Well atleast where you live isn't like my neighborhood, where instaed of lots of calls around here, people actually come to our door ask for us to buy stuff, and you have to tell them no 20 times before they stop. But ya, ever tried blocking the companies?

My answer machine filters out their numbers.

Over here you have to pay extra to have your phone number unlisted. WTF? It's like holding your privacy for ransom.

The worst for me is spam text messages. Its one thing to send it to a free email, but when I receive a spam text it costs me money, 10 cents which == a minute since I am prepay.

At least you are getting live people calling you ;P I keep getting some random spanish recorded message from time to time.
http://consumerist.com/consumer/scams /calls-from-a-stranger-166964.php

I can't stand calls like this, we get atleast 5 a day. It got even worse recently, someone from here did a whois search for my domain and found out my Telephone number and address which i naivley (sp?) thought no-one would bother to do. So he signed me up for these 'Free telephone deals' and stuff, so now we have around 7+ of these telephone calls everyday. It's beyond a joke.

Jim, just remember - when you're angry, and it feels like the entire world is against you, I'll be there for you.

I love you, Jim. I really, really do.

Stamper and liljim <3.

How cute.

Ads are like cockroachs. If you get rid of one theres a million others left.

I hear ya, man. My gf insisted we pay extra, as Ross mentioned us Americans having to do... to be unlisted. It doesn't matter. Companies will use an auto-dialer or random phone number generator or else an old list of numbers, just like you think happened with random guy's number being everywhere, even if the same number, now being yours, isn't being spread all over... it's just too late.

Most of my personal calls come in on my cell phone, anyway, the only way I get personal calls on my landline is if my parents or girlfriend are trying to reach me and I have my cell phone on silent or not in the same room or something.

My solution? Since 95% of the calls that do come in on my landline are spam, I just don't answer it. My answering machine picks up after just 2 rings. If I'm at the computer or on the couch, I look over at the caller ID screen on my fax/copier/scanner/printer that's hooked into the line. Some spammers are identifiable that way. And at least I'll know right away if it's a friend or family member or not.

If I'm in the bedroom, then I let the machine pick up and I listen for who it is. If it's someone I want to talk to, I pick up. If it's not, I don't.

That's why answering machines work so much better than voicemail: call screening! So, that's my method. I never talk to telemarketers or receive computer-voice auto-spam because I don't pick up. I just delete the messages off my answering machine.

The one that pisses me off the most is that the local blood center calls me 1-2 times per week, often at weird times (like 11AM on a Sunday morning or 9PM some night)... all because I did the nice thing and donated blood a year or two ago. That one act doesn't mean I want to donate blood every 3 months like they want you to. I'm sorry, guys. I just don't want to donate that often. Stop decreasing the chance that I'll donate soon by pissing me off with all the cold calling, I never agreed to it, anyway. URGH.

Your post struck a nerve, James. #;-}>

They forward your details because it makes them money, simple as. To be honest, I don't think I've ever had a need for a landline in the past five years, and probably never will, and if I get a call to my mobile from a withheld number I'll just divert to answerphone. If it's a call to the landline and they ask for Mr whoever, ask who it is, then quickly say he's not interested and hang up. It works ideally at our gaff, where my poker rig is next to our main phone, I can divert all the junk before the folks answer it.

huh huh your level picture is awesome!!!!!!!!

All I have is a cell phone, no home line, and they still get my number too somehow.

I agree, it's a major annoyance.

Our current telephone number was a recycled one, too. I never expected that they did that, but I discovered I was mistaken shortly after we had our new phone service set up.

Almost daily, we would get calls for some girl named "Audrey" or "Aubrey" or something like that. A few of them were even personal calls, like yours from Random Guy's son (one was a little kid asking for her, and when told she didn't live here, he was heard confusedly repeating it to his mom in the background)

But in our case, most of these calls for "Audrey" were from collection services. She was apparently behind on many of her bills, and we were left to deal with the collectors. And of course they assume you're lying to them about her wherabouts (like she had said "here, answer my phone and tell them I'm not here anymore")

Thankfully, it all died down after a few months. They all started slowly getting the picture, and stopped calling for her.

But, I feel your pain. :(

Wow that sucks,i never got a recycled number,A lot of people come over to my house trying to sell paintings,I dont know why but its always paintings and they're never any good.My dad just says not interested to them over and over again until they get out.Then one time we got some guy who didnt speak english and he wouldnt get out for half an hour because he didnt understand what dad was saying and we ended up having to buy the crappy painting

A friend of mine once got advertising for some adult website via text message. It was both funny and sad, but mostly strange.

did you get promoted?

Yeah, we were all right for the first couple of years in this house, then we started getting nuisance calls from miscellaneous salespeople once a month, then once a week, then virtually daily. The worst thing is that since the migration of call centres to Delhi or wherever, I can't even understand what they're saying most of the time "M nme, John Smith, I calling frm London, you win a free mobile", no you're fucking not, you're Raj Sahib calling from Bundi and I'm not fucking interested.

I signed up with http://www.callpreventionregistry.co.
uk/ (free) a little while back, and it seemed to slow things down for a while, but they're starting to build up again. By law, they have to remove you from their list if you request it, so the calls now generally go something like:
"M nme, John Smith, I call frm London, you win a free mobile"
"Hello, I'm not interested. Please remove me from your list. Thank you, goodbye".

Not sure whether they do actually remove our number, but it makes me feel better. The dead giveaway is that when you first pick up the phone, there's a second or two of either silence or callcentre noise, so you can prime yourself ready to politely tell them to shove it up their asses.

I hate phones anyway.

BTs a bitch, they charge all sorts of charges, and everyday at 6 in the morning, i get a 'recorded message' thats actually an advert- waking up to "Would YOU like to get new windows" is really nice...

Unlike you, i just shout obscenities at the poor guy in a call center near you (if its not the recorded message)

Hello sir! Could I offer you in our tele-block service? Just give us your e-mail adress and we will assure that you will never be solicited over the phone again!

I strongly dislike telemarketers! They are always phoneing up my houses, forever asking if I need a new wall, or a window or a teapot or some crap like that. Basically, if one phone's up, I tend not to be nice like you, but to tell teh cunt to fuck off, in a more abusive manner than that. They make me soo angry! Even if I'm ina good mood, and one phone's up, I'll end up angry 'cause of them! >:(

I can't stand the people, I know it is there job and everything, but the same one will call 3 times a day for a week. buhbye

This is Kit-Kat, I also hate telemarketers and those damned text advertisements. I really don't get many of those anymore, especially telemarketer calls because I don't seem to be as polite as you. I just yell something vulgar and hang up, seems to work quite well.

Also no one gets on Gears anymore :/

God you type alot.

Yeah the spam text messages are quite annoying, at least I don't pay for incoming messages. I too have a recycled number, and I had calls for the previous owner of the number for at least 3 years. The number is also one digit off from the VA hospital so I get calls for that occasionally as well.

If I hear a motherfucker from India on the other end, I hang up the phone immediately. To me that automatically tells me I don't want to do business with that company.

In the U.S. now, mobile phone companies are now giving out all numbers to telemarketers, so you have to call a Government do not call list to block your name from their list. I think it goes in to affect soon.

Well stop gettin frustrated, because it is meaningless and wont help you, also it isn't a big problem. I sometimes get phone calls to my cell phone from other companies and they ask me to change my cell phone connection to theirs.. And if I say no they start asking WHY? But anyway that doesn't frustrate me at all... Anyway I do even more usless stuff in my life...

Haha. I have almost the same problem at home, people are calling me asking for some guy who used to live here. the thing is, there is this woman calling a couple of times every month, and she is allways insisting that i owe her money, even though i told her my name is NOT René, like 10 times allready.

I was also in telemarketing a couple of years back, and for some reason everytime you call people to try and sell them something, they've got something on the stove and they blame you for their bad cooking skills when it gets burned..

A good trick is to just say "Listen, i am really busy at the moment, i understand you get paid for talking to me, but noone is paying ME to be on the phone, so please excuse me.

My house phone number is now ex-directory, as my mum used to get calls from someone breathing heavily down the phone, saying he was her father...
And I signed up to messages from my nearest paintball centre, as it usually reminds me that to go sometime, but I hate when you get a message, and you think it's from a friend, but it only says 'FREE KAISER CHIEVES REALTONE DL NOW WAP'.
Those annoy me.
I once got a REALLY weird one that read something like 'I just noticed you from a phone box, and I thought you were cute, so here's my number Give me a call sometime. ;)', followed by an 0800 number. =|

Here in Singapore, we rarely ever get calls like that. On the occasion that my house phone rings, if I'm bored, I pretend to be interested for a while, then politely refuse. If I'm busy, I just let it ring. Anyone who needs to contact me calls my handphone number anyway.

You can stay with me!

U look funny!