I always keep all of our numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. And for most years, this has worked amazingly well. But as of late, with the advent of automatic dialers and recorded messages that are interactive, the phone, some days, seems to ring off the wall! I go to many websites and report the numbers. We have got to where we don't even answer a call from outside our area code. We do not interact with these intruders.
The most frequent I have blocked with my carrier, but still, the number that can be blocked is so short and the quantity of numbers they can generate are so many!
Our house phone was on the blink for a couple of days due to recent bad weather. Wonderful! Loved it!
Have you registered your phones? Do you think telephone spam should be aggressively sought out and stopped?
Barbara
Hey Barbara.
ReplyDeleteI've just posted my T post and before I go blog hopping, I had to stop by and thank you. Your Skillet post pointed me to my 'T', so thank you:) I have added a link to your post on my post.
As for phone spam, yes, it should be stopped, It's a pain.
T is for Tavaa Toast
I've always suffered from telephone spam. I didn't try putting my number on a Do not Call registry because I was told that registry isn't very effective.
ReplyDeleteBefore the automatic dialers, it was very effective and you could report the occasional offender.
DeleteTelemarketing needs to be done away with. I keep my developmentally delayed brother with a cell phone for his safety and so he can contact me when he is away. What is frustrating is no matter how much I change his phone number, the predators call. Makes me mad!
ReplyDeleteI am not convinced any of the "DO NOT CALL" registries work all that well. I get so many of these on my cell phone that say "This is the last call we will make" or Press 2 to remove your number and they don't. I understand this is the marketing way at present, but if people want the products they can find them easily enough.
ReplyDeleteBefore the automatic dialers, it was very effective and you could report the occasional offender.
DeleteI have to have a land line for work. I have not given that number out to anyone. I get calls from all over the country on it. I don't answer any of them, rarely is a message left.
ReplyDeleteBetty
I have had my phone number on the Do Not Call Registry for years. Like you, I have been receiving many unwanted calls lately. Calls from all over the US and beyond show up on my caller ID. I don't answer them in hopes they will get the hint and stop calling. It can be really aggravating at times.
ReplyDeletePlucking Of My Heartstrings
I rarely get unwanted calls on my cellphone, and when I don't recognize an incoming number, I don't answer. My sister gets a lot, so I registered her phone with the Do Not Call registry. It seems to have slowed the calls somewhat.
ReplyDeleteOne method these callers use is to give you their pre-written speech without giving you a chance to interrupt and say you're not interested.
That's when you just hang up. We were taught telephone etiquette, but you can't give these guys any.
DeleteI've had this same problem. I guess that registry is no longer very effective. Some days I'll get nary a call while other days it's relentless. If I do answer and it's really a person on the other end I've gotten to the point where I'll start playing around with them if I've got the time to do it. Usually though I'll just say I'm not interested--but they can be so persistent at times to the point where I'll just have to hang up on them.
ReplyDeleteMost of the calls I get where I am are from home improvement or solar energy places.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
We are also on the national Do Not Call list. When we do receive calls from companies in violation of this, I ask for their name before I inform them that I'm on the DNC registry. That way, I can report who they are if their number doesn't show up in my call log. It's very aggravating that there are still some who ignore your personal preferences. Seems most of these are in the duct cleaning industry. What does *that* say?
ReplyDeleteThis is why I never answer calls from numbers I don't know. It's a waste of time to even talk to me. I'm not buying.
ReplyDeleteI am on the Do Not Call list. Some of it is from callers outside the country. That's how they get over the whole illegality of it all.
Exactly! Computer generated calls, many originating beyond our border.
DeleteI also had our house phone number registered, but it does seem more calls are bypassing that somehow. It is extremely annoying, and I wonder if there is really a lucrative business in forced promotions like this. I rarely answer our home phone, we don't give the number out, but must have it for our security system. When I do answer I request immediate removal from their calling list. Most cooperate, but it is still an intrusion into my day that I don't appreciate! Yes, there needs to be stronger regulation!
ReplyDeleteJosie Two Shoes: T is for Thelma
I think telephone spam is very annoying and I wish it could be sent to the trash bin as easily as email spam.
ReplyDeleteIt is annoying enough to get the calls trying to sell us stuff, but to get someone else's collection calls is for the birds, especially when the collector doesn't listen to the fact that you aren't them, this isn't their number, and STOP CALLING ME! OY!
We don't have a land line anymore, so this is going to our cell phones. Thank goodness we have unlimited minutes!
Have a blessed day. :)
I've registered all my phones with the do-not-call registry, but I get lots of phone spam anyway. We're having a special election here, and political calls are exempt from DNC, so I'm getting half a dozen calls every day. I've turned off the ringer on my phone; I figure if people want to talk to me that badly they'll leave a message. If the message is spam I block the number on my phone. Problem solved.
ReplyDeleteregistered our phone and still so many spam callers. annnnnnoying
ReplyDeleteJoy at "The Joyous Living
Phone spam is the second most annoying kind of marketing intrusion. My least favorite is door to door peddlers. Unless you're a scout or a child I already know in my neighborhood, I'm not buying from ANYONE who shows up at my door.
ReplyDelete@mirymom1 from
Balancing Act
Well, we live back in the woods, in Caneyhead. Strangers don't typically come around uninvited. My guys have been known to jump in a truck and chase after someone turning around on our road to ask what they were doing many a time.
DeleteI rarely answer my home phone any more. Rarely is it anyone I actually want to talk to!
ReplyDeleteOnce in awhile I don't answer even if it is someone I know, like or love....just cause I don't want to talk.
DeleteYou can also register your email address for email spam.
ReplyDeleteCool. But AOL's filters do me pretty good.
DeleteHi Barbara! The DND registry here in India does seem to work at the moment. Though if we give our contact number to departmental stores and other service providers, they can still send us spam. It is annoying, but manageable so far. Let's see how it goes in future.
ReplyDeleteGlad to connect with you during this AtoZ. Do visit mine sometime.
Happy blogging!
Chicky @ www.mysteriouskaddu.com
P.S. - I love the bright colors of your blog! :D
ReplyDeleteI'm registered for the Do Not Call list, but still calls … even from my own area code! I no longer have a house number and recently downloaded an app to help block calls. It hasn't been working yet and I'm probably going to delete it at the end of my trial period, but all of the spam calls have definitely had me seeking ways to block them. Hopefully the calls begin to slow down with elections over…
ReplyDeleteWith Love,
Mandy
I hated telemarketers, and am so glad I no longer have to deal with it. It is, however, kind of amusing to get texts or voice messages clearly intended for another person. I once got a lot of regular texts meant for that person's significant other, until I finally let the person in on the fact that it was a wrong number.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a home phone any more, so it's not so much a problem. They haven't really hit the mobiles up yet and I tend to ignore any number that looks like an automated one. I would never interact with a person - just hang up. Zero tolerance!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a landline any longer and have much less telephone spam. With my cell phone it will ring once and then stop ringing so then I know it was a spammer. I've missed so much of the A to Z. I hope to catch up
ReplyDeleteI think the Do Not Call registry is more useless than useful, as many scams come from overseas and they don't have to comply with the registry. Add to that, many scammers can now "spoof" a phone number (make their foreign number look like it's someone from your local area code) and the Registry isn't worth the pixels its printed on.
ReplyDeleteShould it be illegal? YES! A thousand times, yes! What they do to people is nothing short of criminal.