<p>I put my phone numbers on the Do Not Call List, for the years past it was pretty good. For the last year, we’ve got a lot of solicitations and surveys. The worst are those survey calls, once I accepted one, it looks like everyone and their mother are calling. Then the police and fire fighters… the problem is bogging me down.</p>
<p>btw, I did renew my list not too long ago, but it did not stop any calls.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Caller ID. Don’t answer if you don’t recognize the number.</p>
<p>^^ sorry thumper, I have a home office and there are clients calling that I could not recognize and cannot afford not to answer.</p>
<p>Honestly, once you do something like a survey, you are ON the list of those who want that. It’s impossible to get off. I just tell the caller immediately to take me off their telemarketing list…and I hang up,quickly. Takes about ten seconds. </p>
<p>We get most calls at dinner time. We let our answering machine answer. The blank messages are all robocalls. </p>
<p>The Do Not Call registry is a total waste of time. I’m getting calls on my cell phone now too. </p>
<p>I really wonder why that registry is such a waste. I don’t know one person who has used it successfully…meaning the soliciting calls stopped.</p>
<p>I have caller ID and every few months I spend about 1/2 hr filling out a complaint for each of the numbers. [ see link below]
And lately I just pick up and slam down the phone when I see one of those call come in. THAT seems to stop them faster than filing the complaints. </p>
<p><a href=“National Do Not Call Registry”>National Do Not Call Registry;
<p>I had my Mom’s mail forwarded to my house after she passed away last year. I have received a number of calls for her recently at my home number. Telling the caller that the person they are asking for is deceased really shuts them up quickly, and then everyone of them has said they will remove her from their list. It sure is tempting to say the I or my husband are deceased when someone calls and asks for one if us. </p>
<p>I have missed a couple of credit card fraud alert calls when I screened my calls, so I generally answer all my calls now.</p>
<p>I have the same issue – as far as I can tell the do-not-call list is defunct. I don’t answer my landline anymore – it goes straight to voicemail. I figure that anyone who knows me well enough that I want to take their call will also have my cell number and/or mail. The rest can leave me a message. </p>
<p>The problem with caller ID, and consequently not answering calls that are known to be telemarketers, is that they will continue to call if we don’t answer. For days. Weeks. So eventually we answer and tell them not to call anymore. Why don’t we do so with the first call? We still naively hope that by not answering, it will stop the calls.</p>
<p>I never give my cell phone number for any business (online orders, doctors, etc.) asking for a number, and so far, knock on wood, that has kept my cell free of unwanted calls. In fact, that is one of the reasons for keeping our landline.</p>
<p>My biggest problem is the call where there is only a recording on the other end so you can’t tell them to take you off their call list (which is what I do when I get a human on one of these calls)</p>
<p>Here is what the Do Not Call list covers. Note that surveys, charities, and political calls are still legal even if you’re on the list.</p>
<p>If I register my number on the National Do Not Call Registry, will it stop all telemarketing calls?
No. Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most telemarketing calls, but not all. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would still be permitted, as would calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom you’ve provided express agreement in writing to receive their calls. However, if you ask a company with which you have an existing business relationship to place your number on its own do-not-call list, it must honor your request. You should keep a record of the date you make the request.</p>
<p>The govt just isn’t enforcing the law, from what I can tell. </p>
<p>If I answer a call with an “out of area” or “unknown caller” label on my phone, I answer with “is this a marketing call?” Many then just hang up.</p>
<p>They need to change that to say “being on the DNC list will stop just a minute number of these harassing calls”</p>
<p>We recently dropped our landline for this reason. We came to realize that 95% of the phone calls on our landline were calls that we did not want - sales, political, fundraising. We had no success in saying ‘please take us off your list’ so we conceded defeat by letting go of that phone line. </p>
<p>And yes, our number was on the Do Not Call list. A fat lot of good that did. </p>
<p>I recommend Nomorobo to stop robo calls. Nomorobo.com. It works like a charm. It doesn’t stop live calls though, and I have decided to just drop the polite act and interrupt them with a 'No, thanks" and hang up.</p>
<p>Why does Nomorobo ask for your email address? I’m skeptical on ALL, including a “free” service like Nomorobo… </p>
<p>Jshain…maybe they plan to spam you with email:)</p>
<p>There is a way to route calls to Google Voice, and calls that match numbers in their database of sales and political numbers will automatically be sent to a default message saying you do not accept their calls. It is quite complicated to set up, but we have it working, thanks to my husband.</p>
<p>nomorobo only works in certain areas and/or with certain carriers. I’ve tried it with AT&T and it doesn’t work.</p>
<p>For most robocalls and even many live junk calls, there’s a delay between the time you pick up and the time you hear a voice. I’ve gotten pretty quick on the trigger and hang up as soon as I notice the delay. It’s a bit less aggravating. </p>