To not answer an unknown number

[Patentreegml]

I am a supply teacher, furloughed, and looking for jobs around the Chester area.

I have just had an unknown number call me which said it was from Birmingham. I didn't answer as usually I wait for unknown numbers to finish and then google the number.
Google did not have any info on the number.
No voicemail was left.

I'm just worried incase it was important.
But I can't think who would ring me from Birmingham.
But surely any job application callbacks would leave a voicemail?

[MrsJBaptiste]

I never answer the phone to an unknown number, if it's important they'll leave a message. I can't be bothered to break off from what I'm doing to speak to someone I don't need to.

I'd always answer the door though, it's just odd to sit there with the doorbell ringing and ignore it.

[Youngatheart00]

Like some others have said, I find if I don’t answer I get more anxious googling the number or wondering who it was.

If it some sales shit or a scam I hang up pretty quick

[SionnachGlic]

If I had applied for jobs or had contacted an organisation/service provider etc so expecting a return call from unknown number then I would answer. Lately, I've had several of those marketing/survey & scam call no's call my ph daily (googling). I wfh & just don't want to be dealing with those interruptions.

Also, I won't take calls if I am out socially with friends. I created an autoreply, the one that you can click & send as your ph is ringing that says 'I do not answer unknown numbers or return calls to them, please leave vm msg with full details if you require a call back. Thank You'. So I send that..

I do not get OPs insistence that no-one from Bermingham cd be ph'ing... it cd be HR Manager that lives there? If actively jobhunting you need to answer your phone. I agree with the poster that say employersl are too busy to follow up & go back chasing down the one who doesn't answer & OP cd maybe be missing out.

But OP, if you cannot imagine who it might be...stop trying! Either forget about it straight away or return the call.

[JustOneMoreStep]

With the introduction of academies the head office of the school is often nowhere near the school you apply to work at. There is a school in Suffolk where the trust that 'owns' them is based in Sweden, so if you apply for a job there you could get a call from Sweden!

[ScubaSteven]

I've had to make calls home to my class which I've been doing from my own phone, of course I've withheld the number and had about 30% not answer. Then a big complaint has gone in about me not contacting a particular student - they've clearly ignored the calls because it's a withheld number.

I think this is a silly time for people to ignore withheld numbers considering the amount of people who are working from home with only their own equipment to use. Most calls I've received lately are withheld when they'd usually have a number.

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

@EmmaGrundyForPM

We don't have caller ID on our phone so every call is an unknown number iyswim. It's never been a problem.

Are we the only people not to have a telephone with caller ID?

Just me then?

[BackforGood]

If it's important, I'll know the number or they can leave a message.

Except there have been pages and pages of people giving you examples of when they've had calls they needed to receive, from numbers not known to them

if someone rang me about my mum I would recognise the dialing code and probably would pick up in that case.
But mobiles don't have geographical dialling codes, and hospitals (and many other institution - eg the police) have withheld numbers, so you wouldn't recognise the dialling code.

If you want to answer the door, do so. If you want to answer unknown numbers, go ahead. But why does it matter so much that other people don't want to do the same?

It doesn't, in life generally, but people are responding, because someone has asked their opinions.
Then - like @ScubaSteven says, since shut down, many, many people are having to call others from their own phones and are - understandably - witholding their own private numbers. It is then frustrating when they then complain no-one has been in touch, when they choose not to answer.

[Ragwort]

Emma no, I don't have caller ID .

No idea who it is when my landline rings, and that makes me very old fashioned because I still prefer to use my landline for most calls!

[rottiemum88]

I'm just going to leave it,
If it's important i'm sure they'll call back

Except if they call back you presumably still won't answer the phone because you don't recognise the number?

[The3Ls]

I'm a health professional doing telephone consults from home at the moment so withhold my number. Despite having a time parents frequently don't answer we don't leave messages as you have missed your slot. We do send a letter saying you missed it but it's hugely frustrating

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

@Ragwort

Emma no, I don't have caller ID .

No idea who it is when my landline rings, and that makes me very old fashioned because I still prefer to use my landline for most calls!

Oh good. Glad it's not just me!

[Mushypeasandchipstogo]

We never answer unknown numbers and, believe me, we have got good reason not to. If it’s important they will always leave a message. Sometimes I use various websites to look up the numbers, they are invariably accident claim line scam calls.

[KatherineJaneway]

I've had to make calls home to my class which I've been doing from my own phone, of course I've withheld the number and had about 30% not answer. Then a big complaint has gone in about me not contacting a particular student - they've clearly ignored the calls because it's a withheld number.

Why did you withhold your number? What exactly do you think they will do with it?

[Graciebobcat]

I really don't understand the mentality of not answering the phone to unknown numbers, it only seems to exist on MN

Because 99.9% of calls to my landline with unknown numbers are scam calls. The more you answer the calls, the more they phone. If it's important someone will leave a message and I will phone back immediately or pick up when they are still speaking.

[Graciebobcat]

Plus the fact that any friends ring me on my mobile, plus any organisations I give my number to it's my mobile. The very fact of anyone calling the landline indicates it's almost certainly scam callers.

[Gwenhwyfar]

An unknown phone call, just like a brown envelope is likely to be something bad, so I don't answer unless I'm expecting a call at that time.

People not answering scheduled calls - that's something else of course if they've been told that the call will appear without ID.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"Because of confidentiality doctors etc generally don't leave messages."

They can leave a message for you to call back.

[Womencanlift]

@EmmaGrundyForPM I would assume most people on this thread are referring to calls on mobiles where you get caller ID.

I for one have not used a landline since I moved out of my parents house nearly 15 years ago

[TheEmpressMatilda]

Gosh, I haven’t taken my phone off silence since about 2011. (Unless I’m expecting a call, which is rare.) I only get maybe one or two phone calls a week max, and most of them are spam. I don’t know anyone who communicates via the phone any more. Even my dentist does all their booking and everything via Whatsapp.

[TeacupDrama]

If you have a phone consultation with a doctor at a particular time you need to answer, doctors dentists rarely leave messages as they might be picked up by someone other than the intended recipient and that is a breach of confidentiality, some people do not want others to know they have even contacted the doctor. Also ringing back doesn't work for phone consultation as doctor will be on to someone else. I completely get why people generally don't answer withheld numbers but why they don't when they are expecting a call
I don't know

[Gwenhwyfar]

Expected calls are a different matter obviously, but the person should be warned that there will be no caller ID.

As I've said before, in my experience doctors and hospitals have left messages and shown their number so it's not a universal thing.

[SnuggyBuggy]

I've worked in several hospitals that do the witheld number thing. It's hard work because a lot of the patients either don't answer or set up their phone to reject them and I don't blame them. Officially if we wanted to make a phone call without withholding we were supposed to trek down to some office in the bowels of the building and fill in a form, obviously this wasn't practical so we'd just use our mobiles.

I understand these rules in the olden days when people only had landlines and you didn't know who they were shared with. It's just a load of hassle now. The restrictions on answerphone messages also don't make any sense when in most cases it's the patients private mobile number.

We also had this daft rule in one place where you had to ring, give no information as to who you were or where you are calling from until the patient confirmed their full name and date of birth, they would mostly refuse until you identified yourself and hang up.

It's also frustrating for a patient who is under several departments or different hospitals when they just miss a witheld number and have to spend time ringing around every department they are under to track down who is trying to call them rather than just ringing back one number.

[ilovesooty]

@KatherineJaneway

I've had to make calls home to my class which I've been doing from my own phone, of course I've withheld the number and had about 30% not answer. Then a big complaint has gone in about me not contacting a particular student - they've clearly ignored the calls because it's a withheld number.

Why did you withhold your number? What exactly do you think they will do with it?

Are you serious? Why should teachers disclose their personal number to pupils and parents?

[fmpc]

Like a lot of others, I'm working from home atm and have to use my personal phone to make calls, so have blocked my number.
There are a couple of calls that I've made which have been ignored, but one is getting totally ridiculous.
Keeps ringing the office landline, leaves a message for me to call, I ring back, he doesnt answer, I leave a message saying I've rung.
He rings the office landline, mentions he didn't answer because number was blocked, he needs to talk to me, I ring back, again not answered, again leave a message.
And it's been going on for 4 messages now from each of us
So bloody answer the phone and No I'm not going to make my personal number available to clients, thanks.

[SnuggyBuggy]

In these situations surely you need a work mobile phone. I'd also try and see if the answerphone message for the office land-line could be updated.