Update: We tried it! Click here to read our review.
To go along with this flavor, Ben & Jerry’s and Netflix have also set up a Punch Line Hotline, which you can call at 1-866-PUNCHLINE. I did call the number, and yes, it was weird punching in more numbers than a standard US phone number. It felt like I was calling another country. (Spotted by Rachel C at Walmart.)
If you start with anything but “1”, the US phone system only pays attention to the first seven numbers. If you start with “1”, but not “11”, the US phone system only pays attention to the next ten numbers. In this case, once you’ve dialed “1-866-PUNCHLI”, you’ll be connected even if you don’t dial the “NE”. Extra numbers won’t screw things up, but they’ll only do something if the number you just dialed has an automated answering system with options you can select (dial 1 for English, dial 2 for Spanish, etc), and then only if it’s set up to start accepting responses immediately. Many times I’ve run into phone systems that just ignore you until they’ve listed all the options. But any time I’ve used redial to call one of these numbers, the response digits are always tacked onto the end of the main line, and I still end up having to enter them again anyways.
Thank you for the explanation! I was about to ask how you could punch in more numbers than usual and still have it work.
It gets a lot more complicated, but the North American Numbering Plan originally called for statewide area codes to follow an N0N format (where N=2-9), and states with multiple area codes were given area codes in the N1N format. Lower numbers were more favorable because they were faster to dial on a rotary phone, so they were assigned to the areas with the highest population density at the time (212 for NYC, 213 for LA and SOCAL, and 312 for Chicago). Vast groups were unassigned at the time. 800 was originally reserved for toll-free calls, but has since been expanded to include 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888, and any 88x number. 900 has long been reserved for premium toll calls. Any number in the N11 format is reserved for information services (911 is the most famous, probably followed by 411 for information services).
All of this had to be programmed in so that the system would automatically be able to tell what you intended to do based on the numbers, but as soon as you hit a terminal digit, you set things in motion regardless of what you do after. I don’t think it was really built into the system, as there used to be a time when businesses would code their numbers in a way that made it clear which ones were important and which were just there to complete a word. There was a time when this number probably would have been written out as “1-866-PUNCHLI(NE)”, to let you know the last two digits weren’t important. Eventually someone realized they weren’t harmful, either, and that formatting was dropped just to make it less confusing to people.
I love your knowledge on this subject!!! What else can we ask you about and get some really clear and (seemingly) passionate answers about?
Thanks for the info 🙂
The first answer was just stuff I’ve picked up over the years. The second was the result of having way too much free time, being very bored, and knowing how to do some fairly basic research. Mostly. I had previously heard how the “fast” area codes were assigned to the most populous areas. I still find it ironic that Detroit managed to land a third-tier area code with “313”. I doubt that would happen with the current population distribution.
Dude I called that number the jokes were…just so bad. I feel like I’ve been victimized.