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AIBU?

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Original poster

Local kebab takeaway advertising using my landline number.

51 replies

Snowflakes1122 · 08/03/2017 12:30

PostIng for traffic and fed up!

We have had our landline 3 years and increasingly keep getting calls for a kebab shop the other end of the city. Evenings and weekends we get so many calls.

The most annoying thing is quite a few that call don't believe me when I tell them it's the wrong number! These are usually drunk people swearing or pushy sales people during the day Angry

I've emailed all the companies that list my landline as the kebab shop, but they are just ignoring my emails.

My DH has called the kebab shop and they haven't done anything about it either.

What can I do? Is their anyone I can contact who can force them all to remove our number?

Not sure how this has come about in the first place as the kebab places actual number is nothing similar to ours.

Please help! I'm going mad!

OP posts:
badabeedabom · 08/03/2017 12:31

Oh gosh, I think my first port of call would be the phone company to get a new land line number. Annoying but probably the least annoying of the options!

justilou · 08/03/2017 12:31

Change your number, perhaps?

CruCru · 08/03/2017 12:32

You may need to change your number (which is inconvenient).

If your current number is on a load of printed advertising, then it is out there and there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

Redglitter · 08/03/2017 12:32

Would you not be as well changing your number. Unless you use it as a work number would it not be easier and save you the hassle. I had a similar problem in my last flat. BT changed it for free. So few people seem to call landlines these days would it not be an easier option

SilenceOfTheYams · 08/03/2017 12:34

Have you thought about changing your own number?

don't forget to cancel the cheque

Justanothernameonthepage · 08/03/2017 12:34

Are they calls to order food for collection? If so I'd be tempted to take the order, tell them it'll be 20 minutes and let the shop deal with annoyed customers. Otherwise it's change your number or unplug the phone after 6pm.

FannyWisdom · 08/03/2017 12:35

Back in times of yore (before mobiles) we had a digit different to the taxi company.

We never got the nice customers just the pissed pissed off ones.
My DF decided to sell our number to the cab firm, after telling them of all the fares they were losing.

DF is a necky sod so I wouldn't try for money but I would try it from losing custom.

BretonRose · 08/03/2017 12:35

Set up a rival outlet. That'll teach 'em. Especially if you do pizza too.

Justanothernameonthepage · 08/03/2017 12:37

Oh and the sales calls, tell them to turn up in person at the shop as the boss doesn't do business over the phone.

cuddlesandchips · 08/03/2017 12:37

I second taking the orders

NB. how will your DP call the kebab shop? What if you pick up?!

Eve · 08/03/2017 12:37

could be worse, I was brought up in rural Northern Ireland, and our number was very similar to the local hospital number.

We would get a lot of wrong calls, including quite a few bomb warning ones! ( the local terrorists would always call a warning though to give notice of a bomb planted somewhere.... we as kids were never allowed to answer the phone at night in case it was a warning)

Original poster
Snowflakes1122 · 08/03/2017 12:37

We have thought about changing our number.
Just it's as it's a really easy number to remember and DH works from home some days of the week.

So this is free to do? For some reason I thought it would cost us.

OP posts:
DoubleR · 08/03/2017 12:38

We had a similar situation when I was a child, in the end my DF started pretending to take the orders, after a couple of months of angry customers turning up at the take away for their food they soon changed the number. It became quite the running joke in my family though, DF still sometimes answers the phone asking if we want chips with that ( he's quite eccentric Grin )

Original poster
Snowflakes1122 · 08/03/2017 12:38

Eve that's awful. How scary for your family Sad

OP posts:
drspouse · 08/03/2017 12:38

Our home phone only accepts calls from numbers that show up and if it is a new number they have to announce themselves. One of these would do the job.

People who are drunk and expecting a kebab shop wouldn't bother announcing themselves. You can of course totally block their number if they keep calling back.

There are various options so you can either just block numbers you already know you don't want, block all withheld numbers, get all calls to announce themselves etc etc.

It has had the rather nice side effect of forcing my mum to un-withhold her number meaning we know it's her and can answer her when convenient rather than just before we're about to dash out the house - and we also don't have to answer all withheld calls thinking they might be her and urgent.

A simpler option would be just to let all landline calls go to voicemail for the moment unless you recognise the number and have your voicemail say "this is NOT X Kebab shop". I had a number advertised for a hotel at one point and had this on my outgoing message.

Ilovewheelychairs · 08/03/2017 12:39

Could you get BT Call Guardian? You put in a list of numbers that are allowed through straight away (friends, family etc). Anyone else has to announce who they are, you listen to it and if it's someone you don't know you ignore the call. It's an indication to the caller that it is a landline number and not a business number too, so only the very persistent would leave their name and try to get through! Stops all cold calls as well.

FlyingElbows · 08/03/2017 12:40

If someone's actively advertising your number (as opposed to genuine mis-dialling) maybe a call to your local trading standards to see if they can advise?

Original poster
Snowflakes1122 · 08/03/2017 12:40

DoubleR

My DH has suggested we buy a load of kebab meet for the freezer and get a credit card machine. We'd have a pretty good business on the side by now Grin

OP posts:
WildBelle · 08/03/2017 12:40

Ha...reminds me of the time when I moved house when dd2 was 1 day old, and good old BT were supposed to transfer my old phone number but instead issued the number of the vets practice which had recently closed down. Cue a week of calls all day and night from people with sick pets...just what you need when you're fucked from childbirth and BF every 5 mins. I'm afraid that some of the callers received a bit of wrath but BT must have thought I had Tourette's from the phone calls (several of them before anything got done) I made to complain.

But yeah, I second taking their orders and telling them it will be ready in 20 minutes.

icanteven · 08/03/2017 12:40

Actually that's a point FannyWisdom - sell them your number for 5k. Realistically, how long would it take to inform the relevant people of your change of number? Do you use it very much?

FannyWisdom · 08/03/2017 12:41

Change answer message to Closed by Environmental Health for foreseeable..... might budge them too.

WorraLiberty · 08/03/2017 12:42

I would change your number, if you're with BT then it's free if you explain what's happened.

I don't agree with those saying you should pretend to take the orders.

I imagine 1000s of leaflets have probably been printed and delivered all around the area and that's why you're still getting calls, after you've pointed out the error.

PollyBanana · 08/03/2017 12:42

You can get some sort of call guardian feature installed on your phone (sorry don't know what it's called) where caller has to leave name then you authorise them access.
Friends and family only have to do the access permissions thing once then the system recognises their number and lets them through.
I'm assuming there's a fee which you could ask kebab shop yo pay (or give you free kebabs)

RhiWrites · 08/03/2017 12:52

Here's your solution. Tell everyone who phones that the kebab shop is having a giveaway and they can have their order for free if they collect it.

I bet the shop becomes incentivised to correct the situation then.

OpalMoon · 08/03/2017 13:00

We had the same problem and after speaking to the manager to explain he had used our number instead of his own he said "so fucking what." Nice.

Every call we received after that we informed the caller we were the official receivers and the company was no longer trading.

That worked. The number of calls dropped from 30+ a day to a couple a week Wink

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