To absolutely HATE those pre-recorded phone call messages telling me that I could have my (non-existant) debt cleared.....

[MrBloomsNursery]

I HATE THAT MAN'S VOICE. BLOODY EFFING POSH SOUNDING GIT. I DON'T HAVE DEBTS. I HAVEN'T TAKEN OUT ANY LOANS. I HAVEN'T HAD AN ACCIDENT RECENTLY. HOW MANY BLOODY TIMES DO I HAVE TO PRESS "9" OR PRESS EFFING "5" AND SHOUT AT YOU BLOODY DOGS TO TAKE MY NUMBER OFF YOUR LIST? HOW MANY TIMES?

I DREAD ANSWERING THE PHONE NOW. I NEARLY PUT THE PHONE DOWN ON A GENUINE CALLER YESTERDAY BECAUSE I THOUGHT HE WAS A PRE-RECORDED MESSAGE. WHERE THE EFF DO YOU GET MY NUMBER FROM WHEN I DON'T ENTER MY NUMBER IN ANY ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRES OR GIVE IT OUT WILLY NILLY ON FORMS???

TELL ME WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY ARE YOU RUINING MY LIFE? WHY?

......AND exhale.....Thanks for listening.

Arrrggghh YANBU, I must get this 3-4 times a bloody day! Does my fucking head in!

TPS

and this one

I have TPS and it didn't stop them. I now have a phone that I can set so that if the caller display is 'witheld number' or 'unavailable' it simply doesn't ring!!! Unbelieveably peaceful at home now.

OH they're crafty little buggers - sometimes they cut the call when you answer, so your natural instinct is to press 1471, and you end up calling back that ugly voiced old man!!!!!!!

Caller ID phone would be an option for me.......

cogito - which phone do you have? We're about to get a new house phone and i would LOVE a phone with the option to do that.

It's this Siemens Gigaset. Normally I find 'additional features' are the square root of useless but this one actually works. BTW... the phone doesn't ring but it logs that you've missed a call from 'unavailable'. Overseas calls unfortunately get the same treatment, but at least genuine callers are going to leave you an answerphone message

I cannot be alone in thinking that you are being completely unreasonable although I must admit I have a slight bias as I am employed to make those calls that you so bitterly complain of. If someone in a shop came up to you and asked if you needed any help what would your reaction be? Usually a smile and a shake of the head does the trick; if only people were equally civil towards me.

I cannot tell you the number of occasions where people shout at me or call me names simply for offering to help or advise them. The worst thing is many people seem to think they are generated by a robot or pre-recorded simply because I have a slightly ?mechanical? sounding voice. There have been a few times when I have summoned up the courage to break from my monotonous script and answer back much to the shock of the person on the other end of the phone. Next time it happens I urge you to consider that you are speaking to a fellow human. A human who loves and laughs and lives and breathes and cries and bleeds just like the rest of you and I deserve respect.

Thank you.

never the reason you are greeted with more anger than in a shop is that people's homes are a refuge from intrusion and they hate having that interrupted. That's no excuse for abuse though, even when interrupted from breastfeeding newborn DS and ill my response has always been "No thank you" and to hang up.

"offering to help or advise them" riiight .....