On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 04:45:00 -0800
Kurt Weiske  wrote:

 KW>  Au> had a call yesterday at around 5:20p at the shop. telltale clue that it
 KW>  Au> might be a marketer cuz of the delay and clik after answering with
 KW>  Au> "hello?".  them: "this is merchant review.. can i speak to the owner?"
 KW>  Au> me: "no. we're closed."  them: "oh.".  me: .
 KW>
 KW>  I have a realtor in the area who had my telphone number (I've had it
 KW>  since 2015, I still see my number on her marketing materials when I
 KW>  google it...)

Google search results still put up a lot of outdated info. It's pathetic.  Perhaps it's not Google per se, but the products like independent aggregators that skim the 'net, build resultant pages and never change them.  Then, Google keeps finding those.

 KW>  I used to get people calling for her, I'd get creative with my
 KW>  responses, like holding the phone and yelling "Hey, is Barbara back
 KW>  from rehab yet? No?" then ask if I could take a message. Or, forwarding
 KW>  them to my friend who is a competing realtor.

Ah..  PHONEGAMES!

I had a business number with the last 4 digit 1704, but the local CanadianTire's number ended with 1074.  So.. I'd get calls asking for a variety of things.  I had plenty of opportunity to play games with that and misleed people, but that would be cruel.   


 KW>  I called her at her new number and she told me that it wasn't her fault
 KW>  and I should "call google".

I dunno.. it's a waste of time. I remember getting the odd call claiming to be FROM Google. I had my doubts about the legitimacy of that.


 KW>  Now I'm getting calls from American Express looking for payment.

Ha!  Just put them on hold, or if you can see the number on your display, block it?

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