I just did.
And it’s like saying, “I think I’m not that person” (but I can’t be sure enough to say so)
Why didn’t I say “I’m sorry, you’ve got the wrong number”
Why so unsure of myself?
Anyone else do that?
I used to, but I found that if I say, “I think you have the wrong number”, the offender will try to convince me that I am wrong.
Now I do just say, “You have the wrong number”. Then I hang up before they start arguing with me.
Seriously, my name is not John. This is my cellphone, there is no John that uses my cellphone. No, I don’t know John’s number. Yes, I’m sure I’m not John. No this isn’t a Joke…
<hijack>My dad is the youngest out of 8 brothers and sisters, so all my cousins called him “Uncle Bebe”. When I was around 10 or so, one of my aunts called, asking for “Bebe”. I didn’t connect the two, and told them they had the wrong number.
“Who was that?” My dad asked.
“Oh, just somebody looking for ‘Bebe’, I told them they hand the wrong number.”
“WTF?!”
</hijack>
It’s probably an odd thing to say in the U.K., but in the ultra-polite States, yes it’s normal to say that (I say it). It’s just gentler, and flat out telling a complete stranger that they’re wrong is uncomfortable.
Well, once in a while I’ve been wrong - it has been the right number, only the caller thought I was my son (thank goodness the voice changing thing is over!) or they jumped into a conversation I wasn’t prepared for and I missed the current.
But, mostly I think it’s because my grandmother taught me it’s rude to correct people. “I think you’ve got the wrong number” is guaranteed to be 100% accurate (I do think it, even if you later convince me you did want to talk to me.) AND it sounds more polite to me. “You have the wrong number” sounds abrupt and rude. I feel somewhat nonplussed and embarrassed if someone says it to me, and I don’t feel the need to make someone else feel that way. Heck, I even end by saying, “Have a good day, anyway!” to let them know they didn’t ruin my day because I chose to pick up the phone.
Mean people suck.
I say it, too. I don’t think it’s so much a matter of being unsure that you’re not the person they are asking for, but rather you are unsure that person on the other end is asking for the right person. Maybe they are looking for you but someone else’s name was stuck in their head. Or maybe they got your name written down incorrectly, or maybe you misheard them. Thus, “I think…”
I usually say “I’m sorry, you have the wrong number” - I don’t think they have the wrong number, I know they do. The “I’m sorry” part makes it sound less abrupt and rude.
If someone calls me and asks me if they can speak to “Jeff”
[aside]
I’m not Jeff
[/aside]
I just say “sure, you don’t need my permission” and hang up the phone. That seems to work.
I always ask them, “What number were you trying to reach?” Because I don’t want them calling me back in the chance that they thought they had misdialed on their first attempt. If the caller indicates they were intentionally dialling my number, I inform them that they dialed correctly but the number doesn’t belong to whom they were expecting.
Half the time the person on the other end realizes I’m not who they wanted and tell me, “I’ve got the wrong number!” I say no problem and hang up.
I’m with fervour. If they think they simply pressed a 5 for an 8, I’m going to get them right back and then we get to dance around what number they are calling. (And, like Pygmy Rugger, I’ve had people call the house looking for someone here using a nickname with which I was not familiar (or calling me, but simply “grabbing” the wrong name when they started to talk).)
I’d rather get the matter settled politely on the first pass.
(It goes the other way, too. Last week, Deb got paged on her day off while she was out of the house. Since she provides emergency service, I called back to her office to tell them they needed to get another nurse. However, I identified myself as “Deb’s answering service” and the lady in triage did not make the connection. She turned right around and paged Deb, again, thinking she had simply paged some random stranger, by accident. So then I had to explain that she had, indeed, called Deb’s beeper, but that Deb was not in town and was not going to see the patient. THEN it hit her that if she had paged a randome stranger, I would not have known it was Deb she was paging. (Things get hectic in triage; I would not form any opinion of her intelligence based on this incident.))
it happpened to me the other day. i said i think you have the wrong number but they didn’t. it was a telemarketer who couldn’t pronounce my name. of course i’m not from (fill in your favorite foreign country.)
Not me…
I tell 'em the person they’re looking for passed away last night.
Unless, of course, they’re looking for Mark Martin.
Originally, I was polite and used the “I think” you have the wrong number. Unfortunately, my current cellphone number used to belong to a guy named John. Or John has a phone number that is very similar to mine.
I really don’t know John, but I can tell you is that John is a very popular guy, has friends that like to call him at all hours of the night, and appears to have difficulty making is credit card payments on time.
I usually say “there’s no one here by that name, you have the wrong number” unless I can’t understand the person and the name they are asking for then I usually say “I think you have the wrong number”.
I work for a startup. I am half the engineering department, and 1/3 of the staff. Actually, 1/3 of the staff is rarely in the office, so on most days I am half the workforce. When the clerical person is out, I answer the phone. I was not hired for my pleasant phone demeanor.
So yesterday a lady calls, and asks for “the HR department”. I laughed out loud, and told her she almost certainly had the wrong number…I must have been convincing, because she hung up.
She called back later. Turns out it was somebody from Fanny Mae wanting to confirm employment history of a former employee. Good that she called back I guess.
Me too. It’s just less abrupt, I suppose. However, it now occurs to me that there have been cases where the person has actually dialled correctly, but some gremlin in the telephone wires has connected them to me anyway. So I suppose it seems to leave open the idea that the person with have got through to the wrong number by no fault of their own.
My compromise: “I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong number.” It’s reasonably polite, and fairly assertive in that I don’t “think” they’ve got the wrong number, I’m reasonably **certain **of the fact.
JERRY: Hello… hello. Is Glenn there? I’m sorry. Is this 805-555-3234?.. Yes, I know I have the wrong number. But I just want to know if I dialed wrong or if…
(Other guy hangs up on Jerry; he redials)
JERRY: (Into phone) Oh, it’s you again. See? Now if you had answered me, I wouldn’t have had to do this. Now that’s two long distance calls I made to you, why can’t you… (guy hangs up on Jerry again).
I’ve had to say “la persona que usted está buscando es no más larga en este número” a few times. Then I tracked down the address of the persona who had the number previously and suggested to the manager of that (secure) building they take the number off the directory.