# Have you ever gotten a recycled cell phone number? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711 "2010-09-05T21:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/1 "2010-09-05T21:07:58Z")
I switched over to using pay as you go phones a couple of years ago. For as much as I use it, it was stupid to pay $50 or more per month. Now I pay $100-150 per year rather than the $700-800 my previous plan cost me. I hadn’t had any problems with either ATT, Verizon or Tmobile as far as getting recycled phone numbers. Recently I decided to try Tracfone. Turns out I got a number that used to belong to a physician. Most of the time the phone is off so the calls were going straight to voice mail. I called a couple of people back to tell them but I wasn’t going to keep doing that. Finally I realized that I just had to record a greeting telling people not to bother. It amazes me that I miss such obvious things. Then when the light of understanding finally peeks over the horizon, the feeling must be like when the first hominid discovered fire. What is your recycled phone number horror story? Nothing horrible? Mildly amusing will do just fine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/2 "2010-09-05T21:16:11Z")
Yes. Doesn’t matter if it was land line or cell. Doesn’t matter if the cell company was verizon, cingular, at&t, alltel, tracfone, or straight talk. Every single phone number I ever had has been recycled. The worst I had was with my first cell phone, back in '00. A guy kept calling my phone, hunting his girl friend. I kept telling him that it wasn’t her number anymore, and to quit calling my phone. Every day I’d get calls from this guy, for 2 months on end. I got called every name in the book, and was threatened several times. I finally convinced my cell phone company to give me a new number, and that was that. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/3 "2010-09-05T21:18:19Z")
Yes. Many times. When I get a new cell phone number, I usually have to deal with wrong calls for the first week or so until I tell all the callers that it no longer belongs to the old person. If they keep calling back, I start talking in funny voices and saying really creepy things. That usually stops them. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/4 "2010-09-05T21:23:36Z")
Not cell phone but land line. I posted a rant about calls for [Nick and Cynthia](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=390238) four years ago and I still get calls, at least once a month or more, for them. I actually have done a good bit of “leg work” to let callers know that this is totally not Nick & Cynthia’s house, but there continue to be new stragglers. Nick doesn’t pay his Sprint bill…ever?.. so a robot from Sprint calls about every 3 months to remind him. The robot only converses one way. And, apparently every single group at Nick & Cynthia’s church has their own contact sheet with my phone number on it. No matter how many times I explain it to people from their church, someone new always calls asking for them. Seriously, it’s been almost 5 years now. My answering machine chirpily says “This Is The Zipper Residence. Leave a message!” Apparently there’s a lot of people who don’t bother to listen to answering machine outgoing messages. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/5 "2010-09-05T21:24:15Z")
I finally got a cell phone a couple of years ago. The number had previously belonged to someone who had filled out every contest form he’d ever come across. He also was a deadbeat, as I used to get all kinds of collection agencies calling for him. When I said I was the new number owner, they then wanted to know if I could get in touch with him…errrr, no, I don’t know the guy. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/6 "2010-09-05T21:25:32Z")
“recycled” was probably the wrong term to use since all of my numbers have been on the old area code and not the newish overlay code. I wasn’t sure how else to describe what I meant succinctly. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/7 "2010-09-05T21:29:53Z")
When I got my AT&T cell phone two years ago it came with a phone number that previously belonged to “Becky”. Unfortunately, Becky was a deadbeat, and I am still getting calls from creditors, the most recent no more than a month ago. What makes it even more coincidental is the fact that I actually know who this woman is - she is a single mother with two sons from two different fathers that rented an apartment from us about eight years ago, and she was a deadbeat even then. Boy, do I dislike that woman. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/8 "2010-09-05T21:46:25Z")
My wife had to change her number. The phone rang in the box about three times alone on the way home from the kiosk we bought it from. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/9 "2010-09-05T22:53:36Z")
Yes I have. My current cell phone number used to belong to a woman that apparently had a child in a day care of some sort. I think they were the first people to call me looking for her. Then a bill collector and a male friend of hers followed suit. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/10 "2010-09-06T00:15:26Z")
> [@campp](#): > > My wife had to change her number. The phone rang in the box about three times alone on the way home from the kiosk we bought it from. I love this story. I get a mental imagine of hundreds of stakerazzi vieing for an opportunity to get through like it was a radio call-in contest. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/11 "2010-09-06T00:20:38Z")
My worst was a recycled landline number that had been a complaint number for General Motors in this area and published on everything they had passed out from early on to about two months before I was assigned it. One thing I will say for Bell of PA - they switched it free and did a few other nice things for me to mitigate the situation. ---
**Author:** ![NoiseBomb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/49beb7/32.png) [@NoiseBomb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoiseBomb)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/12 "2010-09-06T00:25:00Z")
Ah, one of my old Tracfones. “Melissa,” you still owe me a few bucks for the calls I got for you, but since you apparently don’t like paying your bills, I don’t ever expect to get it. Oh, and you really should call your probation officer more often, mmkay? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/13 "2010-09-06T00:27:51Z")
> [@Walkabout](#): > > When I got my AT&T cell phone two years ago it came with a phone number that previously belonged to “Becky”. Unfortunately, Becky was a deadbeat, and I am still getting calls from creditors, the most recent no more than a month ago. What makes it even more coincidental is the fact that I actually know who this woman is - she is a single mother with two sons from two different fathers that rented an apartment from us about eight years ago, and she was a deadbeat even then. Boy, do I dislike that woman. I’ve never met her and I dislike her. Of course, I’m really not that fond of deadbeats. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/14 "2010-09-06T00:38:30Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > My worst was a recycled landline number that had been a complaint number for General Motors in this area and published on everything they had passed out from early on to about two months before I was assigned it. One thing I will say for Bell of PA - they switched it free and did a few other nice things for me to mitigate the situation. Numbers like that should be marked in their database with an icon similar to what you find on old maps where it said something like ‘here there be monsters’. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/15 "2010-09-06T00:41:34Z")
I’ve never had one, but knew of someone who got one of my old recycled numbers. People would tell me they called the old number looking for me before they knew about the number change and they got “some chick.” Once, for a laugh, I called the old number asked for myself. The girl who answered was none too happy about that. ---
**Author:** ![NoiseBomb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/49beb7/32.png) [@NoiseBomb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoiseBomb)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/16 "2010-09-06T00:48:40Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Once, for a laugh, I called the old number asked for myself. The girl who answered was none too happy about that. I want to try this now. Someone might need to hide my phone next time I’ve had a few drinks. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/17 "2010-09-06T01:24:31Z")
My present number is recycled. So far all I have gotten is some text messages saying ‘Whut u doin?’ But one person sent this three times so I repied: Texter: “I’m gonna kill you Scheffer!” (sent 3 times) Me: “Who?” Texter: “You. I’m gonna kill you” Me: “Nice. You have the wrong # btw.” Texter: Who is this? Me: “Not scheffer, that’s for sure” No reply after that. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/18 "2010-09-06T01:30:31Z")
My cell is one. I got calls and texts from a couple of the former owner’s stupid friends, calls from creditors, and texts from various services he had signed up for to get dirty jokes, chat with ‘singles’, have phone sex, etc. I got it all cleared up in a few months but it was annoying. The main line at one of my jobs is recycled. We’ve had the number for over 3 years and creditors are constantly calling for the guy and his wife. They must owe a lot of people money. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/19 "2010-09-06T01:51:12Z")
OT, but for anyone who is interested, some VOIP providers have a black list feature where you can put a number on the list and when there is an incoming call from one of the numbers, it will either send it to the void or voice mail hell. ---
**Author:** ![Diz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Diz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diz)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711/20 "2010-09-06T02:32:35Z")
I got calls from some debt collecting agency for 6 months or so after I got my Tracfone. It was a pre-recorded message of some kind that told you to press 1 if you were not the person they were looking for. I pressed it, but they kept calling back. Eventually I got a live person and I told them I was not “Brenda”. That was annoying. Even worse are the religious glurge texts that get forwarded to me occasionally. Thankfully that doesn’t happen much anymore. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-gotten-a-recycled-cell-phone-number/552711.md?page=2)