Wrong Number

Following on from yesterday and the fun I'm having with my new phone, another thing has got my goat.

Now I've only had the phone, and the number a couple of weeks but I'm already getting inundated with debt collectors calling for the person who previously had the number.

Why is it they always think you're lying to them when you try explaining to them they have the wrong number? Even when you politely point out that you've only had the number for 2 weeks?

I'm a 31 year old bloke from Manchester, England. I've lived in Texas for four years. Do I really sound like Mrs Esmerelda Gutierrez??

And why do phone companies have to re-use phone numbers so quick? They are phone numbers. Numbers go on for ever, they never stop. Try counting to the highest number you can think of. Did you get there? Probably not. You always know what the next number will be. So why can't A bloody T&T change a few numbers around so all new numbers are unique?

I know it can be done. It happened in England a few years ago, new area codes were developed and new numbers had an extra digit than older numbers. Simple. The world didn't end. Mrs Gutierrez still probably never paid her bills but we didn't all get blinded by the sun imploding into itself.

And while I'm at it, I haven't cancelled my old number yet and I've had more phone calls and messages to that phone than I ever did before I gave everyone my new number.

If someone tells me they've got a new number, the first thing I do is update it in my phone, so when the need arises to call them or send them a text message, I know I have the right number. I don't just ignore it and then ask them why they never return my calls!