To not answer "withheld" phone calls

[Mistressmiggins]

Why should I answer the phone? I don't know who they are. Or do you all answer out of curiosity?

Often withheld is important police/nhs etc don't leave voicemails

I never answer withheld numbers. They're nearly always people trying to sell me something.

Anyone whio has something important to say can leave a message. I can't understand the mentality of people who won't engage with answer machines in this day and age. It irritates the hell out of me if I call someone and there's no voice mail facility.

The NHS send texts to remind you of appointments though.

looking at this thread sooty, a lot of important places don't leave messages and are withheld.

I work in the public sector. All out calls go out via a switchboard, so show up as withheld. Annoying because many people won't pick up, even though they left me a message asking me to call.

I work in a nhs clinic. My number is withheld but I always leave a message with phone number. Have had patient answer half way through my message. Think must gp, hospital etc are withheld

I work in a hospital and the number is withheld fir confidentiality we can't leave messages.

If I ring someone several times from the police station to say, for example I have their lost property and they constantly don't answer I give up as I can't keep on doing it. I don't understand why you wouldn't answer. How did people manage before mobiles and caller id?

Often I have gone to a lot of effort to find a telephone number to return property, and I can't leave a message in case it isn't the right person.

But your loss. If I get a cold caller I hang up. It's only a few seconds.

I suppose if I was expecting to hear from a hospital I'd answer. I hadn't thought of that. However the vast majority of mine are people wanting to sell me advertising. It does get very tiresome. That's on my mobile. Any I get at home are PPI and the like which is why I just don't pick up now.

Its quite silly not to answer. Its not like answering the door where you could be in physical danger! If you don't like the caller...hang up!

In fact in the evenings I don't answer the phone to people I do know a lot of the time. If it's my sister I wait for the answerphone to kick in so that I can decide if I need to answer it.

That's the thing though it may not be a call you expect. Someone could be in hospital and you may be their next of Kin or who they wish to be called

Yes, I can see the next of kin argument. I'm not my sister's next of kin and if my mother were taken into hospital her care home would call me - their number isn't withheld and I'd always answer it.

My go, my workplace and my friend all have withheld numbers so I answer

If they ask for my Facebook name then I hang up, because that is my internet name and not my real name so I know they are not a genuine caller

Many genuine business, including mine are number withheld. This is to avoid someone who doesn't have an answer machine doing 1471 and insisting to our receptionist that someone called him/her and expecting the receptionist to go through all 300 plus people who might have called. If we don't get you we'll keep trying. If you block us we'll write to you. It's a pain for all concerned as if we have been trying to contact toy it's because we need to and you probably asked us to.

Our GP, hospital and dentist all leave messages on our answerphone if I'm not able to answer. They don't give out any personal details, but ask "such-and-such a person" to call back. If it's regarding an appointment or test results, or whatever, they will leave a text and/or email msg for that person.

Or write a letter!

Sign up to the TPS. Stops cold callers etc. and any that do call can be reported and fined. Then at least if you do get calls from unknown numbers you can answer safe in the knowledge it's not a marketing call. Unwanted text messages now they get on my nerves.

Email/text about test results? Really Evans?

But say if I made an appointment with my GP and I didn't want DH to know and they rang our phone and left a message about it that he picked up that would cause all sorts of grief?

Wish it worked as a system. Sadly GP surgery always withold as does one good friend.

Its quite silly not to answer. Its not like answering the door where you could be in physical danger! If you don't like the caller...hang up!

Still pretty inconvenient if you're in the middle of cooking supper/in the bath/ill in bed to have to run (or hobble) to the phone, only to find it is a call of no consequence.

YANBU for not answering, but I usually do - you never know who it might be and some people hate using answerphones. If it's a cold caller then I can tell them to remove me from their call list which I prefer to having them try again and again.

The TPS doesn't stop internationally based cold callers unfortunately.

I don't know if it's an urban myth, but I have heard that some places phone random numbers. When you answer they know that their 'guess' is a genuine number - with a person who answers - and they sell on the data base.
I'm signed up to TPS. It only applies to the UK, it doesn't stop foreign cold-calls unfortunately.

Yes, really Sparkling A msg asking that person to call the surgery. Why is that shocking???

I never answer withheld numbers, but will check five minutes later to see if a message has been left. I have never answered a withheld number and it NOT have been someone trying to flog me windows or claim mis-sold ppi tbh. Winds me up.