I think you should make an audio mix of the most egregious offenses (wanting to nail underage girls, yelling at kids/wife) and next time you are one on one with your closest contact say “I hate to ask, but someone from your company left me a message with no name and it’s quite disturbing. Would you mind listening and letting me know who it sounds like?”
The suggestion of dialing him back and recording things sounds good, and could be fairly innocent. I have the 2-CD Time-Life Christmas and I could dial him, and set the phone next to the speakers so he could hear Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Burl Ives croon to him.
Then again, most folks voice mails only record a few minutes (mine essentially has no upper limit - I’ve had 40-minute voice mails. This is one of the problems).
I think the next time you’re at a meeting with these clients, you might casually ask which of them is married to [wife’s name] with [kids’s names] (which you’ve heard on the messages). Without going into details of what you heard, just mention that they must have accidentally dialed you and left a message and you all got a good laugh out of it. The key is to be offhand and just making small talk. You don’t want to sound like it’s a big deal - don’t mention the frequency or duration, for example - just that there was an incident and you thought The Phantom Buttdialer was sort of amusing.
Word will get back to the Phantom even if his coworkers cover for him. Once he knows that you know … and all his coworkers will potentially know … he might start paying attention.
My boss’s name is low in the alphabet, lowest in my cell phone’s directory in fact. One night I was at a bar and butt dialed him a few times. I know I was drunk, but have no idea what was said (or heard). After that, I added a phantom Aa, Aa entry to my phone so it wouldn’t dial the first person in the directory so randomly.
I’m ashamed to admit that this was the first thing to pop into my mind. Well, that and putting up a website with the title “Do YOU know who this is?” and uploading some sound files of his calls.
Yes, yes, I have a nasty mind.
That would suggest though that he never calls anyone except the OP. I just can’t figure out how he could be inadvertantly doing this for months on end. I reckon he’s fucking with you Una.
This sort of addresses another thing I should have mentioned - I don’t know why I’m being dialed. NO ONE from that company has had any reason to phone me for at least a year, and I doubt my name could be first or last in their directory. It’s absolutely bizarre, and it’s also frustrating.
I’d say he was fucking with me, except professional adults in my line of work don’t do things like that, or else they cease to be employed. Plus I had a perfect, excellent relationship with everyone at that company, and the company as a whole. They’re good customers I may very well get more business from next spring, as in 6-figures new business.
I’ve done it when I forgot to push the “sleep” button on top before putting it in a pocket. I think it’s activated by then putting a hand in the pocket before it goes to sleep on its own.
Usually, it’s bizarre text messages that luckily haven’t been sent…yet.
Are you ever in a position to answer when he butt dials you? You only talk about getting messages. If you can answer, can’t you yell (or better yet get a whistle and blow) into your phone to get his attention?
This is hilarious.
What do we know?
- He’s male
- he works for a client, so you know the company he works for.
- he’s married, with children.
- by the comments, I’m guessing he’s white, and not too bright
- the “not too bright” analysis is strengthened by the fact that he keeps making these calls to you.
- It’s not a prank. This is not a definite, but I’m guessing that the only person that would do this as a prank would have to know you well enough to do it. And after a while, he’d tell you it was him, or he’d never get any satisfaction from the joke. So, I’m guessing his calls are accidental.
- Calling him back is a waste of time. You’ve proven that, but anyone that makes this many butt-calls clearly does not know how to use a cell phone very well.
- he also doesn’t sound very technically savvy, so you have reduced your “suspects” from the client company again.
- Some companies recycle their own cell phones, so when someone up the food chain gets a new one, a person lower on the food chain gets the old one. This may be the case here. Someone may have had you on speed dial once, never cleared or erased memory, and the new phone was given over to someone on the loading dock… he carries it for a convenience, not because he needs it.
You can also find out what cell carrier he has by asking someone you know at the company what carrier they use. Then, call the carrier directly and explain the problem. If they won’t give you details about the person, (which they probably won’t), ask them to call the person with your information and have him call you. Make sure you tell the phone company not to leave the message, as he doesn’t respond to them.
If this is not a gag, I’m guessing you’ll get a call that day. If it is a joke, I just want to applaud the guy for keeping it going this long without enjoying the spoils of a practical joke. Unless, of course, the messages you leave for him are enough to sustain him.
Keep us informed!
I could go on.
However, I offer this as a solution. You know people at the client company. Take them to lunch one day and play the calls for them (one of the less offensive ones). See if they recognize the voice. If the company is small, odds are someone will recognize it.
If they do, ask for the guy’s name and number if you don’t have it… and contact him.
The fact that he
I don’t understand why the OP doesn’t just block the number?
I suppose another tactic you could try is to contact someone in HR at butt-dialer’s company. They can’t give any information out to you unless you’re in a profession that allows that, but you can give them the number of the guy, which should be in the employee contact information, and see if they can’t send your information on to him to remove your info from his phone. I wonder if he even works there any more.
When your first name starts with A you are prime butt dialing target for everyone who has your number. I get butt dialed several times a week by various people because I’m the first person on their contacts list. Nothing changes even when I tell them about it.
Same here. Usually it’s just the sound of someone driving but occasionally it’s really juicy.
He sounds like an ideal candidate to have possibly had his phone hacked by some pirated app or questionable downloads from the “drill team photo gallery” web site. It may be a devious third party who is intentionally fucking with you via remote control of his phone. (whether directed at you specifically, or just because you happen to be in the phone’s contact list).
I think the suggestion in an earlier post to block that number should do the trick. But if you really want to know who it is, and let them know what you have endured, you could also just go to your normal point of contact at the company. Explain what’s going on in a friendly way, and ask if they can help identify the caller. If you take the piracy angle - e.g. you are concerned that one of their phones may have been hacked and you want to help them by letting them know - it shouldn’t create any hard feelings among any concerned. (At least not toward you)
He’s calling my work phone, and there is no provision for blocking the number. I’m certain it’s technically feasible, but my company simply will not do it unless it is “harassing or illegal.” I asked.
[QUOTE=Princhester]
Are you ever in a position to answer when he butt dials you? You only talk about getting messages. If you can answer, can’t you yell (or better yet get a whistle and blow) into your phone to get his attention?
[/QUOTE]
He typically calls early in the morning, but sometimes I have answered it - and I’ve done what you suggest, to no avail. Another thing which makes this so weird.
I think there are some good suggestions about contacting his company and using the hacking or “security” angle. I will try to look that up tomorrow.
Can you text him (from another phone if your work’s not a cell) and let him know, since he won’t get his messages?
Huh. So her name really IS Anthracite?
Probably best that you changed your handle, Una.
On the fucking with you angle - not necessarily. One of my wife’s co-workers butt-dials our home phone a couple of times a month. Her initials are P-L, so she’s not likely first on any contact list. Apparently, it’s just the vagaries of how he sits on the damn thing.
He actually has no reason to call her anymore, but he can’t be assed to remove her from his contact list (actually, he claims he doesn’t know how).
Fortunately, it’s our landline with caller ID, so if it comes up Scott Dick, we just answer and hang up immediately.
I saw what you did there.