General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsScreening junk calls - answer, count to 5 slowly before you say "hello".
There will be no announcement or person connected, and the call will disconnect after about 10-15 more seconds.
I just press the speakerphone button, wait, say hello and go about my day. Stops the phone from ringing and the voice mail from picking up.
jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)...how will I know when the warranty has run out on my vehicle or there's a problem with my Microsoft windows and I need to login and allow someone to access it remotely from India...
ProfessorGAC
(65,010 posts)When everything we have is Android!
It just goes on & on, doesn't it?
jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)Not to mention my STUDENT LOANS that I thought I paid off 20 years ago... thank god someone lets me know a couple times a week where to send more money!
ProfessorGAC
(65,010 posts)I had forgotten. I never had any student loans!
Not only did I need no help in paying them off, but they were offering help for something they never existed!
Kind of obvious it wasn't on the up & up.
Silver1
(721 posts)I apparently owe the IRS a fortune and will be charged with fraud and arrested any minute now unless I wire the money I owe then and there!
Leith
(7,809 posts)If it's not a known number, I don't answer it.
Then, after a minute or 2, I check voicemail. On those few occasions that the caller leaves a message, it's either in Chinese or an ad about carpet cleaning.
I haven't missed a real call in years.
grumpyduck
(6,232 posts)Ms. Toad
(34,066 posts)As part of my job, I have to answer student calls when I don't know their numbers and, since we have international students, I even have to answer them when they come from another country (South Korea, just a couple of days ago).
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)There's a handy phrase for every one of these assholes:
https://www.lewisblack.com/collections/other-goodies/products/lewis-black-bobblehead-2018
Silver1
(721 posts)That's what my husband likes to say when they call. Then he hangs up ... satisfied!
Brother Buzz
(36,420 posts)if you get really familiar with one, you can find some very intimidating lines that are universally applicably
Admittedly, that Lewis Black thingy looks attractive for its simplicity.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)Usually they disconnect or sometimes I get the middle of a message since the robocall message started as soon as the answer machine says "hello."
I'm thinking of changing the generic message on the answer machine to something like: "Hello, you have reached csziggy. If this is a legitimate call, please leave a message. If no message is left, your number will be added to our block list and you will never be able to call me again!"
lark
(23,097 posts)So now, I answer, say hello and wait 3 seconds. If no one responds, I hang up. Funny, I end up hanging up probably 90% of the time, assholes are too stupid to know how to run dialers correctly. It's an art and they are too lazy to master it.
Midnightwalk
(3,131 posts)He was old enough to know the game, but sounded young. He would talk a bunch of nonsense for as long as he could. and refuse to put me on. "I don't think he wants to talk to you". He could string them along for minutes. Long time ago.
Maybe someone could make an app that tried to keep them on as long as possible. One second, I need to get a pencil. One second I need to get my social security number. What do you mean that's not valid -- oh those were my power ball numbers.
If AI can drive cars it ought to be able to do this.
Seriously Ive heard it's best not to answer at all, but a "mess with callers" app would be cool.
roamer65
(36,745 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)has an extended warranty that has nearly run out!
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)That was in North Carolina. Then a few years after that, I got a letter from a junkyard in Alabama asking whether I wanted to reclaim my car and pay the impound fees.
Apparently it had been abandoned and the state police had it towed to this junkyard.
So it's never clear what happens to junked cars (or at least the VIN plate!).
I sent them a nice reply saying I had no ownership interest in the vehicle and to dispose of it locally to best advantage.