Not trying to be rude but... [unsolicited phone calls]

puppymommo · Jul 30, 2014

I have no more land line, just my cell phone. I do get robocalls, but sometimes they are calls I want (telling me my prescription is ready, reminding me of a doctor's appointment and so on). I can't tell these calls by looking (all seem to come from an 800 number), so I still answer these calls. They are a nuisance, though.

LannyPC · Jul 30, 2014

KauaiMark said:
Now that I'm retired, I get maybe 8-10 "sales" calls daily.

I don't get quite that many.

I will answer and give the person a few seconds to "get to the point". If it is a sales call, I just politely and tactfully say, "Sorry, I don't do business over the phone with people I don't know. Thanks anyway. Bye."

Then hang up. I'm not going to go ballistic over something that took maybe 15 seconds.

moonstone · Jul 30, 2014

We get them all the time too & always while I am preparing dinner or eating! I would love to have the nerve to do this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7OgWcwgB50

~Diane

Sea Six · Jul 31, 2014

I turned all the ringers off. When someone calls, the caller ID shows up on my TV screen. If it's a number I don't like, I don't even hear the phone ring and can erase the caller ID off the TV screen with my remote, or wait 10 seconds for it to clear. It's amazing how many calls come in, and how many rings I no longer have to listen to.

presley · Jul 31, 2014

We are on the do not call list, have nomrobo, and still get several calls per day. I also do not ever answer the phone if I don't recognize the number. Usually, one place will call 20 or more times in a week and then either give up or call from a different number. The majority of these calls are from telemarketers from local contractors.

buzglyd · Jul 31, 2014

That's why I switched my home number to Google Voice and then route the calls to a VoIP number that I don't give out. I can look at my call history and block individual numbers and the caller just hears "this number no longer in service."

dougp26364 · Jul 31, 2014

Boy, that government Do-Not-Call list has really done a great job of protecting the consumer hasn't it?

artringwald · Jul 31, 2014

dougp26364 said:
Boy, that government Do-Not-Call list has really done a great job of protecting the consumer hasn't it?

It protects us fine from legitimate businesses, but that's not who we need protection from. The scammers pop up faster than zits on a teenager.

theo · Jul 31, 2014

dougp26364 said:
Boy, that government Do-Not-Call list has really done a great job of protecting the consumer hasn't it?

Not so much, eh?

Unfortunately, whatever technology it is (...I don't claim to know) that enables unwelcome callers to somehow "spoof" their actual identity and / or actual phone number and instead have completely bogus info appear on the recipient caller i.d., effectively makes it impossible to report the offending entity to the FTC.

If you can't accurately identify the offending caller and / or an accurate incoming phone number, then there is really nothing of substance to even "report" in the first place; the FTC is obviously powerless to deal with "ghosts" with only phony names and phony numbers showing up on the caller i.d. of the recipients. :annoyed:

Sugarcubesea · Jul 31, 2014

cesloan said:
Agreed, and if I get a call from 'Not Available', then neither am I.

I also do not answer any calls that come up blocked

rapmarks · Jul 31, 2014

I just received a call
clue one: dead air
clue two: talking in background
clue three; 'how are you doing today Ma'am"
I hung up.

isisdave · Aug 1, 2014

Sugarcubesea said:
I also do not answer any calls that come up blocked

This may be causing you problems you don't realize.

DW is a mental health professional. We return phone calls from home in the evening, because it's too busy in the daytime, and our home number is blocked. That's why you think we didn't return your call for several days.

Occasionally we have to reschedule an appointment for the following day. I usually just leave a voicemail for that, but now sometimes we also send a text from the cell phone we use for office voice mail.

Last week I had dental surgery, and the dentist called in the evening on a restricted number to see how I was. He left a voice mail and I wasn't having a problem, so it wasn't a problem. Even if it wasn't blocked, I wouldn't have recognized his cell number.

Talent312 · Aug 1, 2014

UWSurfer said:
A few years ago we switched off our home land line and went with a Magic Jack +.

I'm with you on Magic Jack+. We didn't bother porting our phone#. So far, so good. Calls from telemarketers have dropped to zero. It was a bit of a pain to notify friends, family + services of our new phone# and explain that all 10 digits had to be dialed, but it's been worth it.

AT&T gave us a runaround about dropping land-line service. It took an hour. They tried to upsell us on services, even then. But in the end, gave it up.
.

dougp26364 · Aug 2, 2014

artringwald said:
It protects us fine from legitimate businesses, but that's not who we need protection from. The scammers pop up faster than zits on a teenager.

Yea, it canned all the legitimate telemarketing firms that employeed a few thousand people at minimal to moderate wages (they were a couple dollars above minimum wage plus comissions when they operated here). So now it's scammers, charities and political adds doing a bang up job of filling the void. We lost two firms here in town and another in a small town about an hour away. All told maybe a thousand jobs lost but we still get the joy of all the calls.

AnnaS · Aug 2, 2014

We have had caller id now for about two years and love it. Don't recognize the number - do not answer it.

If it's important - leave a message. Someone we know, leave a message - otherwise, no answering from us

They are so annoying though - sometimes all day and when there is an election going on - forget about it

lucillefaust · Aug 2, 2014

Trolling the scammers can be fun but it's also important that such calls are reported to proper authorities so they are noted. I read from another forum that when you report scam calls to the FTC, the info will be stored in their database and will be investigated later on.

lucillefaust · Aug 2, 2014

There's also this website called Callercenter.com that provides free call blocker app to help us filter incoming calls. Anyone can download the app and then simply add the phone number to block list. I got the app just today and I'm putting it to a test. Let's see....

theo · Aug 2, 2014

Easier said than done...

lucillefaust said:
...it's also important that such calls are reported to proper authorities so they are noted. I read from another forum that when you report scam calls to the FTC, the info will be stored in their database and will be investigated later on.

See post #34 above describing why any such "reporting" effort to the FTC is frequently just outright impossible. :annoyed:

Not trying to be rude but... [unsolicited phone calls]

puppymommo

LannyPC

moonstone

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Sea Six

presley

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buzglyd

dougp26364

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artringwald

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theo

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Sugarcubesea

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rapmarks

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isisdave

Talent312

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dougp26364

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AnnaS

lucillefaust

lucillefaust

theo

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