u/Cute_Assumption_8874

Several years ago, a friend of mine ("Mark") started a small computer and software repair business out of his house. He and his wife had been living in that house for about 12 years, and their home phone number was the one everyone knew. This was back when cell phones were starting to become common, but probably 90% of people still relied on landlines for ordinary calls. Mark worked from 1 p.m. To 9 p.m., which was the same shift as his wife's, so customers could talk to him about their computer problems at night after their offices closed. A lot of repairs still required the machine to be physically brought in, so people would drop things off after dinner and pick them up from Mark's side porch before work the next morning.

Things were going fine for a few weeks, until a new doctor opened a practice in the area with a phone number very similar to Mark's. The clinic's number differed by only one digit - Mark had a "4" where the doctor's clinic had a "9" in the last four digits. People mixed them up all the time. At first it was an occasional wrong number, and Mark would politely explain that they had dialed the wrong number. But once the clinic started getting patients from nearby practices and from the hospital, the calls became insane. Morning, late at night, Sunday, holidays - it made no difference. The clinic had an after-hours service for patients asking which doctor was on call, and also hospital staff trying to reach the doctor. Mark started unplugging the phone just so he could have dinner with his wife or get a little sleep. And that's not exactly ideal when you also have three teenage daughters out with their friends after dark.

Mark eventually called the doctor's clinic and asked them, please, to change the number so his family could live in peace, and so he could run the business he was trying to build. Since his number had been in use for much longer, he figured the new clinic should be the one to fix the confusion. The doctor basically told him that it was unfortunate, but no change was going to be made. The ads had been printed, the letterhead and appointment cards were done, the signs had been installed, and the number had already been given to patients, hospitals, medical groups, licensing boards, and everything else. "Do what you can. I'm sure it'll calm down soon. Good luck!"

Mark said, in a very pleasant voice, "Okey dokey. I'll do what I can."

So Mark started answering all those wrong-number calls himself.

"You've had a sore throat since breakfast after cleaning the garage? Then it's best you come in today."

"You cough and wheeze every time you smoke? Come in."

"Hmm, I'm not the doctor, but 99.1 sounds a little about. We can see you after lunch."

"You just moved here and need school physicals and vaccine forms for your kids before Thursday? As luck would have it, we have a slot in 45 minutes. No problem, bring all four of them. We'll get everyone sorted."

Whatever the caller needed, Mark would give them an appointment. People were thrilled with how helpful and quick the office was. "Of course we take your insurance. We accept all plans. Go ahead and come in." He even booked several routine checkups for 5:15 on a Thursday, all for different people.

First thing the following Monday, Dr. Newintown called Mark and begged him to stop.

Mark told him, "I'll stop if you stop."

The doctor had a different phone number by Friday.