Job Discussion Forums

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Honest this is a true story.

I've had about 8 calls today from some bloke looking for Husnu. I kept telling him he had the wrong number. He didn't believe me. He then was asking where my mother was. He got confused when I told her Scotland.

anyway the last phone call he accused me of stealing husnu's phone. I told him I did and gave the local police station's number so that he could report me. They haven't phoned.

Does anyone else have stories where a caller didn't believe that they had a wrong number?

Golightly · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:36 am Post subject:

When I used to share a flat in Kadikoy with two of the biggest a.rseheads you could ever imagine having to share a flat with, we had the telephone (our school had rented four flats in the same block, and we had not only the phone, but also the washing machine for about 12 of us). At strange hours of the day and night, various people, all men, would phone up asking for 'Madame Zelda', and they would never believe us when we said that they had a wrong number. It would drive my non-Turkish speaking flatmate absolutely potty. He'd scream 'NO MADAME ZELDA - NO! ZELDA YOK!' loudly and slowly, his voice rising into a screeching falsetto of frustrated impotent rage with each successive phone call. Eventually, I asked one of the callers why he was looking for Madam Zelda. Turned out that our phone number used to belong to a vary busy and popular prostitute.
After I'd moved out, I'd occasionally ring up to ask for Madame Zelda, just to wind up the pair of them. Twisted Evil

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

^^

I have to ask Golighty. were you their DOS at that time.

Golightly · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:09 pm Post subject:

No, I was a mere instructor then. Once I became DOS, there far more fun ways to wind people up. Wink

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

hobo · Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 91

I hear Baba Alex is from Liverpool, maybe it was him?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

It took me a while to figure out a plan to deal with wrong numbers. I got tired of some Arab woman phoning me at 3 am and mouthing, "Ahmed, Ahmed.?"

My tactics ? I switch the *&*&^%$^%**ing thing off before I go to bed.

Clever,eh ?

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

How do you switch an Arab woman off before going to bed?

Share the knowledge Scot

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

10-pound hammer.

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

I'm sure this has happened to other women here, where a man phones with the wrong number, realizes he's gotten lucky finding a foreign woman's phone number, then keeps calling with winning lines like 'Where are you from?' and 'I love you.' I had one who called for weeks, and eventually started sending me angry messages that I was being a snob by not returning his affections. Apparently he was having a relationship with me all by himself.

For awhile someone kept phoning and hanging up when I answered. Naturally my husband grew suspicious. This went on for a couple of weeks, then the caller, a woman, began sending indignant messages that I wasn't returning her calls. Apparently she thought it was her boyfriend's number. I sent her a message that she had the wrong number and to please stop calling me.

But she wouldn't stop. So then my husband finally realized I didn't have a wonderful secret liaison happening, and he phoned her for me to tell her to cut it out, but she kept hanging up on him. So he sent her a message to stop harassing his wife or he'd report her to his friend at the poice station.

To which she finally phoned, tearfully, to apologise for bothering me, but she really did believe it was her boyfriend's number. We chatted for awhile and I advised her that she should perhaps find another boyfriend, one that she didn't find it normal behaviour from to not answer calls, have a woman answer the phone, or send angry messages. She thought that was pretty good advice.

somnambulist · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 30

The solution to nuisance callers on the home phone, I find, is to cultivate a certain brusqueness on the phone. This may not come naturally (I swear it took me a while!) but it's very effective. Basically, the Golden Rule is, when you pick up the receiver, DONT SAY A WORD![/i]. This silence completely wrongfoots any would-be nuisance, often enough for them to hang-up immediately. On the other hand, a genuine caller, a friend or relative, will generally ask your name quite loudly, thereby giving you the opportunity to recognise their voice. If you live in a shared flat, the same applies: just learn everybody's names quickly, and the names of their various girl/boyfriends and best friends. This leaves the problem of genuine callers that you dont recognise, such as colleagues, agents for jobs and such, or possibly relatives of your husband or wife. Here, the accent should tell you if the caller is Turkish or English. In any case, if they reallly want to speak to you or somebody in the house, they will open by asking for that person by name. If you dont recognise the voice, follow the following formula: if they sound Turkish, say "Kimsiniz?" ("Who are you?") till you get a name. If you dont know the name, say "Yanliş" ("mistake") and hang-up immediately. Dont answer any return question yourself, just repeat the question. Basically, dont take any nonsense like "[i]Siz kimsiniz?" in return. As for mobiles, make it a rule NEVER to answer unless you recognise caller ID. You may feel that you might miss some important call from strangers, like job offers or something, but if you reflect on this for a moment, you would probably agree, you can live a full and happy life, and maintain all the contact and communication a normal person should need, without answering anonymous/unknown numbers and calls. I never do, and so far nobody I really care about has complained about me not answering their calls.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

A PARANOID Sleepwalker ?

angelacakir · Joined: 25 May 2007 Posts: 13

I hate it when someone rings you up, got the wrong number but says who are you? You rang me for f*** sake !

hobo · Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 91

I never answer ANY calls on the home phone or either of my mobile numbers. I have two mobile numbers to increase the number of phone calls that I DON'T answer.

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

I keep our home phone (installed when we got Internet even though I didn't want it-- no caller ID!) unplugged and made up some story about how it doesn't work, and an extra story about how it wakes the baby because even though I BEGGED my husband not to give his mother the number, he did anyway (god forbid anyone says 'no' to that woman) and naturally she started calling all the time to check if I was home and if I didn't answer, freaking out about it. Seriously, this new-fangled technology needs to be kept out of the hands of those who would abuse it.