This reminds me of something that happened to my company. I was never so pissed in my life.
I had an 800 number since I started my business in 1994. Well in 2000 Southwestern bell decided they would use the exact same number with an 866 as the exchange instead of 800. I called them and complained but they told me their customers were so used to 800 numbers that they were not looking to see the 866 and automatically dialed 800. They bascially told me that I NEEDED TO GET MY NUMBER CHANGED. I asked the gentleman for his name and then told him that if they didn't change their number I was going to be very rude to THEIR CUSTOMERS. He didn't care.
We literally got thousands of calls per day. My toll free phone bill went from about 800 a month to over 10,000 per month. I obviously didn't have to pay the bill, but we did have to answer the phone each and every time to find out if it was one of our customers calling.
People would call in and even though we answered the phone with our company name people would start yelling at us for cutting off their phone service. I decided to get even.
If I could determine the race of the person on the phone I would tell them we disconnected THEIR phone because we didn't like black or hispanic people.
If I could not determine their race I would just tell them we had no intention of ever hooking their phone back up. They were dead beats and we didn't need their business.
People would ask me for my name and then they would ask to speak to my supervisor. I would give them a fake name, but I would tell them if they wanted to talk with my supervisor they would have to call a different number and ask for "joe blow". Now Joe Blow (I can't remember the real name) was the man who told me they could not change their number and I needed to change my number.
He received so many complaint calls that they changed their number, and I got to keep mine.
I had an 800 number since I started my business in 1994. Well in 2000 Southwestern bell decided they would use the exact same number with an 866 as the exchange instead of 800. I called them and complained but they told me their customers were so used to 800 numbers that they were not looking to see the 866 and automatically dialed 800. They bascially told me that I NEEDED TO GET MY NUMBER CHANGED. I asked the gentleman for his name and then told him that if they didn't change their number I was going to be very rude to THEIR CUSTOMERS. He didn't care.
We literally got thousands of calls per day. My toll free phone bill went from about 800 a month to over 10,000 per month. I obviously didn't have to pay the bill, but we did have to answer the phone each and every time to find out if it was one of our customers calling.
People would call in and even though we answered the phone with our company name people would start yelling at us for cutting off their phone service. I decided to get even.
If I could determine the race of the person on the phone I would tell them we disconnected THEIR phone because we didn't like black or hispanic people.
If I could not determine their race I would just tell them we had no intention of ever hooking their phone back up. They were dead beats and we didn't need their business.
People would ask me for my name and then they would ask to speak to my supervisor. I would give them a fake name, but I would tell them if they wanted to talk with my supervisor they would have to call a different number and ask for "joe blow". Now Joe Blow (I can't remember the real name) was the man who told me they could not change their number and I needed to change my number.
He received so many complaint calls that they changed their number, and I got to keep mine.