Unwanted phone calls...

I've given up answering my landline. I signed up with TPS years ago, but these calls still come through from abroad because they can't stop them. I don't have caller display, so if there's no message on callminder I either just ignore it, or if it was a landline number I do 1471. I work on the theory that if it's a legitimate call, they'll leave a message. If it's family or friends they'd call my mobile if no reply from landline.

It really me that we can't even answer our own phones these days.

I am a bit naughty at times- when I receive a call I do not recognise, I often say "this is ** police station, how may I help you?" That gets rid of them but one day I may be caught out as the real police staion may want to contact me!

Another trick is when I can be bothered is to say that I would like to run through some security questions and I have a line all to myself. Most of the time I leave it to ring and no message is ever left, thankfully.

I have gotten a call every day for about 2 weeks saying "you haven't taken up the free wall insulation" or some such nonsense. It's an automatic call and at some point I'm going to have to listen to see if a person picks up. I'm getting tired of it.

We regularly get these calls saying someone in our household has been involved in a road accident recently and I know that it is some claims company touting for business. In fact DD was seriously injured in a road accident three years ago and has just had her sixth operation, with several more to follow. When these calls first started coming about six months after her accident I thought it was someone selling on her details, but I now realise that these are just speculative calls in case someone says yes, they did have an accident.

Needless to say, DD, is using a reputable local solicitor with a specialist personal injuries department to handle her compensation claim, not an ambulance chasing claims company.

How many of you are now getting calls which are recorded, so that as soon as you answer the phone the recording chimes in? We no longer bother to answer the phone, there is an adequate answer phone which takes these messages, lots about PIP these days, and 'winnings'. Must be an awful lot of money wasted in this way.

heavenknows why do you not answer the phone and say that you live on the 12th floor of a council flat? That should get rid of them.

A friend of mine, who used to live in a 2nd floor flat was offered a conservatory at a bargain price but even the salesman laughed when she told him where she lived.

Sometimes I ignore the calls but if I pick up but don't answer until the caller speaks, if it is a recording I hang up.

When asked if I'm the home owner I reply that I'm renting long term, the caller loses interest.

I only once ignored a phone call and when the phone rang again it was my daughter saying that she'd had a riding accident. Since then I have always answered the phone.

Once when I was laid out with a really bad migraine the phone rang all afternoon. The first three phone calls were cold calls. When the fourth one came, I snarled down the telephone - only to discover DH at the other end of the phone, and very disconcerted to be shouted at the way he was.

Once when I was laid out with a really bad migraine the phone rang all afternoon. The first three phone calls were cold calls. When the fourth one came, I snarled down the telephone - only to discover DH at the other end of the phone, and very disconcerted to be shouted at the way he was.

Charley The first few calls were a person, and I told them it was a council property and to take our name off the list. But they kept ringing. Now it's recorded messages when I pick up, so I just hang up right away. Didn't get one today, so fingers crossed they've finally stopped.

Are the numbers displayed Tegan?
That would at least allow you to not answer some of the calls.

Sometimes with the recorded message ones if you listen to the end there is an option to either speak to an agent or remove your number from their lists. I think it is working but it's very hard to judge really but anything is worth a try !

Today`s call was a recording beginning "Dear customer....." don`t know what followed, I hung up.

We have been TPS registered for a long time but this is fairly useless so we bought a phone on which we can block calls. As long as neither of our daughters is on holiday we block all calls from abroad. If we receive a call that we don't like we block that number as well. Every so often we hear a click which shows a number is being rejected. Some calls still get through and I find the ones about 'our records show you have had an accident' particularly irritating.

They are a 'b' nuisance.

I think I have mentioned this before but here goes.

We have Caller Display so we ignore international calls and any that do not resemble typical UK numbers. You can't however ignore those showing Withheld or Call because they can apply to friends or family who are ex-directory for example.

I do the following and I find it works but not when the call is connecting to a recording obviously. I answer the phone in a 'silent' room and put on my GPO voice and say "This is a BT security recording, this message is being recorded for security purposes". Inevitably the call is cut off when I mention BT and it rarely comes back. It doesn't scare them off but I think it does confuse them and sews a seed of doubt as to whether they can be traced back.

Shouldn't have to do it but I do appreciate the difficulty for BT to irradicate it, a. bit like closing down a twitter account so the user simply pops up with a different one. Technology hey.

We ignore all Withheld calls.
My husband's reasoning is that if it is a "proper" person, they will leave a message on the answering machine.

We ignore all., sorry cant remember the word beginiing with i calls as well. We dont seem to have as many of them as we used to. They can go to answer machine.

We ignore all external calls. Dont really understand what they are, so leave them to answer machine.

International calls are tricky. We pick some of them up. Especially when we have people abroad who might call us.

We also dont pick up funny looking numbers. Again, they can go to answer machine.

Fun times eh?
We probably have at least one of the above per day, normally the Withheld ones.
Quite a long time since we have picked any of them up. So no idea what they are saying!

We can't ignore withheld number calls as calls from the local hospital and the library where I work show as withheld. Annoying.
We signed up to TPS years ago too, but it's made little difference.
Last time I had a call telling me that someone in my family had had a car accident in the last year I asked where she got the information from.
She did tell me a name, which I've forgotten and didn't believe. I told her she should complain to them as they were giving her incorrect information. Snippy of me but it did feel good . Come to think of it, I haven't had a call like that since then!