I have not had the occasion to do this, but I would if it occurred.
I voted yes, because I have done this, but it depends on the particulars.
There is a local photographer who has the same name as me, who I met once randomly as a teenager, and would from time to time be reminded existed by people mentioning seeing “my” photos in the local paper (which also, interestingly, had a different person with our name as editor, and its not a particularly common name). By an odd coincidence, around the same time I started work for a company started in the University business incubator, he had started working for the schools graphics department apparently, because he was the one sent by annually to take team photos. Quite a few years later I went back to school, and started getting emails that were clearly meant for him. I happily forwarded them the entire time I was there as well as notifying the senders of the correct address.
Now, even though obviously I got some amusement out of being able to “save” my name doppelganger from what might have otherwise been a fairly frequent headache if I didn’t happen to already have an idea of who he was - even with complete strangers there can be a sort of cinematic thrill in delivering lost messages. It just feels so similar to a narrative McGuffin that even if the same sort of payoff is unlikely, even imagining the prospect is fun. Especially, of course, if the message itself is mysterious out of context.
4 times over the last few years I have been contacted about a found dog who has a microchip incorrectly linked to my number. I have explained it is the wrong number but somehow the people got their dog back (at least three times) with nobody changing the number on the records.
If the voice mail seems important I may send a “wrong number” text but unless there is a lost dog or something I’d probably leave it. There are places and websites that demand a number I don’t want calling me, if I fudge a digit or two I expect others do too. Having a nose around open house inspections for instance, I’m not giving an agent my real number but they won’t let me through without one. Someone who isn’t me gets the sales pitch.
Back in the answering machine days I came home to a series of messages from a truck driver trying to deliver materials to a job site. He was getting more and more agitated since it was late at night and he’d been told to call the number so he could get the delivery accepted and unloaded after hours. Unfortunately he was making those calls from pay phones so I couldn’t return his call and let him know he had a wrong number.
However, about 3 months later someone who was obviously from his company started calling my house demanding payment for the delivery. I called them back to be nice to tell them they had a wrong number. At first the lady appreciated me telling them they had the wrong number, but then she started insisting I pay for the delivery anyway. I told her I’d put a check in the mail and hung up. I hope she’s still sitting there waiting for it 25 years later.
I don’t answer calls w/ just a phone #in caller ID because they’re not someone I know; they go to VM. My phone also transcribes VMs. If the first line isn’t urgent (Hey, Spidey, it’s me ___ calling from police station, tow truck operator, hospital phone, call back ASAP.) I’ll listen to it when it’s convenient for me. Depending upon the nature, urgency, & time when I play the message I may or may not call the OC back.
My old work number was one digit different from one of the city police stations/precincts/districts. I was 636- while all city numbers were 686- (MUnicipal-6 for you old-timers). While they might look somewhat alike in poor handwriting, they are nowhere near each other on the keyboard.
Some mother called wanting to know about her son. She didn’t listen when I told her she had a wrong number. She wanted to know what time he’d be released & how much bail would be. My response, “I can’t tell you that ma’am, that’s up to the judge; however, they don’t usually grant bail in murder cases.” before hanging up.
Hey, if you’re gonna be a dumbass you get what you deserve.
I’m another whose number is one-digit-off. I used to get calls for the city of Tacoma’s industrial hiring line. Big city with big machines! I’d get about one a day and used to call them back until I got tired of it. If they can’t dial the phone, they probably shouldn’t be operating a backhoe. They must’ve phased out or combined that department with another one because I haven’t gotten a call in a couple of years.
Same, said yes because I have done it. Doesn’t mean I always do it. Recently a medical office left a voicemail for somebody I don’t know about changing the date of their procedure. I texted back to that number letting them know it was the wrong number, even though I guess it’s very likely the patient would have found out some other way even if I hadn’t. If it’s something obviously unimportant I just delete it, which has also happened.
I didn’t vote because it really depends. I’ve returned some phone calls when it seemed especially important (one very sad one was a woman calling to console somebody on the death of their son). But yeah, I’m not tracking somebody down if the call is “Hey this is John, call me back.”
What I do I do for my own convenience, to get these yahoos off my back. I’ve had my current phone number for over 5 years and I’m still getting the occasional phone call or text for Kerry, I presume the previous owner. So in these cases I will text (never call) that there is no Kerry at this number. These are generally headhunters or other hellspawn, so I don’t care if they do get through, just stop calling me. Kerry, if you’re out there, do please give everyone you new number, kthxbye.
For anything else, if it was urgent I would text them back that they had the wrong number. Otherwise, not my problem.
Over the decades, I have only contacted two incorrect-voicemail callers. Both were for medically-related messages. All of the rest were ignored.
As I write this, the results are tied.
Haha. What are you wanting them to say?
Thanks for this. I was starting to feel a tiny bit guilty for not calling back. But yes, I can imagine someone doing this pretty easily. If the person signed a contract for the property, their number would be accurate or there would be multiple ways to contact them. But just for a showing? Probably not. I’m back to feeling good about my decision.
Not only do I say I would, I have done this. Repeatedly. A local medical clinic with area code 608 had a patient with area code 292 and my phone number. He had lots of appointments. And for over a decade they called me to alert him of his appointment. And e-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e t-i-m-e I called them back and reminded them. And they promised to correct it. It became rather funny. “Hi, this is as_u_wish, you called about an appointment, but as you know, it’s not mine.” “Oh, yeah, did we do that again?”
Well, I’d probably look up Jay, and maybe find his listing in the phone book is one above mine, and figure the dog killers mixed up the numbers. And then I’d call jay, but he wouldn’t be home, so I’d drive over and find the dog, and take it to the vet, and the next thing you know I’m involved in whatever it was Jay and that Lansing girl were mixed up in, and to make it worse I’m probaly not getting paid for any of this.
Once upon a time, yes, I would have. Today, I would assume it was some sort of scam.
Wow, I see an even split at this point, after my vote of “yes, I’d return the call”, but only if it seems important and not likely to be a scam. I would have expected to see a much higher percentage of “no, to hell with them”.
In actual fact, any unknown voicemails I’ve received have been either obvious telemarketing and/or scams or in a foreign language that I assume to be a scam. I have, however, occasionally received an email that seemed important and didn’t look like a scam, and I’ve replied to the sender that it was sent to the wrong recipient.
I also enjoy get repeated marketing emails from organizations that apparently don’t offer opt-out capabilities or refuse to honor them. They usually stop after I send them a polite notification detailing their specific violation of federal law and that it will be reported (for spam of US origin, the responsible authority is the Federal Trade Commission).
Unless it sounds like a junk call I’ll either reply and correct them or (as has been the case) call the actual person and let them know/pass the message on.
(Long story short – a lady had a number one off of ours and terrible hand-writing so we got a lot of messages for her. We actually became friends of a sort over the years.)
I only remember doing it once. What sounded like an elderly woman leaving messages on our machine for her daughter to please please call her back. I called her but she seemed somewhat confused and didn’t seem to have the correct number for her daughter.
I’m not sure where she lived but I did call the police and asked them to call her and possibly do a welfare check on her.
I voted no because I don’t normally call back, but one time I got a few messages left by a sheriff’s deputy asking for someone regarding a case. That sounded pretty important, so I called him back and let him know he had the wrong number.
Back in college (which was before caller ID was common) I got a bunch of calls from someone I called “Pete’s Friend” because he would always ask for Pete but he never stated his name or left a phone number, and never called when I was home (land line, in the days before cellphones). The most interesting one was simply the message “Pete, I’m in jail, come pick me up.” That was it. I would have called him back that time but he didn’t say where or leave any contact info. Pete’s Friend must have gotten home eventually and there were no hard feelings since a week later he called to say he had tickets to a stock car race and wanted to know if Pete wanted to go. I got these calls once or twice a week for a couple of months. I assume Pete’s Friend finally figured out he had the wrong number.
When I was a child there was a local Pediatric Ophthalmologist who had the same first and last name as my mother. Once or twice a year we would get a panicked midnight call from a parent needing help with an injured child. We responded by keeping her answering service number on top of the pad next to every phone so that we could get them to the right person.
Decades later when Celtling got hit in the eye with a paper airplane (scratched cornea!), I rushed her to a local practice I found on the insurance website. It turned out she was one of the founding partners. Our name is unusual in the States, so the conversation came up with the Dr. who treated Celtling, and I told him the above. This was at a time when I was weighted down with legal bills and so I dreaded seeing the bill come in. But finally I called and asked them for it, and was told there would be no charge.
Wow, cool story, TruCelt! Thanks for sharing it. 
Sometimes it pays to do the right thing, and sometimes no good deed goes unpunished. Well, not exactly, but this thread is reminding me of a couple calls I returned that went less well.
I got a VM from someone scheduling carpet installation with another person, but they obviously had the wrong phone number. I called the carpet installer back to let them know that the right party didn’t get the message. I was met with an annoyed person who demanded to know why I was calling and how I got the number. It did get straightened out, but not before I had to take some grief.
Another time, I got a VM from an elderly person looking for a relative. It happened a few times, so I picked it up live once. The elderly person demanded to talk to their relative. I told them they had the wrong number. The elderly person called again and again, probably sure I was hiding their relative. I didn’t get them live again, and they eventually gave up or figured it out.