There's a National" Do Not Call" registry that you can sign up on for each of your phone numbers ( cell and landline). You have to sign up every 12 months and if businesses still call you, they can" get in trouble"(?? What kind of trouble? I have no clue!) It's worth a shot, it has definitely reduced the number of robocalls I receive.
You just go online at www.donotcall.gov and register your numbers. Good luck!
It's not necessary to renew your signup each year. I just checked my cell phone number on donotcall.gov and received this confirming email: "You successfully registered your phone number ending in 4735 on July 27, 2003."
So over 20 years ago, I registered the cell phone number I still have.
During election cycles I was getting an intolerable level of texts from many, many candidates via ActBlue.com - at a level that caused me to delete my account there. So now if ever I want to contribute to a campaign again, I'll have to reach out to the actual candidate to send them - gasp - a paper check! or use some other payment platform, because I will not use ActBlue again ever.
I still get a very occasional telemarketing call, but the cell phone carrier labels spam and telemarketers. I simply don't answer a call until someone leaves me a voice mail. It's not worth it to me to answer the phone.
So for sure register all your phone numbers there.
I suspect landlines are more vulnerable than cell phones. Verizon blocks most junk from my cell. My landline has been on the Do Not Call Registry for years, but it didn't help much. Yesterday, I talked to someone at my local phone company who set up a system where callers have to punch an additional number to prove they're human. So far, it's working.
We still have our landline as well as cell phones for a whole bunch of reasons. Recently a younger relative admitted to me they wished they had kept theirs. Now it would be expensive to reconnect. For some reason, we don't get a lot of robo calls. That was so kind of you to visit Clare. I've had to experience my mother-in-law and my father being in nursing homes. It was heartbreaking.
Still have a landline, and it's been quite useful.
We have gotten robocalls in spurts. Sometimes a lot, sometimes none. We are on those do-not-call registries, which seem to help, but then we'll get a flurry of robocalls again, not sure why.
When I answer the phone, if a human voice doesn't come on within 2 seconds, I hang up before the call-center person can come on. That seems to help with our phone not getting flagged as a "live" number to trigger further calls.
We still have a landline at our condo too -- (albeit I don't think it's a "true" landline, i.e., connected to the network via wiring -- it runs off the Internet). We have three handsets, including two cordless phones plus a corded one. I'll never forget during the big power blackout that affected so much of the eastern part of Canada & the U.S. in August 2003... the CEO of the bank I worked for (one of the largest companies in Canada) was at home and wondering why no one was calling to update him on what was going on. Cellphones were useless because everyone was trying to call at the same time and overloading the system. Someone finally figured out that yes, he had a "landline" number at home, but every phone in his house was cordless -- and they do not work when the power is out! They rustled up an old corded handset and had someone drive out to his house with it. I vowed then & there that I would always have a landline WITH at least one corded phone in the house!!
P.S. I hear you on the robocalls, Sue. We get a lot (albeit not as many as you do!), and they are SO annoying! If I don't recognize a number, I don't answer. I figure they can always leave us a voice mail.
There's a National" Do Not Call" registry that you can sign up on for each of your phone numbers ( cell and landline). You have to sign up every 12 months and if businesses still call you, they can" get in trouble"(?? What kind of trouble? I have no clue!) It's worth a shot, it has definitely reduced the number of robocalls I receive.
You just go online at www.donotcall.gov and register your numbers. Good luck!
It's not necessary to renew your signup each year. I just checked my cell phone number on donotcall.gov and received this confirming email: "You successfully registered your phone number ending in 4735 on July 27, 2003."
So over 20 years ago, I registered the cell phone number I still have.
During election cycles I was getting an intolerable level of texts from many, many candidates via ActBlue.com - at a level that caused me to delete my account there. So now if ever I want to contribute to a campaign again, I'll have to reach out to the actual candidate to send them - gasp - a paper check! or use some other payment platform, because I will not use ActBlue again ever.
I still get a very occasional telemarketing call, but the cell phone carrier labels spam and telemarketers. I simply don't answer a call until someone leaves me a voice mail. It's not worth it to me to answer the phone.
So for sure register all your phone numbers there.
I suspect landlines are more vulnerable than cell phones. Verizon blocks most junk from my cell. My landline has been on the Do Not Call Registry for years, but it didn't help much. Yesterday, I talked to someone at my local phone company who set up a system where callers have to punch an additional number to prove they're human. So far, it's working.
We still have our landline as well as cell phones for a whole bunch of reasons. Recently a younger relative admitted to me they wished they had kept theirs. Now it would be expensive to reconnect. For some reason, we don't get a lot of robo calls. That was so kind of you to visit Clare. I've had to experience my mother-in-law and my father being in nursing homes. It was heartbreaking.
Still have a landline, and it's been quite useful.
We have gotten robocalls in spurts. Sometimes a lot, sometimes none. We are on those do-not-call registries, which seem to help, but then we'll get a flurry of robocalls again, not sure why.
When I answer the phone, if a human voice doesn't come on within 2 seconds, I hang up before the call-center person can come on. That seems to help with our phone not getting flagged as a "live" number to trigger further calls.
The phone. What a mixed blessing. I’ll be curious to hear what you do. And the story about Claire is lovely!
We still have a landline at our condo too -- (albeit I don't think it's a "true" landline, i.e., connected to the network via wiring -- it runs off the Internet). We have three handsets, including two cordless phones plus a corded one. I'll never forget during the big power blackout that affected so much of the eastern part of Canada & the U.S. in August 2003... the CEO of the bank I worked for (one of the largest companies in Canada) was at home and wondering why no one was calling to update him on what was going on. Cellphones were useless because everyone was trying to call at the same time and overloading the system. Someone finally figured out that yes, he had a "landline" number at home, but every phone in his house was cordless -- and they do not work when the power is out! They rustled up an old corded handset and had someone drive out to his house with it. I vowed then & there that I would always have a landline WITH at least one corded phone in the house!!
P.S. I hear you on the robocalls, Sue. We get a lot (albeit not as many as you do!), and they are SO annoying! If I don't recognize a number, I don't answer. I figure they can always leave us a voice mail.
My old corded phones have been very handy during the power outages that are very common here. Anything that needs electricity or wi-fi is useless.
You didn't tell me about Claire
You brought joy into her life. What a wonderful thing to do
I know. We had so much to talk about that I forgot. You and Pandora were just too exciting.