I Hate Political Phone Calls

[Rich Riddle]

I don't watch much television to say the least, so there is no problem with all the political ads on television. However, in Kentucky the politicians are calling our land line twenty times daily. The phone rings off the hook. I am not political and hang up no matter who calls. Isn't there some law against all the annoying calls? It's getting to the point where we don't even want to answer the phone. Is there any way to block them?

[Rollie Meyers]

I don't watch much television to say the least, so there is no problem with all the political ads on television. However, in Kentucky the politicians are calling our land line twenty times daily. The phone rings off the hook. I am not political and hang up no matter who calls. Isn't there some law against all the annoying calls? It's getting to the point where we don't even want to answer the phone. Is there any way to block them?

Political calls are a loophole put in the "Do Not Call" registry, using a answering machine to screen calls, or as I do, waiting for 7-8 rings to answer.


I hate telemarketers, but am not going to curse at them either.

[Dave Richards]

The trick is to get them to put you on their do not call list. Suck them in, ask them a lot of questions, and then explain to them in very nice but very, very wordy prose how their candidate and their party is not interested in the good of the people they get elected to serve but only serve their own interests. Take up a lot of their time. It doesn't matter which party. They're all the same. I did that a couple of times and word must have gotten around. I don't get those calls anymore.

I did a similar thing about 12 years ago with a couple of young men from a certain religious group. They stopped by one very hot and humid day while I was in my garage working on my sailboat. I invited them inside out of the sun but it was still in the upper 90s inside. They made the mistake of asking what I was building so I told them. And told them. And told them. I gave them all sorts of details. After about 20 minutes their white shirrts and black dress slacks were soaked through. They excused themselves and beat a hasty retreat. They must have put a mark on my house because I've never been visited by any others of their group since then.

[charlie knighton]

the recordings are the worst.......usually there is a time lapse from the time you answer before the tape starts.......sometimes the tape does not start and there is just silence

[Dave Anderson NH]

I know all about political calls and fake polls (push polls). Living in NH, the first in the nation primary, the season really never ends. Within a few months after a presidential election the we get a new batch of clowns coming into the state to "confer", "test the waters", and a list of other euphemisms for starting their campaign. Right now we are fairly quiet with only about 7-10 calls per day. By December, a month before the primary, it will increase to between 15-20. In my house it is worse than normal since I'm registered Republican and my wife is registered Democrat. The real winners here in NH are the TV stations pocketbooks, the printing and direct mail houses, and the media generally. The rest of us just try and hang on waiting for the clowns to go away.

As for the do not call list, when the law was written political calls were specifically exempted. It was not an oversight. Would anyone expect anything different from our(sarcasm follows) respected Solons?

[Kent Adams]

I don't watch much television to say the least, so there is no problem with all the political ads on television. However, in Kentucky the politicians are calling our land line twenty times daily. The phone rings off the hook. I am not political and hang up no matter who calls. Isn't there some law against all the annoying calls? It's getting to the point where we don't even want to answer the phone. Is there any way to block them?

Rich, read what the FCC is trying to do about robocalls, not the political type, but all other types. This came out just today. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...umbers-weekly/

[Rick Potter]

Wow, Dave.

I never thought of what it must be like in New Hampshire or Iowa during Politician season. My condolences.

We get the same 'no one is there' calls plus constant calls about solar and remodeling. We never answer before the third or fourth ring, and if we do, someone better answer back quickly. The typical call we answer goes like this......."Hello..(2 second wait)..goodbye".

[Brian Tymchak]

.. The typical call we answer goes like this......."Hello..(2 second wait)..goodbye".

If I answer the phone at home, and that happens rarely, I do the same, except for the "goodbye" part...

[Erik Loza]

Don't take this as a knock, but why not just get rid of the land line? We haven't had one for close to eight years and I don't miss it one bit. Very, very rarely get robo-called on my cell.

Erik

[Steve Peterson]

We get the typical 10 or so robo calls per day to the landline. My wife or any other people I know don't seem to get any robo calls on their cell phones. Are mobile phone numbers different somehow? And is there a way to have a land line with a number on the "mobile" phone list?

We just screen all of our calls. If you want to actually get us to pick up the phone, you have to either start talking or have caller ID.

Steve

[Bert Kemp]

2 things use an answering machine or dump the landline. I haven't had a landline in over 10 years, and I never ever answer my cell unless I know the number calling me. Problem solved .

[Malcolm McLeod]

Just hang up...

Or if you're feelin' sassy, let 'em start, say "Sure, I need that...!", then set the phone down quietly and walk away. You can hang up next time by. No help to you, but by keeping the operator tied up, it is helping the next 2-3 saps on the list.

For some, it's a job, and it is just not worth me getting torqued-up about.
----
I loved Andy Rooney's idea to take your junk mail and return it, but swap all the business reply envelopes (Visa card application goes to Sears, Sears to AMEX, Time-share to AAA, etc.). Recipient's processing department is busy (and pays the postage) and the USPS needs the work! EVERBODY WINS!

[Dan Hintz]

Or if you're feelin' sassy, let 'em start, say "Sure, I need that...!", then set the phone down quietly and walk away. You can hang up next time by. No help to you, but by keeping the operator tied up, it is helping the next 2-3 saps on the list.

But it doesn't help... if all operators are busy, the robodialer doesn't connect anyone, it just waits until an operator is free. If a dialed number is answered but no operators are free (ever heard nothing but silence?), the called number goes on the "call later" list. you may have helped the next 2-3 numbers on the list gain a few extra minutes of phone silence, but you haven't saved them completely.

[Brian Henderson]

That was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused me to get rid of my landline entirely. I hate political calls. I used to tell everyone who called that their call was the reason I was not voting for their candidate, I refused to vote for anyone whose supporters insisted on harassing me.

[Malcolm McLeod]

But it doesn't help... if all operators are busy, the robodialer doesn't connect anyone, it just waits until an operator is free. If a dialed number is answered but no operators are free (ever heard nothing but silence?), the called number goes on the "call later" list. you may have helped the next 2-3 numbers on the list gain a few extra minutes of phone silence, but you haven't saved them completely.

...I was unsuccessful in relating that you walk away after robo-system connects you to real human.

And sometimes it's OK not to take things so literally. Maybe the next 2-3 folks on list DO get called, but maybe they complete 2-3 less calls that day. Maybe.