The following are real conversations Directory Enquiries operators had with callers, as revealed in interviews with staff at the Cardiff DE Centre.

• Caller : I'd like the number of the Argoed Fish Bar in Cardiff,please.
  Operator : I'm sorry, there's no listing. Is the spelling correct?
  Caller : Well, it used to be called the Bargoed Fish Bar but the B fell off.
• Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
  Operator : Woven? Are you sure?
  Caller : Yes. That's what it says on the label. Woven in Scotland.
• Caller : I'd like the RSPCA please.
  Operator : Where are you calling from?
  Caller : The living room
• Caller : The water board please.
  Operator : Which department?
  Caller : Tap water.
• Operator : How are you spelling that?
  Caller : With letters.
• Caller : I'd like the number for a reverend in Cardiff, please.
  Operator : Do you have his name?
  Caller : No, but he has a dog named Ben.
• Caller : The Union of Shopkeepers and Alligators please.
  Operator : You mean the Amalgamated Union of Shopkeepers?
• On another occasion, a man making heavy breathing sounds from a phone box told the worried operator: "I haven't got a pen so I'm steaming up the window to write the number on."