When you answer a call from an unknown number ...

It might be an old friend trying to get in touch.
It might be someone wanting to offer you a job.
It might be someone calling to ask you on a date.
It might be someone you already know who got a new phone number.
It might be someone who found your dog and is calling the number on the tag.
It might be a parent of one of your kid's friends calling with an emergency, or a police officer.

If you're going to answer the call using a nasty, surly tone and demand to know who it is, you will not deter a salesperson but you will certainly turn off anyone who was calling for a legitimate reason, and it can be really hard to get the conversation back on a civil level if the caller doesn't hang up first.

Don't answer and let it go to voicemail. Friends will leave a message.

The random times I pick up an unknown number, I only turn 'surley' when the caller doesn't id themselves or begins a pitch.

it'll be none of those. It'll be a telemarketer.

I assume in this case it was one of those on the list... and kthnry was put off by the surly/suspicious tone of the person answering the phone, and hung up.

ETA: I've done that before when calling an ad someone posted, deciding I didn't want to deal with that grouchy personality, and quickly hung up after saying "Sorry, wrong number".

The only calls I now get on my home phone are telemarketers. Everything worthwhile is on my cell.

sprout said:

I assume in this case it was one of those on the list... and kthnry was put off by the surly/suspicious tone of the person answering the phone, and hung up.

ETA: I've done that before when calling an ad someone posted, deciding I didn't want to deal with that grouchy personality, and quickly hung up after saying "Sorry, wrong number".

Yep, something like that. I own a couple apartments that I rent out. Twice I have called people -- people who gave me their number and asked me to call them about an opening -- and gotten the nasty reception because my cell phone has an out-of-state area code. "Sorry, wrong number!"

No big deal. 99% of the time it's some crackhead in a call center. Within a few seconds people will figure out you're not that.

People have their guard up on the phone. It's not personal, it's not about the caller, and it will all be straightened out in a few seconds. Why get bent out of shape?

I've called my mom from weird phones a few times and gotten a frosty ".....hello?" We laugh our ***** off afterwords as I make fun of her for her stone cold heart.

I also have a different style when I answer a call from an unknown number - not rude, exactly, but not sweetness and light, either. Usually such a call is someone soliciting a donation, trying to scam me in some way, trying to switch electrical providers, sell me services or items I neither want nor need...I typically don't pick up unknown numbers, but sometimes the city shown is one where I do have friends/relatives/other interests. I can always get friendlier if it turns out to be a valid call; I don't see any reason to assume the unknown caller is someone I want to talk to. Most people understand when you tell them, "Sorry, that was my 'who are you and get off the phone' voice" if it turns out to be someone you know.

eta: if it turns out to be a wrong number, I usually try to help them if I can, especially if it sounds as if they are confused or not native English-speakers.

If it is a wrong number, I ask them what number they were trying to reach. Sometimes I can point out where they went wrong in their dialing. At other times I can tell them that they were given the wrong number, saving them from calling again only to get me on the line once more.

Jackson_Fusion said:

People have their guard up on the phone. It's not personal, it's not about the caller, and it will all be straightened out in a few seconds. Why get bent out of shape?

It's not 'bent out of shape', it can be part of the screening process:

I don't want to deal with someone whose "default is defensive" when faced with a small challenge such as an unknown number. If I was going to rent out an apartment to someone (or hire a babysitter, etc), I would want it to be to someone whose "default is friendly".

I had some fun with a bad scam caller who said he was from microsoft and we had to let him have access to our computer to fix a a dangerous problem. I knew it was a scam right away and told him to get an honest job. He then told me to shut up. I said, "No you shut up." He yelled back at me, "No, you shut up.." I told him one more time, "No, you shut up." and hung up.... My wife was laughing like crazy.

Isn't the very purpose of caller ID that you can decline to answer a call from someone you do not recognize? If it's someone you want to talk to they can leave a message and you can call back.

I always answer with a chipper tone- and thank them for their time before hanging up. It teaches my son not to be a douche to others....

Amen, blackcat

I've been getting calls from a 917 number on my cel phone. The woman says something like "Oh. . . hello, sorry (laugh), i need to adjust my headset . . . ." It's the most annoying recording i have received and since it is a 917 number I always pick it up because I often get 917 work calls.

skadave said:

I've been getting calls from a 917 number on my cel phone. The woman says something like "Oh. . . hello, sorry (laugh), i need to adjust my headset . . . ." It's the most annoying recording i have received and since it is a 917 number I always pick it up because I often get 917 work calls.

I got that one too. I thought it was a real caller..didn't realize that it was a recording.I've become nicer to real sales calls (not the scammy kind) now that my son is doing cold call selling. Hope others will be as courteous !

I get "credit card" calls on my cell phone from numbers very similar to my cell number. Now I know not to answer them.

.

krnl said:

Don't answer and let it go to voicemail. Friends will leave a message.

The random times I pick up an unknown number, I only turn 'surley' when the caller doesn't id themselves or begins a pitch.

I don't take calls from unfamiliar numbers and sometimes I don't take calls from familiar ones.

cubby said:

I don't take calls from unfamiliar numbers and sometimes I don't take calls from familiar ones.

That is what I would do in theory... but in practice, my sense of curiosity is stronger than my tendency to be anti-social.

However, if there is any pause, or that connection 'bloop' sound, when I pick up and say 'Hello', then I'll quickly hang up before the call center person is connected.

Sprout, I do the same thing. Dead air and I hang up immediately.

Unfortunately, there are times in our lives when we are expecting or dreading an important phone call that may well come from an unknown number. Sometimes the anxiety associated with that expectation can lead to our yelling "Get off the phone" even to our closest friends and family. The difference is that those friends and family will understand where we are coming from while even the best intentioned acquaintance or stranger may not.

Each time I get a call from an unknown number and they don't leave a message, that's a red flag that the call is from no friend or family of mine.

After these calls, I go into my Fios app, look for the number and block it. Works like a charm.

cubby said:
I don't take calls from unfamiliar numbers and sometimes I don't take calls from familiar ones.

Precisely. There is exactly 0% chance that I will answer a call from an unknown number.

kibbegirl said:

Each time I get a call from an unknown number and they don't leave a message, that's a red flag that the call is from no friend or family of mine.

After these calls, I go into my Fios app, look for the number and block it. Works like a charm.

Since you have FiOS you should try nomorobo.com. Totally legit free site. They came about from some FTC competition.

In short, you put their 800 number into "call forwarding" on your FiOS account. Then incoming calls ring simultaneously on your line and on their 800 line. If they recognize the number as a bad one, or if they see a new number calling a lot of their customers, their side picks up and hangs up, most of the time before your phone gets a chance to make a peep.

It's amazing. Changed our life. Never had a wanted call blocked. Check it out for sure.

They make their money by selling their service, with their discovered list of bad numbers, to businesses. That's why they give it to you free- you're part of their crowdsourcing efforts.

Nomorobo is great. We used to get dozens of annoying calls every day, and now, none. The phone will ring once, and that's all. It's been a real sanity saver.

And it will work with any VOIP service, not just FIOS.

I just tried nomorobo on your recommendation. I took over my mother's old phone number after she died in June. It gets only junk calls, and I send them to voicemail unconditionally. Now I'll try this instead. Thanks.

Tom_Reingold said:

I just tried nomorobo on your recommendation. I took over my mother's old phone number after she died in June. It gets only junk calls, and I send them to voicemail unconditionally. Now I'll try this instead. Thanks.

It's been pretty great. Our number must have "been around" before we got it because boy, it got called a lot. Tom it was insane how much it dropped off, and instantly. Done. From probably 7 a day at least to 2 or 3 a week-at worst- and the ones getting through are just a step ahead of the sheriff so to speak because I never see them again after the first time.

I'm sure the autodialing miscreants will come up with something else. But until they do this service is crushing them, and it has the benefit of zero client interaction after the initial sign up. No equipment, no renewal, no monitoring, watering or care and no cost. Financing gained through a smart business model that utilizes their free customers to supply data for paying customers. Elegantly simple solution. My hat is off to whoever hit on the idea.

Do you have to add the bad numbers to their registry to block further calls from them from coming in? In other words, do you have to fill out a form to say, "This was a junk call"?

With nomorobo, you literally do nothing other than sign up, and not answer on the first ring.