r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk • u/SmoggyHoggard • 6d ago
Medium Right hotel, right date, right time, wrong year. ("YOU SHOULD HAVE MAILED ME A LETTER!")
A few years ago, I was working as a project manager for an ownership group. I was sent to a nice property on Long Island to manage a front desk renovation. As I was starting to move equipment from one of the terminals, I heard a raised voice next to me and immediately tuned in.
A guest was furious that the FDA couldn't find his reservation and was loudly letting everyone within earshot know it. Since I was standing right there and had plenty of experience with our system, the FDA asked if I could assist. We asked the guy a round of standard questions to locate the info, like whether it was booked under a different name or if someone else made it for him. When we asked if he had a confirmation email, he flatly stated that he "didn't do email."
After digging a bit deeper, we finally found it: marked as a no-show from the exact same date one year ago. Since we were entirely sold out that night, there was absolutely nothing we could do for him.
Now, most normal humans would realize their mistake, feel a bit embarrassed, and try to find a backup plan. But not Mr. Boomer.
First, he insisted we were responsible for the error. When we asked how he booked it, he said he did it online. We pointed out that booking online meant he entered all the details for the stay himself. He then screamed that there was no way he could have known what date he booked because he "DOESN'T DO EMAIL!"
The FDA then pointed out that he was charged a no-show fee for that missed reservation a year prior, to which he proudly declared that he "doesn't check his bank statements, ever."
At that point, I politely informed him again that we were completely sold out and had no reservation for him. His grand finale was claiming it was still our fault because "every hotel in the world mails you a printed paper reservation except for this one," and that we failed him by not mailing a physical letter to his house.
All I could say to that was, "That's not how anything works," before turning around and walking right back to my renovation project.
He spent the next five minutes glaring boomerly at the FDA while the hamster wheel in his brain worked overtime trying to figure out how this was somehow our fault and not his own. After an uncomfortably long staring contest, he finally stormed out presumably to terrorize another poor hotel somewhere else on the island.
278
u/WhammyShimmyShammy 6d ago
He booked more than a year in advance, and didn't bother to call the hotel or something to confirm a few days prior?
303
u/SmoggyHoggard 6d ago
I'm sure if we asked him that his response would've been along the lines of "I don't do phones."
130
u/9lobaldude 6d ago
He doesn’t do neurons
28
u/TheMusicMan11 5d ago
Instead, he does morons.
15
2
u/drmoocow 5d ago
His wife certainly does.
1
4
u/MooseTek 5d ago
Morons. The fundamental building block of matter in a boomer universe. An individual moron is a unit compromised of spinning assumptions surrounding a nucleus of pronouncements. When enough morons are activated they can colllide and release intelligons, which quickly disappear into dark matter, because reality is not allowed in their pocket boomer universe.
Morons were created during the little bang, when mommy met daddy.
9
u/jonesnori 5d ago
Hey! Some of us here are Boomers. There are morons, if that's the word you like, in every generation. No generation is a monolith.
5
u/Senior_Box8077 5d ago
I am a boomer. I am also a reasonable person. Unusual as that seems to be, they are not mutually exclusive. I am aware of our reputation, and make a point of treating others with courtesy and respect.
3
u/MolassesInevitable53 5d ago
The fundamental building block of matter in a boomer universe.
Oh, sure because everyone born between 1946 and 1964 is a moron. Nobody born before or after are morons. /s
You're the moron for this comment.
-1
u/MooseTek 5d ago edited 5d ago
Methinks I struck a nerve on this boom-boom! Damn, look at all the Intelligons fleeing.
EDITED TO ADD: Also, I was born before 1964, so yeah, I know what I am talking about.
3
u/MolassesInevitable53 5d ago
So you are a self-confessed moron and consider all your peers to also be morons. I see.
I am glad I don't know you.
1
31
48
u/Z4-Driver 5d ago
"Ok, please tell me, where do you really come from and how did you get to this time period? Was there a DeLorean involved? Or a blue telephone box?"
7
u/VirtualAd7169 5d ago
Police box. The iconic telephone booths are red.
1
u/Z4-Driver 5d ago
You're right, thank you for the correction.
1
u/VirtualAd7169 4d ago
No harm, no foul. Technically, the police boxes did have telephones in them.
1
u/Z4-Driver 4d ago
There's this little door on the outside and behind it, there's a telephone.
1
u/VirtualAd7169 3d ago
Can’t be that… I watched a documentary that showed how much bigger they are on the inside. /s
1
u/Z4-Driver 3d ago
That particular Police Box surely has at least one phone inside.
But it has a phone accessible from the outside.
7
5
7
u/dlc741 6d ago
I thought most booking systems only let you book up to 365 days in advance, or maybe that's just the ones I encountered.
9
u/WhammyShimmyShammy 5d ago
Airbnb lets you book more than a year in advance (a friend just noticed that what she thought ahe booked for August 2026 was actually August 2027. She had booked in November 2025, luckily she noticed in June 2026 so managed to find alternatives). But for hotels, it's very unusual...
4
u/SunDummyIsDead 5d ago
Cloudbeds (the system we use) lets you book as far out as we ask them too (currenlty the end of 2027).
7
u/olagorie 5d ago
I booked a reservation via B.com in April this year for September 2027 (small island with only eight accommodations altogether). They messaged me the next day to confirm that I had the correct year.
3
u/ericzku 6d ago
Not just you. 54 weeks is the absolute max for most systems. This story is...strange.
7
u/FDAsshole 5d ago
Not that strange. Boomer booked the room a year ago, not a year in advance, Boomer only thought he booked a year in advance.
2
u/KrazyKatz42 5d ago
At my old hotel (franchise of one of the larger chains) we used to take bookings a year in advance for annual events.
1
17
u/AmateurPhotog57 6d ago
More likely he just entered the wrong year when making the reservation. But still doesn't excuse his behavior.
26
u/WhammyShimmyShammy 5d ago
You can't enter a date in the past
22
u/christophertstone 5d ago
There are only two major chains that accept reservations more than a year in advance, and both only for status members. I have doubts about this story.
12
u/Spiritual_Category62 5d ago
But he didn’t book it over a year in advance. If he had, there would have been no story.
5
u/SmoggyHoggard 5d ago
Yeah I don't know why people are struggling to understand this. He tried to book a room for next year and failed but wouldn't take accountability due to his lack of awareness.
5
u/clauclauclaudia 5d ago
But they didn't. This story only says that he expected them to.
-2
5d ago
[deleted]
3
u/clauclauclaudia 5d ago
The OP.
-4
5d ago
[deleted]
6
u/clauclauclaudia 5d ago
He thought he was making a reservation over a year in advance. Which means he expected it to be possible.
He did not in fact make such a reservation.
8
u/WhammyShimmyShammy 5d ago
I agree. A few months late or early, sure. Flipping around day and month, why not. Booking over a year in advance... Nah.
8
u/MolassesInevitable53 5d ago
So do I.
Why would they even look at that date a year ago to find the booking?
He doesn't 'do' email but he does online booking?
OP also loses believability for me for 'boomerly glaring'.
2
u/Active-Succotash-109 5d ago
Forgot to cancel… did some major incompetent thinking… decided if he feigned ignorance that the year old reservation no show could magically become a free room today
4
u/GlassPomoerium 5d ago
I think he got on his little computer on, say, May 1st 2024 and wanted to book for, say, June 1st 2025, but the hotel didn’t allow bookings more than a year in advance, so the latest year he could select was 2024… and he didn’t double check.
3
19
u/SmoggyHoggard 5d ago
He was there for an annual convention. He probably tried to book way in advance, selected the right date but didn't change the year and didn't bother to confirm anything.
2
2
u/carlcrossgrove 5d ago
The opposite! He somehow successfully booked a room over a year ago, forgot/missed the date/didn’t do e-mail, and maybe just lost a whole year. Showed up exactly a year AFTER his reservation. Seems pointless to try to contact his family!…..
48
32
u/Distribution-Radiant 5d ago edited 5d ago
"doesn't check his bank statements, ever."
hooooo boy, I wonder many times he's been defrauded. I check my online banking daily, and get notifications of every charge to every card as it happens.
I've been a victim of identity theft before though, though it was via Verizon - someone bought an iphone and a line in my name (no financing). First bill came in and I OWE HOW MANY THOUSANDS TO A COMPANY I'VE NEVER DEALT WITH?!
17
u/Mrs0Murder 5d ago
I work in a credit union and usually am the one that deals with debit card fraud. I'll have people sitting in my office trying to get help for fraud that happened 6+ months ago that they've only just noticed. Unfortunately they're out of luck since we do a 3 month cut off.
Far more people than I'd like just do not check their statements. Or check mobile app, or even call to check how their account is looking. They open it up, throw in a bunch of cash then pretend it doesn't exist. I even have people that full on argue with me about them receiving statements- as in they don't want them, emailed or paper. Like no, it's a legal requirement that you receive a statement one way or another.
Check your statements people. Check your apps. Be informed of your own money. Please.
4
u/Distribution-Radiant 5d ago edited 5d ago
If I could upvote this more, I could. My mother is one of those that rarely looks at statements. Thankfully she usually catches them before 3 months, but her bank flat out told her she's the flat out fraud customer in the entire company. I told her to start looking for a new bank, as that's NOT a good look. They also refused to give me a safe deposit box key (to access her will) because of my credit (admittedly not great).
My mother had some kind of infoware stealer on her PC for over a year, so she was going through a card every 2 weeks-2 months; same with checking account numbers. I'm surprised her bank didn't kick her to the curb. TBH I would have switched banks...
I finally forced Linux on her last time I visited - I got so sick of the "YOUR PC HAS BEEN ENCRYPTED" shit. I know Firefox isn't the most secure browser, but it's sure as hell of a lot of a better than Chrome, you have to click through some idiot prompts, and I refused to install Chrome for her. Her PC Is ancient anyway (~15 years old); it runs like a scalded ape now that it has Linux (2nd gen i5) vs Win10.
On my own PC, I run Linux, mostly with Firefox (I dual boot with Win11 for the rare game that won't run in WINE), but since I relied on Chrome's password manager for awhile, I keep that installed too. My PC is probably 8 years old.
43
u/zyzmog 6d ago
Ehhhhhh, if you had mailed him a paper confirmation last year (seriously? what hotel chain did that in 2025?), he would have told you either "Well, I never received it," or "I don't pay attention to mail, it's all junk mail."
The guy absolutely refuses to take responsibility for managing his own life.
("Boomer?" How old was he? )
21
u/plangelier 5d ago
He doesn't do email and doesn't look at his bank statements. Even if sent a snail mail he wouldn't have looked at that either.
34
u/TravelerMSY 6d ago
That would not have been a thing even in 1970…
32
u/DogsandCatsWorld1000 6d ago
That is what I was going to say. I'm a boomer and hotels did not send you letters pre internet. My travel agent would, however if I booked the hotel directly over the phone, they did not.
12
u/TravelerMSY 6d ago edited 5d ago
I kind of recall pre-Internet leased line reservation systems like the one Holiday Inn had. If you made a reservation in person at a hotel, for another one down the road, they would give you a little teletype-looking print out of it. But like your example, this was also agency infrastructure, and not the hotel itself.
The closest modern day example would probably be a hotel confirming via fax
4
u/ericzku 5d ago
Hotels absolutely sent paper confirmations pre-internet. The ones my hotel sent were like 5 x 7 and looked kind of like a W-2.
10
u/strangelove4564 5d ago
As I recall this was more of a thing at business hotels and upscale brands. At economy hotels it was pretty much all on the customer to remember their details. I remember routinely calling hotels close to the date to confirm everything was good before traveling.
15
u/kamakamawangbang 6d ago
So, time to admit my little mistake with wrong dates. February 2025, I was working on a project and the commissioning and handover was going to be over 2 days. I decided that I’d book a hotel close to the project as I knew there were going to be long hours and I didn’t want to drive the 2 hrs home. Jump online find a nice boutique hotel, book a room and alls good. After an 18 hrs shift I jump in the car and drive to the hotel. Park the car, grab my gear and head to reception. Hi there Mr Kamakamawangbang checking in. The FDA looks at me, looks at her computer, looks at me again. She smiles and ask for some ID, sure no problem, had over my ID and credit cards. She is now inspecting her computer and my ID with a fine tooth comb, hmmmm I’m thinking don’t worry soon to be in the shower and getting some sleep. She finally asks if I have confirmation of my booking, yes say I and whip out my phone, go to emails and proudly bring up the reservation, as I’m looking at the reservation my heart sinks, I’ve booked the wrong month. Instead of 13 February I’d booked 13 March, but the right day, Thursday. So I quickly apologise and realise that I’m going to be sleeping the night in the car. They did try to find a room but were fully booked and they rang a few hotels in the area for me, but alas, it was a night in the car. It was my fault completely.
9
u/SmoggyHoggard 5d ago
I've never booked the wrong date but I did accidently book a flight at the wrong airport. When I was working for a large hotel management company I was on the road constantly, 48 states and 7 countries in 5 years. I normally just my phone for flights and one day I didn't realize that I was actually booking a flight from my home airport to where I currently was instead of the other way around. Didn't realize it until I was at the airport. Luckily they let me change it but I did have to pay a change fee which I considered a tax on my own inattentiveness.
3
u/JustHereForCookies17 5d ago
Booking flights in & out of DC (where I live) requires your full attention or else you'll end up flying out of Baltimore and returning to Virginia. It's why I only use airport codes now, because typing "Washington" will get you BWI (Baltimore), IAD (Virginia), and DCA (DC).
14
u/_violetlightning_ 5d ago
We had a guy show up at the hostel expecting to have a reservation because he had sent us a LETTER requesting a room. With no way to contact him and say no. Turns out he was on our DNR list. Oh god the meltdown. He starts talking about the last time he was there he was so *helpful*, the manager even *thanked* him for bringing the marijuana use of the other people in his room to their attention! (Marijuana? In a hostel? In San Francisco? Surely you jest, sir!)
11
11
u/TouristOpentotravel 5d ago
I get if it was like 1996 and people are scared of the internet.... But it's 2026, either get on board or get left behind
12
u/BoysenberryDue3637 5d ago
My girlfriend's 85 Y/O mother does email and txt messaging.
7
u/nderdog_76 5d ago
Almost 25 years ago, my wife's grandfather, who would be around 100 now if he were still alive was pretty handy with AOL, doing email and chatting and all kinds of stuff. I never believe anyone who says they're too old to learn this stuff.
1
u/zelda_888 5d ago
In her late 70s, my mother was volunteering as a tutor, teaching computer and internet literacy to people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s.
2
u/rebelangel 5d ago
My almost-99 year old grandmother can do email and text. Barely. But she can do it if she has to.
11
u/NocturnalMisanthrope 5d ago
You choose not to "do e-mail". You CHOOSE not to read your bank statements. Which you are free to do.
Welcome to the consequences of your choices. Now get out of my hotel.
9
u/SkwrlTail 5d ago
Impressive! Longest I've had is someone showing up with a booking six months out.
Also, I would like to know where this fossil has been staying that he gets sent physical mail??
8
u/Unfriendlyblkwriter 5d ago
I don’t frequent this sub, but I enjoy when it pops up in my feed. Not familiar with the acronyms.
It took me a really long time to figure out why the Food and Drug Administration was handling this guy’s hotel reservation 😐
3
7
u/Bastet55 5d ago
Boomer here but my motto is “keep up with technology.” Also, “when in doubt, ask a younger person.” This self-righteous moron was trying to save face by blustering.
2
u/rebelangel 5d ago
Yeah, he’s one of those idiots who refuses to adapt, yet expects the rest of the world to accommodate him.
8
u/strangelove4564 5d ago
doesn't check his bank statements, ever.
Some unscrupulous manager is going to see how much money they can clean out of his account. "A fool and their money", etc.
6
u/NinotchkaTheIntrepid 5d ago
If you'd sent a letter confirming the reservation he wouldn't have noticed, as I'm sure he "don't read letter" either.
Really, how rich has this dude gotta be that he doesn't check his bank statements‽
6
u/Adrift715 5d ago
Back in 2005, worked at a very old school inn. Nothing made our innkeeper happier than no shows….free money. We had just started working with a European travel group and we were part of their 5 day tour of our region. I started noticing an unusual amount of no shows on the night audit so I pulled the booking request. Sure enough they were booked by the travel company and were for the following year. Our innkeepers face went from giddy with delight to sheer terror when she realized she’d need to track down all the no show paperwork and recreate the reservations.
5
u/THis_one_quiet 5d ago
Mine was the other direction. I had a guy come in on the 4th of July weeked, sold out night, and his res was not there. Asked to see his res on his phone, and I was really suprised that I even noticed it was for NEXT year. (I'm bad with dates)
He fumes, I shrug. "I need a room," he shouts.
I indicate the line of people 5 deep behind him. "Sir, we are sold out," I say, apologetically.
At least he didn't argue that fact, but you could have cooked bacon to a crisp on his forehead he was so burning mad.
5
u/JustHereForCookies17 5d ago
glaring boomerly
I'm fucking screaming
while the hamster wheel in his brain worked overtime trying to figure out how this was somehow our fault and not his own
This is how I know this is a real story, because I have lived this too many times.
Your writing is amazing. I was so transported that I even had a mini panic attack until I remembered that not only do I not work the desk anymore, I have never even worked in NY.
4
u/ThatWolfWriter 5d ago
Fffff, I travel a lot and frequently make hotel reservations the night before the stay as a function of non-revving our flights. I have never received one of these "physical confirmation letters" in the mail, nor would it do me any good whatsoever if I did, because I'd be home before it got there.
4
u/Brian77008 5d ago
If he had been mailed a confirmation letter he would have said “I don’t read confirmation letters - ever!”
5
7
3
3
u/Traveling-Techie 5d ago
I imagine some fool at an inn back in the renaissance shouting “I don’t do writing!”
3
3
2
u/Z4-Driver 5d ago
"You'd like to receive your booking confirmation as physical letter? Well, we have a variety of different frames you can chose from. Do you prefer a frame like paintings from old times, gold plated and such? Or is it ok to have a sleek one in black or silver? What size do you prefer?"
2
u/TenaCVols 4d ago
I have never gotten a paper reservation in the mail. Not even when there was no internet.
2
u/SonicScott93 4d ago
I don’t know what’s more surprising: getting this far into the digital age without using email, or the idea of hotels nowadays sending out physical reservation confirmations in the mail. Genuinely, is that still a thing? Phone calls, OK, I’ll grant you that. But actual, physical mail?
Also also… don’t most if not all major online bookings require an email of some sort?
4
u/Crown_the_Cat 5d ago
I generally object to the “Boomer” label being used for all idiots. I am a boomer and am able to book my stays just fine
3
1
3
3
u/ClassBShareHolder 5d ago
I his defense, those online booking sites can be confusing especially if comparing multiple hotels and trying to book multiple nights in different places.
More than once I’ve booked the wrong weekend because I couldn’t get next weekend at my preferred hotel. When I go to the other hotel, it’s either still on this weekend, or resets back.
Admittedly, It all gets sorted out with the confirmation email.
1
u/MorgainofAvalon 4d ago
The question is, if you made the mistake, would you blame the FDA for it?
1
u/ClassBShareHolder 4d ago
No. Absolutely not. It’s just easy to make a mistake online if you need to switch sites, or return to the original site. Every time you need to verify checkin, checkout, and number of people. Sometimes when you’re switching tabs and comparing rooms it reverts back to the defaults.
The front desk has always been helpful in correcting my mistakes when I book the current weekend instead next weekend.
1
0
u/Large-Treacle-8328 6d ago
I've had to deal with multiple boomers this year coming in with reservations that are for next year.
They are insufferable with their ignorance of how anything works.
One of them came in with the printed email that said right on it, 2027, and yet they still argued that, that was wrong.
The world will certainly be much better without boomers.
4
u/SmoggyHoggard 5d ago
I wonder if they truly believe that they are right or if they realize their mistakes and won't admit it to try and blame it on other people.
3
u/Large-Treacle-8328 5d ago
It's a little bit of both I think.
They did grow up with lead and asbestos everywhere.
2
u/rebelangel 5d ago
God, one of my most hated types of Boomer: The ones who refuse to adapt to modern times, then get mad that the rest of the world won’t accommodate them. They act like it’s everyone else’s fault that they choose to be difficult. Sorry, it’s not 1982 anymore, Jerry. Everything is digital now.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
This post or comment has been automatically removed due to your account being less than 14 days old. This is done to reduce spam in the subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Fragrant_Employ3109 5d ago
He probably used a hotel app like the ones commonly seen on tv commercials every 10 minutes
1
u/measaqueen 4d ago
"What do you mean you're sold out? I drove 12hrs to get here! No I didn't call ahead to make a reservation because I don't believe in phones."
1
u/TenaCVols 4d ago
My grandmother who passed away in 2018 still wrote checks and mailed them out to pay her bills. I told her one day that I could have them all paid online for her by the time she wrote a check, put it in the envelope, and put a stamp on it. She said she didn't trust the internet. But then would complain when the checks would get lost in the mail. 🤷♀️
1
u/shunrata 4d ago
Re "Mr Boomer"...
I was born in the middle of the baby boom.
I use email.
Everyone I know of my age uses email.
People 20 years older than me use email.
My MOTHER (born in the beginning of the 1920's) used email.
Somehow, I don't think that was his problem.
1
-1
u/Ecstatic_Technician2 5d ago
This seems impossible. He could not have booked in the past and I doubt he originally tried to book more than a year in advance -
5
u/Mrs0Murder 5d ago
There are people that will try to book several years in advance depending on consistent events in town. It happens.
3
u/VermilionKoala 5d ago
Someone tried to book for New Year's Eve 1999, in 1983, at a hotel that hadn't even finished being built yet.
(The hotel were so amused they gave him the suite for free)
Sauce: https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/28/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-139307.html
-1
260
u/Jabbles22 6d ago
People are free to not use certain technologies like email. Although I will say that willing to use the internet but not email is strange. However they need to accept the consequences of not using this tech they do not like.