Is this phone number reachable ?

Usjes

Hi,

My GPs phone has a recorded message saying the number to call 'out-of-hours' is 3334500.

I have no landline and I have tried calling that number from my mobile.

If I call it as given above I get an American voice saying "??? is not configured" and then the call ends.

If I add a 01 prefix assuming its a Dublin number I get an Irish voice saying "The number you have called is not recognized, please check the number and dial again"

My mobile is with Lycamobile so I'm trying to figure out if being unable to reach this number is yet another 'feature' of the poxy Lycamobile service or if there genuinely is something wrong with the number. So, anyone out there with a landline (or non-Lyca mobile) want to try ringing that number to see if it actually exists and is currently manned ? I'm trying to figure out if I should be complaining to my GP for providing an incorrect number or to comreg that Lycamobile is not providing proper service.

Thanks,

Usjes.

Try calling with mobile prefix.

083, 085, 087 & 089, there’s 7 digits so those would make 10 (a mobile number).

Usjes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118374684#Comment_118374684

I'm not trying to guess the correct number. For me the supplied number is unreachable and I'm trying to figure out who is at fault

1. The GP for failing to provide the correct number
2. Lycamobile for failing to connect me to a valid number

So, can anyone confirm whether or not the supplied number is valid, by dialing it from a landline or mobile with or without the 01 prefix ?

Gregor Samsa

I don’t think anyone is going to phone the suspicious number to see, to be honest. I’ve seen the movie 976_EVIL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118374858#Comment_118374858

Nope to both.

edit: on vodafone mobile, don’t have a landline but I can’t see how it would make a difference. My guess is they just forogt the 08X part of it and I’d definitely mention to them the next available opportunity.

also you’re positive that’s the number and you didn’t mishear? If you’ve only listened once try again and make sure it doesn’t seem usual for a GP to make that kind of mistake and not have it noticed.

Usjes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118375064#Comment_118375064

Okay thanks, so you're saying there's no reply whether or not you include the 01 prefix. I'll let the GP know on Monday.

spurious

Is it by any chance a Greystones doctor? Their out of hours number is fairly close: 01 223 4500

Usjes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118376320#Comment_118376320

Booterstown in Dublin rather than Greystones but this is almost certainly the correct answer. I expect this EDOC service provides out of hours cover for many GPs. My GPs secretary's first language is not English (Eastern European) and she always mumbles. From the recorded message it sounds like 3334500 or possibly 3234500 but it seems likely the number is in fact 2234500

Thanks,

What is it with, particularly Dublin, and an aversion to calling out the area code on phone numbers?

I constantly get it … “Call me back on 555 xxxx” and I assume it’s a local 021 number but it turns out to be 01 and I ended up talking to some random business in Mayfield instead of a warehouse in Tallaght.

We even has some moron leave their number as “Dublin 555 xxxx” on a voicemail in Brussels and nobody ever called back as they had no idea how to call “Dublin” or were not about to go Googling it.

Seems to be parochial centre of universe syndrome.

Deagol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118378619#Comment_118378619

I've noticed that too - seems to also be the case with addresses. Some bloke emailed me his business address as '123 Parnell street' and that was it - no mention of which town, as if the only possible answer could be Dublin.

The out-of-hours number which my GP supplies likewise is unreachable. To me a lot of GP practices just couldn’t give a fœck about keeping patients well-informed. For many their communications systems are woeful.

Why don’t they just divert their calls to the out of hours service? Mine does! Actually amazed at the contrast since I changed GP. It’s websites and online booking, online payment, IVR on the phone etc

I suppose though, given that call forwarding was only implemented by Telecom Éireann in 1981, you can’t be expecting some of them them to move that fast… they’ve only recently discovered the fax machine. Email is another 30 years off and if you want to pay by card … you might as well be speaking to them from the future.

A lot of them still seem to be operating with 1970s office tech. My previous guy seemed to be just about catching up with 1975.

Mine, which is a fairly prominent south Dublin practice, is operating from 1970s. Except they use voicemail so as to never have to answer the phone. Video calls, you must be joking. I had my first mobile phone before any of the doctors in the practice did and one borrowed mine to make an urgent call. Inter-practice communications are appalling. After phone consultation it is almost impossible to get paying in a timely manner, as there is nobody on the line who will take your payment details, and there is no online payment system. You are supposed to stand by for a call out of the blue over the coming weeks to ask for payment and no receipt issued for insurance or tax purposes. I’m a tiny bit suspicious of the latter practice tbh. The call invariably comes when you are in the shower or out on the street in a noisy environment. I usually call up to the surgery to pay in person so I can get my receipt, and there is always a sigh when I ask for it. Then a week or two after that I might get a call stating that I had not yet paid for the visit and I then have to send a photo of the receipt by email as they have failed to keep record of my payment.

The practice is incredibly unprofessional, one time I was there the receptionist had a patient on speakerphone and I heard full details of their medical complaint. Absolutely appalling place. Other practices are not taking on patients and I haven’t heard of any convenient practices who might possibly take me on. The one good thing about it is that the senior most doctor there knows me very well and happy days if I get dealing with him from a medical point of view.