My old cell phone number was reissued

[Down South]

When I retired a few weeks ago, I turned in my company cell phone. I decided to check out my old cell number a few days ago. Not to my surprise, AT&T had already reissued the number. I feel sorry for the lady it was issued to. I had several hundred contacts plus there are 1000+ business cards out there with that number on them. I called the number a couple times but it goes to an answering machine. I left a message that she should request another number or expect to get a lot of calls for me.
Many companies I dealt with don't even know that I'm gone.
Oh well, This is the second time this has happened. The previous time, it was my fault. I swapped carriers and somehow during the process I messed up and couldn't keep my old number. Verizon reissued the number within a couple weeks to some poor dude down in New Orleans. One of my vendors told me he had called the old number and the guy was pretty upset. I then called my old number and it went straight to an answering machine. I did leave a message that he should request a different number since the one he has was a business number.

[bob208]

I often wonder about the person that got my old landline number. I had it from 1977 to 2000. had a weld machine shop. lots of people had that number.

[Rick N Bama]

When I worked for Bellsouth the policy was that a number was not the be used again for 6 months after a disconnect. I guess the times have changed.

[Outpost75]

I kept my government cell phone number when I retired and sent an "all-call" text message to my contact list that I had done so and to contact the EOC duty officer for assistance and gave the number. I did have some calls for about six months, but very few now five years later and only from my replacements who want to pick my brains now and then.

[Thin Man]

Back in 1975 (yup, that far back) we bought a new-to-us home and also a land line from AT&T. SWMBO was happy to have our own phone number and we gave it out to all our friends. Then we started getting calls for a business that went by the name of "Smoky Molders." They made fishing lures and such. We were polite with the callers and told them we were not that business. Then we began getting calls from AT&T asking if we would consider giving up that number for another. Seems that Smoky Molders had an active client base and had somehow ditched their land line so the number was issued to us. IIRC we got 4-5 calls and offers from AT&T before they gave up, but no calls from the business. We still have that number and lately have been considering dropping it and going all wireless. I wonder if Smoky Molders would want it back now. Wonder if they would trade off a quantity of lead for their original number??? Might have to look into this idea.

[lightman]

When I worked for Bellsouth the policy was that a number was not the be used again for 6 months after a disconnect. I guess the times have changed.

I would think that there still would be a period of time before reissuing a number. Guess not? We recently gave up our land line. Friends and family used out cell numbers and the only calls that we got were from telemarketers.

[historicfirearms]

When I left my old job, I gave up that work cell. I saw one of my old contacts who didn't know that I had left and he had been trying to call me. The guy that got issued my old number has, by unfortunate coincidence, my same first name. I guess he had been getting quite a few calls from confused loggers trying to sell him veneer. LoL

[Down South]

I was wrong about my contact list. I looked at it yesterday and if I scroll all the way to the bottom, it tells me the number of contacts I have. I had posted that I had several hundred. Well, I have over 1,100. I hope that poor gal gets a new number. Plus, since I worked for a large Italian company, I get a lot of calls from HQ in Milan.
Hopefully she doesn't have to pay for any overseas calls.

[tomme boy]

LOL! A couple of years ago my cell phone went out on me. I lost all of my contacts I had since 1998. I had over 1000 #'s in that phone. Well there was no way of getting them back.

About 6 months ago one of my buddies calls me and tells me to call one of our other buddies. I told him I don't have his # remember my phone died. Well he had his # and I called him.

Troy goes on to tell me he had been sending me a bunch of text. I told him that my phone died and that I switched companies and got a new #! He Goes "I KNOW!" "I had a sheriff deputy knock on my door and told me to stop texting his 8yo son porn text!" LOLOL!!!!! He told Troy that he was going to throw him in jail for pornography.

Well I got a hold of the deputy and told him to change the #. I told him how long I had the # and that I hundreds of friends just like this and if he did not like for his kid to see stuff like this then to change the #. He started to give me the speall that he can have me arrested for this. I told him to go right ahead and try. It has already been ran through the supreme court and the person has to be knowingly doing it. He got all pissed off ad hug up on me and we ever heard of him again.

[popper]

I was surprised the other day. She got a new phone with same number, I will get the batt. changed in the old one (Iphone). It was on my desk, no phone service of course but wifi. Robo call on a wiped phone! Her phone didn't ring! Net provider is frontier so I assume they are routing robocall to phone numbers over the internet? It was NOT a text message that they do pass to my computer (email) with my home #. Another security loophole!

[tinsnips]

I feel sorry for the person that gets my number when I quite.I have had the same number for years I get a large number of business calls 7 day a week all times of the day and night.

[mold maker]

I had the same AT&T # for 39 years before dropping the service for cell phones. I just called the # and it's still out of service. I don't think it'd been reissued for 7 years.
BTW my cell # is one prefix # from the county none emergency #. I get at least 2 calls a day from excited folks needing assistance.