Why Do People Do This?

[Beca]

I find it most frustrating when someone calls your home phone and says, "Is this Jane Doe?"

I reply, "No, you must have the wrong number."

.....and then you hear, "Well, to whom am I speaking?"

I used to reply, "I don't know....to whom am I speaking?", but now I just say, "You're speaking to a person who is about to hang up on you." Click!!!

I HATE telemarketers!!!!!

 

[MariDisney]

I get wrong dialers and wrong faxers. My number is very close to a real estate something or other. I get calls all the time for people who need to provide this or that for a mortgage. I get faxes of financial stuff and home sales all the time (my landline also picks up my fax). I sometimes call back because it seems so important that someone know a mortgage company didn't get their paperwork, etc. I did call and complain to one business who sent me dozens of faxes in one day. I used the fax film at that time and it was so expensive.

 

[dismom2]

DBF used to have a person call all the time (when he got his new number) and the lady spoke only Spanish and was talking Spanish to him and neither one of us are fluent in Spanish so we couldn't tell her she had the wrong number, so he blocked her number

Most of my 'wrong numbers' are people who don't speak English. And they always seem to call in the middle of the night.

 

[mamacatnv]

My cell and "Robs" cell are 1 digit off of each others (722 vs 772). I have been getting his calls for years, he must be nice because people are always very polite.

He is even a Boy Scout Volunteer, how do I know this you might ask, well the council printed a flyer for an event where he was the contact and they made the same mistake many others do! That was a busy week!

One of his callers one day:

Who is this?

Me: Who is this?

I asked you first

Me: It's my phone

Caller laughed thought I was Robs lady friend teasing him I then explained the number issue and he informed me that I should send Rob a bill for my time I figure he must get my calls too.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Well, I used to make a lot of calls for the library to let people know materials they had reserved or ordered via interlibray loan was in. As the poster below pointed out, confirming what number you dialed is a good idea. I would always ask "Did I dial, xxx-xxxx?" I needed to know if our information is correct (in which case I screwed up dialing and will call the RIGHT number as soon as I hang up with you) OR if we have incorrect information (in which case I will note that in the computer so we do nto keep calling you over and over again).

Also you would not believe how often I had conversations like this:
Me--Hello, this is Hadley frin SmallTownNewHampshire Library. Can I speka with Joahn please?
Answeree--You have the wrong number.
Me--I'm sorry. Did I dial xxx-xxxx?
Answeree--Yes.
Me--I am sorry, this is the number we had on file for John Smith--I'll make a note that this information is incorrect so we do not try to contact John Smith at this number again.
Anweree--Wait. This IS the Smiths. Long Pause--OH you mean JT. Yeah, he's right here.

Seriously--somehting along those lines happend almost every week. So, yes we always tried to confirm both the number and the last name.

On hte answeree side, our number in Detroit was one number off from a plumber as well. We got several calls a week for the company. I wrote the number of the plumber down and whenever we got a call politely let the person know the correct number to call. It was easy enough for me to do. I figure if I had a burst pipe and water flooding in and was trying to dial in a hurry I might make a mistake and I saw no reason to be rude or snarky to people who made an honest mistake.

I can see asking that question though. Although the person they are looking for is not at the number they may well have dialed the correct number. For some reason we started getting calls for "Jane" becuase apparently "Jane" had her number confused and was giving out our number to some places.By answering this question the caller knows that they did dial the number they were given and it is a wrong number or that they actually dialed the wrong number. My parents number is one digit off from the Waffle House. Since someone asked if they dialed xxx-xxxx my parents were able to figure out the problem. In their case it is just a metter of a misdial.
Now if the person argues with you that they KNOW they have the right number then that is a whole different thing. Now that I think about it it has been awhile since I have heard from anyone looking for "Jane". I wonder how she is doing and how her son is doing. I know her cancer had returned and her son was in leg braces all from messages left on my machine.She also worked at the county morgue and shpped at CVS!! LOL

 

[lustergirl]

I always get calls from some mother looking for her daughter. I tell her "wrong number mss." But she keeps calling me.

 

[HerdOHuds]

Many years ago I was in my first apartment and started receiving phone calls for Melvin Weinstein. Extremely small midwestern town (less than 1500 people) with only one prefix, in fact you could just dial the last 4 digits of the phone number to reach anywhere in town! I was always polite to my MW callers. One day, however, I guess I got MW's mother or something. She got irate and started telling me that she has been calling MW for YEARS at that number and why wasn't he there? She confirmed the number (it was right) but would not take 'he's doesn't live here' as an answer. I was chuckling that she was so huffy about it and the operator broke into the conversation, said she had it under control and broke the connection! Never heard from Melvin Weinstien's mom again!

A year or so later, I was away for the weekend, and I got a series of messages on my answering machine that had me laughing.

I didn't identify myself on my answering machine message so the caller never had a clue she had the wrong number.

"Heeeeeeeey Girl!!!! We just got in town and are heading out tonight. Hope to meet up with you! Call me back!"

"Giiiiiiiiiiirl! You gotta call me!!!"

"Listen I don't know where you are, but we are at So-and-so's bar and will be here late PAAAAARRRRRTTTTTYYYYYIIINNNNGGGG! Call me or come by!!!!"

(slurred voice with loud music in the background) "Where are you GUUURRRLL??!! Why aren't you calling me back??"

(next morning, she sounds like she had a good time and hasn't recovered yet)
"Girl! I don't understand why you didn't get in touch, but we are leaving now. Sorry we couldn't meet up. I am a little hurt but whatever. Have a nice life!"

She never left a number so I couldn't contact her and this was years before caller ID.

 

[JEmaryland]

I once dialed a wrong number by mistake and knew it as soon as the lady picked up, so I said "Sorry wrong number" and hung up. A few seconds later she called back and cussed me out and accused me of having an affair with her husband. I was only 14 at the time.

 

[Turtle]

I used to get calls for a "Jane" all the time on my old phone. I know that she was a Mystery Shopper and a Mystery Diner, I got voice mails letting her know that she had jobs if she was interested. There was another time when I discovered a voice mail from a couple saying they were at the airport waiting for her to pick them up. I would have called back to tell them it was a wrong number, but by the time I listened to it, it was several hours old. I hope they're not still waiting.

 

[PebblesMK]

I just had to point out that I LOVE when people accidently call me looking for somebody else. I had one guy who was completely drunk and didn't believe I was somebody but ended up talking to him for a long time....it turns out that his daughter was my friends step-daughter and she was always at my house and he said "So YOU are who she is ALWAYS talking about and telling me all the things you do with her". He tried calling me often after that but I couldn't talk to him because he was a horrible father and opted not to spend time with his daughter because he had more important things to do (new gilfriends constantly).......there are at least five people who have had the wrong number that have called back from time to time just to chat with me and I enjoy it...never have I met them but it's fun. However, once I got a wrong number from a guy looking for his friend whom I didn't know...so again we chatted. One thing led to another and we ended up dating for two years. Wrong numbers aren't all that bad!!

 

[Stitchfans]

Didn't read all the responses.

But what I hate is when I make a mistake and dial wrong and when I apologize the other person gets snippy with me. I didn't do it on purpose.
I've had some that slammed the phone down on me in anger.

 

[Piecey]

I love when people don't even listen when you answer the phone, either.

A local pizza chain has a "shop" in every local town but a call center that answers and takes your oders. One phone number for OH and one phone number for WV.

I worked in a bank in OH and our number was 1 digit off of the number to call and order pizza from them. So we had tons of misdials.
It'd be closing time (6pm) and we'd (nicely, I like to think) go ahead and answer calls if we were still in the building and say "XXX Bank, this is Patsy, how may I help you?" and they'd ask our specials.
I'd start saying something like "We have a CD special at 2.4% for 7 months" or whatever.
"No, no, your pizza specials. You guys have CDs now? Really?"

We badly wanted to start taking orders and just call them into the pizza joint oursevles, especially on Friday nights.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

I always seem to get the guy who thinks I'm some sort of directory assistance...when I tell them they have the wrong number, it ALWAYS seems to follow with "oh, well, do you happen to know their number?" Oh yes, I happen to know everyones number in the greater Orlando area, please hold on and I'll fetch it for you!

I was also left a voice message about two weeks ago, by a guy who sounded in his early twenties. He left a really stuttering message, something along the lines of:

"Hey mom...it's me...erm...I have to tell you something...this is really hard for me...but I can't tell you in person...look...I'm gay...I'm sorry to tell you this over the phone...but it's time you knew...and my roomate...who know James right?...he came over for easter dinner...well, he's my boyfriend...erm...could you call me back...thanks"

I felt SO bad for this guy, he was probably so nervous leaving this message and he was having to do it all over again! I called the number back and got through to 'James' and explained...'James' thought it was hilarious and promised to pass on the message!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I just had to point out that I LOVE when people accidently call me looking for somebody else. I had one guy who was completely drunk and didn't believe I was somebody but ended up talking to him for a long time....it turns out that his daughter was my friends step-daughter and she was always at my house and he said "So YOU are who she is ALWAYS talking about and telling me all the things you do with her". He tried calling me often after that but I couldn't talk to him because he was a horrible father and opted not to spend time with his daughter because he had more important things to do (new gilfriends constantly).......there are at least five people who have had the wrong number that have called back from time to time just to chat with me and I enjoy it...never have I met them but it's fun. However, once I got a wrong number from a guy looking for his friend whom I didn't know...so again we chatted. One thing led to another and we ended up dating for two years. Wrong numbers aren't all that bad!!

Oh my gosh--I had forgotten until I read this that I met some of my best friends thanks to a "wrong number." I switched universities mid year. I moved into the dorm and the girl who had left (whose spot in teh dorm I was taking) had not told ANYONE she was leaving--not even her roomate (who became my roomate). So, we got lots of calls for this girl. One message left on our machine was for someone she used to babaysit for. They noted that HER name was no longer on the machine but asked if someone would please call them back. So I called and explained how no one knew where she had gone and we got to talking and htey ended up hiring me to babysit (I was a preschool teacher with loads of references). Years later their daughter was the flower girl at my wedding and she was my Maid of Honor.

 

[VampieNJ]

I seem to get the prison call every so often lol!

Its one of those collect calls from a prison. The first few times he said his name, I just hung up. Don't know anyone in prison. Now he calls and doesn't even say his name, says, HELLO ITS ME! WHY AREN'T YOU...cut off by collect call message.

I would think by now he would get the idea that he is dialing a wrong number, or the person he is trying to contact, doesn't want to be contacted. Maybe he should send them a letter instead!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

When I first got my cell phone I had someone who kept calling me insisting she owed me $50 and needed to pay me ASAP. I explained to her more than once that I didn't know her and I promised she didn't know me anything. Who the heck had my number before I did? This woman sounded terrified.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I seem to get the prison call every so often lol!

Its one of those collect calls from a prison. The first few times he said his name, I just hung up. Don't know anyone in prison. Now he calls and doesn't even say his name, says, HELLO ITS ME! WHY AREN'T YOU...cut off by collect call message.

I would think by now he would get the idea that he is dialing a wrong number, or the person he is trying to contact, doesn't want to be contacted. Maybe he should send them a letter instead!

We get collect calls in Spanish all the time where I work. Too funny.

 

[VampieNJ]

When I first got my cell phone I had someone who kept calling me insisting she owed me $50 and needed to pay me ASAP. I explained to her more than once that I didn't know her and I promised she didn't know me anything. Who the heck had my number before I did? This woman sounded terrified.

lol poor lady! She must be relieved she doesn't owe the $50 any longer!

 

[Disneyadore]

I hate when people do that! I have a lady who calls my phone every once in awhile, and never believes me when I tell her she has the wrong number. The number she is trying to call has the same numbers as mine, just in a different order. I finally saved her number in my phone as "Do not answer" so when she calls, I don't have to talk to her and can just ignore it.

I had the same problem. An old gentleman kept calling and asking if I was his daughter. Even in the middle of the night. It was really very sad.
After A wile I asked were his daughter worked and what he did when he was younger.

He turned out to be a very wealthy old man but suffered from dementia.
I finely could get in touch with the daughter and she was very embarrassed.
She did send me a big flower basket and the gentleman stopped calling.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

We have the same number as one of the MTV lines. When they sometimes run call in contests, we get tons of people calling us. All because they don't dial a 1 first. I'll answer the phone and ask if this is MTV. When I tell them no and please dial a 1 before the rest of the number, many times they still keep calling back. I've had the same people call 10 or more times within an hour or two and I keep telling them the same thing.

What is so difficult and hard to understand about dial a 1 before the rest of the number?

I eventually entered several of those numbers into the blocked callers list one day when I was really sick and trying to sleep while they were calling us.


We also used to get phone calls for a local judge who's office must have had our number before we did. We kept getting those calls occasionally for 2-3 years. They finally seemed to have stopped.