Did I get punk'd? My Craigslist Experience

A couple weeks ago I had the grand opportunity to experience either the greatest prank ever designed on me or a major type o.  Regardless, for 6 hours I was technically overwhelmed..


Here is how it went down...


I'm at work and I receive a phone call on my cell at approximately 1:49 PM. It's a Hackensack number and I'm unsure of it but i decide to answer anyway. 


"Hello", I say expecting a "This is Honda calling from Hackensack inviting you to our 3 day sales event" pitch, but instead i get a "Hi, is this Joe?" in a grisly manly voice.  



I say, "No, this is Danny.  You have the wrong number.".  The man on the line then says "Is this 201-xxx-xxxx (he didnt really say the x's people!)?"  I say, "Yes it is.", beginning to get confused.  He says "I'm calling about the apartment for rent."


Stop the press Vickie Vale.   I say, "Apartment for rent?  I'm sorry but I dont have any apartment for rent.", in a baffled tone.  The man then tells me that there is an ad for an apartment for rent.  It has my number on it and it says call or text and ask for Joe.  I say "WHAT?!  No I didnt put any ad for an apartment for rent!".  He tells me, "Dude, that sucks.  You are going to get a lot of phone calls.".  I sort of laugh and shrug it off.  I politely thank him for the advice and hang up the phone with him completely forgetting to ask him the source of the ad.  My Polish mind is thinking that there was like those paper ads that are attached to like a wall at a coffee shop.  They have those little cuts in the bottom of the paper so you can rip off the advertisement easily.  Yes.. this is what i thought my number is on... Until...


I immediately got a text from an unknown number that said the following:

I kindly replied as you can see making the person aware that it is a type-o in the advertisement. I started to panic.  "Can this seriously be happening?", i thought.


I then got a second text message a few minutes after, but this time i was smart and engaged in the conversation to get more details as to where this ad is coming from:

That word right there scared the shit out of me; Craigslist.  Craigslist?  Fuck.  I know nothing about Craigslist except thats where Jimmy Norton from the Opie and Anthony show gets trannies and hookers.  Oh and the Craiglist killer and the Lifetime movies.  "This cant be happening", i begin to whisper to myself.


As you can see in the picture the person hasnt a clue of how to simply send me a link via text message.  Instead they are smart enough to take a screenshot and post it.  Umm.. isnt it easier just to send me a link.  I wanted to write this and then give them a text message tutorial but i didnt.  So because of this i had to go on Craigslist and find "my ad".


Here is the picture this person sent me in that text message of the ad:

For personal reasons i felt the need to smudge my phone number out in this pic.  I am sure you can understand why.  Regardless, my name is now Joe...or was i should say.


The ad (which was eventually pulled but i will get to that later) states very simply:  This is a spacious three bedroom apartment close to NYC transportation.   It then says:  Call or text Joe @ .


Now perhaps this may have been one of the greatest punks to ever be played on me OR it was a mere type-o.  How Joe can type the wrong phone number on an ad that only has 2 line description and apparently is offering a very good price for rent is beyond me... but i will assume it was a type o and not some fucker that 1 - doesn't like me or 2 - doesn't like my blogs or 3 - doesn't like me or my blogs.  I will stick with my first choice and assume it was a type o {shaking head in disbelief}


What happened for the next 5 hours is unimaginable.  I received around 30 texts and about 15 phone calls.  I saved a few of the messages and i play them back at parties as i tell this story.  Apparently it's a good conversation piece.  I answered every phone call and politely told them that the ad was a misprint.  I dont know why i answered the phone. I think i felt obligated.  For people who know me, i never answer the phone.  I also politely texted everyone back telling them that the ad was a type o. What a nice guy I am.  Judging by the phone calls, apparently 1300/month rent for a 3 bedroom in Kearny close to NYC transportation is an INSANE deal!  I actually thought about taking a look at the apartment but then i realized i have no way of getting a hold of Joe.. oh wait... ;-)


How did i get the ad pulled?  Well well well.  This, my friends, was difficult.  Again, i know nothing about Craigslist so now trying to figure out how to get an ad off is something that scholars can only figure out.  Of course i emailed "Joe" but of course never got a response.  I'm sure "Joe" is laughing while reading this. Well played "Joe".. well played.  So i had to see if Craigslist can help me remove it.


When you go on Craigslist they have the following help options (which took me some time as well to find):

After clicking pretty much every link here, I said "yes i still have questions" and decided to click "You can also send us a note".  How convenient i thought.  This was also after i spent 20 minutes googling "how to remove an ad on craigslist" along with "my number is on craigslist" and "CRAIGSLIST FUCKING SUCKS!".  As you can see from the latter google search i started to get really pissed.  I think at this time Eduardo was calling me asking if the apartment is still available.  I'm really pissed at this point and now spending a good 2 hours trying to figure this shit out. Here is what the "note" page says:

I then google this to find out that nobody every looks at these "notes".  Great i think.  So i go back and click the "personal harrassment" link (see prior pic).  Clicking that takes me here:

At this point you are probably saying to yourself "is he seriously going to take screenshots and show everything that he did?"  YES.. I AM!!!


As you can see in the pic it tells me to fill out the online form.  That is the same online form that i saw when i clicked the "You can also send us a note".  SIGGHHHHH.  This childish game of playing "tag-your-it" went on for awhile.  Craigslist won the game as i finally gave up and filled in the online form.  I put 911 in the subject as specified.


I then got the following email response:

Exactly.  I dont know what the fuck this email means either. Regardless i got about 5 of them because i kept filling out the online form.  Why?  Because the fucking email tells me to.  Its like a fucking loopty loo game you play here with this website.  FINALLY.. after clicking the "prohibited" tag on the ad about 50 times, it was removed.  I am not sure if my 5 emails with 911 in the subject is what did the trick or the 50 times i clicked prohibited or the email i sent "Joe" but it was finally removed about 6 hours later.  I can only assume Joe realized that nobody was calling him for his deal-of-a-lifetime apartment for rent.


I've learned something big from this experience and the many phone calls and texts i received:


If you ever want to rent out your home, Craigslist is the way to go!!!  


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