Phone rage!!!1

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When I moved into my apartment 2+ years ago my phone company, in their infinite cruelty, decided to give me a number that was really simple and seemed a lot like a commercial number. Shortly after this, I began getting an endless succession of phone calls that were either (a) faxes or (b) confused elderly people wondering where "Dr. [name withheld]" was. I still get two or three wrong numbers a week (usually displayed on my caller ID as people who try to call, get my answering machine, realize I am not Dr. [whoever] and hang up).

It has been two years and people still call for Dr. [no forwarding number].

Earlier today some little old lady called. It went a bit like this:
Me: Hello?
Her: (pause) [hang up]

Then, about an hour later, same person:
Me: Hello?
Her: (pause) Who is this?
Me: (irritated) Well it's not Dr. [asshat]'s office.
Her: (sounding somewhat hurt): Ooooh, I'm sorry.
Me: [hang up]

Jeez, I feel like such a tool.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

You really should have said it really was Dr. Asshat.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

EVERY! SINGLE! DAY! I get calls from people looking for "Marty". If I ever find this dingleberry "Marty", well, let's just say I'll put the proverbial egg in his proverbial briefcase nyuck nyuck.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha I can't believe you're still saying that! And JOTO died after about 3 hours.

― NA (Nick A.), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Bad idea I will probably never do:

Them: "Is this Dr. [soandso]'s office?"
Me: Yes. I'm sorry... It's malignant.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

"I was calling to ask how to cure jock itch!"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm the only one, I'm all alone, the proverbial shoe in the lava lamp.

x-post

Them: "But how can my prosthetic testicle be malignant!?!?"

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Me and Ned, always straight for the crotch. Damnit.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:23 (twenty-two years ago)

say it's DOCTOR DOOOOM and your time is NOOOOOOWWW, AHAHAHAHAHA

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:28 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f569/f56996yhodf.jpg

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I hope this thread was categorized under ASSHATS.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Thursday, 13 November 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

If you keep getting people trying to fax you or calling for someone else, try googling your phone number. It could be listed erroneously for some other place. I've had people trying to fax me at all hours at two different phones numbers in two different locations because, as I discovered, the numbers were listed on out of date websites (one for a hospitality company, one for some kind of international piping manufacturer).

― Vonda Shepard, Friday, 14 November 2003 04:21 (twenty-two years ago)

lemme get this straight, you've got caller id yet you still pick up when someone you don't know calls?

― hstencil, Friday, 14 November 2003 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)

That was not phone rage. That was more phone itchy dry skin.

― Carey (Carey), Friday, 14 November 2003 05:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Nah, caller id doesn't solve everything. Usually I use it to screen people whose #'s I have entered into the system but don't feel like talking to at that moment. For unknowns, it could be a call-back regarding a new job, new love interest, a friend in an emergency who is using a phone booth, all too tempting to ignore.

― Dancing Queen, Friday, 14 November 2003 05:17 (twenty-two years ago)

some of us avoid this by not having a phone.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 14 November 2003 05:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, I googled the number after a volley of faxes, hence my knowing of Dr. Wrongnumber before I even got a call from an actual person asking for him.

Also: lemme get this straight, you've got caller id yet you still pick up when someone you don't know calls?

When it just says "wireless caller" it's impossible to tell if it's some dumbass who got a wrong number or, say, the music editor you just got in touch with for the first time that day via e-mail.

Everything, no matter how minor-level irritable, is more rage-laden when it's directed at the elderly.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 14 November 2003 05:21 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...

This should put the noize board's recent wranglings into perspective.

― Just got offed, Saturday, 14 July 2007 20:54 (eighteen years ago)

Some people were without caller ID in 2003?

― JTS, Sunday, 15 July 2007 18:37 (eighteen years ago)

An apartment building down the street from me has an intercom-phone system that dials up the resident's home phone instead of buzzing them. It sucks, though, 'cause it sends the wrong tones quite often and I get wrong numbers from people who don't know they're dialing a phone. Worse yet, it always seems to be someone with a poor command of English saying, "DELIVERY!" I can't explain to these folks that they need to dial again: When I try to explain, they just shout, "DELIVERY!" I managed to find the address of the apartment they're trying to deliver to by asking the last fellah what address the delivery was for. I walked down the street to the place to verify the details, and sure enough, it was exactly what I thought, but there was no way to dial the address, only names.

This isn't really the bane of my life, but I wish I could think up something interesting to do or say besides, "we've decided that we don't really want it. Please take it back."

― libcrypt, Monday, 16 July 2007 08:03 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

phone companies are fucking stupid aren't they

there's some shitty company that's been phoning me 10 times a day trying to sell me a phone and i phoned up my phone company to try and get them to block their number and apparently they can't do it.

how fucking useless is this shit.

― \∫Öζ/.... argh oh noes! (ken c), Tuesday, 17 March 2009 14:47 (seventeen years ago)

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