ME: "Sorry, you have the wrong number." -- THEM: (Click.)

[arwalden]

Is it too much trouble for someone to say "sorry" then hang up? I don't know if this is the new standard for common courtesy, or if it's just that the person who used to have my telephone number ONLY associated with rude people... or if ONLY rude people have difficulty dialing.

-- Allen

[LastKnight]

1. yea, that annoys me too... nt

[Screaming Lord Byron]

2. Sorry. I think I may have the wrong thread. Sorry about that.

[SOteric]

3. Shall I tell you about the woman who argued with me?

I told her she'd reached the wrong number. She gave me short shrift and told me she'd most certainly did get the right number, and then let out a stream of invective.

She rang back twice. Believe it or not she doesn't even make it to Julsy's Telephone Bozo Hall of Fame.

:shrug:

[arwalden]

4. Apparently The Person Who Had My Phone Number Was In Debt And In Default

on his/her credit cards. We get frequent debt collector calls. They always sound suspicious when I tell them that the person they seek doesn't have this number anymore.

-- Allen

[Not Me]

6. Do you have caller id?

Note the number, and next time you get in at, oh say, 2:30AM, call her back (*67)and pull the same routine.

[tsakshaug]

5. Got a wrong number from a school nurse

on my cell phone. She refused to believe that I did not know who she looking for. She needed to have the child picked up ASAP. It took me awhile to tell her that -this is a cell phone I am the only one that uses it and I did not know the person she was looking for. I did not know the family of the child, and was not responisble for filling out the childs contact info. finally I was rude and hung up

[zbdent]

7. cheap and easy solution.

Get an answering machine, tell your friends that you are screening your calls. Pick up when it's a friend.

[arwalden]

12. Because I Get More Legitimate Calls Than Wrong Numbers...

and even though it IS annoying to be hung-up on... it's faster than having to listen-in to see if it's a familiar voice. But your idea is definitely EFFECTIVE.

Before the do-not-call list went into effect, we had Verizon's "Do-Not-Disturb" feature enabled on our line. (I may consider turning it back on again.)

For those who don't know what that is... all callers would receive a recorded message that says "the person you're calling does not wish to be disturbed at this time" --- BUT... if the caller knew the PIN and punched in the correct numbers, he could bypass the recording (and voice mail) and make my phone ring. Without knowing the bypass code, they would go straight to voice mail and my phone would never ring.

Pretty cool

-- Allen

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

8. I've got one better

How bout those people who ask if you have the correct number of the person they're trying to dial? WHY IN THE FUCKING WORLD WOULD I???

[Tracer]

9. I get my fair share of wrong numbers, but ...

... after I say "Sorry, you've got the wrong number", they ALMOST ALWAYS SAY "Is this [phone]?"

Sheesh! I've just TOLD them they've got the wrong number! Why do they need to be told AGAIN!

[denverbill]

16. Umm, that means they are being polite.

I do exactly the same thing. If you don't ask them if this was [phone], you don't know if you misdialed or wrote down the wrong number. If you don't ask and you wrote down the wrong number, your phone is going to ring again in 1 minute.

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. I do it to make sure I don't call that person again

Never know if I typed incorrectly, or wrote down the wrong number to begin with.

[CBHagman]

10. Huge problems with phone manners in America.

I think most people don't know how to handle the situation you describe and haven't been taught. Really, all they have to do is apologize.

I used to work at a store where our charge card line number was slightly different from a local insurance company. I'd get these long, involved calls from people who would describe their accident or illness at length despite the fact that I announced the store name on answering the phone. I'd then try to give them the number they REALLY wanted, and most would snottily say, "But that's what I dialed."


Really, the important thing is to be polite on both ends -- reasonably kind to the misdialing person and utterly polite to the recipient of the call.

One of the funniest wrong number calls I ever got was at home. A total stranger, obviously in a hurry, called and announced, "I just have to throw on some clothes and I'll be right over." I said, "I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you are." I forget whether she said anything in reply, but it gave me the laugh of the day.

[BiggJawn]

13. "Don't bother...It'll save time once you get here..."

I'd bet THAT would have gotten her attention!

[tsakshaug]

11. My grandmother

Was never too sure of the telephone, not getting one until she was in her 60's. When she would call our house, we would of course pick up and say "hello" she would respond "Who's this?" being fairly young and just learning how to use the phone, I was taught to reply to that one with "who are you trying to reach?" My mother would figure out it was grandma if she heard us use that line.
When she did get a phone it was a party line, so we would get her neighbors cutting into our calls to say hello or to ask to use the line (what ever happened to party lines?)

Did any of this make sense?

[tjwash]

14. I usually ask them what # they dialed.

You would be surprised how many times they were given my number by mistake. Of course I asked once "sorry, wrong number, what number were you dialing?" and the guy said "I'm calling this number, mother effer!"

He's probably posting on free republic as we speak.

[Commendatori]

15. This doesn't bother me a bit

because I simply say "wrong number" and hang up. In 99% of these cases, you'll never speak to the person again, so who cares?

[Forkboy]

18. I had a five minute conversation with someone who called me mistakenly

the other day.It was a damn funny convo too.No need to be rude,we all make mistakes.