the answer machine on my phone is better than caller-id...
Posted on 11/30/2011 7:50:37 PM PST by EveningStar
Caller ID has been celebrated as a defense against unwelcome phone pitches. But it is backfiring.
Telemarketers increasingly are disguising their real identities and phone numbers to provoke people to pick up the phone.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
glad I never bought it
If I don’t know the person and they can’t explain hastily why I should be talking to them, I hang up
I once looked at my ringing phone and saw that I was being called by somebody at 123-456-7890. Why of course, Mister Honest Caller, I will certainly pick that right up to talk with you.
Just get quiet as soon as you know it is someone you do not want to talk to. Keep listening though, as you hear some interesting comments sometimes.
If I don’t know the number, I don’t pick up.
Then, my wife looks the number up on the web and finds out which telemarketing firm we are going to report to the feds because we are on the national Do Not Call list!!
Work around that!!
2 times the “Lower your credit card interest” guy showed up as my local bank. I called the bank and it has not happened again.
I usually don't either, but in the event that I do, I answer with my best "little girl" voice (I am often asked, "Is your mom home?" when I answer the phone).
If it turns out to be a telemarketer, I just say mom and dad aren't home.
whocallsus.com
"Oh...you're trying to SELL me something.
I thought you were just another bill collector."
“If I don’t know the number, I don’t pick up.”
That’s what I call a Win-win.
You don’t pay a dime because you haven’t picked up your phone, and they are paying for the wasted time calling you. Eventually, they give up calling your number.
:-)
Spoofcard allows you to put in any phone number you want to show up on caller ID when you call someone.
I ask them if they can hold on for a minute then I go about doing whatever and never talk to them again. After about 5 minutes I hear a click.
the answer machine on my phone is better than caller-id...
I had a burglar alarm system installed in my home a few months ago. I was in the small laundry room where the alarm horn is placed while the technician was demonstrating the use of the keypad. Wifey was upstairs taking a shower and she opened the window to let out some of the steam. The window is equipped with an alarm sensor and the thing went off 5 feet from my ear. I think it’s about 85 decibels. Since that unfortunate occurrence, I’ve toyed with the idea of “inadvertently” triggering the alarm when one of these calls comes in. I’d probably end up in jail. It might be worth it.
whocallsus.com
I tell them that I am the Baby sitter :)
You know, there is a good profit center for the Mafia. They could set up a call in line that allows you to give the number to a guy named Vito, who will ensure that your phone does not get called again by that telemarketer. The price might be a little steep, but worth it for piece of mind.
When a call comes in to our landline and I don’t know the caller, I pick up the phone and hit on than off, which hangs up on them, and they can’t leave a recorded message that I later have to go to the trouble to erase.
Never needed it. Answering machine works just fine for ID-ing callers.
If they hang up after my message, they’re selling something. If they start to reply I know whether or not to pick up.
its getting to the point that we just don't answer the phone anymore...
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