They didn’t really physically destroy my land line phone (though I’ve been tempted to hit it with a big rock) robo calls have pretty much rendered it useless. It’s a real problem and a lot of people are plagued by them. Here’s a problem that’s universal, crosses party lines, and nobody seems able to fix it.
What they’ve done is train me to not answer my phone. That sucker is going to go to voice mail. My lovely wife was able to program the phone so that when the kids call the tone is different. At least my cell phone gets a lot fewer junk calls. Then again, the ringer on the cell phone malfunctions often so I miss a lot of calls there too. It’s not a bug, its a feature.
On the bright side, I no longer have to worry about being hounded by creditors. I’m still waiting on a resolution on my hospital bill so that might be an issue. Since I’m not answering any calls at all, the creditors won’t be able to reach me either. Maybe they’ll send something in the mail, but that’s not much of a problem. I sort my mail while standing next to the woodstove.
When I travel the phone gets shut down and the answering service gets switched to something that senses messages as an e-mail attachment. The vast majority of robo calls don’t leave messages, so that’s not a problem. Real people know to leave a message.
Being able to communicate by phone was pretty good while it lasted.
-Sixbears
So the big carrrier companies have come up with a solution for ROBO calls. Verizon now notifies me that a call is a robo call. This started a couple of weeks ago. About a week ago Verizon sent me a text message that this service will cost me $3.99 a month! So they can control this problem but it's going to cost me! You know what I should tell Verizon? (Not printable in this comment!!)
ReplyDeleteVerizon has great coverage and services, but you pay though the nose for it. I won't go back to them.
DeleteI use "Nomorobo" app. Refuses 90% of my robo calls, doesn't even ring. I think it costs $2 per month.
ReplyDeleteFYI
Thanks for sharing. I'm bothered by the fact we have to employ a paid service to reduce the problem. The government regulates communications so should be able to fix the problem.
DeleteBoth home and cell phone, I just don't answer if I don't recognize the number. As you say, regular people can leave messages. When I rarely do answer the land line, I just pick it up and say nothing. Robos recognize this as a non-working line (or so I'm told) and won't call it again.
ReplyDeleteI make sure not to give my cell number out to anyone I don't have to. That really reduces the junk calls on that line.
Delete