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184
Guy Is Sick And Tired Of Getting Random Phone Calls, Maliciously Complies When Previous Owner Of Number Refuses To Help Out
Interview With Author
When you get a new number, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s actually ‘new.’ It could easily be someone else’s old number. However, when they change theirs, they might not tell all of their family, friends, and coworkers. This means that you might get some very peculiar calls from strangers. Yours truly has had to deal with this for over 15 years. But my situation is far from unique!
Redditor u/fin008 recently went viral on the r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit after sharing a story from a decade ago about receiving calls from various trade workers telling him about building projects and the like. A bit tired of getting yelled and cursed at when he tried explaining that he’s not the person they were looking for, the OP decided to do a little bit of amateur detective work.
He found the person who used to have his phone number! Alas, things didn’t go quite as planned. But it gave the redditor the perfect opportunity for some malicious compliance (and a dash of petty revenge). Scroll down for the full story.
Bored Panda got in touch with u/fin008, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about what happened. You’ll find our full interview with the author of the post below.
RELATED:
Plenty of people have had absolute strangers call them after they switched to a new phone number. However, not all calls are pleasant
Image credits: voronaman111 (not the actual photo)
A guy shared how he had to take countless rude calls from builders, and revealed what happened after he finally tracked down the old owner of the number
Image credits: AZ-BLT (not the actual photo)
Image credits: fin008
We reached out to the author of the post, redditor u/fin008, and he told us about how he reacted to his story going viral on Reddit.
“I didn’t realize that there were so many people who had a similar experience to mine, [it was a] nice way to wake up and realize I’ve made the front-page and fake karma with 15 minutes of fame by making a lot of people laugh,” he said he was glad to brighten up people’s day.
“I think it [the story] resonated with folks because everyone’s been accidentally been called at least once and strangers calling you just to not be nice makes you kinda feel helpless most of the time, so a nice comeback story probably gives hope and inspiration to have a little fun with that next time,” he shared why he thinks the story got so much attention online.
Bored Panda was curious whether u/fin008 had at any moment considered that the situation could have backfired, causing more trouble.
“Yup, I considered if the guy could find me but had only recently moved into town and generally don’t post too much personal stuff online,” he said. “Guess I have to start a new Reddit account now or forever watch my back for Sandman, although this was many years ago.”
Meanwhile, the redditor said that it’d be tough to give advice to people who constantly get calls from strangers, asking for help or advice on whatever they might need. “I’d try and find out where they got the number from, definitely not give bogus advice or risk anyone getting harmed. Likely it’s not their fault.”
The redditor’s post was extremely popular on the r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit. At the time of writing, it had gotten 30.6k upvotes in just 18 hours. Some internet users loved the comedy of the entire situation (and so did we—we laughed way harder than we’d care to admit).
Meanwhile, others shared some similar stories about people calling and looking for the old owners of phone numbers. It’s hilarious to read the tactics that people resorted to when the calls just wouldn’t stop coming. As it turns out, politely telling people that they’ve got the wrong person and that you couldn’t possibly provide them with the services they so desperately desire doesn’t always work.
Case in point, I’ve had to field calls from random people asking me to come over and fix their computers for over a decade and a half. I’ve had calls from civil servants to people in their seventies. And, on a number of occasions, I’ve tried to get the info erased from various websites. These days, the calls are far, far rarer. But when I do get them, I embrace them with a big smile and a bit of humor: I tell them what the situation is and we have a good laugh. But I could easily see myself concocting some overly-elaborate plans for revenge if anyone was ever rude to me. So far, however, everyone’s been extremely polite.
The reason why old numbers get recycled is mundanely simple. There are a limited number of phone numbers you can hand out. Meanwhile, phone companies keep getting more and more subscribers. That means that they end up reusing the numbers of those clients who leave or end up losing their phone numbers.
In the United States alone, around 100k numbers are recycled every year. However, the issue goes beyond just calls from strangers. Someone’s old phone number (now your new one) might still be connected to some of their social media accounts or subscriptions.
In this day and age, changing your phone number means doing a lot of digital hygiene, making sure that you’ve disconnected it from every online account you’ve ever used it for. Ultimately, some things fall through the cracks. So when somebody who has your old number tracks you down and asks you to change the info on a website or elsewhere, the best response is to thank them, not curse at them. Otherwise, you might find yourself shoveling a ton of sand. By hand.
The internet loved the story. Here’s how some readers reacted to it
A few internet users shared similar stories about getting calls from strangers
What do you think ?
Ash 2 years ago
For more a couple of years after I got my new phone I would get calls and texts for this guy named Floyd. It included things like his morning coffee receipt from a nearby convenience store. It was not at all hard to track him down and ask him to alert his friends etc to his new number. He's lucky I don't steal identities, because I could've ruined his credit score AND stalked the heck out of him with all the information he left connected to that phone number. People are idiots.
Enlee Jones 2 years ago
About 15 years ago I got a new phone number and started getting phone calls from a rehab clinic for “Charles”. I politely told them, over and over, that they had the wrong number. I was polite until they called at some ridiculously early hour in the morning and I was tired and cranky and over it. I blew up and there is no Charles here and stop. calling. this. number. I’m pretty sure I scared the lady who was calling. The calls stopped after that.
Terry Rex 1 year ago
You should have threatened to sue them for calling before they legally could call people
Load More Replies...
Hey! 2 years ago
When we moved from Quebec to Ontario (2 provinces in Canada), they gave us the phone number of a restaurant in town. We'd get phone calls for reservations, orders for pick-up and deliveries, etc. Checked the website and our number is there along with another number, so we called the manager and explained. Nothing. Since I was the one answering the phone I got fed-up after 3 long months. I started taking orders, reservations, etc. Magically, it stopped after probably 2 weeks. I wonder why...
WonderWoman 2 years ago
Had a phone number (landline) that was one digit off from a very busy hotel's FAX number. At all hours of the day and worse, the night, I would get calls and get the incessant noise of the call trying to connect with a fax machine. Absolutely nothing I could do about it, it wasn't the hotel's fault, just people with fat fingers.
Seabeast 2 years ago
We had a number once that was almost the same as a Mark's Work Wearhouse store - some of the numbers were reversed. We'd get long rambling messages on our answering machine from people wanting us to put pairs of jeans on hold, that sort of thing.
Load More Replies... J Adams 2 years ago
I’d say it is pretty clear that the original owner of the phone number was a ‘cowboy’ builder, if you run a reputable business in self employed trades your phone number is massively important as obviously that’s probably the main way you get work. So to keep an old number active on websites/advertising hints at someone not wanting to be tracked down whilst in effect starting their business over from scratch
Pete from Cali. USA 2 years ago
It's so unprofessional to not want your clients to have your most up to date phone number. The OP's move is excellent
Michael Largey 2 years ago (edited)
When I was a kid, our home phone number was one digit off from the one for the local drug store. We got tired of arguing with people about what they had dialed and what was the right number. Since 98% of the calls were either "What time do you close tonight?" or "When do you open in the morning?", we posted the store's hours by our phone and just gave them the info they wanted. It was much faster. Anything else, we told them to call back in ten minutes. They usually dialed the number right the second time.
Uncommon Boston 2 years ago
The first 3 digits of my cell phone number are 577. The person whose number starts with 557 gets confused. I got many calls for them. If it was a voice mail, I would text, "Your car is ready at the shop," " Doctors appointment at 10:00 Wednesday, " or other mundane messages. It went on for over ten years. It didn't happen often enough to bother me, it was just weird. Happened on a landline 40 years ago. Received calls intended for a family of 5.
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 2 years ago
Kept getting calls from various services, doctors, etc for someone who apparently doesn't know their number. Once the woman's sister calls me at MIDNIGHT. Of course we're in bed so I let the answering machine pick up. Which plainly states who we are. I get "hello? Hello?" For as long as the machine will record. Hangs up and then CALLS BACK. I had had enough at this point and pick up the phone. I tell her she's got the wrong number. Bïtch hangs up on me. And then CALLS AGAIN. This time I told her what for and said to quit calling this number and hung up on her. I left the phone off the hook after that; she didn't call again, although we still got calls occasionally from the doctors.
Ash 2 years ago
For more a couple of years after I got my new phone I would get calls and texts for this guy named Floyd. It included things like his morning coffee receipt from a nearby convenience store. It was not at all hard to track him down and ask him to alert his friends etc to his new number. He's lucky I don't steal identities, because I could've ruined his credit score AND stalked the heck out of him with all the information he left connected to that phone number. People are idiots.
Enlee Jones 2 years ago
About 15 years ago I got a new phone number and started getting phone calls from a rehab clinic for “Charles”. I politely told them, over and over, that they had the wrong number. I was polite until they called at some ridiculously early hour in the morning and I was tired and cranky and over it. I blew up and there is no Charles here and stop. calling. this. number. I’m pretty sure I scared the lady who was calling. The calls stopped after that.
Terry Rex 1 year ago
You should have threatened to sue them for calling before they legally could call people
Load More Replies... Hey! 2 years ago
When we moved from Quebec to Ontario (2 provinces in Canada), they gave us the phone number of a restaurant in town. We'd get phone calls for reservations, orders for pick-up and deliveries, etc. Checked the website and our number is there along with another number, so we called the manager and explained. Nothing. Since I was the one answering the phone I got fed-up after 3 long months. I started taking orders, reservations, etc. Magically, it stopped after probably 2 weeks. I wonder why...
WonderWoman 2 years ago
Had a phone number (landline) that was one digit off from a very busy hotel's FAX number. At all hours of the day and worse, the night, I would get calls and get the incessant noise of the call trying to connect with a fax machine. Absolutely nothing I could do about it, it wasn't the hotel's fault, just people with fat fingers.
Seabeast 2 years ago
We had a number once that was almost the same as a Mark's Work Wearhouse store - some of the numbers were reversed. We'd get long rambling messages on our answering machine from people wanting us to put pairs of jeans on hold, that sort of thing.
Load More Replies... J Adams 2 years ago
I’d say it is pretty clear that the original owner of the phone number was a ‘cowboy’ builder, if you run a reputable business in self employed trades your phone number is massively important as obviously that’s probably the main way you get work. So to keep an old number active on websites/advertising hints at someone not wanting to be tracked down whilst in effect starting their business over from scratch
Pete from Cali. USA 2 years ago
It's so unprofessional to not want your clients to have your most up to date phone number. The OP's move is excellent
Michael Largey 2 years ago (edited)
When I was a kid, our home phone number was one digit off from the one for the local drug store. We got tired of arguing with people about what they had dialed and what was the right number. Since 98% of the calls were either "What time do you close tonight?" or "When do you open in the morning?", we posted the store's hours by our phone and just gave them the info they wanted. It was much faster. Anything else, we told them to call back in ten minutes. They usually dialed the number right the second time.
Uncommon Boston 2 years ago
The first 3 digits of my cell phone number are 577. The person whose number starts with 557 gets confused. I got many calls for them. If it was a voice mail, I would text, "Your car is ready at the shop," " Doctors appointment at 10:00 Wednesday, " or other mundane messages. It went on for over ten years. It didn't happen often enough to bother me, it was just weird. Happened on a landline 40 years ago. Received calls intended for a family of 5.
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 2 years ago
Kept getting calls from various services, doctors, etc for someone who apparently doesn't know their number. Once the woman's sister calls me at MIDNIGHT. Of course we're in bed so I let the answering machine pick up. Which plainly states who we are. I get "hello? Hello?" For as long as the machine will record. Hangs up and then CALLS BACK. I had had enough at this point and pick up the phone. I tell her she's got the wrong number. Bïtch hangs up on me. And then CALLS AGAIN. This time I told her what for and said to quit calling this number and hung up on her. I left the phone off the hook after that; she didn't call again, although we still got calls occasionally from the doctors.
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