Maybe it was mean, but I really couldn't resist:

[alanp]

I have a similar phone number to the bank's number.  The first thousand or so times was one thing, but the calls just keep coming. For years I've put up with call after call of people wanting the bank from people who just won't look up the number.

So I made the greeting on my answering machine a notice that we had gone out of business and our members needed to contact the FDIC to file a claim for their account. And thanked them for being our customer's all these years.

People are screaming and having a fit on my answering machine!  I know, it's mean but the calls have slowed down know.

[Rico]

Wow - that's pretty wild.  Hope no one tracks you down.  ;)

[Feathers]

Sorry but...haHaHaHAHA!

It's cruel but I love it! I get fed up with people who just don't listen or are too lazy to dial. For a while I got a number of bank calls at work (we're not a bank) and they started to drive me wild.

[Meds]

ha ha ha nice one Alan.

[Dangelus]

LOL...

My wife used to work in an office that had a similar number to a well known electrical store in the UK. One of her co-workers got fed up with the constant wrong numbers that he one day played along and pretended to place an order for a fridge for somebody who had phoned up trying to order one! He even gave them a delivery date!

[alanp]

I bet it will send hysterical people to the bank.

Should the bank find out, and ask me to take that off my machine, should I offer to do it but they have to pay me?

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I bet it will send hysterical people to the bank.

Should the bank find out, and ask me to take that off my machine, should I offer to do it but they have to pay me?

Make them pay imo.  Otherwise, they can't do anything to you.  Its not your fault that their customers are lazy/stupid.  I LOVE what you did btw, if that happened to me (me being the customer) I would have laughed later.  hahahahahahahaha

King

[alanp]

I used to be a customer but they had too many fees.  So I found another one and I like it much better.

[X]

I used to be a customer but they had too many fees.  So I found another one and I like it much better.

When I was a kid, I got tired of people I didn't like calling my line so I recorded the "We're sorry you have reached a number that has been disconnected." phone thing and had it looped 4 times ... it was an 8 minute machine message, but everyone that I wanted to call me knew to just hit # and leave a message.