You wanted someone else. . . .

Random messages on my voicemail over the years, or, why you should leave a callback number:

1. The first of two on the same evening:  A desperate sounding young man said, "I haven't been able to reach you, so, I guess I'll meet you in Cincinnati like we said before."  i hope Cincinatti was close to where he was starting from - it's two hours or more from here.  i would've called him back to say try again, even if he HAD been in Cincy.
2. An irate woman, same evening: Her apartment had been broken into, she needed her landlord to fix the door & to provide a new key.  He hadn't done so the previous evening, and she expected it done by the time she got home from work.  This sounded serious!  i retrieved the 7am message at 6pm.  She did leave her work callback number, but had already left work.  However, her secretary was still there.  i said, "Here's who i am, how to reach me, how i come into this, though it's not important, but your employer REALLY needs to get this message."
3. A professional but frustrated older man:  i couldn't make out the name of his fixit business, but he needed his client to come pick up said client's possession.  Apparently this was a 3rd or 4th notice, and the heirloom item was going to be disposed of.  i spent considerable time trying to track down this guy, but there was no callback number, and his business name was unintelligible.  i hope his client came in on his own.
4. A country-sounding, frustrated guy:  "I've tried several times to call you, because your apartments look like a good fit for my mom, but if you can't call me back, I'll just look elsewhere & not call you again." Yep, no callback number.

You get the idea?  Maybe everyone doesn't do the callback for wrong numbers, but you just might get someone who does.  And it could save you a heck of a lot of trouble.