Here is something you don’t see every day, and which you probably would not notice even if you did see it.
It is a payphone keypad with a slight problem. It has 2 star keys, and no # (pound) button.
It is hard to say if this erroneously-placed * key would cause any real-world consternation. Payphone customers accustomed to using the pound key to access voicemail probably have the touchtone keypad memorized, and are unlikely to expect surprises in this realm. Few payphone users would actually eyeball the buttons to see if the pound button is hiding on this particular payphone.
Another scenario finds a payphone user navigating a voicemail tree, or trying to reach a specific individual at a company by punching in the first letters of the person’s name. In those cases an automated voice might advise callers to use the pound button for Q or Z, the 2 letters not usually found on payphone number touchpads. Such a beast may exist but I have never seen a public telephone with the letters Q or Z on its touchtone buttons.
This badly apportioned keypad would be most likely to confuse tourists from abroad who use calling cards to make long distance calls. Using credit or pre-paid cards to place phone calls usually involves entering long strings of numbers, followed by a pound sign or a star key. That would be a confusing predicament on this particular payphone, spotted in midtown Manhattan.