Do you answer withheld calls

[Thewayshetalks]

I hate having withheld calls, I sometimes miss them and then spend all day wondering who has tried to call me.
does anyone ever answer them?

@Thewayshetalks Good, far better than phoning from a withheld number!

Why dont I answer?

Because if it isnt someone I know or am expecting, I didnt invite their contact, they have the option of voicemail if they feel it is important enough but the fact that 90% of the time they dont use that option speaks volumes. The other 10% is usually silence for 2 minutes as the call centre auto cut out but didnt end the call so it records. My mother nipping round on the off chance I am in is different to the Virgin people hammering on my door twice a week trying to sell me their services. I will answer the first but not the second.

@Delatron The NHS send a lot of texts now. I had a breast screening appointment today and had three texts to remind me. I think they don't generally use emails as it is less secure. I believe that this is why the NHS still used fax machines when everyone else had ditched theirs.

because they are busy/ at work / driving/ cooking/ on the toilet / in the shower/ in the garden and the phone is on the sofa/ left the phone downstairs and are upstairs atop of a ladder balancing a paint pot …

Also, some scam calls are simply to establish that a number is live, and by answering you are then opening yourself up to a hell of a lot more such calls.

Yes, it’s always the doctor or hospital so important to answer …

You can block the number once you’ve established it’s a scam call. They’re not generally number withheld ones.

No I never do. They can leave a vm if it's important. My local hospital has always sent out post appointments and my GP leaves voicemails asking me to give them a wee call back.

I assumed for the purposes of this thread people were only going to answer the phone if in a position to do so.
So it’s ringing saying ‘ Number withheld’ and they’re staring at it in their hand but not answering.

I answer them if I'm in a particularly belligerent mood.

Fair enough. But you did wonder why people would not answer a phone call. I just gave some examples. I do not know if all phones do, but mine states it’s a withheld number even if I miss the call and look later on. I’ve been job hunting lately and answered every call - to be phoned by a withheld number purporting to be my phone provider (they were not) wanting me to update billing details. Scammers do change their tactics.

But you did wonder why people would not answer a phone call

But only if they could have answered. I didn’t need examples of why that might not be possible. 😄I wouldn’t wonder why someone wouldn’t answer the phone if they didn’t even know it was ringing.

@Sparklingbrook hmmm so how do you know someone is unable to answer the phone, eg the nhs employee attempting to phone about an appointment for the third time? It’s a bit irrelevant wether it’s deliberately or accidentally missed - the call still hasn’t been responded too. The nhs needs to find a way of making numbers visible/or leave a message/text.
btw you didn’t write ‘could’ in your original question - which would have elicited a different response.

I've had parents not answer when I have phoned their number from the hospital at the stated time for their child's telephone appointment, despite me making several attempts, then they have contacted the hospital complaining that we have not called, and when we have pointed out that we did, have stated they don't answer withheld calls. And our trust does not allow us to leave messages.

Hence the need for a new system for the NHS. If you are calling from a withheld number and can’t leave a message then that’s not going to work and you’re wasting your own and the patient’s time.

For example, our dentist emails. They never call. Email leaves a trail. I can check back on the time and details.

I think the problem is that the scammers can make up phone numbers or the name of the caller, so you pick up a call that says NHS and it isn't them.

Using email instead of phoning is no use if the NHS clinician is phoning someone in order to have a telephone appointment with them.

Only answer calls from known numbers

@RichardMarxisinnocent I would assume a telephone appointment would have been put in everyone’s diary so as not to waste the clinicians time trying to get hold of the patient when they could be working/driving etc.

Our GP makes telephone appointments so when the phone rings at 10.30 on Tuesday, for example, for a pre-arranged appointment then the phone gets answered. But in our house we answer the phone anyway.

Yes it would be in everyone's diary, but as someone says a few posts above yours, they have phoned parents at the appointment time, parent hasn't answered (because they don't answer withheld numbers) and parent has then complained the clinician didn't call.

No.
But I withhold calls from my phone when I’m using it for work. I don’t understand why people don’t answer your call, but them immediately ring you back and say they have had a missed call.

Probably a mumsnetter @RichardMarxisinnocent.

I would hope that the non answerers on here would learn from this thread, and start answering withheld number calls.

never did, but then dc got ill with lots of hospital appointments and all calls from there were with number withheld.

now I live in forrin where withholding numbers is illegal. makes things easy to decide if to take a call or not.