Pardon Me

People can make bookings with us through email. They send an email requesting a room and I send them a reply telling them they need to email me back their VALID credit card details in order to hold the room. Some people don’t feel comfortable sending their credit card number in an email and that is perfectly understandable so they come up with little ways to make themselves feel more secure like sending the number in two different emails less than 5 minutes apart or sending the number back to front. Now I know if I was an internet savvy criminal I would surely be fooled by these crafty tactics. If people want to send their credit card number over a secure site they can go to the website of the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) and use the booking system. This would keep their details safe from theft.

Well the other day I received an email from a New Zealand woman who wanted accommodation so I sent her the standard reply asking for her credit card details. She replied back asking if there was a more secure way to send her details as she was not comfortable sending them in an email. I told her about the booking system but she still didn’t feel safe and asked me “Is there some way offline and not through the mail that I could send you my credit card number?” With all these prime opportunities people give me to be sarcastic or cheeky is there any wonder why I am? I mean, seriously, how anyone could resist informing this woman about the invention of the telephone is beyond me.