Last year- ninjas. This year? Spies!

It is a constant fear of the counter operator (and yes, sometimes even those of us on phones) required to take contact information that a guest will refuse to give it. We usually don't panic if guests don't give it, but it's the way most guests REFUSE to give it, and question our motives that makes us cringe everytime they get that serious look on their face and demand, 'Why do you need that?' after being asked for a mailing address.
*My personal favourite this summer has to be the number of times visitors don't understand what 'home phone number' means. Yes, I realize you are staying at a B&B, no, I don't know the Delta's phone number, nor do I need it- gah! Simple question, I think we all learned this when we were, hmm, 3?!*

The thing is, funnily enough (or not, depending how you feel about our present state of 'information' and 'security' in a post 9-11 world), is that the information is out there for us to get. And we find it. With just a few resources on the net, or our trusty Island phone book, we can find all of this from just a simple name or phone number. Like litte detectives, we piece together these patron files, fill in gaps from incomplete information to find out what time zone 604 is in so we don't call too early to sell an "Anne" CD, correct a mis-spelled name, find a phone number that was wrong on the waiting list, and search for postal codes for tickets that were requested to be mailed out.

I don't really think I would have realized what was out there- even when I've used Canada 411 to find addresses, but then decided not to give my own when buying clothes at Winner's- until I was reassuring one customer on counter that we would not be selling our information to the FBI and that I would need a billing address after I had just spent 15 minutes searching for a correct phone number for a guest's credit card that hadn't approved over the phone. So, what to do?

One way that was suggested to deal with paranoid customers could be to use this when they are at the wicket, find and fill in the information gaps while they stand right there in front of us. But that might contradict our policy that we don't give out any of the information (which is true, you won't find us helping with the personal information overload that can be found with just a click of a button or a turn of the right page!). Perhaps I'm just looking for more of an awareness for what is out there, like name and phone number so that those friends from high school can find you. And maybe an effort to use our time more wisely to protect very tricky things, like credit card numbers, instead of wasting it by comlaining or causing us to fill in incomplete addresses when you want your tickets mailed out.