Getting a call on your cell phone from someone who's misdialed a number isn't uncommon. What I hope is rare – for everyone else's sake – is getting repeated calls from a stranger who won't take "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number" for an answer.
For the past two years, as long as I've had my current cell number, I've been getting calls from a number in south Florida. I answered early in the onslaught and explained to the caller that they had dialed my phone in error. Apparently, they didn't believe me. Ever since, I receive at least two calls a week from that number, and it's at all times of the day or night. Now, I know a few people who live in that area, but they probably either a) don't have my cell number or b) would have left a message. So what gives with this serial fumble-fingers? Or, who had my number before I did? Was it their daddy? Mommy? Long-lost sibling, child or spouse? Leave a message if it's that critical. Then I can at least hear your side of the story.
Lately, my strategy has been not to answer when that number pops up on my phone's screen. That's not working either, though. I've gotten two calls from the number this week. I am tempted to list the number here, letting my Internet friends dial it at all hours in a volley of "Take that!" wrong numbers. But restraint won't allow me to do that. The caller is really trying desperately to reach that person who isn't me; there must be a reason.
I got a call earlier this week from a woman named "Melody" who likewise mistook me for someone that which I am not. She asked me how we were doing, if we "were resting up." What did we do, climb a mountain? Compete in a triathlon? Cook for 47 people? Clean out the attic? I just kind of hung up on her, because there were other things going on in the house at the time that made it kind of circuslike. I meant to say, "Oh wait, I don't have any idea who you are," and then hang up. Nevertheless, she called back later and left a voice mail.
We still get inundated on our home phone with sales calls and misdirected callers. For a while there, we were getting sales leads for a landscaping company. I nearly changed the message on our machine to say, "We are not landscapers, but you can reach the owners of the company while they are on vacation in south Florida. Here's the number ..."
you need to get on the do-not-call list. I added my home number and the calls stopped. Amazing. And when someone does call you can threaten to report them because you are on the list. and it was free. However I got a SMS spam on my cell phone today, that was not cool.
I, too, get a TON of wrong-number calls on my cell, and a good percentage of them are looking for someone named "Creighton" . . . this Creighton guy must have accidentally given the wrong number to a whole lot of people. I get a lot of wrong numbers on my home phone, too, but that I can understand -- I've only had the number for less than a year, and I know the phone company recycles them pretty quickly after an account is closed. But my cell number? I've had the same number for almost six years, now.
The worst is when I get someone calling the wrong number and I don't have the right language to convey to them that they misdialed.
personally, i think all phone companies should be required to allow people to block numbers and file a complaint. the person can then get a letter in the mail saying, "you suck for calling me and confusing me with someone else. you now can't do that."
My phone traffic is so light, I'd gladly take a wrong number on the cell.
T, that no-call-list is a wonderful thing. I think you should start calling the Florida number at hours that are convenient to you (say... 10 pm your time) and see how they like "wrong" numbers. :-)
My husbands cell number is *** 5411, whe started getting calls a few months ago for Mike. He kept telling people that this wasn't Mike's number and that he'd had this number for at least three years, he even verified it with most of the people all of whom said yep that the number they were given and apologized. After several weeks of all hours calling, Greg got a call from a guy claiming to be Mike and he apologized profusely, saying he'd given out the wrong number, and that his number is ***-5441 and he apologized for the all hours calls that Greg had gotten.
Greg then sppend the next week or so giving out the correct number, and now thankfully the phone calls have stopped.