I read with some trepidation the news that the Bay City Rollers were re-forming (“Bay City Rollers return for tour after 37 years”, The Herald, September 23, 2015).
Back in the 1970s my wife and I suddenly started getting incessant phone calls at all hours of the day and night from highly-excited screaming young females. In desperation we asked BT to investigate. It turned out that the band’s publicity people had put out a world-wide advert offering fans a chance to speak to one of the members of the group, and giving the phone number to call.
Unfortunately the number they published was our home number, having mistakenly included the Glasgow 0141 prefix instead of the 0131 Edinburgh one.
The BT people thought this was very amusing but agreed to put on an intercept for a couple of weeks, and our genuine callers had to confirm they wished to speak to us before being put through. In the event, the intercept lasted for several months, and BT intercepted thousands of calls from Rollers fans all over the world.
We still have the same phone number, so if the revived Bay City Rollers do achieve success again we hope that their PR numeracy has improved or that they have a new phone line.
Iain AD Mann,
7 Kelvin Court, Glasgow.
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