Even with smartphones and caller ID, wrong number calls and texts still happen all the time. What’s the most bizarre one you’ve ever received? And how did you handle it?
Photo by Garry Knight.
For example, I once received calls from an older man looking for someone named William. He would call several times a week, and I never answered because I don’t pick up numbers I don’t recognise, so he would leave extremely brief voicemails telling William to call him back. I assumed he’d eventually take the hint and realise I wasn’t who he was trying to contact, so I never responded. Finally, he left an emotional voicemail that made things a bit more clear. William, it turns out, was his estranged son and he was under the impression that William was ignoring his attempts to reach out. After hearing that voicemail, I finally called the number back and explained that I wasn’t William, and that he probably isn’t ignoring him.
So, what are the weirdest, most awkward wrong number calls or texts you’ve received? Was it a lewd sext meant for someone else’s eyes? Was it a sales call regarding something you knew nothing about? Or maybe, like another one of my experiences, someone called you in the middle of the night and screamed at you in another language. Whatever it is, we want to hear about it in the comments below. And be sure to tell us how you handled it!
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4 responses to “What’s The Most Awkward Wrong Number Call Or Text You’ve Received?”
Started with an SMS.
Them: I’m here
Me: Who? Where?
Them: It’s me, under the bridge where you said to meet.
Me: I think you have the wrong number
My phone then rings
Me: Hello
Them: Oh, Umm. I think I have the wrong number.
My guess is that it was an “internet date”
My work phone number is very close to the local K-Mart so I sometimes get calls asking if we have any of the items in the catalouge available, for example “Do you have any of the blue kids bike there?”
I received a call from a guy that ran something like this: Hey babe! I’m touching my knee. Now I’m slowly moving up. I’m getting closer…oh yeah!
Over the course of a month, I received several calls per day from a woman with dementia, unable to understand that I was not her son, every single time. I tried answering with my full name, but it didn’t click with her, obviously. Blocking the number resulted in nasty voice mails.
My wife, for a while, received lots of calls from different numbers apparently from the same university admin area, always from different people after something or someone different each time. Impossible to block or anticipate. Thankfully it stopped on its own, perhaps when a new, corrected phone list was printed and displayed?
A few years ago I live in Brisbane and I kept getting phone calls from Melbourne, all different types of companies mostly customer services call backs, house movers, insurance, utilities etc… a person who just moved house and changed his mobile kept giving everyone the WRONG NUMBER.
Even the telco who gave him the mobile, dialled the wrong number and got me… the other guy was on the other line complaining his phone must be broken cause he wasn’t receiving any calls, after some pointed questions, the cause of all the drama was when the third party store gave him the phone they wrote/receipted him the wrong number.
I once got a series of phone calls (and possibly text messages; I can’t remember) from someone accusing me of stealing their phone. Quite aggressively, I might add. And I was a bit drunk at a party, so I was very confused for a while.
I’ve had my phone number since 2002, and I certainly hadn’t stolen anyone’s phone, so I kept trying to tell them that they had the wrong number – largely to no avail.
I eventually convinced them to double check the number they were calling, and I think they must have realised that it was wrong, because they stopped. No apology, but at least they stopped calling and abusing me!
I once tried to share a link with my girlfriend about an ebay item but it seems it didn’t copy to my phone clipboard
When I selected paste and immediately hit send I realised I sent a pornhub link.
It is not a fun thing to try and explain