When Vicki Tozer showed up to meet her Hinge date at Seward Park in Seattle, the moment immediately took a turn for the unexpected.
Tozer, an environmental scientist, had been chatting with the man, an engineer in tech, for about a week. While messaging, the two had bonded over their shared love for the outdoors, so when the man suggested a date, Tozer proposed paddleboarding. He quickly agreed, and they planned to meet at the park on Aug. 6 at 5:30 p.m.
Just before the date, Tozer texted him asking if they could meet at 6:00 p.m. instead, as she was running late from work. He replied that he was already at the park and sent her his location along with details about his outfit so she could easily spot him.
When Tozer arrived, she saw him immediately in his blue shirt, carrying a paddleboard. She thought they were approaching each other, but then noticed him turning to talk to another woman who also had a paddleboard. At first, she was confused and wondered if he knew the other woman or if they were friends. To avoid interrupting, Tozer decided to hang back and began setting up her own paddleboard, hoping to give them some space.
“I was really confused,” Tozer says exclusively. “They seemed to be having a great conversation, and then suddenly, they both got in the water. I was like, ‘Wait, what just happened?’ “
“That’s when I figured out that he must have mistaken her for me,” she continues. “She had brown curly hair, which I guess I also have, but we didn’t look alike at all.”
Vicki Tozer takes photo of her date on the date with the wrong girl.
Vicki Tozer
Initially, Tozer found the situation amusing. She waited around for about 15 minutes to see if the guy would realize his mistake; during that time, she texted friends and shared about the situation on her Instagram Story.
Eventually, Tozer left and went to a friend’s house nearby. A few hours later, after not hearing from him, she decided to send him the picture.
“Right away he responded, saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I totally went on a date with the wrong person,’ ” she recalls. “He was really embarrassed, but it felt genuine. He admitted he made a big mistake.”
“He explained that he saw a girl with a paddleboard and assumed it was me. Then, feeling nervous, he just went with it,” Tozer continues. “He offered to make it up to me if I was still willing to meet up. At that point, I was curious to hear his side of the story. I wanted to know how this mixup happened, so we decided to meet up the following week.”
When they met, her date explained the situation in detail. He said that when he first approached the woman, he didn’t ask for her name to confirm her identity; they just started talking and went into the water together. The date had seemed to go well until the woman made a comment about his assumptions regarding her relationship status. She had told him, “It’s bold of you to assume I’m single,” which baffled him since they hadn’t discussed anything about being single or not.
He also mentioned that when she asked if he was on dating apps, he misunderstood her question, thinking she meant other apps like Tinder or Bumble, even though they met on Hinge. “It was all very confusing,” he told her.
“At one point, I laughed when he said this,” Tozer adds. “He mentioned that after paddleboarding for a while, they stayed out until sunset. When they paddled back, she asked for silence because she had had a long day at work.”
“I also asked him if he’d gotten the girl’s number, and he said no,” Tozer continues.
Vicki Tozer snaps a selfie.
Vicki Tozer
During the whole mixup, Tozer decided to share her experience on TikTok. “I kind of figured there was a chance it could blow up,” she says. “I thought, ‘Do I really want to deal with that?’ But then I decided, whatever, this is fun. I’ll post it and see what happens.” She didn’t expect it to gain such traction: the video now has 1.4 million views.
“The amount of comments is insane,” Tozer adds. “Reading through them is so funny. It’s like a split between people who think he was lying or set it all up, and those who believe he was just nervous and made a mistake. It’s been really interesting to see the different perspectives.”
A few weeks after the ordeal, Tozer received another text from the man, asking to go on another date. She replied, saying she wasn’t interested anymore.
“The biggest lesson for me is to confirm who you’re meeting up with,” Tozer says. “It’s like when you get into an Uber — just make sure you’re in the right place with the right person. Personally, I’m happy with how I reacted. I genuinely thought it was really funny and entertaining. I could have been really angry or let it get me down about dating, but it’s a reminder that online dating can be unserious.”
“We’re meeting people from the Internet and don’t owe them anything,” she continues. “It’s just about seeing who you get along with and treating each other with respect.”
