Q Talk

[Lilysmom]

@KathyPet, I got rid of my cable and landline almost a month ago.  I had the same phone number for 40 years.  I was going to move the landline numnpber to my cell until my brother told me not to.  Then I would just get all the telemarketing calls on my cell.  I didn't do it and I'm glad.

I have a whole lot more table space.  No cable boxes and no phones.  No regrets so far.  LM

[Perkup]

I still have two landlines and a cell. One from DH who passed last year. His friends still call me on that line.  Lots and lots of robocalls, but I don't answer anymore if I see it's an 800 number of an unidentified call.  As many have said, the National Do Not Call list is almost a joke.  It does not work, period.  Renewing your number also does not work.  I do have a small recorder attached to my landlines that says, " Sorry. You have reached a phone that does not accept unidentified phone calls. Pleae call back when you're not ashamed to identify yourself."  This does seem to have some effect.

Yesterday mornng, however, I got one of those calls at 6:15 in the morning.  This is getting out of hand. But I refuse to give up my convenience because of pesky nusiance, dishonest "people" and scammers.

[Fressa]

We recently made the switch. We were on the "Do not clal list" for years but still were flooded with calls. We also were not pleased with the number of outages on our land line in the last two years. The biggest benefit was the savings. Our land line was very inexpensive for most of the years but lately with all the taxes and fees it seemed to be very costly for basic service. I have to say that I have a love/hate relationship with just the cell phone. I do get a few calls that are either scams of solicitors but at least I have the option to block those. I have a few rooms of the home that the reception is not the greatest but for the savings I can deal with that. My husband found this device that will connect both of our cell phone lines to the handheld phones in the home. It works great if I don't have my phone with me and I'm at the other end of the house. It works for me mainly for the money we save each month.     

[2blonde]

Another vote for Nomorobo.  Since I set it up with my AT&T U-Verse account, the phone rings once, then the call gets cut off.  I have also started getting them on my cell.

[VanSleepy]

I get at least 5 junk calls a day on my cell phone, so that won't solve the problem.  It irritates me much more on the cell phone.

[Wannabeincali]

@KathyPet

I would never give up my landline.

When the cell pnone needs recharging, my landline is ready to go at any time.

When the power goes out, my old copper landline is still working.....at least on the old fashioned phone. The handhelds of course do not work...the battery pack back up does not last that long. I won't be giving up my old fashioned phone either, as a result.

As for the annoying telemarketer calls coming from who knows what country?

I used to stress over it, but now I have FUN with it. 

I let them do their whole schpeel, and then I say *in my best immitation of my greek relatives' accent, lol* "So sorry. What? What you said? No English.... whaaat, hunny....whaaaat?"  Lol. Or, I will tell the person to hold on, and then I either watch tv, or do my work....making sure they hear me. Or, I pretend to listen to their schpeel, and then I ask "Why?".....even if it does not make sense  I just keep asking "Why?" after everything they say.  I get a blast out of irritating them, and they DO get quite annoyed. Haha. My favorite one to do is to just begin asking them all sorts of personal qusstions.....where hey are from, what they like to eat, where they went to school, how many siblings they have, etc. They play along...until they realize what I am up to. It is hilarious! I will also sometimes just throw a made up word into my conversation, when I can tell they are NON english speaking *which is the case 95% of the time!*. They get soooooooo frustrated....and I love it.

I staeted this a year ago, after getting fed up with 4 or 5 calls at my elderly mom's home per day!! Now? She gets maybe 2 calls per month, if any at all!

Try it. It WORKS! Give them a taste of their own medicine! 

Legit calls are OK. I donate a lot to charity, so those calls are welcome. BUT the elderly SCAM calls? I hate those creeps! Thank goodness my mom has my husband and me around. I feel so sorry for seniors who are alone. And we are on tje Do Not Call List. It works for legit callers, but NOT for unscrupulous scammers.

If you can't beat em, join em...as they say! Have FUN making their annoying calls even more annoying for them.

[Pearlee]

@KathyPet  I do get a lot of unwanted calls but caller I.D. solves that for me.   I don't pick them up.  Most ring three times and that's it or the call stops when my answering device picks up.

If it's a legit call, the person starts to leave a message and then I pick up and tell the person I was screening my calls.   Unless I am expecting a telephone cal, I basically just ignore my land line when it rings.  I figure a person will leave a message if it's someone I know or want to hear from and then I can pick it up.  Or call the person back at a more convenient time for me.

Were it not for caller ID though, I'd be bonkers about the calls.

[mare54]

We got rid of our land line almost 3 years ago - don't miss it at all. It was especially nice at election time not to receive all those annoying calls.  I'm on the do not call list and it has been nice. However, the past couple of days I have been getting calls about my car warranty expiring. They come in from random states...I just ignore them. If they leave a message, then it's someone else. The warranty people don't leave messages. Good luck. 

[ScrapHappy]

When we moved into our new house a year ago, I did not persue a land line.  I was contemplating this before we moved because, like you, I was getting sooooo many of those calls.  Even late into the evening.  I was on the DNC list, but it didn't seem like I was.  On top of that, paying over $30 month.  I'm glad to be rid of it.  I don't miss it at all.

[Kachina624]

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@BirkiLady wrote:

Are you on the National Do Not Call list?  If not, sign up and when you receive these annoying calls, turn them into the DNC list! It takes time, but you'll find after a while they do become much less frequent. The number is: 1-888-382-1222 - follow the prompts to sign up. When reporting an annoying caller, be sure to follow the prompts EXACTLY. There is not a do-over!  You may be able to contact your Attorney General for more information.

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@BirkiLady  Why?  It's mostly ignored and not enforced.  It's a joke.