Marine
01-03-2003, 5:33am
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- A typographical error in a newspaper advertisement touting a New Year's Day sale at a sporting goods store created some extra work for some area 911 dispatchers and police officers.
Tom Lemere, advertising director for Dunham's Sports, said the retail chain made the error in a camera-ready ad that it provided to The Grand Rapids Press.
In the full-page ad that ran Tuesday morning, the prefix for the telephone number of Dunham's store in Grand Rapids was incorrectly listed as 911. The correct prefix is 977.
When readers dialed the first three digits of the incorrect phone number, their calls automatically went to the 911 dispatchers that service their areas.
Many callers hung up as soon as their calls were answered and they realized a mistake had been made, requiring dispatchers to return the calls to make sure there were no emergencies, said Jay Vermeer, dispatch supervisor for Kent County.
Some of the dispatchers' returned calls went unanswered, so police officers were sent to homes to investigate.
"Every time someone hangs up on 911, we, as well as all other 911 centers ... attempt to make contact at that residence where that phone call came from," Vermeer said Thursday. "If we can't get through on the phone, then we send police officers to that house to investigate."
Vermeer said his dispatchers received calls intended for the Dunham's store throughout the day Tuesday and on Wednesday morning. Most of the calls stopped around noon Wednesday, he said.
He did not know how many wrong numbers his dispatchers answered on Tuesday due to the error but he estimated there were between 50 and 100 answered Wednesday morning.
The Press published a correction Wednesday morning, said Steve Westphal, the newspaper's advertising director. Also that morning, the county contacted area broadcasters, asking them to instruct their audiences not to dial the incorrect phone number, and the calls started tapering off.
The county dispatch center serves much of Kent County, including the Grand Rapids suburbs of East Grand Rapids and Kentwood.
Ralph Gould, who oversees the city of Grand Rapids' 911 dispatch center, said his dispatchers did not receive an unusually large amount of wrong numbers following the ad's publication.
The newspaper does its best to prevent advertising mistakes, Westphal said.
"It's a collaborative process with our advertisers and, sure, we're going to check the copy as best as we can to make sure it's correct for our readers," he said. "In this particular case, this very small part of the ad was missed by both Dunham's and the Press."
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw69056_20030102.htm
Tom Lemere, advertising director for Dunham's Sports, said the retail chain made the error in a camera-ready ad that it provided to The Grand Rapids Press.
In the full-page ad that ran Tuesday morning, the prefix for the telephone number of Dunham's store in Grand Rapids was incorrectly listed as 911. The correct prefix is 977.
When readers dialed the first three digits of the incorrect phone number, their calls automatically went to the 911 dispatchers that service their areas.
Many callers hung up as soon as their calls were answered and they realized a mistake had been made, requiring dispatchers to return the calls to make sure there were no emergencies, said Jay Vermeer, dispatch supervisor for Kent County.
Some of the dispatchers' returned calls went unanswered, so police officers were sent to homes to investigate.
"Every time someone hangs up on 911, we, as well as all other 911 centers ... attempt to make contact at that residence where that phone call came from," Vermeer said Thursday. "If we can't get through on the phone, then we send police officers to that house to investigate."
Vermeer said his dispatchers received calls intended for the Dunham's store throughout the day Tuesday and on Wednesday morning. Most of the calls stopped around noon Wednesday, he said.
He did not know how many wrong numbers his dispatchers answered on Tuesday due to the error but he estimated there were between 50 and 100 answered Wednesday morning.
The Press published a correction Wednesday morning, said Steve Westphal, the newspaper's advertising director. Also that morning, the county contacted area broadcasters, asking them to instruct their audiences not to dial the incorrect phone number, and the calls started tapering off.
The county dispatch center serves much of Kent County, including the Grand Rapids suburbs of East Grand Rapids and Kentwood.
Ralph Gould, who oversees the city of Grand Rapids' 911 dispatch center, said his dispatchers did not receive an unusually large amount of wrong numbers following the ad's publication.
The newspaper does its best to prevent advertising mistakes, Westphal said.
"It's a collaborative process with our advertisers and, sure, we're going to check the copy as best as we can to make sure it's correct for our readers," he said. "In this particular case, this very small part of the ad was missed by both Dunham's and the Press."
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw69056_20030102.htm