Teenager starts "saying yes to everything" when customers confuse their phone number with a cheesecake restaurant: 'Table for 10 in 10 minutes? Yes sir!'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 11, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

People have been griping about wrong-number phone calls since phones were even invented, but this person has an especially shocking story to share. 

Years ago, before cell phones were a thing, people used to get frequent calls during the dinner hour. Sales callers knew that families would be gathered around the kitchen table eating together, and since a lot of people kept landline phones in their kitchen, it was the perfect opportunity to ring up a potential customer. Naturally, people hated this. Some would even take the phone off the wall! It's bad enough having to talk to some random person on the phone in the first place. It's even worse if it's someone you don't even want to talk to, like a salesperson or a wrong number. 

This person had a recurring problem with wrong number calls, thanks to a cell phone number that was only a few digits different than a local restaurant. They had a crafty way of dealing with their issues. Teens are great at coming up with ways to spite their perceived enemies, and this person was no exception, as you can read all about down below.

Next, read the hilarious tale of the husband who has fallen into a dispute with his wife over some fancy soap, saying that "She hasn't spoken to me in 2 days, but I smell amazing." 

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  • 01
    This story takes place about fifteen years ago. I had my phone number for a while now, long enough that all the olds had it memorized as my number. So I really didn't want to change it for any reason. But one day, almost like a switch, I started getting calls from people looking to reserve a table at The Cheesecake Factory. Way too many to be a practical joke by my friends, something else had to be
    via u/3-2-1-backup
  • 02
    going on. It turned out that the new location of the cheesecake factory was assigned the number (555) 555-1223. Problem was my number was (555) 555-1123. IT WAS MADDENING! I went from one wrong number a month to ten to twenty misdials a day! Even worse about half of them would hang up, hit redial, and boomerang right back to be!
    via u/3-2-1-backup
  • 03
    (And now they were mad at me, because.... Reasons?) Finally one day I snapped. (Cue the malicious compliance!) Instead of politely telling people that I was not the cheesecake factory, I said yes to everything. Jane, table for five at eight? Yes ma'am! You want to know what the wait time is? Well sir the dining room is empty right now! You need a table for ten in ten minutes and you know the owner? Well yes sir we can
    via u/3-2-1-backup
  • 04
    accommodate you! The location is still open, but they changed their phone number not too long after that!
    via u/3-2-1-backup

    I wonder how many disgruntled customers had to whine to the manager before the problem was solved. 

  • 05
    FARA C RNA TI IZARA CIFTLIK SAC MANTI MAKARNA RA SALATA
    via Simon Karemann on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 06

    This teen wasn't the only one to deal with frequent annoying calls...

    Niffycat My old phone number was 1 digit off from a hospital. The things people left on my (obviously owned by a teenager) answering machine were insane. Sure, let's just leave my full name, social security number and medical record number on this answering machine. Whatever could go wrong?
    via u/Niffycat
  • 07
    We ended up reporting it to the phone company and they changed our number for free.
    via u/Niffycat
  • 08
    TheB ySister In the late 80's our home phone number was one number off from our local post office. We got a fair number of misdials, but most people were polite when told they had the wrong number.
    via u/TheB****ySister
  • 09
    One time, my older brother answered the phone, it was a man asking if he had reached the post-office. "Sorry wrong number". The guy called back two or three more times, the final time he called, my brother answered
    via u/TheB****ySister
  • 10
    with "US post office" and the guy yelled "fuck you!" and hung up the phone. It was so bizarre, I don't get why someone would keep dialing the same number over and over hoping it would eventually work.
    via u/TheB****ySister
  • 11
    NA CIFTLIK SAC MANTI MAKARNA 500 wwwwwww
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    tofus722 I had a similar ordeal years ago. Apparently a collection agency had a similar number to our 800 line at work. Transpose the last 2 digits. and I'd get some really nasty phone calls where people would speak over me and demand I fix my screwup before I could explain they had reached a paint warehouse. Some apologized when they finally
    via u/tofus722
  • 13
    calmed down, some would say something like "I better not be charged for this call" before hanging up and then there were those who didn't seem to care that I wanted to send them to the correct company. One particular really angry person insisted that my parents were siblings and some other hateful comments meant to hurt... and that helped. I apologized for the error and
    via u/tofus722
  • 14
    offered to wipe out the balance on their account. The person was smugly satisfied and confirmed my name and employee number. They never called back, but I often imagine the ensuing collection call.
    via u/tofus722
  • 15
    ThomasKlausen There was a guy some decades back who had the bad fortune to suddenly be one digit off from a ferry service. He went the nice way - "Could you perhaps. get a number that doesn't collide with the one I've had for decades?" No joy. The ferry service insisted it couldn't be a big problem. How many calls could it be, really?
    via u/ThomasKlausen
  • 16
    Instead he changed his answering machine message (I said it was decades back) to one saying that "Due to a machinery breakdown, ferry service has been suspended until further notice". That made the ferry company take notice - and he of course jumped at thee opportunity to ask "How many calls could it be, really?". They changed their number.
    via u/ThomasKlausen

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wrong number cheesecake karen-customer customers phone tables restaurant callers reservations calling phone calls
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