Very funny. My neighbor warned me about those calls. The guy said he was from MS and wanted to help me repair my PC. I said, "You've to be kidding I don't have a computer." He said "why"? The next time one called and said the same thing, I told him I didn't have one and he didn't know what to say....a lot of silence.

Go ahead and have fun at the caller's expense if you so wish. Just remember by picking up the telephone for an unknown caller you have validated your number on their system.

He has time, resources, and your telephone number. You don't know a thing about him, and if the call is spoofed you can't even block it.

DA

True but I am a Home Caregiver for my demented wife and I have no choice but to answer the phone politely. I choose not to have caller ID. No cell phone. By now my numba is well known by all those uh uh 'people' anyway.

So when those MS computah aholes call I let er rip. :-) Would you deny an old codger his amusements?

As long as you are aware of the negative, you just go ahead and enjoy. Sometimes people's frustrations get the better of them.

800notes.com is jammed backed of stories.
DA

Oh Dave, would you deny me mine? And what would I do with my time if I didn't answer them. LOL I wouldn't dare let er rip, they just might pay a "visit" to my home instead of calling. That is far more dangerous than answering the phone call.

Emma,

I deny no one of anything. :)

I've read of this happening, but never spoken to anyone who has suffered:

An off shore/out-of-the-country company calls , robo or direct, and the homeowner just goes off on the individual ever-so-un-nicely. The caller hangs up abruptly. Then the "fun" begins. The homeowner starts to get reoccurring calls through the night. The telephone number is always spoofed so it can't be blocked. The only alternative was to change the home telephone number.

DA

AT&T's clerks are guilty of stuff like that. If you don't switch to them, they send out installation men to switch for you anyway. Not just once again and again.

This post was edited by EmmaR on Fri, Nov 14, 14 at 17:57

Whether it's a malicious spam phone call, or someone calling from the (fill in the blank) political party asking for a contribution, or someone calling from the firefighter and policemen's relief society, I'm not sure why people think they can just tee-off on callers. It's sad. OK, maybe you don't welcome the call but that doesn't justify acting like a jerk. Are people who do this simply passive-aggressive and like to take swings at those who can't swing back?

A recent comment in another forum on this site was from a guy who thinks he's justified in acting like a jerk to clerks in stores who keep asking him if he needs help finding something. While these people are only doing what they were told to do, he nonetheless thinks it's ok to act rudely toward them and then thinks he's accomplishing something by "reporting them to the store manager".

Maybe some need more exercise, that's a good way to dissipate anger.

My grandson got a job and made $1,500, in one month. He was a very shy kid. He bought his own car, I was very proud of him. That was before the calls came in as robo or from India.

Maybe it just gets old when the Do Not Call list is ignored. ( Yes I am aware of the exceptions). Or, you get eight calls a day from
"National Geographic" when it is not NG. Or, numerous calls for doctor ordered medical equipment when the message sounds like an emergency.

DA

I don't even know who is calling. I answer and if there is a pause, I hang up. I only say "Hello" once. If it's a recording, I hang up. I hang up for everything that's not a legit call. And I hang up right away. Occasionally there's a 'real' call that wants money (the college alumni association or a local political call), I still hang up.

But if it's no one I know, I hang up. Why waste my time?

DA, that's what caller ID is for. Yes, I know that info can and often is spoofed. If I don't know the caller, I usually don't answer, that's what the "leave a message" recorder is for. I have two other tools for my landline:

For regular known callers whose caller ID is unhelpful for identification, I can add their number along with a name of my choosing to my system's contact list so that a better ID pops up when they call.

My phone (a Panasonic cordless) has call blocking. Yes, it's of no use for a spoofed caller ID, but it has stopped some regularly calling solicitors. These callers get a busy signal and the screen flashes "Blocked".

For the few that get through, or that I answer by mistake, I just hang up as sushipup describes. My blood pressure is never affected and they never hear my voice.

It's funny how I rarely (if ever) get unwanted calls on my cell phone.

I got the MS call too. Told her we have Macs. She hung up.

Jane

"DA, that's what caller ID is for."

Really? Honest? I didn't now that. All kidding aside, it doesn't help when you have to get up and go to a different room, or come in from outside to make sure it wasn't work, family or important.

If anyone doesn't think these calls are not a concern just go over to 800notes.com and read the 1,000 of posts. Try this number for a test drive, 866-498-7690 for a test drive through Google, and it is a less invasive one.

ATT has Call Blocker available for $5.00 a month, but it is not available in all areas nor does it block all calls. Guess who doesn't have the service available?

My number is unpublished and is limited to its dispersal, and I get at least six calls a day.

DA

This post was edited by damccoy on Sat, Nov 15, 14 at 8:31

Unless you're a volunteer fireman, or an emergency doc, or Paul Revere's sidekick waiting to hear if the British are coming, I don't think there's any urgency to your phone calls. Tell those who need to know that important calls should be placed to your cell phone, and keep it in your pocket. That way, there's no need to run for a ringing phone.

Unlisted number? Forget about that. I used to have one too. It still may be as far as the phone company is concerned. But when I type in my name at whitepages.com, I'm there in full glory. Address, phone number, names of all family members.

Badgering and unwanted phone calls won't go away or stop anytime soon, so I suggest everyone needs to learn to deal with them. People who want to get irate about them are welcome to do so.

I wish I could, but because of a confidentiality agreement I cannot speak to my employment. I can share that a land line is required, and when I am not working I have to answer that phone or check the call record after a ring. On rare occasions the cellphone and the land line will both go off.

Carrying a cellphone when home may work for some if they have traditional urban or suburban lots. I cannot always carry one. I have acres with fields, woods, pond and river/stream. This is contiguous to unfenced neighbors' lands. As members who have been here for a while know I am outside a lot toiling. To drop the cellphone in the water, or myself to fall in with it, along with dropping it in the field or woods creates a real problem. I just leave it in the garage when I am outside.

I agree unlisted is not like it use to be, but you have to put all the options in place.

For myself, I don't even answer unknown calls. So verbally dealing with them is not an issue.

DA

This post was edited by damccoy on Sat, Nov 15, 14 at 16:34

Snidely, if you carry your cell in your pocket I hope you already have all the kids you want.

Emma I laughed.

I understand what he is saying. It just doesn't work for me at this time.

DA

I have some female that gives out my phone number and street address. Uses my last name for doctor appointments and credit card applications. I've returned some credit cards with notes on the envelope.. no such person.

Get phone calls, reminders of upcoming doctor appointments and then within a month later will get what appears to be doctor and lab bills in the mail. Months later I'll get doctors bookkeeper phoning looking for her asking for payment.

Changed car insurance and the agent asked me if she drives too.. So somehow she is listed with a drivers license at my house.
He thought I was kidding him when I said she doesn't live here.. maybe she sleeps outside in the bushes, but I have never seen her and have no idea who she is.
Ongoing thing for years now. Cant get rid of her & sometimes it causes problems.

My phone converstions often go like this:
Hello
Good evening Mr Plx how are you tonite?
Partly sober
I'm sorry
Me too I ran out
Would you like me to call back when you are feeling better?
37568246
What?
37568246
What's that supposed to mean
My dog tag number in world war 2
What branch were you in?
Branch? ya I hit a branch jumping in France
So you were in the European theater
We went to a whore house not a theater
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

:-)

I got a call from Jamie who had an Indian accent. Said she was from Microsoft and wanted me to know my computer was compromised. Microsoft was very sorry and was calling me to alert me and to correct the problem.

I said, "I didn't call Microsoft." She responded that Microsoft was calling everyone with Windows computers to fix the problem which most people weren't aware of and that this special virus was stealing my bank/credit card accounts.'

I said, "Jamie, we don't have Windows computers, never did, we have Mac's."

I hung up.

Jane

Mikie, I had someone giving out my phone number to car dealers. I had 2 or 3 calling me every week and I had to explain. Then I asked one salesman if he had her name and address so I could get it stopped, he gave it to me She would not answer her phone so I dropped by her home. She was at work. Her room mate couldn't figure out why it bothered me. Stupid! I told her if it didn't stop I would report it to the police. It stopped.

Hey Emma, I keep my phone in my pocket, because if I put it up against my ear to use, I'd risk getting brain tumors. Or dementia.

Insofar as what I believe you're thoughtfully suggesting I can only respond that you shouldn't believe most of what you read and hear. Especially when the words "danger" or "risk" appear in what purports to be a news story, figure you can ignore it. I can offer no better advice to you (on any subject) than that.

I can't ignore it when I read my own manual. In the safety section it says don't put this phone within one inch of your body. I had no idea a phone could be dangerous. I carried it 3 1/2 years in my pocket as a life line in case I needed help. Then I lost a kidney to cancer. The kidney under the pocket where I carried a phone. I had a warning, I felt the vibration of the phone when it wasn't even in my pocket. A friend of mine had the warning and she stopped carrying her phone in her pocket. If women carry their cells in their purse they are not even suppose to put their purse in their lap. I know that no one believes until it is to late otherwise they would have to give up their $500 toy.

Before anyone asks I did not bookmark the site but it was an official looking site that dealt with all electronic emissions. Also I met a young clerk at BB who was so excited because he and his wife had just adopted a baby. I looked at him and said you can't have kids can you. He said no, how did you know? I just asked him how long he had carried the cell phone in is pocket. He said since they came and were the big ones.

I have a cell phone that I carry in my pocket. I have cancer. It could have been caused by my cell phone, my microwave, the hair dye that I used for years, all the chemicals in our food, my deodorant, HRT, etc. I still carry my phone in my pocket. Like Snidely, I don't answer numbers I don't recognize. If it's important, they will leave a message. I am on the no call list, but if I get robo calls, I put them in my phone book with 'no ring'. ( do get a beep that I have a missed call). They stop calling after awhile. About the best I have found to do. Any more suggestions? :)

Jean,

Some cellphone providers are reported to offer limited call blocking. Perhaps a stroll through your site may provide some information if the resource is needed.

DA

Jean you don't carry any of those things on your person or in your purse. My family has never had any cancer in their history until I got it.

Not trying to be flippant, but I carry my deodorant on my person :). There are so many ways/whys one gets cancer. No one is immune to it, family history or not. Can't really blame it on one thing. Plus, I live next to a toxic dump site (within 1/2 of my house) that has since been cleaned up. At least 7 of my neighbors, including our DIL, within a half mile radius have died from cancer. We live in farm country, so not many residents within the radius. I consider myself lucky to be sitting here typing. I live a few miles of Velsicol location.

IMHO, there will never be a cure for cancer. Not with all the chemicals we are expose to....Better treatment, yes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Velsicol Chemical