Posted by Damien [24.159.232.32 - 24-159-232-32.jvl.wi.charter.com] on 23 May 2004 at 04.17.27 ZuluTime:

In Reply to: You've asked me about this before.... posted by Gremlin on 12 May 2004 at 08.54.03 ZuluTime:

I've heard, hearsay, about something quite like this occuring. Apparently a medical billing company happened to get the exact same number, sans obscure area code, as a certain woman. After getting dozens of calls a day about bills, she calls up the company and asks them to change their number. They tell her to change hers, she replies that since she's had her number for over a decade, and they've had their's for less than a month, it's not happening. They counter with something along the lines of it sucking to be her and it's too damn bad.

That would have been the end of it, but the woman found a creative way to deal with it. Everytime since then that someone mistook her number for the medical-billing number, she simply told them their bill has been paid in full already and not to worry. Shortly after she started this, the company changed its number.