Woman's home phone gets hundreds of calls meant for Durham dentist office: 'Ringing off the hook'

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Imagine countless calls to your home, not for you, but for a business. "All of a sudden, my landline, which rarely rings, started ringing off the hook," and Cindy Detomo says the calls didn't stop.

"Everybody that called said, 'Is this Willowdale Family Dentistry?'' And I was like, no, it's not, but the calls kept coming. I looked up Willowdaile Family Dentistry on Google, and my number was there," Detomo added. She was confused about how this could happen, as Detomo says she's had her home phone number for thirty years.

A quick Google search reveals three different listings for the dentist's office, all at the same address; however, the one with the most reviews has Detomo's phone number associated with it. She said she called the dentist's office. She adds, "I said, 'You know, I'm getting all your phone calls', and she said, 'Well, we're working on it.'"

A week later, the calls kept coming, and even voicemails for the dentist. After three weeks of calls, Detomo says she called the dentist's office again, but says they hung up on her. She adds, "They're acting like I did something wrong, and I'm answering up to a hundred calls a week of theirs. So, you know, it went on for like six weeks."

Fed up with the calls, Detomo reached out to ABC11 Troubleshooter Diane Wilson. She said to Wilson, "Well, I've watched you for years, and I knew that you help people sometimes in unusual situations."

When Wilson called the dentist's office, a representative told me they aren't sure how Detomo's home phone number got connected to their office on a search engine. They're under new management and directed Wilson to email new management for more information. Wilson did, but did not hear back.

In the meantime, just hours after Wilson contacted the dentist's office, Detomo's noticed a change. She said to Wilson, "Well, it's very funny because two hours after you talked to them, my number was off. I just really appreciate that you were able to help, and it happened so quick."

It's still unclear how her home phone was connected to the dentist's office on the search engine, but she says she's relieved, as she has not received any more calls.

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