We got our cell for when we were on the road, so if we were home it was turned off. We had a lady that kept calling and leaving messages for her x. Like the check was late or he didn't get the kids home when he was supposed to and why didn't he answer her. I final put the message on... "This is Glenda and Ray's phone. If you do not have a message for Glenda or Ray, please hang up. She never called back. The guy she was yelling at might or might not have done what she was pi---ed about, but I didn't see the poor guy getting into more trouble because she didn't have the right number. The same message is still on our cell, just in case she forgets.(Been about 5 years now,) LOL

That's why DH and I got "Caller ID" If we don't recognize the phone number, we don't pick up. If it's important then they will leave a message on my machine

My husband and I have been doing the envelope stuffing thing for 25 years. Sure has cut down the junk mail. Sometimes we sent back 5 letters in one day. When people were really persistent, I wrote in there that I would send them a box of rocks if they continued sending their stuff. That worked! One person actually sent a box of rocks to an address in Alaska. The addressee had to pay for it because it had the postage paid return envelope taped to the box.
About 10 years ago, this idea was on the Andy Rooney show. It had already been working for us for many years. The hardest ones to get rid of were the book clubs.

I do not have caller ID on the phone next to my chair where I watch TV, so I don't know who is calling. But when it is apparent to be one of those calls, I just hang up. Sometimes they get their foot in the door, so to speak, and hard to get rid of. So I told one guy "l pay my phone bill for MY convenience, NOT YOURS!" And hung up.

I went to the sporting goods section at Wal-Mart and bought a coach's whistle. Now when a telemarketer calls, I give them a good long blast from it! They evidently spread the word because it'll be MONTHS before any other telemarketers will call! LOL!

Donna

ROTFLMBO Way too funny.

I say to them, "Did I call you??" This upsets their line of trash they were about to say, I then say "Well don't call me."
Then hang up...

What a good laugh for the day. Seems we are all troubled by this same thing. My sister will answer the phone Nancy ****** may I help you. Blows there minds. Don't call back as they think it is a business. Have heard the Tom Mabe call many times, always funny. Wish we had like on our posts like on facebook so I could check you gals. All your pots are funny.

Too funny!

As executor for my FIL, we had his mail forwarded to us. Many years after he died we were still getting requests for charitable and political contributions. As long as there was a postage paid envelope, I sent back a similar reply. It still took several years for them to catch on.

I got some junk mail one day and I let my grand kids draw pictures and mail them back.... They wrote on the pictures. Please don't send my Grandma any junk mail. :D

I got one today from Utah (supposedly). my step dtr is in Utah so out of curiosity I answered it. Some sort of debt collector I think, they wanted to know if I knew my neighbor down the street. Nope, I don't. perhaps they will stop calling now!

I too used to get them. One was for windows. The guy wanted to talk to the lady of the house... I said "Speaking!" He started his speel on windows....I told him I had windows....he said with a huff, "I know" and went on again on his sales pitch....I told him again I have windows....and then he had to nerve to hang up on me! That was one good laugh!

We have a home phone, and I just usually let the fax machine answer it. It is especially handy during an election year when we start to receive all those calls to vote for_____. If they get the fax machine enough times, they will usually stop calling.

You all have made my day. We get some of these same calls. We go for weeks without a call, then they start up again. I had a guy with a foreign accent call a couple of weeks ago and tell me I needed something fixed on my computer. I said..."do you really think I'm that stupid"!!!. He stammered and stuttered and then asked..."do you have a computer in your home"? I said..."well, you tell me, you're the one who called"! He hung up on me! haha

When you don't recognize the number don't answer, its that simple. By answering you are saying "Yes, I like being annoyed by you". After awhile they take you off the call list because it's a lost it's waste of time and time is money. If you answer they think there's always that chance that you might say yes to whatever they are selling. So basically your making your own issues. You've no one to blame but yourself. Self control, patience and not answering will solve your problem. I had the same number call me for 6 months, once in the morning and once in the evening, they never left a message, I never answered. Finally they quit calling. It's like the guy that knocks on your door with a clipboard, you know he going to try to sell you something . I peek out the window, see the strange man with a clipboard and no vehicle in my drive, I'm not opening that door. He goes away! Magic! Now if he were holding balloon and a large check that would be different. Telemarketing companies have the research to prove that people do still fall for the old tricks. If people quit answering the phone they would eventually go out of business.

Why not just hang up people?

When you get repeated wrong numbers for a female name, just tell them "she is upstairs with a customer, can she call you back?"

yaaay for you! it gives such a warm and fuzzy felling to turn the tables on them! my son used to love to answer the phone...i always knew from his side of the conversation that another "poor" telemarketer was getting just deserts. excuse me!! i'm in the middle of a bloody house invasion here & you are disturbing me! where did you say you're from?" he used other lines too, but i won't repeat them here ... this is a family site right? :D

my husband works in construction industry for major multinational. frequently he calls and the CID says "unknown name, unknown number" ..i do a mental coin toss --is it him? is it the comapany & he's hurt? ..or is it another £#^{'¥>**# !!! telemarketer ... so ..i answer the phone. he doesn't know why the thing happens. he doesn't have anyone at this DOE jobsite to ask whyfor's of. we just deal w it. and the telemarketers get an ear full

I had to turn the voice mail option off because my husband couldn't get to the phone quickly and never could retrieve the calls. but most times i get to look at the ID and quickly hang up on calls. then report them to the Do not Call list-again. for awhile we got over 20 calls a day. reporting does keep them down but not enough. zero would be enough!

I have a question--how do they know who is sending the return envelopes stuffed full of junk mail? Do you send their own advertising back to them with your name on it? I'm just curious, and maybe would try that with junk mail. The phone calls have pretty much been taken care of since I don't answer unless I recognize the number. Lots of good ideas here, and some funny ones.
Sue

I don't think I'm creating a problem for myself. I have people calling me from their cell phone numbers to my house phone and they sometimes come up as "private caller". I don't know everyone's number by heart so I take a chance sometimes of answering. I usually don't say things like this but...I think you were a little rude with your comment.

When my husband and I got new cell phones, Verizon wouldn't let us keep our old numbers (we went to pre-paid because it was cheaper). So we got new numbers that had obviously been "recycled" from previous use. We were getting telemarketing and scam calls out the wazoo, at all hours of the day.

I accidentally stumbled upon a hilarious idea that might stop them, and it actually worked!

1. Put the number on the Do-Not-Call list.
2. For my voice mail recording, rather than saying "You have reached blah blah, please leave a message", I recorded this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BVbyCZXc5s

I told my friends and family about it so they wouldn't think my phone had actually been disconnected, and they can still leave a message normally after the "greeting" stops playing.

The scammers and telemarketers hear the "disconnected" message and hang up, and since they think the number isn't valid, they take it off their list. I suspect the computer-dialed numbers "listen" for this message, and mark the number as being disconnected.

Within just a few weeks, the calls STOPPED. :D

To take care of any repeat offenders, I downloaded a free app called Mr. Number that lets you block calls. You can choose whether to hang up, or to send the call to your voice mail. I chose voice mail, so they go straight to the "disconnected" message without my phone ever ringing. Obviously the app wouldn't work on a landline, but it works great for cell phones. :thumbup:

A business situation is different, of course you have to answer the phone everytime , that's just good business sense. But in a home only environment most people have some type of answering service. True emergencies and people who really want to talk to you will leave a message. I guess I have compassionate family and friends that understand my reasons for not answering the phone when they come up as private or unavailable on the caller ID, they just leave a message and they don't find me to be rude. Of course by calling me rude they realize that they are being rude and no one wants that on their Karma. So to clear my karma maybe instead of saying " You've no one to blame but yourself" in the statement above I should have said "I've". My intentions were to help not to offend.

on one of the few occasions i use my cell phone and call home, the caller ID shows it as Brighton, CO. I don't live near Brighton!! how that got on there is beyond me. So sometimes we must answer. One day i will do away with my land line phone.

I also had the caller ID show my own number. Now I know what it really is.

OMG!!! This is hilarious. ....

I guess it is a job for them but I still feel since I pay my phone bill they should leave me alone! I do not intend to donate my car, buy their insurance, etc. I like to support causes that are close to my heart and I wish the "Do not call" list included those annoying people.

I blocked certain calls through my phone system and when they call again, my phone says "blocked". I hope they get the message and don't call back. They may change their phone number and try again, but for now it works. When I don't recognize a number, I listen to see if they leave a message. If they mention my name, I may pick up if I choose to talk to them.

If you ask them at least three times to put you on their do not call list they have to do it or risk a fine. I don't hang up because they put you right back on the list as a no answer. If it's a recording I will listen for the option to get off their list. This is after many years of doing everything you all have done with no results. I'm getting fewer calls now. I'm not rude when talking to them because I don't want more phone calls as a retaliation. They will call you more if they think you're really annoyed. This method is what the telemarketers have posted as the way to get off the lists. I do think it's working. Just crazy that we have to go through that.