to think that cold callers are cheating to withhold their numbers?

The phone started ringing at 8am, yet another no number and no message left when answer machine cut in. We seem to get days where they bombard us all day alternating between house phone and mobiles. We are on tenterhooks because we had a relative die on Monday and we have a close friend in hospital who is terminally ill and any one of these calls could be important

That does sound an excellent solution, elena.

Two more days and still not one nuisance call....I feel quite evangelical about it all. It shows how this had become a persistent low level irritation for both DH and me. We both get work calls on the landline, and we could not use the 'tell people to leave a message' option, so it works well for us.

I do think legislation should be developed to deal with the whole problem. My solution is no good for any much older person (like my mother, who just finds it hard to learn anything new and who can't see little buttons anyway) or for anyone who doesn't want to buy a new set of phones.

Telephone Preference scheme is useless.

I was about to start cooking last night when the phone rang, asking for me. I did answer it but said that person, me, was out. It worked a treat.

Our final cold call of the day was at 7.45 last night, we could then finish dinner in peace.
No political party will make laws about cold calling for fear of job losses at call centres.

You may have a point there, harrigran....but the call centres are actually understaffed where it counts. We have had a problem with fuel providers and our house move, needing several phone calls to sort out. Each time we wait about 25 mins for the call to connect with a proper human being.

It's the same with most services - to actually get an answer you have to hold on for a long time.

With call centre operatives working as responders, instead of as cold callers, everyone would win

Strange experience last night. I answered my mobile (a reasonably local number was displayed) and seconds later my visiting son answered his to a very similar number with same std code. We dealt with the calls in our different ways but concluded that callcentre workers were using an alphabetical list and landed on our same surname simultaneously. Odd, but no less irritating!

I would agree with that mcem, DH and I had our mobiles ring at the same time last week and it was the same number.