Needing to spek to my boss once before a meeting, I pulled into a layby and, as I couldn't remember his office number, called Dumbarton. Who told me that there was no such person as OC *** sqn.... I then did the usual thing, rang a mate and asked him to look up the number in the station phonebook, got the number and chatted to the boss. When I got back, we rang the Dumb ones from his office to ask for his number.......he then told them that yes, he bŁoody well did exist and they'd better add his number to their list. "I canna do thaat, caller" replied the functionary at the other end......
What an utter ar$e system this Dumbarton nonsense is...... I was also once told that there's no 'Nine' squadron - because it's listed as 'IX'.......
Getting the wrong number given to you ('call dumped') because they can't find the right one in the allowed time limit is quite common - it's called 'Being Dumbartoned'. A bit like this silly 188 or whatever it is for Directory Enquiries - there was an employee at one of these new set ups who just gave every caller the number for the local Pizza Hut in order to clock up bonuses for himself!