I was an early gmail adopter and got the firstname.lastname address with a somewhat common name.
I recieve occasional emails meant for 9 different other people (at last count) who share my name. Bank account deets, train tickets, credit card info, college application replies, appointment reminders. I try to reply and most people are nice, but some people don't understand the concept that they have the wrong address.
It's bizarre arguing with someone about why I can't swap shifts with them tomorrow morning because I don't even live in the same country. It's like the digital version of /r/idontworkherelady
Some guy in the UK with the same last name as me put my email in when he ordered Dominos. I've started getting emails every time this guy 4000 miles away orders a pizza. He eats a lot of pizza.
I tried to unsubscribe but apparently Dominos UK blocks their website in the US. I had to turn on my VPN just to click the unsubscribe link. It didn't help because they won't unsubscribe me unless I sign into his account and change the email settings.
I set up a filter to block everything coming from Dominos UK and thought that was the end of it. But then he decided to branch out from pizza and now I get emails from at least a dozen delivery places every time this guy gets hungry. Not one of these sites ever verified who I was before sending me emails with his address in it.
If you're reading this, Ben in the UK, you eat way too much junk food. Also, some guy you've never met now knows your full name, address, and eating habits.
Edit: I have been filtering all .co.uk emails since this all started so I checked my trash folder to see what I've been missing. It looks like Ben noticed his mistake a while back. The only emails that I had for him were from JustEats. Gmail only keeps messages in the trash for 30 days, so I don't have anything from before that.
I used the "forgot password" option on his JustEats account and changed it to "ThisIsNotYourEmailBen". But I doubt he will notice. He doesn't have any order history with them, which is probably why he didn't bother to change that email with the rest of them.
I do have his phone number and address now in case he starts doing it again. I could send him a letter like u/theDigitalNinja suggested, but I wouldn't be able to include any order history to freak him out with since I don't have access to his Dominos account.
I share a name with someone in Canada and even after having IT put “(US)” behind my name in the global address book, I still get emails for her. Once, HR emailed her and said social security numbers needed to be provided for dependents or they would lose insurance coverage after the beginning of the year. Luckily, she politely forwarded it to me since, you know, she doesn’t have a SSN.
genericusername123 on July 10th, 2019 at 18:35 UTC »
I was an early gmail adopter and got the firstname.lastname address with a somewhat common name.
I recieve occasional emails meant for 9 different other people (at last count) who share my name. Bank account deets, train tickets, credit card info, college application replies, appointment reminders. I try to reply and most people are nice, but some people don't understand the concept that they have the wrong address.
It's bizarre arguing with someone about why I can't swap shifts with them tomorrow morning because I don't even live in the same country. It's like the digital version of /r/idontworkherelady
darth_ravage on July 10th, 2019 at 19:51 UTC »
Some guy in the UK with the same last name as me put my email in when he ordered Dominos. I've started getting emails every time this guy 4000 miles away orders a pizza. He eats a lot of pizza.
I tried to unsubscribe but apparently Dominos UK blocks their website in the US. I had to turn on my VPN just to click the unsubscribe link. It didn't help because they won't unsubscribe me unless I sign into his account and change the email settings.
I set up a filter to block everything coming from Dominos UK and thought that was the end of it. But then he decided to branch out from pizza and now I get emails from at least a dozen delivery places every time this guy gets hungry. Not one of these sites ever verified who I was before sending me emails with his address in it.
If you're reading this, Ben in the UK, you eat way too much junk food. Also, some guy you've never met now knows your full name, address, and eating habits.
Edit: I have been filtering all .co.uk emails since this all started so I checked my trash folder to see what I've been missing. It looks like Ben noticed his mistake a while back. The only emails that I had for him were from JustEats. Gmail only keeps messages in the trash for 30 days, so I don't have anything from before that.
I used the "forgot password" option on his JustEats account and changed it to "ThisIsNotYourEmailBen". But I doubt he will notice. He doesn't have any order history with them, which is probably why he didn't bother to change that email with the rest of them.
I do have his phone number and address now in case he starts doing it again. I could send him a letter like u/theDigitalNinja suggested, but I wouldn't be able to include any order history to freak him out with since I don't have access to his Dominos account.
mariagck on July 10th, 2019 at 21:24 UTC »
I share a name with someone in Canada and even after having IT put “(US)” behind my name in the global address book, I still get emails for her. Once, HR emailed her and said social security numbers needed to be provided for dependents or they would lose insurance coverage after the beginning of the year. Luckily, she politely forwarded it to me since, you know, she doesn’t have a SSN.