“Clunker” of a Phone Number
August 24, 2009
The government program dubbed “Cash For Clunkers” will end today at 8pm ET – and not a minute too soon if you ask one florist in central Illinois. The Flower Corner in Clinton, IL, has been receiving up to 150 calls a day from people who are inquiring about trading in their cars. Are you confused? So was the flower shop. It turns out that GM was publicizing a toll-free phone number for the trade-in program that was nearly identical to that of the flower shop. GM’s number was an 877 toll free number and although that prefix has been around for quite a while, in many people’s minds, toll free still means 800. And you guessed it, the flower shop’s number was 800 and then identical to the number GM publicized. This has been more than just a minor inconvenience. Customers could not get through to place orders and employees are so busy answering the phone that productivity has dropped. Perhaps worst of all is that the flower shop must pay for every call that comes in on their toll free number! click here for limerick