Where's the typo?!

[muck_a_luck]

I don't know if you recall this event: The Guy Who Called Me and Told Me I Had His Number

Well. You wouldn't think that kind of thing would happen very often, would you?

In the last few days, I have gotten several calls on my cellphone for a guy named "Matt Dix."

The first one, I assumed was just a wrong number.

The second one, I confirmed they had my number, and told the guy Matt Dix had given them the wrong number.

The THIRD one, I ranted a little about this Matt Dix guy giving out my number, and the caller said he was actually trying to reach a business and that maybe I should call Google Maps and tell them they had the wrong number for that business. I was thinking, right who at Google takes those calls?

But then, I actaully reverse dialed that guy and asked him for the business name. He told me it was Mad Eapes.

So I tried to track them down, but couldn't. I even got my Mom to check the phone book in my hometown, where the supposed business is actually located. No joy.

Then I got a fourth call today. I really got the caller to speak to me, and I got the correct business name. I found teh offending Google Maps entry AND the company's actual website where their real phone number was - not surprisingly, one digit off from mine.

ME: Hey! I keep getting calls from your clients on my cell phone. I found the typo on your Google Maps site and it looks like you maintain that so I bet you could fix it with just one click.

HIM: [sound of typing in the background] I'm just checking that now!

ME: [waiting] You know, I was kind of mean to one of your customers, because I thought people were trying to reach a guy named Matt Dix and I kind of yelled at him, "Matt Dix better quit giving out my number!"

HIM: [chuckles]

HIM: OK, I'm looking at it right now. Where do you see the typo? Becuase xxx-xx1-xxxx is our number.

ME: Noooooo. Check it again. What's your number? Isn't it xxx-xx7-xxxx?

HIM: Oh, yeah. I'll fix it.

*headdesk*

Comments

[green_grrl]

Ugh! I had repeated phone calls from Hewlett Packard for some guy who is not me. It's my home phone and it's usually messages (on my voice mail on which I state my name--obviously not guy) that I'm getting after business hours. I finally talked to a human and got them to tell me the guy's business name, which I Googled and, yup, xxx-x199, not xxx-x119. It was a couple more times before they got the typo changed everywhere in their records. Now, about two years later, I think he didn't pay for his printers because I'm getting bill collector calls for him. Two correction calls back so far ...

People are bad with their automated pharmacy calls, too. Both a friend and I have gotten repeated automated calls to our cell phones saying someone else's prescription was ready for pickup or renewal because people typo their phone numbers. Grrr.

[muck_a_luck]

The typos I totally understand, though I also get that they are maddeningin their own right. I'm not even mentioning the old lady who clearly wrote down a message from her sister wrong and kept accusing me of "having" her brother's phone number. Early stages of dementia and phones don't mix. (I believe she called me three separate times and berated me each time. I was polite at first, but in the end I was like, "Look, lady...")

It's the DENIAL in my two stories that I find simultaneously hilarious, pitiful, and maddening. Both of these guys tried to tell me that I was wrong about my own phone number and they were right, despite strong evidence to the contrary! :D

What can you do? Not everybody in the world can have an IQ over 50, right?

Mom (laughingly) suggested I call the above guy back with the four CID numbers so he could call his potential clients and apologize for his "rude secretary." :D

[green_grrl]

That's just crazy pants! "You have my phone number!" Well, OBVIOUSLY not!