I own a small insurance agency and have customers all over the State of Texas. Several years of ago I got an 800 # so my customers outside of my area code could call me at no expense to discuss business.

My number is one number off from the unemployment 800 number. Every month I have at 3-4 people call wanting to ask about unemployment. Every call cost me time and money. Why can't these people just push right button. They are probably calling from cell phones so it would not cost them to just call the non-800 #.

Hmmm...you own a small insurance agency, and recently unemployed people, who likely also just lost their group insurance benefits are calling your office 800 number by mistake.

Seems like an opportunity to me.

Heh... My home number at the time started racking up all kinds of odd calls. Finally figured out it was people dialling the wrong area code.

When I figured out who owned the number these people were seeking, I found out it started happening when they shut down their local number in a nearby area code, which set people to guessing at my area code.

"Thanks," I told them. "For your cheap-skatedness, I'm getting slammed with wrong number calls, now." "Nothing we can do about it," they responded.

After a bit more of this I changed my outgoing message to something exceedingly rude in reference to the company in question, and the heredity of the people calling my number by mistake.

Not long thereafter the problem went away.

Guess they found a way to do something about the problem

I work for a large security company. I get calls all the time from idiots wanting to file a claim, usually for Social Security disability benefits.

quote:

Originally posted by 610:
Why can't these people just push right button.

The lack of that basic skill set may be one of the reasons why they remain unemployed.

Look into a business VOIP service, you can transfer your 800 number over and get unlimited minutes for the 800 as well as outbound.

I loved these mistakes when our cabin number was one digit off from the Hardees in a small town.

"Yous gots any CHICKEN cooked ups?"

"Yeah we do. We're actually giving it away to folks who show up in the next 10 minutes! Bring your friends."

My number is one digit off from the airport. The first time I got a call at 6AM (in a snow storm) asking me if the planes were taking off, I thought it was a crank call.

Also get calls from a chemical company in upstate NY if you mess up their area code.

I also got lots of phone messages from people looking to enroll their kids in special education class. Never did figure out that misdial.


Currently I have an old asian woman who calls and leaves me voice mail, I don't know who she thinks she's calling, I can only make sense of some of what she says.

In the early 1960s I had an apartment in NY. Transposing two digits on my phone number resulted in the number for a gyspy cab company.

The phone would ring frequently around the time that the bars closed.

Caller: "Can y'all send a cab?"

V-Tail: "Sure thing. He'll be there in about twenty minutes." I never asked where to send the cab, I just promised to send one.

About 10 years ago, a friend of mine purchased a condo on the edge of a golf-tennis complex. After his phone was installed he began to get calls asking for tee times. His number was one digit off the golf course number. The phone company wanted $50 to change his number. He asked the golf course to pay for the change and they refused. Solution: he gave people tee times. After a couple weeks the golf course decided to pay for the change.

quote:

Originally posted by hi-power man:
About 10 years ago, a friend of mine purchased a condo on the edge of a golf-tennis complex. After his phone was installed he began to get calls asking for tee times. His number was one digit off the golf course number. The phone company wanted $50 to change his number. He asked the golf course to pay for the change and they refused. Solution: he gave people tee times. After a couple weeks the golf course decided to pay for the change.

Did he give the same tee time to everybody? That would have been pure evil. Dozens of people showing up for the same tee time. Heh heh.

"I'm sorry... Our next available tee time is February 30th at eleventeen o'clock."

I'm sorry I can't provide you with a tee time until you prove your caucasian heritage, we don't allow minorities here

I live in a college town, at the start of a new term (espically the fall term) I get a bunch of calls for people looking for folks that I have never heard of. If the same person continues to call I tell them that they dropped out, too much pressure.

quote:

In the early 1960s I had an apartment in NY. Transposing two digits on my phone number resulted in the number for a gyspy cab company.

The phone would ring frequently around the time that the bars closed.

Caller: "Can y'all send a cab?"

V-Tail: "Sure thing. He'll be there in about twenty minutes." I never asked where to send the cab, I just promised to send one.

Reminds me of a guy who got calls for Papa Johns Pizza at his residence. He asked them to change the number and they refused. Frustrated he left the recorded message on his answer machine: I am sorry Papa DONS pizza is closed by order of the Health Department we hope to reopen in the next few weeks.

Papa Johns took him to court. I do not recall what happened then.

I have mentioned this before:
A black family in Dayton had the same last name as my family. We often got calls for the family and my old man always answered them. This went on for years and my Dad became so familiar with the family that he could engage the callers with actual details and updates of our namesake family.
The old man thought this was hilarious and looked forward to the calls.
My mother was horrified.

quote:

I have mentioned this before:
A black family in Dayton had the same last name as my family. We often got calls for the family and my old man always answered them. This went on for years and my Dad became so familiar with the family that he could engage the callers with actual details and updates of our namesake family.
The old man thought this was hilarious and looked forward to the calls.
My mother was horrifie

Thanks for sharing that. It is obvious that you take after your Father.

Had a phone number close to a pizza place business number in Wilmington NC for a while.
Would get these rambling/mumbling order calls from drunks in the evening just before closing time for the pizza place.
I found that after trying to talk to the pizza place (weren't very nice) it was far better to say "the pizza will be on it's way and it's free"...

I got two stories. Back when I was young and stupid, I worked 3rd shift in a printing company as a manager. We had an 800 number that curiously would be called starting at 11pm or so from teenagers asking for phone sex. We were confused at first cause we wuz good employees and ALWAYS answered the phone "Hello, this is J**** T*** at GS*** Printing, can I help you" but the phone sex questions continued. Got funny after a while at around 2 or 3 am. Some of the kids were repeat callers. I guess I wasn't the only one answering the phones.
We were one digit away from the phone sex number.

Situation two. Couple of years later, after working nights I would start getting calls at my home number 8:30am from people wanting appointments to get Rogaine treatments. As they were waking me up I was usually not pleasant-until I started taking the appointments. Usually for the next day as early as possible. Calls stopped after a couple of months. Somebody got the message.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Reminds me of a guy who got calls for Papa Johns Pizza at his residence. He asked them to change the number and they refused. Frustrated he left the recorded message on his answer machine: I am sorry Papa DONS pizza is closed by order of the Health Department we hope to reopen in the next few weeks.

Papa Johns took him to court. I do not recall what happened then.

Brilliant! With 20/20 hindsight, if the recording had said: "I am sorry, we are closed by order of the Health Department. We hope to reopen in the next few weeks," without naming a business or even using a name similar to the business, the law suit might have been avoided.

By the way, I don't think Papa John's would change a phone number. The last four digits of the phone number for every Papa John's location that I have ever seen: 7272 (PAPA). There might be (probably are) exceptions, but I have never seen one.