A Bit Delayed, But Their Dot-Com Bubble Finally Burst

An elderly lady brings her phone into the computer/phone repair shop where I work. My coworker initially serves her.

Customer: “Something really strange has happened to my email, and I need you to fix it. This ‘dot com’ has appeared on my email address, and I don’t want it.”

She then proceeds to open the mail app on her phone and shows us that one of her recent emails in her inbox was sent to [Customer’s name]@gmail.com.

Coworker: “Um… That’s pretty normal. Most email addresses end in a .com or sometimes .net.”

Customer: “But I never used to have it! My email address was always just [Customer’s name]@gmail. I never had that.”

At this point, my coworker just looks at me as he’s not entirely sure how to tell her without arguing, so I take over.

Me: “[Coworker] is correct. Gmail addresses have always had and always will have a dot-com at the end. It’s never been possible not to have it.”

Customer: “But people have been emailing me, and I’ve always told them that it’s just [Customer’s name]@gmail!”

Me: “I really hate to break it to you, but the only reason your friends and family can email you is because they know that Gmail addresses always have the dot-com and they’ve just been adding it for you the whole time.”

Customer: “So, you can’t take it off?”

Me: “I’m afraid not, sorry. Not only do I not work for Gmail, but even if I did, what you’re asking for simply isn’t and never was possible.”

Customer: “Fine, I guess I’ll just have to live with it.”

I still don’t entirely understand how one could have an email address for years and completely fail to notice the dot-com, as that would have had to have been entered into the online form when setting it up and in the settings on every device she has used it on. I can only assume that her kids or grandchildren must have set it up and just managed everything for her. I’m just glad we didn’t go round in circles for too long.