Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL |  Too many wrong number call on cell
What is going on? | |
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TearAbite
join:2001-07-25
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell are all the wrong number callers asking for the same person? | |
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Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL
1 edit | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by TearAbite  :are all the wrong number callers asking for the same person? No. | |
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NY Tel
Premium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
 ·VOIPo
1 edit | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell Well everyone who knows me, knows my name.
I have an outgoing message that deliberately says just my first name and not my last.
So when you call me, you hear: "Hi this is Bob, please leave a message at the tone and I'll call you back".
I get messages for Cynthia, Phil, Jack etc. and no one bothers to listen to the name on the message. Unbelievable? Nope?
Stupidity? I'd say there is a high likelihood that is what is happening.....
I just recently ported my Voice Over IP number to my cell and now it is very quiet. My number was an original AT&T Callvantage (new, never used number in the 212 area code).
I get 1 wrong number a year and it is for a guy also named Bob with a different last name but that is at least understandable. | |
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CCat
Purrplexity
Premium
join:2005-12-06
Wonderland | The number isn't 1-800-353-4873 by any chance? | |
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Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by CCat :The number isn't 1-800-353-4873 by any chance? Nope all of those calls are local. | |
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TearAbite
join:2001-07-25
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | i think what's going on is a lot of stupit people in your area don't know how to dial ? | |
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Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL
1 edit | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by TearAbite :i think what's going on is a lot of stupit people in your area don't know how to dial ? Hell it's Alabama what do you think?
One of those idiots called me three times after telling him he got wrong number! | |
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TearAbite
join:2001-07-25
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
 ·surpasshosting
 ·Charter Pipeline
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell When my wife first got her new cell number a few years ago, she was getting a few calls a day for "Sylvia" .. apparently, Sylvia was pretty popular with the stupid crowd..
Several times she would tell a caller "no, you have the wrong number, Sylvia does not have this number anymore".. The person would hang up, dial back 10 seconds later, she would tell them again "noooo.. thissss issss nottt sylviaassss phoneeee nummberrrr anyyymoreee" (slow, so they would understand).. they'd say sorry, hang up, and call back again! the record was 3 times.
THEN she changed her voicemail to say something like, "hi, this is christina, please leave a message. if you're calling for Sylvia, this is no longer her phone number, please do not leave a message" - and she'd STILL get messages for Sylvia..
we have become convinced that the vast majority of people are phuking retarted, with a higher percentage in the under 25 age-group. | |
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a101
@cox.net
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell Some years ago after getting all manner of wrong number calls, I did some thinking and I started writing down the numbers that these idiots THOUGHT they were calling. I was flabergasted when one person got every single digit except the first one, wrong. Well, it turned out that my phone number had two repeating digits. Something like this: 335-8227. What apparently would happen is that people would be trying to call 358-227x or 335-827x and would get confused (or already were) and would hit the 3 or the 2 key twice without realizing it. The phone co equipment doesn't seem to care if you dial an extra digit at the end.
And then there was the bitch that kept calling asking to speak with Debbie. First call she says "let me speak to Debbie" and I answer, "there is no Debbie at this number 335-8227". Caller says "yes there is, put her on". I ask what number she's calling and it turns out she did not misdial. This turns into a 2 month ordeal of phone calls at all hours of the day or night, with this bitch (Debbie's Mother, I assume) refusing to acknowledge that her daughter has intentionally or not, given her the wrong number. No amount of begging or pleading with this woman could get her to try to find out her daughter's real phone number from some other route. I got plenty of suggestions from others on how to get rid of this caller that ranged from "Debbie can't talk right now, because she's giving me h***" to "Debbie asked me to tell you to f*** off and die". I never tried those but finally after being awakened from a sound sleep at 3am by one of these calls, I told this woman that she was insane and that if she really believed that Debbie did live here and that I simply wouldn't let her speak to her, then should she hang up and dial 911. I told her to give the police my phone number and that they will know where I live and have them send over a squad car, as I'd be happy to discuss the matter with them. Then I hung up. I never heard a word after that. No squad car, no more phone calls. I returned to the world of simple repeating digit idiot wrong numbers.
As for the OP getting wrong numbers on a new phone, I'd heard that service providers normally give numbers a cooling off period after someone discontinues service, but that if you piss them off enough when ordering new service, they'll assign you a hot number that just went out of service for non-payment and your life will be a living hell for a few months.
There is always the strategy that my daughter uses where she refuses to answer any calls from numbers that she doesn't recognize. It's a pain, as I have to remember to unblock caller id from the home phone when I call her cell, else no answer. I have noticed an interesting difference between the attitude women and men have towards cell phones. Women tend to see them as only for their personal convenience to make phone calls. Actually being able to receive calls, seems more of a nuisance than benefit to them. Men tend to be more pragmatic and recognize the benefit of both making and receiving calls.
O.O. | |
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| | | | | JoelC707
join:2002-07-09
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by a101 :
There is always the strategy that my daughter uses where she refuses to answer any calls from numbers that she doesn't recognize. It's a pain, as I have to remember to unblock caller id from the home phone when I call her cell, else no answer. I have noticed an interesting difference between the attitude women and men have towards cell phones. Women tend to see them as only for their personal convenience to make phone calls. Actually being able to receive calls, seems more of a nuisance than benefit to them. Men tend to be more pragmatic and recognize the benefit of both making and receiving calls.
That's actually what I do as well though I take it one step further. Unless I am expecting a call from someone and I might not know what their caller ID info will come up as, I refuse to answer the phone if I don't know the number. CID shows "unavailable", "Unknown", "private" or anything like that, forget it, I'm never answering your calls. My boss in Atlanta has his work number blocked like that and I never picked up when he tried to call my home or cell number. He eventually programed a speed dial for me that had the unblock code in front of the number and no more problems after that. When he would call the office number I did answer that obviously but he ended up being the only person to call with a blocked CID so I knew it was him anyway. | |
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joako
Premium
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null
 ·AT&T U-Verse
1 edit | said by TearAbite :When my wife first got her new cell number a few years ago, she was getting a few calls a day for "Sylvia" .. apparently, Sylvia was pretty popular with the stupid crowd.. Several times she would tell a caller "no, you have the wrong number, Sylvia does not have this number anymore".. The person would hang up, dial back 10 seconds later, she would tell them again "noooo.. thissss issss nottt sylviaassss phoneeee nummberrrr anyyymoreee" (slow, so they would understand).. they'd say sorry, hang up, and call back again! the record was 3 times. THEN she changed her voicemail to say something like, "hi, this is christina, please leave a message. if you're calling for Sylvia, this is no longer her phone number, please do not leave a message" - and she'd STILL get messages for Sylvia.. we have become convinced that the vast majority of people are phuking retarted, with a higher percentage in the under 25 age-group. After the third call my response would be "I am so sorry. Sylvia is dead, oh and you missed the funeral it was yesterday."
I used to have phone # 305-740-0221, and the phone # to Nike Town was/still is 305-740-0121. It wasn't too bad but I would get calls for Nike town. After a while when people would call for directions I would tell them it was located somewhere 10 miles away. I figured if they were too stupid to dial the right number or read an address there was no harm.
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PRescott7-2097 | |
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| | | | JoelC707
join:2002-07-09
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
1 edit | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell Ouch, that's mean. But I like it anyway 
Atlanta has several area codes that serve just the metro area. Last count I saw was three, 404, 770 and 678 with a fourth in the works (470 I think). I used to have 404-867-8200 and would get calls every so often for Chateau Elan. At first I just told them they had the wrong number but something told me to investigate it. I looked all over their site for a vague reference for my phone number but I was looking in the wrong place. Out of desperation I googled the 770 area code version of my number and voila, there it was. I see just now that googling the 404 version of my number reveals it still points to Chateau Elan in some winery directories that no doubt haven't been updated in a while. When I got that number back in 2002ish it was a new block Nextel had recently acquired IIRC.
After discovering they had the 770 version of my number I told callers to try that instead. Every misdialer was obviously grateful to get the right number and I never got any repeat callers. Granted the age group going to a winery is a little different than the age group that can't understand that Sylvia doesn't have this number anymore lol. | |
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JoelC707
join:2002-07-09
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| Sadly, such is the problem with recycled numbers. You think it's bad now? Just wait till you get a number that a deadbeat had. You'll get collectors calling at all hours of the day who don't care that you aren't who they are looking for - probably because as a deadbeat, that would be a good tactic to throw them off your trail lol.
I like the "this is not Sylvia, please do not leave a message for her" and then they still do anyway. I'd bet if you found Sylvia's new number and had it in the greeting, people would STILL leave a message for her on your phone. I wonder what people would think if you returned their call only to tell them what a dumb ass they are for not following directions. | |
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CrzyCrakr
Premium
join:2005-06-24
Edgewater, MD
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by JoelC707 :Sadly, such is the problem with recycled numbers. You think it's bad now? Just wait till you get a number that a deadbeat had. You'll get collectors calling at all hours of the day who don't care that you aren't who they are looking for - probably because as a deadbeat, that would be a good tactic to throw them off your trail lol. I like the "this is not Sylvia, please do not leave a message for her" and then they still do anyway. I'd bet if you found Sylvia's new number and had it in the greeting, people would STILL leave a message for her on your phone. I wonder what people would think if you returned their call only to tell them what a dumb ass they are for not following directions. Yes this is what happened to me with my cell. I have had my cell with Verizon for a good 10+ years with the few and far between wrong number. I am hardly ever home so I got rid of my land line. When the Do Not Call List came out I put my cell on it and renewed it as needed. Then about a year and a half ago I started getting calls to sell me magizines and text messages for some sweepstakes. Now I rarely gave my number out to anyone and when I call people I don't know I make sure to block my number. Anytime I sign up for anything that requires a number I have always used the fax number at work so I was surprised that I was even getting these calls. When I would answer the calls to tell them to stop calling cuz I am on the DNC list...The number of calls seemed to multiply.
So I called Verizon and they promptly changed my number. I also put this number on the DNC list. I got the deadbeat number. I was getting calls from her friends trying to get money for a bar tab she ran out on to AMEX and Target calling her about her account. I was getting calls from the Board of Education to tell me when schools were closed on snow days and I was getting the collection agency calls. All but one of those that I asked not to call me anymore were understanding and polite and I never heard from them again. Yes you got it...All but the collection agencies. You would think me being male and them looking for a female would have made some sort of difference. It doesn't. When they would call and I would tell them that it is not her number anymore and my number is on the DNC list they would just call me under another number. I still get calls for this girl but not as frequent. Maybe like one a month. I now only answer my phone from people I know or if I am expecting a call I will answer the phone only until I get the call I was expecting. Any calls I don't know or are blocked get a silent ringtone. Much less stressful. I am intrigued by this Youmail and I am thinking of getting it just to put the "This number has been disconnected" message on my phone for all the numbers I don't know. I need to look into it a little more though. | |
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| TheWickerMan
join:2002-04-09
Enola, PA
| said by JoelC707 :Sadly, such is the problem with recycled numbers. You think it's bad now? Just wait till you get a number that a deadbeat had. You'll get collectors calling at all hours of the day who don't care that you aren't who they are looking for - probably because as a deadbeat, that would be a good tactic to throw them off your trail lol. That happened to the guy who lived in the upstairs apartment in the building where my wife used to live, back when she was still single. He'd constantly get calls from people the former owner of the number apparently owed money to, and they refused to believe that he wasn't the one they were looking for. Worse yet, he was a truck driver who drove at night, so he'd be trying to sleep when these calls came during the day. It got so bad, he had to get his number changed.
My ex was another one who never paid her bills, so I got quite a few calls after she left from people who were looking for her. I was lucky, they took my word for it when I told them she didn't live there anymore.
said by JoelC707 :I like the "this is not Sylvia, please do not leave a message for her" and then they still do anyway. I'd bet if you found Sylvia's new number and had it in the greeting, people would STILL leave a message for her on your phone. I wonder what people would think if you returned their call only to tell them what a dumb ass they are for not following directions. Unfortunately, people are that stupid. Back when I was in my first apartment, my answering machine message said something like, "Hi, this is (my first name.) Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." People apparently missed the name and left messages for other people who didn't live there. OK, I guess that's forgiveable. Just because my name was the one of the machine didn't necessarily mean I was the only one who lived there. So I changed it to something like, "Hello, if you're trying to reach (my first name), leave a message and I'll get back to you. If you're trying to reach someone other than (my first name), you have the wrong number." And I'd still get idiots leaving messages for people who didn't live there. Of course, one of those was one of my friends being a smartass, but most of them were people I did not know.
Some of the worst number calls I got were due to the fact that my phone number was one digit off from the local rape crisis center. | |
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Vamp9190
join:2002-02-11
Chantilly, VA
1 edit | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by seaquake :I had a home phone number that people would call at 2am in the morning ask who had paged them (mind you this was 1994ish, before cell phones were main stream). "No one paged you from this number" --Click *RING* "It's 2am in the morning, stop calling" But someone paged me! "It wasn't me" --Click Lol
People who are drunk and excited that a booty call just came in will be very persistent. 
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Oh BTW, one of the most entertaining threads ever.
rofl | |
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removed
Crisis Management Squad
Premium,VIP
join:2002-02-08
Houston, TX
clubs:
| said by Oleg :I just got a cellphone from SafeLink Is SafeLink a new carrier or something? I've never heard of them before. | |
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Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by removed :said by Oleg :I just got a cellphone from SafeLink Is SafeLink a new carrier or something? I've never heard of them before. It's a government sponsored program provides free cellphone plus minutes for low income people.
»https://www.safelinkwireless.com/Enrollm···ome.aspx | |
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TearAbite
join:2001-07-25
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
1 edit | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell Upon reflection.. blah blah.. | |
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removed
Crisis Management Squad
Premium,VIP
join:2002-02-08
Houston, TX
clubs: | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell Looks like a great value. I wish I could have a free cell phone, paid by hardworking citizens' tax dollars!  | |
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Littlem129
Premium
join:2007-05-13
White Pine, TN | It's a popular recycled number they gave you. I've got a Safelink phone and I don't get any wrong calls. | |
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Jodokast96
R.I.P Bassman442
Premium
join:2005-11-23
Erial, NJ
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by Littlem129 :It's a popular recycled number they gave you. Hey, that's my dealer's number! He's gonna kill you when he finds out you stole his number. What, you trying to cut in on his business? Awww man, he ain't gonna like that man. You'd better lay low and not post for a while Oleg . Just lurk for a while, we'll send you an IM when it's safe. | |
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PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03
·CableOne
| About a week after I got my cell phone (back in 2003 - have had the same number and provider since), I got a call at 0200. I was livid. I answered the phone to some sobbing woman demanding to know who the hell I was and why I was answering her boyfriend's phone. Well, let's just say Polarbear's don't like to be disturbed from hibernation. I gave her a nasty earful, causing her to cry even more.
The next day (er, later that same day), out of sheer curiosity, I called her back and asked her why she thought I (my number) was her boyfriend. Turns out her boyfriend had had my number... and he died. She would call the number to listen to his voice on his voicemail for comfort. Since he was dead, they eventually recycled the number and gave it to me.
I felt like an ass.
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I'm one of those people you can't take out of context. You have to see the whole me before I begin to make any sense. | |
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Mr Neutron
Hopped up on what you mopped up
Premium
join:2005-05-30
Gorham, ME
| Re: Too many wrong number call on cell said by PolarBear :About a week after I got my cell phone (back in 2003 - have had the same number and provider since), I got a call at 0200. I was livid. I answered the phone to some sobbing woman demanding to know who the hell I was and why I was answering her boyfriend's phone. Well, let's just say Polarbear's don't like to be disturbed from hibernation. I gave her a nasty earful, causing her to cry even more. The next day (er, later that same day), out of sheer curiosity, I called her back and asked her why she thought I (my number) was her boyfriend. Turns out her boyfriend had had my number... and he died. She would call the number to listen to his voice on his voicemail for comfort. Since he was dead, they eventually recycled the number and gave it to me. I felt like an ass. Actually, that's a comparatively happy ending.
Think about: she calls her dead boyfriend's number....and someone picks up? Speaking for myself, I'd prefer to have somone sobbing uncontrollably rather than screaming hysterically in my ear.
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We could use the £5,000 to buy a spoon. And then fill up with ice cream. | |
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maartena
Stacked.
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA | Someone wrote:
"For a good time, call (your number)" in a bathroom stall in a dive bar.
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" | |
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| sbcretired
join:2006-01-07
Scottville, MI | Re: Too many wrong number call on cell Try having a pre-paid cell phone getting wrong nrs, or a pre recorded message selling you car warranty. Now that ticks me off | |
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| JoelC707
join:2002-07-09
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| said by bostechie :I once had (61_)825-7300 as my phone number with no problems. Then the N Shore office of the welfare dept changed their # which had been in the same area code as mine. Their new number was the same as mine, but in a different area code (78_)825-7300. Need I say more? I got on average 45 calls a day from these klunk heads calling the welfare office. Even with a detailed message about this being the wrong # and providing the correct # they would still leave lengthy messages. I had no choice but to change my #. It just goes to show you that you can "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity" I entertained the notion of screwing with these people by calling them back saying their welfare was being cancelled because they were too stupid to even be on welfare, but just couldn't justify being that evil. Ouch yeah that would be evil but VERY tempting. Before I was born, my parents had a number that was close to the DeKalb County Police Non-Emergency number. They would get calls at all hours of the day and night that usually started out something like this: "help! I'm being robbed". Remember I said it was the non-emergency number? They got to where they just responded with "perhaps you should call 911 instead" *click*.
And similarly my grandparents had a number that was one digit off from a security company in Atlanta. Same area code and exchange but the last four were 7223 for my grandparents and 7222 for the security company. You'd think it would be the other way around, the security company would get calls for my grandparents but it wasn't. In fact they got a couple of calls from me because I put "72223" in the speed dial without noticing it.
My grandfather finally called BellSouth and they actually suggested he call the security company. So he did and they simply suggested he (my grandfather) change his phone number. My grandfather responded with "You just got your number, I've had mine for 25 years. You change YOUR number" *click*. It worked though, I'm not sure what they did because I know for a fact they still have the number even now but they have not gotten any mis-dialed calls for them anymore. | |
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BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
Premium
join:2004-05-07
00001 | it's the way the providers insure you go over your limit.
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Maccawolf
Premium
join:2001-02-20
Hillsdale, NJ | My phone number is the same (only different area code) as WNBC television. I don't get MANY calls for them, but when I do, it's really laughable....
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Mom and Crockett...... I miss you both! | |
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Sweet Witch
Be the flame, not the moth.
Premium,MVM
join:2003-07-15
Gallifrey
·Comcast
| That happened with my first cell phone a few years ago. One was an Indian sounding woman looking for her daughter (left a vm) so I caled her back to tel her she'd left it on the wrong number because she sounded worried and I wanted her to know her daughter did not get the message. The others were for some little chit named Denise. One time I spoke to one of her friends and explained that she no longer had the number and she must have spread the word because the calls stopped within a day or two.
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"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."
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gireesh
join:2004-10-09
Spring, TX
| I had the same problem a couple of years ago...but this was with a landline. ATT hooked us up in our new north Houston apartment with a new number and we started getting calls from Walgreens (about prescriptions), Harris County Jail authorities and a few spanish people who would start off the conversation so fast it was almost indecipherable. When the collection agency calls started, I found out that a deadbeat had this number ....hold your breath.... almost 4 years ago.
What was funny was when ATT (as always) got their records in a twist and insisted that my line qualified for the low-income lifeline discount (based on the deadbeats info I bet). I had a hard time explaining to the lady that I did not want that discount and that they should give it to someone who really needed it. She sounded surprised that I turned down a discount which I did not qualify for.
Regards
Gireesh
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jerky boys
@cgocable.net
| My 1-800 # which goes to my cell when I am out of the office is one digit off from a cruise line. Boy do I have fun with that one in the fall.
My office fax is one digit off from a medical centers fax and I get peoples medical records with all their info faxed all the time.
I am next to a university and alarm company in the phone book and get their calls all the time.
If you are getting a few calls count yourself lucky. I'll trade you any day. | |
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MsTerra
Completely Ridiculous
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Cambridge, MA
| When I got a cell phone in NYC about 2.5 years ago, that happened to me. I ended up with a number that had previously belonged to some young woman named Tia. They must not have given the number a very long "cooling off" period, because Tia had been job-hunting and I was getting calls from places where she'd interviewed, as well as calls from friends, and calls from Blockbuster, where she was late returning some videos. It was such a nuisance that I tracked her down on MySpace and asked her to let people know her phone number had changed.
After a while I started getting calls from women for some guy called Andre. My guess is that this guy was a player who gave women my number if he didn't want them to call him.
I kept that number for a while after I moved back to MA, but I finally got fed up with the wrong numbers and the "wrong texts" and got my number changed to a MA one. It's a relatively new area code, and I almost never get wrong numbers or texts now.
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"Strive to change the world in such a way that there's no further need to be a dissident." Lawrence Ferlinghetti | |
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Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL | Thank for your great stories everyone. | |
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carpetshark3
Premium
join:2004-02-12
Colorado Springs, CO
·Qwest.net
| Number you don't know - google it. If it's a solicitor, stick them in the phone book under an obscenity and a silent ring. Since they got those auto warranty pests, it's been a bit quieter. I'm paying for the cell phone to use the way I want to. BTW - I don't use the answering service or have text messaging. I use missed calls.
Weezt | |
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