"I'm so sorry, I've got the wrong number."

[MrsRajeshKoothrappali]

How fecking hard is that to say?

I seem to get weirdo calls all day long from companies (I assume) and 9/10 out of ten they just hang up when I say hello.

I'm with TPS, which has prevented some calls but some still slip through the net.

Am stressed today anyway and this has irked me further.

Meh!

[Toodledoodle]

I had a woman call last week and she was not convinced that I wasn't the shoe shop where she had bought two pairs of slippers the other day and wanted to return a pair because she didn't like one of them and at the time she had been told that she could return them even through they were in the sale in case she wasn't happy with them when she got hope which she wasn't an she had tried to call the shop all day the previous day but nobody had answered the phone and why hadn't they answered the phone when the phone number was the one of the receipt that she had lost but it was the same number so could I confirm that she was coming into change the slippers and she wanted a refund... then she took a breath.

This was after I said 'I'm sorry but you have they wrong number, this is a private number'. I told her this again and she just said, 'hmmmmmmmm' and hung up.

[StuntGirl]

toodle

Do you think when she finally gets to the shop she'll complain about the 'rude staff member'!

[Tee2072]

I would bet those 9 are auto-diallers and so no one even hears you say 'hello'. They answered a different call just before you pick up, instead.

And I think TPS is crap!!!

[Moominsarehippos]

Oh yes, the auto diallers. I hate those bloody recorded messages too (you can't tell them to bugger off and take your name off their call list). Bastards. And all the 'have you been mis-sold a PPI' calls.

[YooHooYoniMe]

TPS doesn't seem to spare us at all. I have pretty much given up answering the landline.

[RubberBullets]

I've started reporting these calls. Not sure if it does any good but it makes me feel better

[phantomnamechanger]

We get calls for X store and Y firm each of which is one digit different from our number (one digit either end) - after this happend a few times we looked them up and so we can tell callers exactly where they are going wrong. They are usually very apologetic. I even called one woman back after she left a long detailed call about an order on OUR answerphone, so she knew the message had not got through. The daft message we have on our answerphone, you'd have thought she would have realsied it was not a business!

[Cailinsalach]

My phone number is very similar to the GP's. I get loads of calls for him and often get hung up on but occasionally a caller will insist they have dialled correctly. If this happens now I just ask them to list their symptoms and suggest they see a doctor....

[VodkaJelly]

My number was either that of a chain of chemists or very close to it. I havent had any calls for a while, but they were mostly sales reps trying to get an appointment.

Had the phone number for over 12 years so their info is really out of date

[marcopront]

My old number was very similar to that of a cat sanctuary. I would get some very upset people calling. I would get some very sad answerphone messages, I did on occasion call them back and explain they had dialed a wrong number.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

We got a recycled number when we moved here, and are TPS and ex-directory.

The only calls we get are chasing ancient debt for someone called Michelle. They are always very polite though.

[Jan49]

I've never forgotten a wrong number phone call I received even though it was 30 years ago and the person who rang is probably long dead.

I picked up the phone and the caller was a rather nervous sounding elderly lady who started by saying "you don't know me but..." then launched into a long tale involving false teeth. I let her talk because she'd started by saying I didn't know her so somehow I thought she had got the right number and was ringing because she knew a member of my family who had false teeth. As she continued, it dawned on me that she thought she was speaking to a dental receptionist.

Eventually I had to explain to her that I wasn't a dentist and she'd rung the wrong number. I felt very sad to think that she was going to have to do it all over again and also sorry for the real dental receptionist who would probably prefer to be told what they need to know in a few sentences rather than a long story.

[cumfy]

Have you worked out which company's phone is similar to yours ?

[BreconBeBuggered]

Our phone number used to be almost identical to that of a local taxi firm. I can tell you now, people are not impressed when they ring up at 3am to find you don't plan to go round and pick them up. I got the impression they wanted me to apologise for schlepping barefoot and pregnant down to my kitchen to hear another drunk complaining.

[Bumbolina]

I get hundreds of debt collecting calls for Janet Craig... if anyone knows her can they tell her to stop giving out my bloody phone number!

Worse thing is when you say 'she doesn't live here -never has' they don't believe you!!

[drjohnsonscat]

Completely agree. Three out of four calls on my home phone are wrong numbers and the bad news is that my phone number is one digit away from our local 24 hour chemist. I get lots of very angry people shouting at me that they need to talk to Karim and they know Karim works for me and they spoke to him last week and he gave them this number - this is usually at 2am. I've even spoken to the chemists to get them to check what number they are giving out but people are just idiots and they are also quite rude. Once I've finally got rid of them they usually call back to see if they will get someone at my house to finally admit that yes, we know Karim.

I also have the phone number that used to belong to the physiotherapist for the English National Ballet so I get a lot of very stressed mums of ballet dancers leaving lengthy messages for me about their daughters' injuries and pleading with me to call back urgently.

[digerd]

I can remember getting a crossed line a couple of times years ago. I listened in, but it wasn't about anything interesting. I was so disappointed

[RubyDanglesBangle]

I get lots of calls to my mobile for Eric.
I've had this mobile number since mobiles were invented.
Eric does not know his mobile number obv, and secretly wants mine.

I've had calls about his medical appointments and everything, and I honestly dont sound like an Eric when I answer.

[digerd]

Now I don't answer and let it go to recording. Friends and family know to ask if I am there .

[brimfullofasha]

I get calls for someone called Orlando. I once got a long message on my answer phone saying his daughter was sick and he needed to collect her from nursery ASAP . It was a withheld number so I couldn't call them to explain the mistake. They must have thought he was a neglectful parent. I got lots of texts inviting him on nights out too.

[firesidechat]

When we last moved house to a completely new area, we were given a new phone number. Unfortunately we soon found out that it was the old, recycled number of the crematorium up the road. Kept getting calls from mainly elderly people and it drove us nuts. We put up with it for months before admitting defeat and asking for a new one.

[ParsleyTheLioness]

I agree. This has happened so often, and naffed me off so much, I wrote a blog post about it once!

[SingingSands]

Crossed lines! That never happens nowadays. I listened in once to two old dears discussing knitting and getting a nice bit of haddock for tea.

My aunt's phone number was one digit away from our local Chinese delivery. If I was phoning a takeaway and misdialled I could at least have a nice chat with my aunt or uncle or a cousin before redialling!

[SaskiaRembrandtVampireHunter]

I get calls and texts for somebody called Mohammed whose family and friends seem to treat him as a taxi service.

Also, years ago the number of the company I worked was inadvertently used by a tv programme as the number to ring to enter a competition. I spent most of a morning taking puzzling calls from people who told me the answer was 'b'.