Pros And Cons Of Blocking Phone Calls: One Less Bell To Answer

Our cordless phone has the feature that allows us to block up to 30 calls. We use it alot, and it fills up fast. I was going to write a song, singing the pros and cons of phone-blocking....until I discovered that one had already been written! Do you block many calls?

 

I really really really hate answering the phone and refuse to do so unless caller ID says it's friend or family and no one else is home. I have a full blocking allotment. I am on the no call list and still get calls from telemarketers saying " We are returning your call ". Of course it is a call you never made. I guess that's how they get past the no call list. Just makes me crazy, as if I'm not crazy enough already. LOL

 

@Joe Riley I wanted my nephew to not be able to ID my call, wanted to surprise him, blocked my call, got a recording the person called will not accept blocked calls! So hit him up about that. He actually pays extra for that "no accept" thing!
Frank

 

@Joe Riley - I was just gonna post that song to you, fabulous song - fabulous group and what a lovely voice she had

 

@Frank Sanoica , you are talking about blocking your own phone number from displaying on the screen of the person you are calling. Yes, the "will not accept blocked calls feature" is available to me, but I have never used it. Most caller ID displays show "private", "not available", or some form of manipulation,that reveals the callers number.

 

If you are talking of the landline phone, well, we came prepared for that. We have an answering machine and a caller ID. In this age of telemarketers, it is getting to be a nuisance when you are doing something and you would answer the phone only to hear a sales pitch. But now we are free from that since the caller should identify himself and his message before we lift the phone. Otherwise, we don't answer the phone although we log the number that is displayed on the caller ID. But whatever the call is, we are free from those annoying calls.

 

My phones do not have this feature, but if I replace them at some point, that is a feature I value. I thought I would be replacing them soon, because they were acting up, but I decided to spend a few dollars on new batteries for them instead, in the hope of saving a few bucks, and so far it's worked.

I don't use the option to not accept anonymous calls because I worry that someone might have an emergency and need to use an unknown number and not be able to get through. I do screen all calls, and rarely answer the phone. There are only a few people I talk to on a regular basis, and they're programmed into my phone's directory.

One of my favorite phone features is Caller ID Announce, which audibly states who is calling. That way, I can tell from across the room who is calling, and whether or not I should go grab the phone and answer the call. In the past, when I had phone service through my ISP, a message of who was calling would display on my television if I was watching TV, but I use a cheaper service now, and the caller ID announce is a very handy way of screening calls.

 

@Joe Riley An interesting thing I learned accidently concerned activating a new credit card. It stated you must use your home phone: I blocked the call, and the daggoned bank's computer ID'd the call anyway! Calls to 911 also cannot be blocked. We get a lot of strange calls, the calling number ID'd OK, but the name being "Rochester N.Y.". Frank

 

Frank, I always assumed that the bank must be sure that it is you,who is activating your card, and that is why they need to know it is you, calling from your home number. To block your number from the bank, would be counter productive.

 

@Joe Riley Joe, I think you misunderstood my purpose. I wasn't upset by the bank, but rather wanted to point out that some users of land lines can interpret the origin of every call received, blocked or otherwise. The point is that there is undoubtedly some kind of charge impressed by the telephone service provider for that particular ability. Frank

 

Many of our friends have answering machines on their home phones ,or have a message system through (Telstra ,our phones and internet provider) However allot of us have been bombarded by calls fro scammers claiming to be from the tax office ..They will leave threatening calls on an answering machine that the police will be around with in the hour to arrest the person if they do not call back the number they provide and pay them the amount of money they claim to be an outstanding tax debt ..
My husband takes the phone if we get the "calls" we're had three from them hubby loves giving them a hard time asking them questions about the treatment in prison,medical and dental treatment and food quality ....The last one we received they asked for Mrs R ..I said sorry that's my mother and she's out at bingo right now can I take a message ??? ( I'm 70 I don't have a mother) Hubby took the phone and said who are you after ? Scammer said what's your name ? Hubby said Jack Schitt .. Thay hung up after about 15 minuites ....Ringing Back the next day
Asking for Mr Schitt

 

UGH. Annoying phone calls and emails are the bane of my existence. Some of you know that my brother died recently, and today I received an EMAIL FROM HIM and then CALLS FROM HIM on my land-line and my cellphone. How does this crap happen? I'm really annoyed right now. Needless to say, I blocked the caller (spoofed my brother's number) and the email address.

 

I don't understand how it happened either, Yvonne. I know spammers can spoof a number because I have actually gotten calls from MYSELF a couple of times. I blocked the number; I already had the "silence unknown callers" turned on but the number appeared to be my brother's.

The email went to my cousin and to me. There was no content in it; just a link to click on. So it was marked as spam and deleted.

 

I have my answering machine set to pick up after two rings. My recording says "Leave a message please". If I recognize the caller I of course pick up and answer. If I don't, I pick up, then down and they are silenced.