How do you handle phone calls from numbers you don't recognize?

Never answer the phone I hate phones unless I am expecting a call.

I take the offensive; if it’s a telemarketer, I scream nonsense at them. Sometimes I press buttons wildly.

i love them. i always think it’s someone from my past trying to reconnect with me. (specifically my ex.)

even though it’s almost always a telemarketer, or a wrong number.

I never answer the phone or the door unless I know who’s there and why.

I don’t answer it. If I do answer, I love to piss the person on the other side off. Yeah, or I give the phone to my friends little sister, and let her deal with it.

@shego When my son was 2 he loved talking on the phone. I let him have the phone whenever a telemarketer called ;)

@SpatzieLover I know, and it builds up their communication skills.

This is happening to me right now. I keep getting calls from 914 area code. I called it back this mornig to see who is was. It’s March of Dimes. While it’s a good cause, I’m getting tired of it. The next time they call, I’m telling them to get our number off their list.

Now that Christmas is right around the corner, here come the calls. :-(

@jbfletcherfan Have any little kids to hand the phone to? ;P

I don’t answer phone calls from numbers that appear in my phone, I only answer calls that have already been entered in my celly with a name. If the call is important to the person calling then they’ll leave me a message or send a text saying who they are.

I do not answer. Wait for them to leave a message.
My phone is not for the world to contact me when ever they want. :-)

@SpatzieLover I am 100% with you: Never answer the phone I hate phones unless I am expecting a call.

@SpatzieLover No I don’t, damn it! :-/

I never get calls from unknown numbers unless I’m expecting them. Very few people have my number. But in general if I’m not expecting a call, and it isn’t a close friend or family member, I won’t answer. They can leave a message and I will call back. Everyone knows I screen calls and this has worked very well for me.

That’s what voicemail is for.

@ChazMaz well, crap. I was just going to call you.

Hello?

Nobody leaves me voicemail. I’m not special. But that’s ok. Cause I didn’t want to talk to them anyways.

@jbfletcherfan If it’s a computer call you can hit i think it’s correct the Zero button a bunch of times to stop it from calling your home daily.

i answer them just like any other call. last i heard there is no way to send anthrax via a phone line.

if it turns out to be some freak you can always have fun with them, they are paying. if its some heavy breather or something you can always take it as a challenge to freak them out.

EDIT:

i always used to answer the phone before caller ID was invented. why stop now.

I get a call from an unknown number less than once a month.
I always answer it.

I found out years ago, that if you don’t answer, they keep calling.
usually a wrong number. I’ve never had a telemarketer call my cell.

@jbfletcherfan – My fluther friends are an exception.

Except for one… And you know who you are… ;-)

And, you better leave a message.

Yea, voicemail… let me check mine. “You have… zero… new messages”... oh.

:(

Same as @SpatzieLover . I hate phones and talking on them. Except I don’t even answer when I’m expecting a call. I still let the voicemail get it just to see if it’s the person I’m expecting.

One exception is my work cell phone. I programmed my boss with a certain ringtone. That way I would pick up when she calls.

@SpatzieLover I didn’t know that. Thanks.

@ChazMaz One ringy-dingy….two ringy-dingy….. ’-)

Is that you calling me? I said leave a message!

:-)

@ChazMaz…I’ll leave you a message alright…............

I let them go right to voice mail. If its important they’ll leave a message :)

What @pinkparaluies said.

it depends on my mood. If I am feeling devilish, I tell them iIwould love to hear about their product, so they think they have reeled in a sucker, then ask them to call me back on my cell because I am at work and have to keep the line clear. I then tell them to call 973–474-9051. Call it to see what they hear! It’s a fun and hilarious way to get revenge on those annoying telemarketing calls!

@scamp That is awesome.

I don’t answer if I don’t know who it is. A legitimate caller will leave a message.

@essieness did you call it?

@scamp Of course.

I screen all my calls. Even if it’s people I know. My outgoing voice mail message literally says “Please leave a message, because if you don’t, I will not call you back. Thanks, bye!” It’s mean, but unless I feel like talking to that person, I won’t answer because I don’t have the motivation to deal with it.

@essieness hee hee he:D

I press the call button, then hang up with out saying anything.

I normally always answer, though I may avoid it nowadays if I’m in a bad mood and may fear it will be someone who’ll make me feel worse. I usually recognise the country prefix though, and can guess who it may be.

The same thing I do when whenever anyone calls, -ignore.

Answer them. I’m looking for a job!

I pretend to talk a foreign language then I get angry in the foreign language.
My favorite is a fake chinese accent. I say “Yum-Yum chinese restaurant dis is Yum-Yum. You want hot sour soup? How bout wonton?

I must be the last person on Earth without caller ID. So they’re all “unknown” numbers to me. :)

I hate phones and I hate talking to people, so I’ll let it ring forever. Husband was trained early on that phones must be answered at all costs, so he springs into action. This pairing would seem to work well, until you realize that some calls are for me. He hands them off to me very earnestly – whether they’re friends, charities, or God forbid, my mother. Not so great. And he never, ever lies to say I’m not home. Some husband.

I have the ringer on my house phone turned off. If someone calls that line, nine times out of ten, it is a telemarketer. When they do, they get this message: You have reached the Orgasmic Church of Evelyn. Evelyn is not here right now to take your call, but if you leave your name, your number and a short message, Evelyn will get back to you as soon as she returns to the church. Have a glorious day, and remember, Evelyn loves ya, baby!

If it is a friend, they know to call my cell number. If people who know me can’t figure out it is my voice on the house phone, that’s not my problem, is it?

I HATE it when that happens. Personally, I wouldn’t pick up. Someone always constantly calls my home phone, n just stays quiet, regardless of how many times i scream hello. And it sucks, ‘cause although I have called ID on my cell, i don’t on my homephone! But then again, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to pick up – you never know when it might be an emergency, like a family member calling on a payphone or something, right?

Sometimes I try and get them off their rap, make them laugh and just talk about normal stuff. Make friends with them. Some aren’t friendly. I’ve talked to a couple telemarketers around my age that were really cool. One from Austin Tx and the other from Baltimore. They called and I ended up talking to them for 1–2 hours and it was like we were always friends. I make friends everywhere i go though.

I talk spanish to telemarketers. Sometimes they go and get an espanol speaker. I’ve pulled up russian on the comp so I speak russian to the espanol speaker. i really frustrate them

I always answer it because if I didn’t it would annoy me to not know who was calling and what they wanted (I don’t have voicemail). I would be paranoid that I missed an important call or something.

It’s a rare day that I answer my phone when I don’t recognize the number. I will usually have the phone phone of anybody I know and talk to regularly already in my phone, and their number will pop up.

Unless I’m expecting a call from someone, I use my phone for convenience. That means that I don’t pick up calls from numbers I don’t recognize.

EXACTLY!!!