Man receives non-stop calls from gamers after mistakenly being given Nintendo’s old support line when moving to Washington, trolls callers until his number is eventually switched for free, due to many caller complaints: 'I'm not proud of it'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Sep 26, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Most people might brag about the hilarious mistake of being assigned Nintendo's old support line as their home phone number, it certainly makes for a great story. But this new Redmond resident didn't see the humor in it. With his phone ringing non-stop, the ringtone became a constant hum in the background of his thoughts, day and night! Furious at being stuck with Nintendo's old number, he found himself answering countless calls at all hours from kids and parents desperate for help with their games.

After countless failed attempts to explain it was a wrong number, he decided to take matters into his own hands. So, he started trolling the callers, harmlessly, of course. He'd ask kids for credit card details, pretend they were being scammed, and pull prank after prank just to entertain himself and prevent returning callers. Eventually, the complaints escalated, piling up in to a tower of 'bad behavior'. Parents contacted Nintendo, after realizing he wasn't an employee, and soon after, the phone company, suddenly very eager to help, offered to change his number, free of charge. A very different response from the 1889999 ignored requests he'd made previously.

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  • Some could say this man was genius enough to earn a job at Nintendo himself, or just devious enough to get away with his antics. When your valid requests are blatantly ignored, sometimes the best move is to beat a player at their own game… And let's just say, he definitely landed 1st on the podium! 

  • 01
    Homeowner talking on his landline
    via ron-lach.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    The phone company assigned Nintendo Game Support number as my home number

    Many years ago, I moved into a house in Redmond, Washington, home to Microsoft, and soon I discovered Nintendo of America.
    via PizzaWall
  • 03
    Both companies had offices a few blocks from my house. A few months before I moved in, Nintendo canceled their local number for game support hotline to an 800 number and gave up on the local number.
    via PizzaWall
  • 04
    This meant anyone across the US or Canada calling that number would not reach Nintendo.
    via PizzaWall
  • 05
    The phone company assigned the old number as my residential phone number. As soon as the phone was plugged in, it started ringing off the hook with people calling to get support for a game at all hours of the day.
    via PizzaWall
  • 06
    I called the phone company, and initially, they refused to change the number. They told me the company policy was to charge a hefty fee to switch the number, and there was no guarantee it would not be an old business number.
    via PizzaWall
  • 07
    I just moved in, so I didn't have the cash. Instead of dealing with the endless calls, I decided to pick up the phone and get my petty revenge.
    via PizzaWall
  • 08
    First, I would demand a credit card from any caller. I told them to go into mommy's purse and pull one out.
    via PizzaWall
  • 09
    Retro gaming consol
    via tomeversleyimages

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 10
    Then I would have them read the number and name off the card. I never wrote the information down; I just wanted to see what would happen if I asked for it.
    via PizzaWall
  • 11
    Sometimes the parents would pick up the phone and start screaming at me. So I started screaming back.
    via PizzaWall
  • 12
    I would thank them for the new TV, complain that the card was over the limit, and do anything I felt would entertain me.
    via PizzaWall
  • 13
    I said some things that were inappropriate 30 years ago, and they are even less appropriate today. I'm not proud of it, but I was young, frustrated, and thought if I was annoying enough, they would switch the number.
    via PizzaWall
  • 14
    Sure enough, one day I picked up the phone and it was the local phone company telling me good news, we will be updating your number at no cost.
    via PizzaWall
  • 15
    | I guess more than a few parents called Nintendo demanding I be fired for my behavior on the phone, and that's when they realized I didn't work there, and the mistake of letting the old phone number go.
    via PizzaWall
  • 16
    Working at a call support center
    via tima-miroshnichenko

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 17
    The new number had never been used previously, SO no more 2 am calls, except from drink-dialing friends.
    via PizzaWall
  • 18
    Intrepid Year3765 My home number was a daycares old number. Guess how many kids" hadn't been dropped off that morning" before they were willing to change it?
    via PizzaWall
  • 19
    animaniactoo This is why it used to be standard procedure to leave numbers unassigned for a year before re- assigning them. Didn't entirely solve the problem of course, but cut way way WAYYYYY down on it.
    via PizzaWall
  • 20
    tonykrij If I spoke to a Mr Smith at the phone company that wouldn't change the number for me I'd give every caller his number and have them ask to talk to Mr. Smith, the absolute expert on that game. I bet you a lot of people will do that blindly, even ignoring the fact that it says "Phone company". Or even do an automatic redirect if that's possible.
    via PizzaWall
  • 21
    Altruistic-Wafer-19 Less epic, but a friend of mine had one from a pizza place. He'd take their order and say "ok - remember - if it's not there in 30 minutes, it's free".
    via PizzaWall
  • 22
    CalendarCutie u just hit the motherlode of customer service nightmares. Honestly tho, I'd probably lose my mind having to deal with that mess pro-level pettiness. but kudos on that
    via PizzaWall
  • 23
    erikDx I worked at that call center for a bit, was rather fun helping kids hook up their Nintendo 64s because the parents couldn't figure it out. Was typically the AV cables were wrong. The kids would go absolutely nuts when it started working finally and would just drop the phone on the ground without hanging up.
    via PizzaWall
  • 24
    MotherGoose1957 I feel your pain. Many years ago, we got allocated the former phone number for the airport information line and were inundated with people calling regarding flight arrivals and departures.
    via PizzaWall

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Tags

customer support call center phone number petty-revenge-reddit funny story gaming askreddit switch petty revenge changed get back support Reddit pretending nintendo home-phone
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