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Original poster

Bit freaked out - need a virtual handhold

30 replies

WhatsitWiggle · 27/08/2022 20:00

DD (14) and I are on holiday in a European beach destination, our first since I separated from her dad earlier this year. I work with (not for) the hotel we're staying at and got a very good deal. As a condition, I need to meet with management during my stay - this is normal and I have no issues with this.

We arrived late last night and this morning I had a catch up after breakfast with the manager who I had never met in person before, only zoom. We had a nice chat and at the end he said we should meet for dinner and he would book something. I agreed, assuming it would be later in the week.

This afternoon, I received a text to my personal phone with a restaurant name at the hotel and a time to meet in the hotel lobby. I texted back my agreement.

At the specified time, DD and I went to the lobby. We waited 15 minutes, no sign of the manager. I went to reception to ask, they said he wasn't at the hotel this evening, they called him and he had not made this arrangement. They checked my description of the person I met this morning and agreed it was the manager I thought it was.

I showed them my phone, they've checked the number and it doesn't match any of the hotel managers! I do not give out my personal number to anyone for work but I used it at check in. The duty manager has contacted the police.

I'm trying to stay very calm for DDs sake, and the reception manager has said maybe someone just got the wrong number, but it's very strange and I'm feeling vulnerable.

OP posts:
Retsina24 · 27/08/2022 20:04

I can see why you're feeling anxious but you seem to have done all the right things by speaking to the hotel etc so hopefully that's the end of it.

Could it be a member of staff trying to get the manager into trouble for some reason? A mistaken use of your number?

X

youwouldthink · 27/08/2022 20:12

Call the number that text you from the hotels phone so it comes up local and see who it is

Original poster
WhatsitWiggle · 27/08/2022 20:28

The hotel tried calling the number for me but there was no answer.

A mistake would be very coincidental, but a disgruntled member of staff, for whatever reason, could be possible.

OP posts:
ZeroFuchsGiven · 27/08/2022 20:33

I dont understand any of this,

surely if you had seen him on zoom you recognised him? and secondly why are you taking your child to a business meeting?

Hunkydory99 · 27/08/2022 20:57

Do you think the manager invited you on what was intended be a date and having seen you waiting with DD has realised the error and is trying to save face?

MineIsBetterThanYours · 27/08/2022 21:05

Hunkydory99 · 27/08/2022 20:57

Do you think the manager invited you on what was intended be a date and having seen you waiting with DD has realised the error and is trying to save face?

That’s what came to my mind too…

Leafy3 · 27/08/2022 21:07

The manager is lying.

londonlass71 · 27/08/2022 21:08

Maybe someone overheard you giving him your number if you did this and they have done this as a joke? Once something similar happened to me in an Internet cafe. Someone looked over my shoulder and I got an email from them later that day. Creepy.

BattenburgDonkey · 27/08/2022 21:11

Hunkydory99 · 27/08/2022 20:57

Do you think the manager invited you on what was intended be a date and having seen you waiting with DD has realised the error and is trying to save face?

I think this sounds reasonable too.

GiftIdeasAlwaysNeeded · 27/08/2022 21:13

Hunkydory99 · 27/08/2022 20:57

Do you think the manager invited you on what was intended be a date and having seen you waiting with DD has realised the error and is trying to save face?

I also thought this..

HebeSunshine · 27/08/2022 21:18

I also thought that. Great minds eh?

Katnissx · 27/08/2022 21:34

Hunkydory99 · 27/08/2022 20:57

Do you think the manager invited you on what was intended be a date and having seen you waiting with DD has realised the error and is trying to save face?

This makes sense, but why would the number not match if it really was the manager?

Original poster
WhatsitWiggle · 27/08/2022 21:46

@Hunkydory99 oh jeez, I hope not. That's actually pretty creepy because I did not give out my personal number, he'd have had to look it up on the hotel's system. So many of you are thinking this, it did not cross my mind at all, I must be so naive 😭.

@ZeroFuchsGiven the zoom call was almost 2 years ago when we weren't allowed business travel due to Covid, that was the first time I'd "met" him. He very quickly said his name this morning and it was only when we got chatting that I worked out who he was. When the hotel called him and he denied all knowledge of the text, I started to doubt myself.

I know it sounds a bit weird, it's hard to explain without going into detail about my job, but it's pretty normal when a manager has given you a hefty discount for your holiday to meet them for a friendly drink. In the past, my husband has been with us so he's done the childcare. A dinner request, thinking about it now, is a bit OTT but not totally unheard of.

It's late here now, I'm going to get some sleep and see what happens in the morning.

OP posts:
kateandme · 27/08/2022 21:48

Katnissx · 27/08/2022 21:34

This makes sense, but why would the number not match if it really was the manager?

Show quote history

This is what I thought.
mid it is a manager then the duty manager on tonight will soon go and see what’s going on with said man.and they are either going to work together to cover something up or it will come out in the wash and the manager will be in extreme trouble! You may never no.I’d go back to the duty manager myself,telling him you are rather worried about the events and what he’s going to do about it or what he’s found out so far.

FictionalCharacter · 28/08/2022 04:37

"it's pretty normal when a manager has given you a hefty discount for your to meet them for a friendly drink."
This is one of the most bizarre work arrangements I've ever heard of.

marcopront · 28/08/2022 05:14

You said initially there was no answer when they called and then that he denied sending the text.

Which is it?

milesmachine · 28/08/2022 05:40

I KNOW this is pretty out there to suggest and perhaps my mind has been warped by MN posts about toxic ex's...

But there's no chance your ex somehow knew of this arrangement (hacked email, spyware etc) and then sent the message to set you up?

I know this is an absolute long shot but if the numbers don't match with the manager you met then just clutching at other possibilities?

DaisyJoy1 · 28/08/2022 05:42

marcopront · 28/08/2022 05:14

You said initially there was no answer when they called and then that he denied sending the text.

Which is it?

I understood it that the number she received the message from was not the manager's number? So the hotel called the manager and he said he didn't send the message. The hotel also called the number who sent the message and there was no answer.

milesmachine · 28/08/2022 05:42

marcopront · 28/08/2022 05:14

You said initially there was no answer when they called and then that he denied sending the text.

Which is it?

I think it's both?

Hotel staff said the number didn't belong to any managers, the manager himself denied sending the message and when the hotel staff called it, no one answered

SomeFuckingWizardry · 28/08/2022 05:43

marcopront · 28/08/2022 05:14

You said initially there was no answer when they called and then that he denied sending the text.

Which is it?

The hotel called the number the text came from and didn't get answer - they confirmed this number doesn't belong to any of the managers.

The manager in question separately said he did not send the text.

SomeFuckingWizardry · 28/08/2022 05:45

Sorry, X post with @DaisyJoy1 and @milesmachine

TokyoSushi · 28/08/2022 05:54

Weird. Is the number that the hotel know the Managers work phone and he'd text you to make the arrangement from his personal phone that they don't know?

Agree he was hoping for a date and had backed out for some reason, probably DD.

PoseyFlump · 28/08/2022 05:57

TokyoSushi · 28/08/2022 05:54

Weird. Is the number that the hotel know the Managers work phone and he'd text you to make the arrangement from his personal phone that they don't know?

Agree he was hoping for a date and had backed out for some reason, probably DD.

This is the most logical explanation OP.

AgentProvocateur · 28/08/2022 06:20

I would bet my life on it being the manager’s personal phone and, as others have said, he backed out when you DD was there.

Ccoffee · 28/08/2022 07:28

Agree with others that it was his personal phone, and he's now denying all knowledge as he thought you had some kind of silent agreement that it was a date, and doesn't want to get in trouble.

I used to work in travel a long time ago, also used to get heavy discounts at hotels that we worked with, and yes it was (and I guess still is) usual to meet with them in a casual kind of way as it's not a business meeting as such. One of them did crack on to me though - this was 30 years ago and I was very young and naive and just ignored it.