This year it's not the local phone books' shrinking size getting Hawke's Bay residents riled - it's the numbers being left out.
Hawke's Bay Today has received a flood of texts and emails from customers whose names had been left out of the 2012 white pages. It is believed the local offices of Yellow - the company responsible for printing the phone book - has also had complaints.
"We have been in the phone book since the beginning of'79," Sandra Hunt of Hastings said. "It seemed frustrating and ludicrous to be left out, because it should be so simple to correct.
"Why on earth has someone not come up with what I think is not an Einstein thought to print a few copies and put them in the library for a couple of weeks, and then the onus is on the individual to check it," she said
Mrs Hunt said while the absence of her name did not have any direct affect, it could become an issue if someone needed to make contact quickly.
"We did have a situation a couple of months ago where one of our relations was trying to get hold of us to inform us of a death, now she must not have looked properly because we were in last year's book but it opens up all sorts of problems for us now we are not listed.
"It's all very well to say we have been around long enough that everyone knows us well enough to find a way of getting in contact but in situations like that it could be very frustrating."
Mrs Hunt had not contacted her telephone provider or Yellow, but maintained there was no reason for the mistake to have been made.
"In over 30 years nothing has changed, if there had been changes there's definitely room for error, but that's not the case."
When Judy Tindall opened the book to find her listing missing, the Napier woman was curious to discover if others had also been omitted and did a little of research of her own.
"It's interesting in that my surname is Tindall and there are only about four of us in the book from last year, so I looked up some other Tindalls to see if they had been mucked up too.
"Then I rang white pages and Yellow apologises
they said I would have to call my telephone provider.
"So I rang Vodafone and they said it was probably their fault as they had me listed as not wanting to be in the phone book."
After discovering the mix up, Ms Tindall got hold of another man with the same last name to find he had also been left out. His provider TelstraClear denied any fault on its part.
"He had changed address but the name stayed the same.
"It's frustrating because things cannot be put right, we have to put up with it for 12 months," she said.
Those looking for a simple answer or solution to the problem were out of luck, with Yellow offering no clear answer to explain all the omissions.
"We apologise to anyone not included in this year's phone book," a spokeswoman said.
"It's difficult to know why people may not be in the residential white pages as the causes can be varied."
Anyone wanting to contact Yellow could dial: 0800 803 803
Have you been left out of the phone book? Email news@hbtoday.co.nz