Sorry, Wrong Number! HELP!

[PirateLover]

We have lived in an apartment with the same home phone number going on 3 years. It is a private residence with the NJ area code 856. Every now and then we go through cycles with people calling us, asking for "California Casualties." We get about 2 calls on average per day. If we don't answer, often they will leave their very personal information on our voicemail! Clearly this is a major issue on multiple levels. None of their numbers appear even remotely similar to ours, so it's something more than a simple mis-dial. The odd thing is, it really does seem to go in cycles. We will go months without any calls and then they will pick up again.

During the last go-round, I called the phone company to complain and they said it was an issue with California Casualties. I called them, got bumped around from person to person, and ended up with a manager who basically laughed at me and talked over me the entire time. He didn't seem very concerned about his customers giving out their personal info and my invasion of privacy with having to deal with these constant calls. He said there was nothing they could do. I called back the phone company and the only suggestion they could give me was to block the incoming number. The problem is, the calls come from many different numbers. I gave up and the calls went away... but now they are back again. Does anybody have any clue why this is happening (I'm totally ignorant to how routing of telephone numbers works) and what my next step should be to remedy this?

ETA: I don't want to simply change my number. I actually want someone to address this issue because there are real people being affected by this problem, especially those who think they have fulfilled their end on leaving info for an insurance claim.

[Wolf]

That sounds dreadful..I'm so sorry you're dealing with such a bizare issue, maybe call the California better business beauro? They might could contact them about the people that are being lost in this weird shuffle and address it that way. I have no idea honestly. I'm sorry! Good luck to you!

[VWL Mom]

When I worked our office 800 number ended in 0304 and Verizon ended in 0300. We constantly got wrong numbers and according to the phone company it was something to do with the switching station. Mind you, I worked there for 12 years and it was never fixed.

I know you checked their 856 numbers but did you check their 866 toll-free numbers? Maybe that's the problem?

You may want to leave a message on your answering machine, this is the name residence rather than just a number. If you don't want to give out your name you could say if you are trying to reach CC you have reached a wrong number.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Call the Casualty company and ask to speak with its Ombudsman. Explain the issue and it should be resolved promptly!

[gerald72]

Sounds like what happened to me once. Every year around a certain time, I would get calls from people thinking I was a company that made gun holsters.

Instead of getting upset, I think you should run with it. Have fun. Do what Kramer did on Seinfeld when people thought that his number was the movie theatre. He answered the calls and gave out movie show times.

Answer the people's calls and act like you are the company, but you are a really incompetent employee and you mess up their orders.
I bet the real company will put a stop to it when they start losing sales.

[Kairi_7378]

In college, my phone number in my dorm was almost the same as Abington Hospital's... two digits were reversed. We had a similar problem in that people would leave REALLY personal information on our machine!

We ended up making a message that said, "This is Laura and Sue's room. This is not Abington Hospital. Please call..." After we changed the message we only got 2 calls with wierd information.

[tinkwest]

We have had this happen two separate times with the same home phone. The first time I knew what the problem was. A local news guy who had people call in for help with their problems used a phone number that was one digit different from ours so people were just misdialing. It didn't happen often enough to worry about it, maybe one to four times a year. What surprised me was the amount of personal information people left on our answering machine even when we had a personal greeting that should have clued them in to the fact that it was a wrong number.

Another time it was people calling for an auto repair shop. If ever I answered (rather than the machine) I would ask them what number they were dialing and they would always say my number. So someone or something was giving them the wrong number. Calls eventually stopped so somewhere along the line they must have figured it out. This may be the case with you as well. Perhaps someone's business card is misprinted or a claim form has an old number on it. Maybe if you ever talk to an actual caller you could ask them how they got the number they are dialing.

[DizneyRox]

People dialing a wrong number shouldn't be too worrisome. Although it's a nuisance, it's not your problem so to speak.

An insurance company is also not concerned over people spilling their guts. Now, if they we're calling you leaving private information about customers that's one thing, but if the customers are doing it about themselves, that's not a privacy concern.

You can try to help people, but like a few people I know say, you can't fix stupid,

[SBETigg]

We get calls from creditors for one particular woman all the time. It's annoying, but nothing we can't handle. We just got this number when we moved last year. The funny thing is that the creditors never believe me when I say I am not the woman they want and that this might have been her phone number in the past but it's not now. They all seem to think I'm her and I'm lying.

But what you have going on would be so much more annoying. I think VWL Mom Lynn probably has it right, that it's the 866 they are messing up. In which case, there's not much the company can do for you and changing your number is the only real option. Otherwise, maybe try Jennifer's ombudsman suggestion.

[PirateLover]

I think I will try the Ombudsman thing. I forgot to mention that in addition to researching the company's numbers, I have asked a few callers what number they were trying to dial and it has never been anything remotely similar to our number. So it has to be some sort of switchboard error I think? So frustrating.

[Wolf]

Sounds like what happened to me once. Every year around a certain time, I would get calls from people thinking I was a company that made gun holsters.




Actually I am in the market for a new holster...:secret:

[TheDuckRocks]

I have had this problem twice. The first time was at our home in California when a local music store published our number in a newspaper ad. The best that time was when someone called and asked me, "Do you have Born Free?" I answered, "No, I had to pay for all my kids at the hospital."
The second time was at our present home In West Virginia when we received our new number we were given a number that had been an antique store previously. Called the phone company and they said it had been over 4 years since the store had gone out of business. Wanted to keep the number I had been given as it very easy to remember and by that time had given out to everybody. A year later I was still getting calls for the same business. Asked a caller just where did she get the number and was told from the new yellow pages book that had just been deliverd the previous week. Called the yellow page people and was told oh well, to bad, so sad. The topper was a few weeks later when I received a call from the yellow page company wanting to know why I hadn't paid my bill. :mad:

[Janmac]

This happened to me when a phone book published my cell number instead of the number for a business that sells and services fire extinguishers. The issue was not going to be resolved until the next phone book came out.

I know what you mean about being concerned that the information (in my case servicing fire extinguishers) was not getting to the proper place. I did what a couple of other posters here mentioned and changed my voice mail to indicate that if a person was calling about fire extinguishers the correct number was *.

Regarding this issue where the numbers the callers think they are dialing are nothing like your number, this is unlikely to be a switching issue. Switching issues are mechanical in nature and those sorts of equipments are ancient. Even the equipment in the very small town (600 people) that is the sub station for us has all digital now. (DH was a "phone man" in the Navy.)

It sounds as tho the problem is a software problem. It sounds intermittent, which makes diagnosing even more unlikely. Electrical surges (sun spots?) could even be part of the problem.

It's a shame this company cares so little for its customers. Perhaps, if you decide to change your answering machine message, you might include a suggestion to find a better company.

Jan

[brownie]

We had this problem with a credit consolidation agency. People would dial the 800 number as a local number, which the company can do absolutely nothing about (our number was the same as their number; their number was an 800 number.) I eventually had to put something on our answering machine message because people were leaving their account information on our answering machine.

If it's people not dialing the proper number, there's probably not a whole lot the company can do about it. It does make an important point for all of us that you shouldn't leave account numbers and other personal information on voicemails.

[Ed]

We had a number very similar to a local business and when people would call for them I'd ask if they could "hold a minute". Then I'd just sit the phone down and walk away. Eventually they'd hang up. (The only people I really wanted to talk to knew to call my cell phone. ) :D

[MNNHFLTX]

I agree that's a difficult situation. After almost eight years with our current number, we still get occasional collection phone calls for someone who used to have it before. Usually I just let it go to voice mail, but one time I picked up and told the rep that whoever they were trying to contact was no longer at this number and they needed to stop calling. She responded to this rudely by saying "I know what I need to do, I don't need you to tell me!" and hanging up.

At work I get a couple of calls a week for an office with the Harris County Sheriff's department--people looking to get a copy of their arrest reports and such. When I tell them they have the wrong number, inevitably some will ask "Do you know the right number?" That makes me laugh. I guess I should find out so that I can re-direct them, but I have no idea how to go about it. Obviously it's just a digit or two off. :shrug:

[DonLefNY]

We once had a phone number for 20 years and would occassionally get calls for the previous people that had it. Apparently they don't pay their bills.

[sportsguy2315]

In the house I grew up in, our phone number was similar to a popular Italian restaurant in town. When I was younger, I would take the occasional "reservation". :secret: