Monday 14 February 2005
When one's home phone is mistaken for a theatre's
The first odd phone call my friend received, she didn't know what was going on, of course.
A woman left a message on her answering machine saying something like, "I'm going to be coming down this weekend, and I was wondering what I should wear. What is the dress code?".
The story kind of reminds me of how on Keeping Up Appearances, Hyacinth Bucket would get calls to her white slim-line telephone with last number automatic redial, for a Chinese restaurant, and she was always very put out by people trying to give her orders for Chinese take-away.
If my friend were Hyacinth Bucket, she'd probably assume it was someone planning to attend one of her candlelight suppers, and the person was duly concerned about appropriate dress for the occasion. But as it is, my friend was wondering who the hell was this stranger that was thinking of stopping by uninvited, and why did she imagine she had a dress code at her house?
As it turned out, my friend's home phone number is very similar to the phone number of a local theatre.
And since that time, she receives regular phone calls from patrons planning to attend this theatre, attempting to make reservations, with questions about the dress code or address, etc. For some reason, answering the phone like a home phone, and an outgoing message on the answering machine that sounds like a residence, not a business, has not deterred people from believing they'd reached the theatre.
My friend contacted the phone company about this inconvenience, for everyone involved, and inquired about getting her phone number changed, even though that would of course cause some inconvenience to herself. But the phone company refused to change the phone number for free, and it would take something like a $50 fee to change her phone number. My friend, doesn't have that kind of money to just throw around because some theatre patrons are pressing the wrong buttons on their phones.
Others have had some hilarious suggestions about what to do with the situation.
One person suggested having a bit of fun... And informing patrons that the dress code for the theatre is things like "Medeival" or "Pirates" or "Sleepover" or "Circus", and then going to the theatre on that night herself, to see who shows up in a suit of armor, a peg leg & an eye patch, pajamas, or an orange wig, big shoes & a ruffle.
I couldn't help thinking of Brigit Jones showing up to a fancy garden party in a Playboy Bunny type outfit, under the impression she was attending a "Vicars & Tarts" costume party.
Another suggestion my friend had was to basically blackmail the theatre into paying for her to have her phone number changed - promising to pull pranks like this if they didn't agree to foot the bill.
Personally, I don't think this speaks well of the phone company's customer service to their customers & community. But then, as was said numerous times in the film, The President's Analyst, "Everybody hates the phone company".
posted by Chloe | Monday 14 February 2005 10:28 AM
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