To avoid answering unknown numbers? Ring ring

[GiddyJadeHare]

Your phone’s ringing. You take it out of your pocket, and suddenly… you see it’s from a number you don’t know! 😱

Are you answering it, or letting it ring?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and any funny stories about those mysterious calls!

I don't answer if I don't know who it is. They can leave a message. I also use the "Who Called Me" website and invariably they are cold callers or scammers so I can immediately block.

So why on earth would you have the remotest interest in other people’s ’funny stories’ about unknown numbers? It’s like dimwit journalism 101. You haven’t even pretended to have had a ‘funny story’ of your own. Not that it’s clear what would be either funny or mysterious about getting a call from a number you don’t recognise.

I answer it because I worked in a profession where I called from an unknown number. If the person didn't answer it, it was never in their best interests! Quite the opposite.

Ah, the true Mn note. See also ‘I never answer when my doorbell rings’.

Always ignore 020 numbers , had 6 in a row last week ignoring them !!
later found out it was my daughter who had been mugged handbag and phone stolen
she was calling from the security office of a London store , mine was the only number she could remember!
i won’t ignore any calls again

I will answer local numbers. I get quite a few spam calls and I can tell as the area codes are always weird and they never leave a message. So I look them up, see that they are rogue numbers and block them.

@Planesmistakenforstars "I never answer my phone whether I recognise the number or not. If it's an emergency they can leave a message"

This just strikes me as colossally arrogant!

I answer amd either instantly hang up if it's a scammer or i'll play along with it for a bit to waste their time.

Nope, I loathe using the phone. I usually WhatsApp or Msg. If its something important (never is), they can leave a voicemail.

I always answer. It takes two seconds and I just end the call if it's a spammer.

Faster than thinking about who it might be.

I call people from A&E a lot to ask people to come to hospital for their very sick/dying relative. Quite a few people don't answer and don't call back despite me leaving a message saying please call A&E re relatives name. These people are down as next of kin and are the people that the patient wants us to contact in this situation. Often in my job the patient is unconscious and cannot contact them themselves. I repeatedly call the same number and they just don't answer. It makes me very sad.

Why? If you live in your own with no family or dependents I guess I could understand, but if you have other people in your life don't you think it could be a hospital/police contacting you because something might have happened to them?

They have withheld numbers and won't leave a message.

I assume you don't have children because you would never not answer the phone to the school or your DC?

Some of the people you call may be on this thread.

It is completely baffling why it never occurs to them that this night be the reason for an unexpected phone call.

And thank you for the job you do.

I will answer, because I’m nosey.

If it’s after 9.30pm I will answer but not say anything, maybe do some deep breathing. A genuine caller will speak.

answer
had an unwell relative and calls from carers/hospital were always from withheld numbers and they were not allowed to leave messages due to confidentiality.

This.
If I'm expecting a call from random numbers (sick relative in hospital eg) then I'll answer.
But otherwise I don't. If it's important they'll leave a message.
9/10 it's scam when I look it up on google.

iPhone has a handy feature where you can silence unknown callers and they go straight to voicemail.

Not if they’re calling from A and E about a relative you didn’t know had collapsed and been blue-lighted in.

I have Apples silence unknown numbers switched on, it sends them straight to voicemail, if I was expecting a call I can easily switch it off for a short time

If I got a call from A and E about a random relative then it's just tough, if anyone dies the police come to your house, they did when my estranged father died

Don't rely on your phone accurately showing where the call originated from.

was with my mum at a hospital appointment once (in London) when a call came through from Bridgend in Wales. I ignored it. It turned out to be a missed call from the oncology department of the same hospital that for some reason was rerouted through Wales. It was an important call and I missed it.

Last week I got a missed call from (supposedly) Belfast which turned out to be a call from a travel agent in Florida about an upcoming holiday. Luckily she left a voice mail.

Surely it’s quicker just to answer and hang up rather than google numbers to find out

I have no words.

When DH and DD are at home I don't keep my phone with me, but if they are out of the house then I do, and I will always answer it.

I think non answerers mustn't have important people in their lives who are out of the house.

maybe quicker but not what I prefer to do, pick ups on spam just increases spam calls and it throws me off my work whereas just googling and cracking in doesn’t.

Honestly I have had the same mobile Number for over 20 years, I rarely get scammers if ever (can't even recall) and answer all calls I can get to unless I am somewhere random which makes it tricky.

Its a phone you can hang up, just answer your damn phones stop making life difficult.

My neighbour rang me after a fall, from a number I didn't know. Did I ignore it - no I bloody didn't , where would she have been if I hadn't etc

I don't see being contactable as necessary. On the chance that police/hospital etc (which has happened in the past) are trying to contact me, it just doesn't matter whether I, who could do nothing practically about a situation, have that information immediately. I don't always have my phone with me anyway - don't always take it to work, and don't always have it switched on. That's an honest answer, but probably a completely unsatisfactory one for people who worry about things like this. I just don't worry about things like this.