Can this happen to my e-mail?

CuppaCocoa

I use G Mail and have never had any problems with it. I regularly run scans, use ccleaner and AVG. Recently I booked a room in a well known Dublin hotel as a treat for my partner. We exchanged e-mails and everything was sorted for Saturday (11th Oct) or so I thought!

Arrived at check in only to find no sign of my booking. To make a long story short, they eventually found it but booked under a 'Jack Meoff' :rolleyes:. Yea, yea, I know! I was very annoyed and presumed someone in the hotel was having a laugh at our expense (we're a same-sex couple). Anyway I sent an e-mail of complaint to the hotel today and received a phone call from them. They told me that they had received an e-mail from me requesting a name-change and that they had changed it and sent me back a confirmation e-mail. Never happened :rolleyes:. They more or less suggested that it was my doing and they had nothing to do with it. I asked for a copy of this e-mail to be forwarded to me so I could see for myself. I'm still waiting.

My question is - is this a common thing? Can something like this happen that my g-mail account can be hijacked like this? It's the first time that something like this has ever happened to me and I'm a bit sceptical. I think they're trying to cover up for someone. How can I get to the bottom of this?

FSL

Spoofing the from address in an email is child's play.

My money would be on an employee.

If bad publicity would be costly for them then get your solicitor to write them a letter requesting a copy of the email together with the email headers.

CuppaCocoa

FSL wrote: »

Spoofing the from address in an email is child's play.

My money would be on an employee.

If bad publicity would be costly for them then get your solicitor to write them a letter requesting a copy of the email together with the email headers.

I thought so too! We've had quite a few e-mail exchanges and phone calls since yesterday over this. The hotel is now saying that that they sent me an e-mail confirmation with a booking reference number but mis-spelled my e-mail address by leaving out the last letter. The owner of this (valid) e-mail address then (allegedly) made the name change. I have requested copies of this correspondence so I can see it for myself. :rolleyes:

MarkR

Any chance you left yourself logged in from another device? You can also check login history for gmail, you can find out more here.

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/check-gmail-login-activity/

I would be doing as you are, requesting a copy of the emails sent and received in relation to your booking.

CuppaCocoa

MarkR wrote: »

Any chance you left yourself logged in from another device? You can also check login history for gmail, you can find out more here.

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/check-gmail-login-activity/

I would be doing as you are, requesting a copy of the emails sent and received in relation to your booking.

Absolutely not. They've admitted to sending the booking confirmation to the wrong address. The owner of this address then (allegedly) changed the name on the booking. They didn't bother checking with me to see if this suspicious name change originated from me and when I went to check in, the hapless receptionist actually read out the changed name instead of using his judgement and keeping his gob shut :eek:

MarkR

I see. No malice by the hotel so, but from an internet randomer. You'll probably get a free night away out of it. It does sound like it was a bit too easy to dupe the hotel.

CuppaCocoa

MarkR wrote: »

I see. No malice by the hotel so, but from an internet randomer. You'll probably get a free night away out of it. It does sound like it was a bit too easy to dupe the hotel.

Hmmm, I did e-mail the owner of the similar address to mine to see if it was a valid e-mail. He replied in what looked like an Indian language but his name is very American

The hotel are being very stubborn about this. I eventually received a screenshot of the changes made on their system by the owner of the similar e-mail. They show the automated e-mail sent to the bogus owner and the name change made by them. I did argue that this name change should have been flagged by the hotel as suspicious like 'Mr. Kiss Mearse' but seemingly there is nothing in place to deal with this.

I don't want anything from the hotel and would refuse it if it were offered. I just want them to acknowledge that they screwed up by using the incorrect e-mail address thus allowing funny guy to get in on the act!

MarkR

For all you know, the person making the change may not have even had english as their first language, or it just may not have clicked as amusing. I would enquire from head office (if there is one) what is their policy on name changes, to see if it was follwed.

KeithTS

Personally I would just get on with your life. If this is the most atrocious thing that happens to you this week you're having a good week by most peoples standards,

Doesn't sound like anything sinister with your email account as they admitted making a typo.

CuppaCocoa

KeithTS wrote: »

Personally I would just get on with your life. If this is the most atrocious thing that happens to you this week you're having a good week by most peoples standards,

Doesn't sound like anything sinister with your email account as they admitted making a typo.

Thank you for the words of wisdom :rolleyes:. Originally they did not accept responsibility and accused me of making the change. That's when I became worried. It was only yesterday they admitted their mistake.

Yes, I am having a good week :P

Mods, can we close this now please?