Private numbers

buried

Greyfox wrote: »

The scam calls go away after a few days. By avoiding all private numbers you run the risk of missing something important. A family member could even be calling you and not realising there caller id has been turned off.

A few days? My parents have been getting these cold calls for the last decade, up and to including the last time I was speaking to them which was last week. And they aren't alone, all of their remaining friends have been getting the same kind of calls. You expect these people who have been on the recieving end of these kind of calls to accept private numbers? Some private numbers that call repeatedly again and again without any voicemail or message? I mean lets get real here, I won't even accept these calls after hearing their stories, would you Greyfox? Are they wrong to be so careful after what they have to put up with? Am I? I don't think so G

Posy

Posy wrote: »

What's the difference between a number showing as "private" or "unknown" or getting a call from 01-41110986 or 087-11677453? It's still not a number you might recognise straight away.
Are people generally more likely to answer the latter?

It depends. Maybe it's slightly different down here in the sticks.

If I get an 067 22--' number I know it's a neighbour, if the number begins with 21 or 27 it's someone from the next village over. If it begins with 3, it's from the town, it begins with 0505, I can make a good guess of who that is also.

A mobile number not in my phone can leave a message, unless I can make a stab at who it is. Maybe cattle have broken out on the road, maybe a relative is calling for a chat — these are things I don't want to know about. if it's important I'll find out eventually.

Greyfox

Greyfox wrote: »

The scam calls go away after a few days. By avoiding all private numbers you run the risk of missing something important. A family member could even be calling you and not realising there caller id has been turned off.

That’s insane. I mean people are thrashing around looking for reasons now. If your relative has caller id turned off tell them to turn it on. The chances that they went into the deepest part of their settings and turned it off just before an emergency are slim.

buried

buried wrote: »

Yeah! There's you laughing at them!

What happened that company you worked for anyways?

Went bust because their customers didn’t answer the phone. Nobody knows why. It’s a mystery.

NewbridgeIR

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

My car broke down at the weekend. Thankfully I have Breakdown Assistance. Both callbacks from them were on private numbers. I wonder what would have happened if I refused to answer them.

Well in that situation you were waiting for a call, so yeh answering it makes sense. I would answer a blocked call if was expecting a call from a company at a certain time, but I’d prefer they in fact had a number and it was in my contacts.

These edge cases are pointless. I don’t answer blocked or unknown numbers unless I am expecting them. I’m not a servant to a phone call and I wasn’t in the pre mobile age either.

Wallet Inspector

Deleted User wrote: »

Well in that situation you were waiting for a call, so yeh answering it makes sense. I would answer a blocked call if was expecting a call from a company at a certain time.

Exactly my point. Don't mind buried's obvious winding up and misrepresentation (classy being like that to someone whose frail relative had been in A&E). My objection was to people looking for a callback, expecting a callback, and then not answering because the number was blocked. They were being slaves to their rule.

I don't give a hoot if people don't answer calls from blocked numbers because of the likelihood of these calls being cold calls. They're absolutely right. I just don't get why some get so personally affronted about companies calling them from a blocked number. Or force this view on others.

Lots of us don't see it as a big deal and don't feel offended, or personally slighted, by a company not revealing its number, or think that it signifies something nefarious. Buttonftw hit the nail on the head.

But not picking up because it's highly likely to be a cold call - I don't mean that (although I still always pick up myself, and just say "Can't talk now" if it's a cold call).

I think there are fewer of them now though. More numbers show than they did ten years ago.

Greyfox

buried wrote: »

Some private numbers that call repeatedly again and again without any voicemail or message? I mean lets get real here, I won't even accept these calls after hearing their stories, would you Greyfox? Are they wrong to be so careful after what they have to put up with? Am I? I don't think so G

In cases like this of course id expect private calls to be ignored.

Deleted User wrote: »

That’s insane. I mean people are thrashing around looking for reasons now. If your relative has caller id turned off tell them to turn it on. The chances that they went into the deepest part of their settings and turned it off just before an emergency are slim.

Yes and answering there private number call gives me the oppertunity to do this. Another reason for private numbers is companies want people calling customer care rather than calling a direct number to someone who may not be at their desk.

10pennymixup

Received a call form a number I didn't recognise yesterday morning at 8:35. Felt like not answering it. but I did,

It was a mobile number that was being used my doctors surgery to call people for a vaccine. I live 7 miles away and in my PJ's. I was there 20 minutes later.

Happy Days.