Tend to agree on this, but maybe it’s an age thing, as I am not wildly keen on most social media and facebook ‘friends’ about whom I know zero.
However, and probably even more than you David, my name is also very common (I even know three of the people directly!) and my Author Page on amazon is also shared with at least two others.
A good old mix would come up from any personal checks on me.
I also find it surprising that someone who wants to discover as much as possible about the personal details of the people who have booked into her bed and breakfast for a few nights is also a person who has regularly voiced her displeasure when asked questions about her financial situation by her bank.
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David you are really getting a little bit cheeky.
My bank knows everything about me…they dealt with
the financial transaction of all the sales and purchases of properties and
everything is there for them to se…
Everything which they need to know.
But it is none of their business as to what I earn, what I spend on utilities and
what I am worth. And even if they had a right to ask that there is a way of doing it,
They were clumsy an unprofessional in their manner.
Actually the 2 situations are unconnected.
I am not interested in prying into the personal finances of
my clients.
I just want to know that they will be reasonable people.
Your bank only wants to know that you will be a reasonable customer. Two sides of the same coin.
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My bank knows that I am a reasonable customer.
After 30 years they know.
So good night David and concentrate on being
less regimental and stop judging me.
It is called stalking BY YOUNG PEOPLE ie not you (or me), they do it all the time to check each other out. It is yet another example of young and old not speaking the same language 
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standard practice now - I googled and facebooked the young stagiaires and apprentis I interviewed 
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Well there are at least a dozen Roger Hudson names on Google ranging from an American guitarist to several Brits so take your pick! I am sure that applies to most people as very few people have a uniq
…have a unique name. A better option is FB or linkedin if you need to but even those have multiple options, What exactly are you looking for? Suitability from a social point of view, financial standing or criminal record?! On what basis would you refuse a booking? I would be pretty offended to know that my background was being looked into by people offering holiday accommodation!
Ye Gods so it would depend on whether they live in an ‘acceptable’ property?
‘A happy smiling face’…any particular ethnicity? And which of the many faces with my name?
Roger we are…or at least I am putting a face to a name before the strangers arrive
and spend their time here on my property. As I have said many times before we are all
so very different and we are communicating on here sharing those ideas and thoughts.
Unfortunately there are people who make scam bookings and a small check helps both the genuine clients and ourselves.
We try to speak to our future guests. This connection gives us both an idea of who we are going to be seeing in the future.
We only have the one gite and it is of a very high standard, so it makes sense to us to know that little bit more about our clients.
If you book into a hotel they will take an imprint of your credit card when you register, they are protecting themselves to a certain extent against fraud.
Do you find this an unacceptable practice?
My best friend at school’s older brother was called Roger Hudson. As you say, common as muck. 
Very nicely phrased David!!!
Exacte! Pas de BCBG ici…
Roger
Googling somebody doesn’t actually protect you from fraud
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for those of you who don’t rent out I would just like to say that Googling and looking up references is purely to help the “feel good factor”. I have not had any real problems but when you are trusting your property, which you have worked hard to buy and maintain, to people you don’t know, it is only reasonable to do a minimum of research. It is amazing how many “dubious” requests I can receive and I am sure all other owner/renters get the same.
No but it does help us to know the occupation of our guests.
All our accommodation is paid for before our guests arrive.