Metropol

Coooeee all. So recently I became the proud renter of a landline, and ever since I got it activated and got a phone I've been getting, at the rate of about 1 per week, a single ring in the wee small hours. Now I'd normally chalk this up to the scam whereby if you call them back they just drain your money by making it cost a whole lot, but in this case the missed call is coming from an 0161 number (i.e. local).

Anyone come across this variant and know what it might be? Even more oddly I just rang back and the guy seemed to have no idea what was going on, although he was pleasant enough.

Don't know this one, unless it's a number starting 0161 249 449, in which case go back and read May 2009's Comment.

If I'm only half asleep, I often hear the single 'ping' as the routiner in the exchange tests the line in the early hours, but that's not a full ring and wouldn't leave anything on 1471 or a caller display box.

The guy you rang back wasn't the last legitimate caller before the single ring was he? If so, it sounds like a fault tripping the ringer but, obviously, not leaving a number.

Well I presume he didn't call of his own volition since he had no idea who I was and I had no idea who he was! I should mention it's a Virgin line if that changes anything, like a massive increase in poorness compared with a BT one.

He COULD be lying, of course, but I don't see what gain it would have.

The OTHER weird thing is that I have the intermittent dialling tone but no messages in my 1571 mailbox. Perhaps a call to 150 is in order. Tsk.

Yes, perhaps 150 is called for.

I know very little about Virgin's system except that it'll be all made of digits and very little, old fashioned, clockwork, like what I understand.

Mr Strowger, the undertaker, was a very nice man.