unwelcomed phone calls?

Question

cant stand people who enjoy making funny phone calls,why do they do it,why do they never speak then hang up,why do they ring for a couple of seconds then hang up,been happening to my family for the last 4-5 months,are there lives that dull and boring,are they just immature,advice please.

i have sale calls blocked on my line allready plus not many know my number.

Answer 1

We've had this for 6 years. Its someone we know, because when we change our number it stops for a while then start again - after someone gives them our new number.
Change your number. Tell your phone company you're getting nuisance calls and they won't charge you. Get an answerphone.
Call the BT nuisance calls line and follow the advice. And try ringing 1471 and write their phone number down if they are dumb enough not to have blocked it. Keep a diary of every call and after a month or two go to BT and the police.

Prank callers call once, nuisance callers have a grudge. It sounds like yours are the call centers so get on Telephone Preference Service!

Answer 2

Unless these calls were wrong numbers, you may have brought these calls onto yourself. I'm not saying YOU did anything wrong. What may have happened is, you or a member of your household has said something or done something that has rubbed the caller the wrong way. Being selfish and immature they do not know how to handle the criticism so they resort to the "crank call". Use caller ID and find out who they are. If they foil your attempts, report the abuser problem to your telephone company.

Answer 3

if you are in the uk and you are a bt customer, you have a few options:

1. get a phone or unit with lcd caller display. you then call bt and ask for their free privacy service, and you get the 'caller display' service free of charge. this displays the caller's number and you can choose to answer. if no number is displayed, don't answer.

2. if you know the number they are dialling from you can get bt's 'choose to refuse' service, which blocks all calls to your phone from that number. there is a charge for this service, but i can't remember what it is.

3. you can register with 'tps' which is the telephone preference service. companies have to check this list to see if your number is on it before they can make any marketing calls. if they do not, they are breaking the law and can be fined by oftel. free of charge.

4. if you do register with tps, and continue to get marketing calls, ask the caller for their name or dept, and their company so you can report them to the tps. they usually hang up without providing info, and don't call back!

failing that, you could screen your calls with an answering machine.

Answer 4

You are not alone there!! I am ex-directory,but these day's it makes no difference at all,all they have to do is sequential dialling!I was plagued at one time. I now have an answer machine,and I leave it on ALL the time. It has reduced it somewhat! They soon get fed up talking to a machine that gives no response!!You may wish to call your telephone company,who may be able to sort the problem out,or even The Telephone Preference Service, if it is companies bothering you.( UK)

Answer 5

You're not hated by anybody are you? Seriously - It could be someone who has the hump with your family and is doing it specifically to pi*s you off.

On the other hand, it could be a petty, immature, ridiculous little prankster who is doing it to get some strange kicks!

I think you should speak to your phone provider and get your number changed - only informing the important people of the change, and making sure you are ex-directory, then if it carries on, you know it's someone you know - but if not, PROBLEM SORTED!

Answer 6

It could be an automated call set up by a marketing company to try and establish what time you're around. If you're in the UK it's possible to stop these calls, BT will handle it for you.

Answer 7

some firms have cold calling they auto dial 100 numbers but have only 20 people to deal with those call so the fist 20 to pick up speak to some one the rest just get silence Its annoying and illegal.You can register to bar certain calls I can't remember the webb site good luck

Answer 8

Either contact BT and opt out of junk calls or buy a whistle and blow it really hard down the phone when they call. If you see someone with bleeding ears, you'll know it's them.

Answer 9

its a call centre. the way they work is they dial five numbers at once. first person to pick up gets connected the other four numbers get put back on the system to be dialled again. you can block sales calls with Telephone Preference system. unfortunately you cant block market research calls though good luck with that

oh yeah you can barr private numbers from calling you house though

Answer 10

Sometimes telesales peeps phone so many people @ random and the first one to pick up they speak to - so all the others get a mystery caller!! It's anoying!!