Friends

29 June 2015

Stop that call!

Instead of smashing the phone, try this method of coping with unwanted, unsolicited telephone calls!

I have complained about this before – and it gives me great pleasure to report on my final choice of dealing with it. It was a blogging friend who mentioned it and I have to say how much I appreciate the advice.

You see, the callers had become quite cunning. If the call went unanswered they would leave a message on the voicemail system – which had to be paid for. If someone leaves a message all we get is an announcement that a message awaits – not who left it. More often than not it was the cold-caller inviting us to ring back. What a cheek!  


You must have caller ID to do this , otherwise the Granny would be upset. It’s a simple matter of seeing who called via Caller ID; if it says WITHHELD or INTERNATONAL or NUMBER UNKNOWN then lifting the receiver and immediately replacing it cuts them off, and they are unable to leave a message. Knowing this makes me feel GOOD when I do it. It certainly removes the tension.

It's simple but effective and I’m so pleased I learned this trick. It removes all the tension and angst.

What amazes me though is being able to check on numbers via Google. Is there anything Google can’t do?!

15 comments:

  1. I rarely receive phone calls on what we call 'the big phone' Just a few cold calls per year even those have stopped since we started blowing a whistle loudly down the line, surprising how word gets around.

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  2. Valerie, wasn't Caller ID the greatest invention? I don't even pick up the phone when I'm at home if I don't recognize the number and name on the screen because most of them ARE unsolicited telephone calls. Here in the States, we're not charged for answering voice mails. So after listening to them, I just delete them. I've noticed that many times the phone numbers left on voice mail are the same ones over and over again. You would think that after calling and leaving messages for months, they would just not call back. But no, they just keep calling; hoping that one day I'll pick up the phone.

    "What amazes me though is being able to check on numbers via Google. Is there anything Google can’t do?! "

    Isn't that AMAZING?

    Have a great Monday and week, dear lady!

    X to you and Joe

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  3. Well that's a great way to cut them off. Best wishes!

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  4. Ron, I am astonished that you don't have to pay for voice mail messages. Our telephone service doesn't let us get away with anything. A lot of calls are operated by computers and as far as I know computers don't have feelings.... they just keep on ringing round and driving us mad... grins.

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  5. Thank you, Blogoratti. It's the best idea we've come up with to stop unwanted calls.

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  6. Heron's View. Hi, long time no see (as they say). Don't you get a bit fed up whistling down the phone?

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  7. I hate these calls. If I don't recognize a caller I usually will not pick up. Sometimes I pick up and if it is a real person, not a machine, I ask them to hold for a second as I have to get something from the stove and then just leave it off the hook. They seldom stay for very long.

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  8. I've checked Google on certain phone numbers and they will even pinpoint scams. We decided to get rid of our land line about two years ago and haven't missed it at all. Not a lot of people want to do that as it takes an adjustment to rely on a cell phone, but it has cut out 99 percent of the annoying marketing calls. And yes ID is the best thing since sliced bread :)

    Thank you very much for your sweet message to my father-in-law. He is still hospitalized and is due for an operation, but can't have it yet until an infection has cleared up. Your message helped to brighten his day.

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  9. Yes, this does work, but unfortunately, there are people I do want to speak to who use 'withheld', like our doctor's surgery. They don't want people calling back on their private lines, you see... So if I simply wait without saying anything, and the caller is genuine, they'll say 'hello?' in an uncertain voice. Mostly, unwanted callers don't bother to wait, but just hang up.

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  10. I just don't answer phone. If it's important, caller will leave a message. Although I did pick up phone one day because I was expecting an important call. Turns out it was a request for a donation for a political campaign. I told calller I would not vote for anyone rude enough to solicit funds for someone who already makes more money than I do and then uttered a few expletives. They haven't called since.

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  11. Jay, our surgery also withholds numbers. They used to ring me on my mobile so I withdrew the number. Then they started on the house phone which we didn't answer. Doctor called at the house and explained. It wasn't anything important - which we knew. He explained that they are not allowed to leave messages, which I thought was a tad insane. Now the hospital, which is much more important, always leaves a message.

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  12. Hi Pam. Lovely to see you again. I would have hated to be asked for a donation, no matter who or what it was for. I'll pop over and see if you're still blogging.

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  13. Ours rings to let you know you need to come in after a blood test, or something like that. I don't know if they'd appear on the doorstep if we didn't answer the phone, but I suspect not.

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  14. That's great advice I must try that! Sorry I've not been around much. xx

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  15. Hi Pearl. Good to see you. Don't worry, we all know how busy you've been.

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