Wrong number: How would you handle this?

[KikiFan]

#1, I have Vonage and have already spoken to them (per advice earlier in the thread) and there is no way they can block 1 number
#2, I think you think calling the police is overkill because I mentioned the people calling are elderly. If I said they sounded like young kids, I am sure you'd want the SWAT over there to handle it
#3, why would you question a police officer doing his job? Do you think he is going to go over there and break the door down, yelling and screaming at them? No, he is going to go over there and find out what the situation is in a very respecful manner. So ridiculous or not, it is what is going to happen. I tried everyone's advice here and none of it has worked.

First off let me say I'm sorry cause my post really came off snotty and I really didn't intend it to be. The cold weather is making me cranky.

#1 Call blocking is a regular service offered by every phone sevice I've ever had. It really doesn't make sense that they are saying they can't do that.

#2 it's not because they are elderly. It's because I think it's a nuisance thing not a life threatening situation. And mostly because I think there are proper channels for handling this situation.

#3 If you called the police and filed a proper report - no I wouldn't question that. But you mentioned sending your brother the police officer over. To me that's an abuse of authority. My BiL is a police officer and if I called him to intervene in a situation, he'd tell me to call the police and make an actual report. Most police depts have rules against that sort of thing.

 

[Corwin12]

I apologize too Kiki, I took your post too personal. I want my brother to go over precisely because I do not want other police officers to go over there. He is so mild-mannered and approachable as opposed to other officers in this town who see the law as very black and white. He will go over, but in uniform and on duty. There is nothing against the law here about that (if he went over out of uniform off duty .... that would be wrong.) I just got off the phone with his wife and he should be heading over here soon. Believe me, I not only want the phone calls to stop (3 more in the past 1 hour) but I want to make sure there aren't two people living over there who are so desperately confused that they are a danger to themselves. I guess I see the police as there to help people just as much as they are there to confront lawbreakers.

 

[gshanny]

I had someone calling here all the time like you do. I finally did a *69 and the persons elderly spouse answered. It turned out the person had Alzheimers who was making the calls. I had been so upset and ended up feeling horrible thinking he was probably taking care of her and it was probably happening when he did things like go to the bathroom. He did get it stopped.
I did have kids calling us looking for someone with the same last name. They would even call in the middle of the night. I would tell them to stop, beg them to stop, scream at the top of my lungs into the phone, etc. I tried everything to get it stopped(before *69). One day one was dumb enough to have his little brother doing it for him. Little brother was talkative and gave me his name. I gave mom a call and the calls finally stopped.
I hope you get yours taken care of. I know how frustrating it can be.

 

[Lanshark]

Call blocking would easily solve the problem. Too bad Vonage does not offer the service. I would think if these people are so confused that they keep calling when you've asked them to stop, your brother's visit may not stick with them either.

Is there any kind of answering machine that can filter numbers?

 

[CathrynRose]

I've had an old lady calling me once a month for 7 years to make an appointment to get her hair done.

I can't imagine what her hair looks like by now.

When I moved to Florida they gave me the Zephyrhills High School's old number. I was so excited to have a phone number ending in two zero's (6100...I would give people our number as sixty-one hundred)...until I started getting calls at all hours of the night from parents attempting to call their kids in sick.


OP - I wish I had advise. I dont know!!!

 

[zurgswife]

I live in a small town I don't think having a police officer stop by would be inappropriate. I hope your BIL will have some effect to stop the calls.

 

[dg39]

I don't see anything wrong with sending a police officer over to explain to them that they are calling the wrong number repeatedly. I'm positive he's not going to bang on there door with guns out. Maybe they just need to speak to someone in person and this will get through to them better then telling them on the phone.

While we all feel bad that this is an elderly couple, it can get quite annoying to have your phone ring all hours and it being the same wrong call.

Good luck to the op and keep us posted. Hopefully this will stop and the couple will eventually get the right number.

 

[chager]

I'm surprised Vonage doesn't offer that. We have Earthlink and all we have to do is go online and push block this number. Then when anyone calls from it they get a ringing phone but no voice mail and the phone never rings for us. I thought my friend said she saw the same feature on the Vonage when she looked up her calls, but I may be mistaken.
Another friend had issues with someone calling her cell and eventually had the police stop by and see him. The man swore he had never spoke to Kel or called her number, and that he had no clue who she was. (Ok, that last point was true! He really didn't know her, he was trying to call his buddy not her!) The issue would be is he happened to call while the police were at his house, so one officer spoke with him while another unit drove to his house to speak with him personally, so claiming he wasn't calling her didn't over well. Evidently he had some "issues" but after the officers visited him, he never called Kel again!
I hope someone can get in touch with family for this couple. It sounds like they may need a little help.

 

[Corwin12]

Well, he went over there this afternoon and spoke with him. Unfortunately, I will not see him until tomorrow to find out what happened, but I am sure he was extremely nice about it. I haven't any phone calls from them in about 4 hours, so this may have done the trick. I am kind of ticked off Vonage doesn't have this feature, but then, I never needed anything like this before.

 

[Beth76]

Believe me, I not only want the phone calls to stop (3 more in the past 1 hour) but I want to make sure there aren't two people living over there who are so desperately confused that they are a danger to themselves. I guess I see the police as there to help people just as much as they are there to confront lawbreakers.

I totally agree with this. On purpose or not, these people are harrassing you. Either way, if the phone company can't help you, I see no reason not to involve the police. No one's going to be arrested. If this guy is living alone and can not comprehend what he's doing then he needs help.

My son dialed 911 once and hung up. The police came knocking on my door to check that we were all right. They did not come storming in. They knocked on the door and politely asked. I see no difference in the two situations.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Well, he went over there this afternoon and spoke with him. Unfortunately, I will not see him until tomorrow to find out what happened, but I am sure he was extremely nice about it. I haven't any phone calls from them in about 4 hours, so this may have done the trick. I am kind of ticked off Vonage doesn't have this feature, but then, I never needed anything like this before.

Let us know! I totally think you did the right thing. Like I said before, I'm sure he didn't go there with guns blazin'!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Update!

 

[Corwin12]

No calls since yesterday afternoon. I won't fin out what happened until tonight when I see him (he's working all day today.) I'll let you know what the story was and if indeed it is over.

 

[MushyMushy]

Hey, I don't see anything wrong with sending your DB over in this case! Enough is enough -- you tried to handle it on your own.

 

[aprilgail2]

My number is similar to a local taco bells number and I get a lot of calls for them-I get-what time are you open to. To that one I answer, sorry we are closed, we ran out of tacos. Then I get the employees that can barely speak english calling off sick to my house, I just say , yea ok, and hang up.

 

[barkley]

When I moved to Florida they gave me the Zephyrhills High School's old number. I was so excited to have a phone number ending in two zero's (6100...I would give people our number as sixty-one hundred)...until I started getting calls at all hours of the night from parents attempting to call their kids in sick.


OP - I wish I had advise. I dont know!!!

i feel your pain-years ago the local cable company did a mass mailing of channel guides with their customer service number printed on them-only problem was it was'nt their number-IT WAS MINE try getting hundreds of calls day and night-with the night time calls primarily from drunks complaining that they could'nt get the playboy channel to work (our cable company did'nt even offer it).

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Update update!!

 

[ducklite]

i feel your pain-years ago the local cable company did a mass mailing of channel guides with their customer service number printed on them-only problem was it was'nt their number-IT WAS MINE try getting hundreds of calls day and night-with the night time calls primarily from drunks complaining that they could'nt get the playboy channel to work (our cable company did'nt even offer it).

What was the resolution? I hope you at least got free cable for life!

Anne

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

i feel your pain-years ago the local cable company did a mass mailing of channel guides with their customer service number printed on them-only problem was it was'nt their number-IT WAS MINE try getting hundreds of calls day and night-with the night time calls primarily from drunks complaining that they could'nt get the playboy channel to work (our cable company did'nt even offer it).

Back when Ross Perot was running for president, the campaign headquarters in my DBIL's town took out a full page ad in the local paper with a mistake in the phone number.. yep, they printed DBIL's number. Sadly for the Perot campaign, DBIL is known for his pretty good Perot imitation and has a interesting sense of humor.

 

[Corwin12]

Problem solved! He went over there and told the guy we were concerned about him because he kept on calling and did not seem to realize he was getting the wrong number. Turns out: we were on his speed dial. He programmed our number into his phone and that is why he kept on calling. When we answered, he figured his phone was making a mistake. So the police did in fact help him out and he was not upset by it all. Although, apparently he did seem like the confused type.