topic Re: Let the phone calls begin in Community Chat

Let the phone calls begin

qualitygal — Wed, 10 May 2023 10:48:32 GMT

Yesterday, we had so many calls from areas we don't live in or near, nor ph #'s in area codes we know. Was it test your phone day, and see who you can reach that will answer their phone, even if they don't know you??? I mean, crimeiny!!!!!

Re: Let the phone calls begin

SoCal Bred — Wed, 10 May 2023 11:08:07 GMT

We'll get calls with out of state area codes too, we never pick up they're more than likely spam calls, this will go on it seems for a week, morning til evening then dead silence for 2-3 weeks then it will start up again.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

drizzellla — Wed, 10 May 2023 11:13:10 GMT

We used to have days like that.

One time I stopped counting. We had over 28 calls before 1 PM. It was crazy. And the calls were from all over the United States.

But what stopped it for us was, our landline has sporadically been working since August, 2022. Whenever it rains it stops working. Also our FIOS system was upgraded and we can no longer access our voicemail.

My husband wants to keep the landline. When we are asked for our phone number we always give our landline number. If we know it is just going to be used for sales calls or asking for money.

All our friends, family or a business we deal with, get our cell phone number.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

SoCal Bred — Wed, 10 May 2023 11:20:50 GMT

@drizzellla wrote:

My husband wants to keep the landline. When we are asked for our phone number we always give our landline number. If we know it is just going to be used for sales calls or asking for money.

All our friends, family or a business we deal with, get our cell phone number.

Same here!

Re: Let the phone calls begin

AnikaBrodie — Wed, 10 May 2023 11:20:32 GMT

Most likely scammers ... I've been getting a lot of these calls too. Some are from my area code with prefix I don't know. Others are from area code with prefix of people in my city. I do not answer. But they are so annoying with lots of calls in a very short period of time.

I also think a lot of these calls are "spoofed" numbers. Be careful if you answer.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

CalminHeart — Wed, 10 May 2023 11:21:10 GMT

My iphone actually shows "spam" so I don't answer. Then I block them.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

CelticCrafter — Wed, 10 May 2023 11:36:06 GMT

We've been getting 4 or 5 a day for the past week or so.

I don't answer them but it's to the point where I'm going to start telling people to text me before they call because I'm getting ready to turn the ringer off during the day.

Just need to get in the habit of checking for messages after dinner and remember to turn it back on for overnight.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

MamaWick — Wed, 10 May 2023 12:25:25 GMT

When we retired and moved here, we kept our cell numbers from our former state. What gets us are all the political calls and texts from that former state.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

OKPrincess — Wed, 10 May 2023 12:54:54 GMT

DH receives twice as many spam calls as I do.

Unless we know the caller, we do not answer unless expecting a service call that day.

Yesterday, we were expecting a tech from Geek Squad to call on his way to our house. So I answered and it was him. Best Buy wouldn't give a number to expect beforehand. 🤨

Re: Let the phone calls begin

jlkz — Wed, 10 May 2023 14:21:54 GMT

Why not get a local number for your new home and provide it to friends and family back home to use.

You can suspend service for a while to your old number for a one-time charge ( Verizon charges $50 ). This would cost you nothing monthly.

Then your new number would receive calls from people you want to hear from.....unless the random calls from a call center starts up. At least the political calls would stop from your old home area.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

JudyL — Wed, 10 May 2023 14:54:54 GMT

I've noticed that spam calls to my landline have increased recently also. It was quiet for a while and then started up again. I don't answer them unless I recognize the number or person calling. Been giving my cell number out more lately when asked so know that most calls coming to the landline are spam. It is very annoying!

Re: Let the phone calls begin

Coastalcarolina — Wed, 10 May 2023 15:31:52 GMT

@drizzellla wrote:
We used to have days like that.

One time I stopped counting. We had over 28 calls before 1 PM. It was crazy. And the calls were from all over the United States.

But what stopped it for us was, our landline has sporadically been working since August, 2022. Whenever it rains it stops working. Also our FIOS system was upgraded and we can no longer access our voicemail.

My husband wants to keep the landline. When we are asked for our phone number we always give our landline number. If we know it is just going to be used for sales calls or asking for money.

All our friends, family or a business we deal with, get our cell phone number.

Around here, you can see the utility boxes open with the wires exposed. We had the same problem when it rained and we found out from AT&T that they were not keeping up their maintenance as they were more focused on internet services and such. So basically landlines we're no longer a priority just a dinosaur to them. So why pay money for just aggravation.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

candyagain — Wed, 10 May 2023 15:46:28 GMT

I live in a somewhat rural area with significant long term power outages during bad weather. My landline was my lifeline at those times. No electricity = no charging. Car not an option when its a hurricane.

FIOS in my area is problematic. I was told my landline would be shut off at a certain date and I could sign up for Verizon VOIP style phones. I was a 40+ year Verizon customer. Said "no thanks" about 10 times to the rep. To myself I said "Verizon never again".

Went and bought an I-phone through T-Mobile. Very happy with it. Still miss the security of my old landline.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

songbird — Wed, 10 May 2023 16:18:53 GMT

We still get ghost calls. (nobody is on the line, just a computer) but nowhere as much as we did. The busiest days were on Monday and Tuesday. No calls on weekend. At it's height, I think we got about 8 calls per day. Now it's almost zero. Even though nobody is there, they are operated as jobs with people from their homes. They have to program the calls. Blocking the calls helped, but the computer figures out more calls. We get very few boiler room calls and almost none on my cell phone. Most of the calls is on our land phone.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

hckynutjohn — Wed, 10 May 2023 16:40:38 GMT

@qualitygal wrote:
Yesterday, we had so many calls from areas we don't live in or near, nor ph #'s in area codes we know. Was it test your phone day, and see who you can reach that will answer their phone, even if they don't know you??? I mean, crimeiny!!!!!

@qualitygal

Land line? I have mentioned most times that I read a similar thread. We have had these cordless phones for many years now.

They have a Directory. In that you put only phone numbers you DO NOT want blocked. If any number, NOT in that Directory calls? It will be automatically blocked. Auto-Block must be turned ON. These phones DO NOT ring.

Cell Phone? Mine is only Turned to ON, when I am using it for it's original purpose! That is to talk with a human.

Technology is Good/Bad. Each person decides which is their priority. My choices work well for me, and our land line does not ring, unless the caller's phone number, is in our Directory.

hckynut 🇺🇸

Re: Let the phone calls begin

drizzellla — Wed, 10 May 2023 16:58:03 GMT

@Coastalcarolina wrote:
@drizzellla wrote:
We used to have days like that.

One time I stopped counting. We had over 28 calls before 1 PM. It was crazy. And the calls were from all over the United States.

But what stopped it for us was, our landline has sporadically been working since August, 2022. Whenever it rains it stops working. Also our FIOS system was upgraded and we can no longer access our voicemail.

Around here, you can see the utility boxes open with the wires exposed. We had the same problem when it rained and we found out from AT&T that they were not keeping up their maintenance as they were more focused on internet services and such. So basically landlines we're no longer a priority just a dinosaur to them. So why pay money for just aggravation.

@Coastalcarolina

We are encountering the same thing with Verizon. That is why we have been dealing with this since August, 2022.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

SharkE — Wed, 10 May 2023 17:02:02 GMT

@hckynutjohn wrote:
@qualitygal wrote:
Yesterday, we had so many calls from areas we don't live in or near, nor ph #'s in area codes we know. Was it test your phone day, and see who you can reach that will answer their phone, even if they don't know you??? I mean, crimeiny!!!!!

@qualitygal

Land line? I have mentioned most times that I read a similar thread. We have had these cordless phones for many years now.

They have a Directory. In that you put only phone numbers you DO NOT want blocked. If any number, NOT in that Directory calls? It will be automatically blocked. Auto-Block must be turned ON. These phones DO NOT ring.

Cell Phone? Mine is only Turned to ON, when I am using it for it's original purpose! That is to talk with a human.

Technology is Good/Bad. Each person decides which is their priority. My choices work well for me, and our land line does not ring, unless the caller's phone number, is in our Directory.

hckynut 🇺🇸

Hope you don't get a call from a Dr. pharmacy, hospital, nurse,etc.

Night my husband died I got a call from the hospital where he had died wanting to know where to send the body.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

icezeus — Wed, 10 May 2023 17:06:43 GMT

I got rid of my landline years ago when Verizon decided to start charging me a non usage fee. I was basically using my cell phone only, but wanted the safety net of the landline.

Anyhoo, I only use my cell phone, and my opinion is that all of the people that I want to speak with are programmed into my phone so I do not answer other calls.

The exception being when I am expecting a phone call and not sure of the number.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

catmama — Wed, 10 May 2023 19:22:41 GMT

My husband doesn't have a cell phone, so we need to keep a landline and we get spam calls several times a day. We still have an answering machine that announces the number and who is calling. About two years, we started getting phone calls from our landline telephone number. This lasted for a few weeks. We'd just laugh and ask each other if we had something to say to the other.

Re: Let the phone calls begin

mspatmac — Wed, 10 May 2023 19:50:52 GMT

Got fed up and got rid of the land line, got an iPhone and an additional charger, and spam blacker. Problem solved.