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I'd bet a stranger knocks on my door 1-2 times a year (other than Halloween )
I'd bet a stranger calls my phone 1-2 times a day......
i get maybe 1-2 robo calls a year, 2-3 wrong dials
i dont mind, i hang up on the robo calls and talk with the person who dials wrong number
know the phone number neighbor thing that was going around? call the number that is one up or down from yours and start talking with them. see if you guys hit it off
(I'm not sure I'm in the right forum. I couldn't really determine where to put this question, so if it should be somewhere else, please move it there.)
I'm curious why, in this day and age, so many people still answer phone calls from unfamiliar numbers. Given that 98% of today's phones display the incoming number, it's easier than ever to know whether you want to answer or not. I haven't answered such a call in many years.
And yet, there's always something in the news about new phone scams that people are falling for. I still hear friends gripe about annoying sales calls or surveys coming at the worst possible times. I don't get it. Why are you still answering?
I answer if the area code is local, but more and more scam companies now have been able to get local numbers no matter where they are calling from (I'm sure it was tucked into some bill somewhere as a gift to lobbyists).
I answer because I am in the process of buying a house, and I don't want to miss a call from a Title company or whatever. Also it could be a hospital calling about my mom, or a person calling the number on my cat's collar when I didn't realize she got out.
Answering the phone doesn't make me fall for scams though. That is normally older people who don't use cell phones or barely know how or still have land lines.
School staff will use personal lines for calls to parents if needed and I don’t have them all as contacts. Ex-H is military.
So, I always have to pick up at all hours. I hate scammers and cold callers more than anything. I can’t let the military go to voicemail. Just today I called an unknown number back... it was TriCare.
There have been times when I have needed to answer the phone from unrecognized numbers because it was either the oncologist trying to reach me, or the nurse, or the roofing guy, or someone local trying to reach me to cover a gallery sitting shift.
I do make exceptions in cases like this, where I'm specifically expecting a certain person to call me whose number I don't know.
Also, to the people who gave examples from their workplace, I was mostly thinking about people who take such calls on their personal phones. Workplaces are different scenarios altogether.
I do make exceptions in cases like this, where I'm specifically expecting a certain person to call me whose number I don't know.
Also, to the people who gave examples from their workplace, I was mostly thinking about people who take such calls on their personal phones. Workplaces are different scenarios altogether.
Where I work, we don't get a business phone. We can deduct it as a business expense of course, but they don't provide it. Seems like a big waste of resources given that (a ) nobody wants two phones on them and (b ) then you'd have work managing a whole other piece of hardware, urgh. So my workplace isn't a different scenario. In fact I'd sooner deny a client than deny the school calling me to tell me my child has a fever of 105.
Answering the phone doesn't make me fall for scams though. That is normally older people who don't use cell phones or barely know how or still have land lines.
What does falling for a scam on a phone have to do with not having a cellphone?
And what does falling for a scam have to do with not using a cellphone?
Maybe you're saying that you think people who are using a cellphone will speak for a shorter amount of time with a telemarketer or scammer, and not have as much time to fall for the sale/scam, as opposed to a landline? Or that not as many telemarketer or scam calls end up on cellphones?
Last edited by matisse12; 10-20-2017 at 02:03 PM..
I never answer the phone at home, unless they are people I know and start leaving a message, if I'm home I'll pick up and that is what I tell everyone. I don't memorize numbers any longer, so, if you call, please start leaving a message, and if I'm home I'll pic up, if not, I'll call you back, but I won't answer numbers I don't recognize.
I don't get that either, why the heck would someone answer unrecognized calls?
Why? Several reasons. One I can personally think of is getting a call from a stranger to say my father was in a bad car accident, she stopped and was able to talk to him before he left by ambulance.
I understand not wanting to take telemarketer calls, but it's a bit much to never answer the phone.
Why so much hesitation to answer calls for fear of it being a telemarketer? It only takes a few seconds to hear their first words, then just hang up?! You all act like it is the plague or something...
Exactly, and besides there is slight delay with a telemarketer call so you can hang up before they get on the line.
Some people have gotten ridiculous about not answering the phone. Maybe they should just get rid of the phone?
No one has mentioned being busy when the phone rings. I am often busy doing various things when the phone rings, and it very frequently is not convenient to take a call while I'm doing various things -
and the last thing I want to do is be bothered by a telemarketer when I'm carrying out various tasks or just doing something that I don't want interrupted.
That also reminds me of people who insist on answering their cellphone while driving.
I answer just to screw with them. I try to keep them talking, putting the phone down to look up the info they are requesting, etc. Each minute of theirs that I can waste lowers their chances of scamming a real victim.
But beware: The minute you ask them a question they hang up! So try not to ask anything.
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