Caller ID

[Deja Q]

Do you use it?

I don't.

Seems a waste of money for a feature that lists telemarketers as "blocked" so we don't get to know their number.

[Fox Mulder]

1. I get it for free with my cell phone plan.

I love it.

[Tindalos]

2. I like to know who's calling before I pick up. n/t

[flvegan]

3. I do. I consider "blocked" or "private" to be a instant go-to-machine prompt.

[hippywife]

4. Don't have it either

on the cell or home phone.

[lligrd]

5. I Don't Bother On My Land Line

Getting up to see who was calling was as bad as answering it and I have no problem hanging up on telemarketers. On my cell phone I use it and never answer a number I don't recognize.

[DarkTirade]

6. I keep meaning to get a caller ID thingy.

I just had the most basic of phone lines when I first went off to college, but then my local phone company screwed me hard so I ended up getting cable internet and a Vonage phone, which comes with all the nifty features I didn't get with my local phone. For the same price. Oh, and it also has free long distance.

So yeah... in attempting to screw me out of 200 bucks, Bellsouth lost a customer for life. With a 30 dollarish phone bill every month plus another 30 for high-speed internet, that adds up to a lot more than 200 bucks lost in the long run, suckers.

[bigwillq]

7. I love it.

If I don't know the number I don't answer (usually) On the land line I can usually tell when it's a spam call. On my cell phone it's a bit tricker but I usually don't answer that either unless I know the number.

[spindrifter]

8. I detest caller id.

I've always considered it the spineless way out of dealing with unwanted callers. I'm not getting collection agency calls, I have a few charities that call regularly, which I don't mind, and I have no problem ditching the spam-calls.

[lizerdbits]

9. I don't want the telemarketers numbers

I just don't want to waste time picking up when I know it's them. I like having it.

[Kat45]

10. But you can google the number and find out who is bothering you.

I've found that the most frequent telemarketing calls to me are from Bank Of America. They'd call me a zillion times using the same number for each call. Then they started calling me a zillion times using another number for each call. They're really pissing me off. I'm tempted to sever my banking relationship with them because of this shit.

[lizerdbits]

15. I've never bothered

I look at the screen, see it's not someone I know, and go back to what I was doing. I could block calls from a number but they'd switch to a new one and I think it costs money to have numbers blocked. It doesn't take long when I get home from work to delete a few messages about how my car warranty (which I never had) is running out or how I can refinance my mortgage with a rate that's actually a point higher than what I already have.

[KitchenWitch]

11. I use it. Blocked calls go to el machino.

[MissMillie]

12. If I get "blocked" I don't answer

someone who loves me will leave a message

[Orsino]

13. I use spam filters.

Why the hell would I not use caller ID, or ignore private numbers?

I also throw out junk mail. Life's too short.

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

14. Absolutely!

If I don't know who you are, I don't answer. Especially if it's a "private" or "unavailable" number. That's what voicemail is for.

[shanine]

16. I use it

And I also don't answer the door sometimes.
These are two small things I CAN control.

[Connonym]

17. I won't answer a blocked or anonymous call

for that alone it's worth every penny. The only time I make an exception is if I've put in an after hours call to my doctor because I respect his right to have his home number blocked to avoid harassment. Otherwise fuck it, if someone has my number I deserve to have theirs too.

[Blue Diadem]

18. I like using it.

We have call waiting caller ID too. Didn't cost us anymore with our package deal. It's handy, especially if we are expecting an important call.

Caller ID helped the time a young male was apparently drunk/high and repeatedly calling here. The police took the number and called it back. We didn't get another call after that.

Not all telemarketers #'s are blocked here. We got/get some and we're on the do not call registry. One particular one I remember, a year or so ago, kept calling over and over and hanging up. After a 1/2 dozen in the same evening, we looked up the offending number via the net, even though it was a call out number only. We called the offending company and told them to fix their darn computerized outgoing line. The calls stopped.

[NMDemDist2]

19. my cell phone has it, but I don't use it

I answer the phone

:shrug:

[ileus]

20. If a number comes up blocked I don't answer.

I need a feature like with e-mail that dumps all non contacts to the trash.

[Arkansas Granny]

21. I use it all the time. If a number comes up "blocked" I don't

answer. If the caller doesn't want to identify himself/herself, I figure it's someone I'd rather not talk to anyway. When friends or family calls, their name or familiar phone number shows up on the screen and I answer.

[jberryhill]

22. Not all of them are "blocked"

The rules are that (a) you don't answer blocked calls.

For numbers you do not recognize, just type them into Google. There are several great sites, like www.whocalled.us in which people share information about numbers used by telemarketers, bill collectors, and other miscreants.

Extremely useful.

[TreasonousBastard]

23. I can take it or leave it, mostly take it...

It's a small convenience, and handy to see who called but didn't leave a message.

Not answering blocked calls would be a a problem, since calls I get from my job, doctor, and a few friends are important, yet blocked.