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harrylovesron
2007-01-20 07:28 pm UTC (link)

Oh yeah; I understand why the bill collectors are insistent, but yes, argh. I want to find out who the person is they're trying to call and tell him to learn to give people the correct number.

I'm a lot more annoyed by regular people who call me over and over, looking for someone else. WTF did I not tell you this wasn't their number the last three times!

My dad gets that a lot; he gets both calls and text messages on his cell from people who repeatedly mis-dial and won't take the time to correct themselves. He said every day at work he'd get a call from some company, every day he'd tell the man he had the wrong number, every day the man would apologize and say he'd correct it... and then he'd call again the next day. This happened for about two months before it finally stopped.

I once got a call from somebody who had the wrong number, and was trying to reach the family of someone who died, apparently. I told the man he had the wrong number and I had no idea who he was talking about. He started cursing me out. I hung up, he called me back again so I let it go to voicemail. He left a message in a really snotty tone that said "Well, if SOMEBODY wants to accept my kind condolences, call me back at blah-blah-blah". I was like, WTF dude, it's a bummer that you can't reach the right number to send condolences to, but it's not my fault. That's what 411 and telephone books are for, moron.

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your_face
2007-01-21 06:56 am UTC (link)

WTF mate @ the condolences guy. Why are people mad at YOU for them having the wrong number? I don't get it. (I especially don't get when they won't believe you--one time I kept getting emails for some girl who had apparently given ALL her friends the wrong addy, and even though I repeatedly told them all that I wasn't her, they still insisted that I was just trying to trick them. Eventually I just had to block all the addresses.)

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harrylovesron
2007-01-21 09:27 pm UTC (link)

Why are people mad at YOU for them having the wrong number? I don't get it.

I really don't know- the way the conversation went, it sounded like the guy thought I was somebody else who was deliberately trying to piss him off by saying he had the wrong number (like I was somebody he'd been quarreling with and refused to accept an apology, almost). The first time I told him he had the wrong number, he ignored me and kept on going. I repeated that he had the wrong number, and that's when he started cussing at me. Again, I was like WTF, what do you expect me to do about it? Accept condolences for a dead person I don't know?

I think the same guy actually called me again about two months later, this time looking to reach the family of someone who was in hospital. This time he said "Well, this is the number you gave me..." so I just said "sorry" and hung up. I WANTED to say "Look, dumbshit, if I gave you the number, why the hell am I telling you it's wrong?". Gah. It ain't my fault that he can't dial 411, look in a telephone book, or ask somebody who would know the correct number.

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lexin
2007-01-22 01:12 pm UTC (link)

There used to be a whole family who had taken down my number rather than that of the cardiac ward of the local hospital.

They just did not believe I wasn't Fir Tree Ward (or whatever it was) at the Whipps Cross, and seemed to believe that I was telling them it was a private number and the number they needed was [whatever it was] (because I checked with the hospital switchboard after the first three calls) for my own sick amusement. This went on until their grandfather either died or got better, I never knew which but it took about four weeks of answering calls three or four times an evening and it clogging up my answering machine.

When it happened again with a different family two months later I complained to the hospital administrators and they got the number of that ward changed. I was impressed with their attitude, which was very positive and helpful.

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harrylovesron
2007-01-23 10:05 pm UTC (link)

Wow, they actually changed their number? That was awesome of them. I would have thought they'd be the ones who'd expect YOU to change it.

and seemed to believe that I was telling them it was a private number and the number they needed was [whatever it was] (because I checked with the hospital switchboard after the first three calls) for my own sick amusement.

That's how the misplaced condolences guy seemed to feel. I'm like, dude, it's NOT my fault he misdialed/miswrote the number, and I really was sorry he couldn't find the right person to send his condolences to, but at the same time, it was NOT my fault and I dunno WTF he expected me to do. As far as your situation, did they really honestly think a hospital ward would repeatedly tell them they had the wrong number as a joke? I'd think any employee caught doing that would be fired- and really, if they called 3 or 4 times a day and clogged up your machine, and got told they had the wrong number, shouldn't they have gotten a fucking clue and called the one you gave them? Or if they didn't believe you, checked in the phone book?

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lexin
2007-01-23 11:08 pm UTC (link)

That was awesome of them. I would have thought they'd be the ones who'd expect YOU to change it.

It did take a couple of calls to persuade them that as they were a teaching hospital it would be easier for them to get their on-site telephone engineers to change an extension than it would for me to contact my phone company and change the number - which I'd expect them to pay for. But it was easier than I'd expected it would be.

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