, she'll be happy to have it cleared up. It it's something else (and it doesn't sound good), she'll have a heads up.
 
Copperhead said:
be a legitimate call, but if so, he should have acted quickly to state his reason. I could not in good faith give this person any info. He could be a jealous ex-boyfriend or a suspicious husband - who knows and although I am not in favor of that type of behavior, they are adults and must find their own way. And as for "John Smith" he would be best to move on...he must have other reasons to speculate.
Copperhead, you did the right thing. And for the reasons you lay out here. If Jane wanted John to know she was staying there, she'd have told him. If he's snooping around to find out, that only means trouble.
These things can not only get ugly, they can get downright dangerous.
You did the right thing to stay clear of it.
The only thing I might do at this point is to contact Jane and let her know about the call. If it's a legitimate scheduling question or just confusion, she'll be happy to have it cleared up. It it's something else (and it doesn't sound good), she'll have a heads up..
When making that call, it should be expressed as 'business as usual, 'Hello Jane, this is a courtesy call from XYZ B&B to confirm with you your reservation for tomorrow. Will you be needing any additional directions? We have your arrival time as approximately 4 PM. See you then. Have a safe trip!'
As an aside, we had an interesting call our first year. Woman calls and makes rez for herself and her (female) partner. The day of the rez a man calls and says he wants to verify his arrival time. I ask for his name, no one here by that name. He says he is going to be in the woman's room. I say if he is meeting her here she will have to verify that. No, he is taking her room, she is not coming.
I have heard zip from the woman that she is not coming and now I have some guy showing up who claims to be her ex husband. I'm figuring if they all show up it's an episode of Geraldo in the making.
Finally reach woman and she comfirms the guy is her ex husband and yes he is taking the room and she's sorry, she never gave it a thought that we might be concerned!
 
Whatever you do make sure the deposit has been run!
I think we once had a guest whose husband "allowed" her to go away for some work event but was closely monitoring her every move. He repeatedly called the inn asking her to phone him. What a creep! You would feel the stress in his voice, she could not possibly be away from HIM and having a good time.
 
Interesting that you each think this 'Jane' has a reservation... I never said that she did and neither does the male name he asked for. No deposit is run because there is no reservation.
Morticia, I was not calling to confirm a reservation - I received the call! And twice. Asking about reservations for 2 different people but could not specify the dates.
The issue was brought up as a privacy issue only...
 
Interesting that you each think this 'Jane' has a reservation... I never said that she did and neither does the male name he asked for. No deposit is run because there is no reservation.
Morticia, I was not calling to confirm a reservation - I received the call! And twice. Asking about reservations for 2 different people but could not specify the dates.
The issue was brought up as a privacy issue only....
I was really commenting back to I2G about how to approach a conversation to the guest if there was a concern about her safety if someone was checking up on her. (See how far off the mark these threads end up!)
The tough part is, that guy could have had a female call and make the same inquiries about 'her' reservation if he really was checking up on someone. At that point, it's a tough call. Is this really the guest or not? I guess if there was a question you could also ask for a confirmation number. That he called back and asked for a guy is kind of telling.
We do get a lot of calls in the summer that start off, 'This is embarrassing, but I made a reservation a few months ago and don't remember where...'
I start off with their name and go from there. Do they remember the room name? Any details that might help me place the correct B&B? But it could just as easily be a ruse to find out if someone is staying here.
 
copperhead, you said you got the caller to confirm he had in fact called earlier. did he give any plausible reason for calling you? did he hang up right away?
if not to check up on someone who might be staying with you (unless of course he is trying to discover where a particular couple is staying, first by asking about the female, then calling again to ask about the male. like i might be trying to track down an ex with new partner or whatever), then why the calls? what do you think was going on?
and ... no ... i simply told people i was unable to give out guest information. but if i had a guest with a reservation someone called about, i would call the guest and give them the info that i received such a call.
 
OMGosh that brings up an episode from a few years ago. I hadn't thought about it until now.
We had a single woman stay with us for a few days. She needed a break, you could tell. A week after she checked out, we get a call from a man asking if she stayed here and with whom. Huh???? My husband said he could not give out any information pertaining to guests and the guy on the other end threatened to "come over and beat you to a pulp"
We are very careful as to what we confirm over the phone and also which cancellations we take from whom, having had an incident where someone canceled a reservation which should not have been canceled
 
OMGosh that brings up an episode from a few years ago. I hadn't thought about it until now.
We had a single woman stay with us for a few days. She needed a break, you could tell. A week after she checked out, we get a call from a man asking if she stayed here and with whom. Huh???? My husband said he could not give out any information pertaining to guests and the guy on the other end threatened to "come over and beat you to a pulp"
We are very careful as to what we confirm over the phone and also which cancellations we take from whom, having had an incident where someone canceled a reservation which should not have been canceled.
IrisoftheWayfarer said:
My husband said he could not give out any information pertaining to guests and the guy on the other end threatened to "come over and beat you to a pulp"
Yikes!!!!!
 
OMGosh that brings up an episode from a few years ago. I hadn't thought about it until now.
We had a single woman stay with us for a few days. She needed a break, you could tell. A week after she checked out, we get a call from a man asking if she stayed here and with whom. Huh???? My husband said he could not give out any information pertaining to guests and the guy on the other end threatened to "come over and beat you to a pulp"
We are very careful as to what we confirm over the phone and also which cancellations we take from whom, having had an incident where someone canceled a reservation which should not have been canceled.
IrisoftheWayfarer said:
My husband said he could not give out any information pertaining to guests and the guy on the other end threatened to "come over and beat you to a pulp"
Yikes!!!!!
.
Yes, yikes but nothing ever happened. I nearly freaked out back then.
 
copperhead, you said you got the caller to confirm he had in fact called earlier. did he give any plausible reason for calling you? did he hang up right away?
if not to check up on someone who might be staying with you (unless of course he is trying to discover where a particular couple is staying, first by asking about the female, then calling again to ask about the male. like i might be trying to track down an ex with new partner or whatever), then why the calls? what do you think was going on?
and ... no ... i simply told people i was unable to give out guest information. but if i had a guest with a reservation someone called about, i would call the guest and give them the info that i received such a call..
No reason was given and just said OK when I said I was unable to provide any further information to him.
Since the caller ID showed an area code at least 3 hours away, I knew it was not someone local checking on a friend or family member reservation. Only conclusion is that he was checking on an ex...
 
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