General Chat

In our last house, our telephone number was very similar to that of a London branch of NatWest Bank, so we often got calls from people asking for their balance, did we do mortgages, etc, and had lots of them INSISTING they'd dialled the right number. In this house, not only is our number one digit different from a local dentists, so we get his patients ringing asking to make or cancel appointments, but we also seem to get old ladies ringing up about their hair appointments. My son has just got home from work to find a message on his answering machine that Mrs Crump wants to cancel her perm appointment on Friday. He didn't really want to know that, nor did he want to know recently that the mechanic had fixed Mrs Dollimore's car and it was ready for collection, etc. What are these people on? LoL CB >|<

Our number is aparently very similar to a dentist, and they always say but we rang the right number. We also have a very similar number to our Doctors, and 6 years ago my Mum was in Malasia visiting family. They tried to contact me at home, but got through to the Midwifes at the doctors, and it was the very same afternoon that I was visiting the Doctors to register as I was pregnant. i was probably in the room when my Mum rang. I didnt tell her till she came home that I was Pregnant.

That used to infuriate me when I answered the phones at work. The caller would ask for a different person/company and then when I told them they'd got the wrong number they asked if I knew the right number!! Like I'd know that??!! Actually we got a lot of calls for a certain bank who had a very similar number so I did find the right number and passed it on. But very annoying as you've said! Joanne

Sounds like LSD to me Camberwell Beauty LOL Yvonne x

Hi CB My mum had a telephone number that was one digit different to a local company. Suddenly she started getting dozens of calls a day, some of which woke her up when she was trying to have a nap. She was in her 70's and it really started to get her down. So I took the next call and asked them what number they had dialled and why. I managed to discover that the company had thousands of letterheads, all printed with my mums number on. When I contacted them, they weren't at all interested or concerned and although I insisted that they destroyed the remaining ones, I don't think that they did. She carried on getting the calls for several more weeks. Chrissie x

YES!! I believe that our number is only 1 digits difference to that of a local taxi firm, and occasionally we'll get calls from people wanting a taxi. On the very odd occasion, the caller gets very grumpy that you won't come to pick them up and think you're fobbing them off by telling them they've got the wrong number!

Our phone number is similar to the local taxi firm nope we dont get no problems during the week but at the weekends its murder , now hubby tell the person who wants the taxi 'yes where do you want picking up from be about 20 mins dont forget wait outside'. We often wonder how long they wait. Margaret xxx

Unwanted callers get short shift in my house, if I get a sales person on the line I ask them who they are and how they got the number as this was a MOD Security hotline, they usuially ring off very quickly. Len

Our number is the same as the local Chinese Restaurant except that two of the middle digits are transposed. Fortunately, it's only very occasionally that we get calls intended for them nowadays.

When I worked for Inland Revenue - I took a call on my direct line from a lady enquiring when her three piece suite would be delivered. She cracked up when I told her who she was speaking to. (didn't think it was THAT funny! LOL) - But I did look up the correct number for her - she had transposed the last two digits of the number for a local department store. It only happened once - I was glad of the laugh! Magsxx

I've suffered from this twice. Once was at work - this is back in the dark ages of dial-up when I used to do computer searches for research papers. Little did I know how much fun I would have later looking for census entries! We had a dedicated phone just for dialling-up and it would occasionally ring - it was one digit different from a tailor's. I didn't mind that people had made a mistake, but they would say 'Are you sure?' as though I would then say 'Yes, just fooling. We are a tailor's shop after all, haha!' The other one was more distressing - when we moved to our old house, our phone number was - not using real numbers, but it was like 000XX and the phone number for the local Samaritans was 00XXX. We'd get the occasional wrong number and correct people and that was OK, but this woman rang one night, rather drunk from the sound of it, and my husband answered. He was very sympathetic and she would ring several times later. I thought she knew really that she had a wrong number she just wanted to talk to him as he was a good listener! I don't think she was suicidal or desperate, but just lonely and a bit sloshed. nell

We used to get it all the time where I worked. Our number was one digit out for Waverley train station in Edinburgh, so as you can imagine it happened rather a lot! LOL Christine

My daughter has had to change her number because she was sick of getting calls for the same woman all the time. Only last weekend my husbands mobile had four calls from the same person who got quite abusive when told he had the wrong number. Just kept cancelling the call in the end. They soon gave up. Margaret

Ours is similar to a local coach company. The worst time was after they had placed an advert for a special offer, in the paper and somehow our number was advertised instead. 'Are you doing turkey and tinsel trips this year?' Er, no we're not! I usually just tell people the correct number now.

wE TOO ARE ONE DIGIT OFF THE LOCAL TAXI FIRM I am afraid thet when My Mum was so ill and dependant-She fell often I used to get really distressed when the damned phone rang in the middle of the night for yet another drunk.I Hallo my last sentence was deleted-not by me!! Rose

Hi, Can you fit me in for a cut and blow dry on Friday? Gwynne

we are always getting people ringing our number for other people but the best one was one i answered just before christmas and this bloke said we've finished with the hall now do you want us to drop the keys in at the vicarage? i couldn't stop laughing...i asked jamie when had he become the local vicar lol

That must have been really awful Rose. We had an early morning call when my father in law was in hospital after heart surgery, so I can guess how it felt.

Woken up in the early hours of the morning by a young woman who had obviously dialled wrongly, I was very cross and told her to dial more carefully in future. I only had the phone with me because I have someone very poorly in hospital, coming out of a deep sleep I wasn't feeling too pleased at this unnecessary disturbance.... Why do people who dial wrong no. always want to discuss it with a perfect stranger? I HAVE dialled wrongly occasionally and always apologise profusely - then ring off. Sales calls - press 'hash' key several times and it scrambles your no. in their records! Dilys

Good morning C B. It was very annoying at the last pub I had. The name was the same as another nearby. Trouble was they used to stay open most of the night and then get fresh customers at five and six in the morning. I was always getting calls for them. Mainly from irrate wives, many from the other countries the other side of the North Sea. In the end I would get annoyed and just say ring Directory Inquiries. But even they could not get it right and still gave them our number. Apparently some operators would just look at the name of the pub and not bother to check the area or address. Was always complaining to them. To my knowledge they still get the same problem 5yrs later. Jenny.x