amh

I am of the opinion that the people calling are just making a living. I stay on the line and ask them to take my name off the calling list. It seems to be helping.

We have many callers from out of country, so I ask to speak to someone in my own country, and ask them to take my name off the list.

If there is any hesitation, I ask them for their home phone number and the home phone number of their supervisor. They usually ask why, so I explain that I'd like their number so I can invade into their personal life.

Slowly but surely the number of calls are diminishing.

I also rarely answer 1-800 numbers. I too am of the belief that if it is urgent they will leave a message.

amh

Roberta

I don't subscribe to caller-ID so I don't know who is on the line until I pick up. I usually stop the caller and just say I'm not interested but thanks for calling and hang up. I find it very hard to be rude to people even if they are bothering me but I rarely receive return calls from any that I've used that method on.

Sdwill

We also don't have caller ID on our land line. I answer the phone but if someone doesn't reply right away, I hang up. I have to answer this line due to my mother's life alert and several people only know how to get a hold of us using this line.

michelleoc

If you get a recorded message when you answer the phone, that is a Robocall. The best thing to do with them is just hang up and report them to ftc.gov. Telemarketing calls are a little different. I had heard that being on the do not call list expired after a certain amount of time and you had to do it again, but not sure about that. If you answer and there is a pause before someone comes on the line, that means that they are on a dialer system - their dialer just keeps dialing numbers until it detects someone answering the phone. If you don't answer, a message is not left, the dialer just keeps doing its job and moving onto other numbers. It's irritating that the phone rings though. I just want to be left alone!

valleyquiltermo

This is also what I do to any caller, if there is no name to the number or no number I just don't answer.
I don't know them or their name would show up.

romanojg

We had a mortgage company that used to continue to call not matter how many times I told them to stop. Finally one day I just started screaming at the top of my lungs until they hung up. They never called again. Then I had another company that continued to call trying to sell me something and refused to stop. I finally told them yes, I wanted it all. The woman was so amazed and excited that she was making a sell. She said you want it all. I told her yes, that I was in the process of filing bankruptcy and I could get their stuff and add them to the list of companies that I didn't have to pay. She hung up and then they never did call back. I can understand the need to sell and do their job but really. When someone tells you to stop calling they should. The problem with the do not call list, some solicitors are classified as tele marketing and they can do what they want. I now hate voting time, my phone rings 24/7 with calls from computers trying to vote thier way. You can't even tell them what to do with themselves. Its crazy. As far as the mortgage company, I had even told them I'd never trust my house with a company that not only had to solicit to get customers they also had no respect for the ones who said "dont call again".

maryellen2u

Thank you for the registration number! I am forever grateful.

mermaid

I'm pretty sure you have to re-register for Do Not Call every 5 yrs....at least that was so when I originally signed up. I love to ask them "Are you aware that I am on the Federal DNC list and also on my state's DNC list.?" They can't seem to hang up fast enough, and most will say "I'm sorry" before doing so. But most of the calls now come from outside USA via patches that can jump 2 or 3 times--there is no way to track them down, nor could FCC prosecute. I've recorded a message that "we are not taking calls at this time. Leave a message if you want your call returned." Of course there is never a message, unless it's a political call. When that season is upon us, I record, "If this is a political call & you use my answering machine for your message, you can be assured that you will not get a vote from this household!" I've had spiels that lasted so long it filled up my machine, and we'd return from vacation to this drivel.

DonnaC

The Do Not Call list is a huge joke, in my opinion. It does NOT work to keep the calls away and it never has! I rely on my answering machine and my Caller ID - I pick up no calls unless I know who it is. There is some company that calls my machine EVERY SINGLE DAY and hangs up, then the phone line goes back to the dial tone and that "Do you want to make a call" message comes on. Every day, I find at least one of those calls on my machine when I get home. Can you tell that I find this very IRRITATING! It doesn't matter about the fines, these companies have a million phone numbers and they can't be caught.

Wanabee Quiltin

My stepson used to say the funniest things. He would answer and say to them: We just had a terrible storm and our house blew away but the phone is working. Isn't it amazing the phone is still here and you are on the other line ? He would go on and on and the people actually believed him. I have no idea why, but we don't get any calls at all. We have been on the list for years, maybe that's it.