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mopinko

(70,024 posts)
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:41 AM Sep 2021

who wishes we still had caller id?

i mean, i wish people i call could have my id.
any legit company probably wishes they could signal customers that it's a legit call. my vm says if you arent in my contacts, i'm not answering your call. but if i had a clue, i'd pick up a lot of calls. like the good old days.

sure, they'll start spoofing those soon. but hey, a fake id is a lot easier to share w others than a spoofed phone number. so, limited downside imho.

am i the only one?

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
who wishes we still had caller id? (Original Post) mopinko Sep 2021 OP
Caller ID is meaningless these day. GPV Sep 2021 #1
the closest thing to id now is 1 in 5 scammers get tagged as scammers. mopinko Sep 2021 #5
I just type any unknown numbers into Google. Buckeye_Democrat Sep 2021 #2
i dont bother. no message, i assume you are a scammer. mopinko Sep 2021 #3
Yes, the non-scammers usually leave messages too. Buckeye_Democrat Sep 2021 #13
Hah! After the second time, I would probably... ret5hd Sep 2021 #15
I had an old white woman calling my number often csziggy Sep 2021 #19
The elderly AA woman is always apologetic and polite. Buckeye_Democrat Sep 2021 #20
Yes, if the woman calling me had been polite, we might have gotten to that point csziggy Sep 2021 #22
LOL, what a reaction! Buckeye_Democrat Sep 2021 #24
Oh, lots of the parents calling the wrong number for the school were nearly as bad csziggy Sep 2021 #25
Good grief! I'd probably create a voicemail message... Buckeye_Democrat Sep 2021 #26
At the time I'd had the number for my business for ten years csziggy Sep 2021 #27
What happened to caller ID. Fla Dem Sep 2021 #4
i assume they still have it on land lines. mopinko Sep 2021 #6
Well, like you I don't answer my landline or cell if I don't recognize the caller. Fla Dem Sep 2021 #9
I've had too many cases from doctor's offices and insurance to assume they will leave a message csziggy Sep 2021 #23
We do. Jeebo Sep 2021 #7
not really. mopinko Sep 2021 #8
When I had caller ID ... Jeebo Sep 2021 #11
it used to give the name that the number was listed under. mopinko Sep 2021 #12
I have no memory of that. Jeebo Sep 2021 #14
I had to threaten the phone book distributors here to have them STOP bringing books csziggy Sep 2021 #21
I get a lot of calls from grumpyduck Sep 2021 #10
And who would name their child that??? ret5hd Sep 2021 #16
We call him Mr Likely. TxGuitar Sep 2021 #17
Unless I see that it's someone I know, it goes to voicemail EYESORE 9001 Sep 2021 #18
I understand all the reasons phone companies say they can't do this... Phentex Sep 2021 #28
just feels like a useful thing we had that got away. mopinko Sep 2021 #29

mopinko

(70,024 posts)
5. the closest thing to id now is 1 in 5 scammers get tagged as scammers.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:48 AM
Sep 2021

i never answer my phone any more.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,852 posts)
2. I just type any unknown numbers into Google.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:46 AM
Sep 2021

About 95% of the time for me, it's a phone number with complaints about a scam.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,852 posts)
13. Yes, the non-scammers usually leave messages too.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:58 AM
Sep 2021

I still get "wrong number" calls from some elderly African American woman in South Carolina sometimes.

She left a message the first time, thinking she'd called a family member, so I called her back to tell her about the mistake since her family didn't get that message.

And it seems to happen with that same elderly woman about every couple months. I honestly think she's doing it on purpose now, and I'll always answer her call after recognizing that phone number again. Then she'll always apologize for "doing it again", but it just seems a little too weird that she's always typing the same wrong digit to end up calling me. I never accuse her of doing that, of course.

ret5hd

(20,483 posts)
15. Hah! After the second time, I would probably...
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:27 PM
Sep 2021

just sit and chat with her. Ask her about who she is trying to call, what she’s doing that week, how she’s feeling.

Probably just wanting some company.

csziggy

(34,131 posts)
19. I had an old white woman calling my number often
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:02 PM
Sep 2021

Problem was she was extremely rude as if were my fault she dialed the wrong number. After that every time she called, I'd been really rude about her inability to dial the correct number. Finally she stopped calling my number.

Then there is the AA family that keeps calling for their mother/aunt. They are always polite and apologetic so I am polite to them.

The other wrong number that has not happened recently is for the private school - theirs is one digit different so slightly understandable. Nothing like being cussed out when their kid was barred from taking a school trip for misbehaving - that dad got cussed out for being an asshole and for threatening someone not associated with the school!

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,852 posts)
20. The elderly AA woman is always apologetic and polite.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:06 PM
Sep 2021

And I'm nice to her as well, usually chit-chatting with her for a few minutes. It's just small talk, and neither of us have divulged much about our private lives.

It's one of her nephews that she's trying to call when she accidentally calls me instead, but I'm not so sure it's always an accident anymore. Lol!

Very sweet woman.

csziggy

(34,131 posts)
22. Yes, if the woman calling me had been polite, we might have gotten to that point
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:11 PM
Sep 2021

But the first time I answered and she asked for someone not at this number, I told her that, and she went "So who the hell are YOU?" I told her it was none of her business since she'd called the wrong number, and she kept cursing at me and blaming me for her mistake.

Maybe the lady you're talking to is the aunt of the people who keep calling looking for their aunt?!

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,852 posts)
24. LOL, what a reaction!
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:14 PM
Sep 2021

Maybe the old person calling you has dementia issues or something? Good grief, what a ridiculous question after SHE called the wrong number.

csziggy

(34,131 posts)
25. Oh, lots of the parents calling the wrong number for the school were nearly as bad
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:31 PM
Sep 2021

More than a couple just kept hitting redial on their phones and getting confused why they were still getting the wrong number over and over. The record for that was over a half dozen times!

The worst was the the school athletic director put down my number on the flyers for a tennis tournament. I got dozens of calls from people wanting to sign their kids up. I ended up calling the school and threatening them with harassment if they didn't get it fixed immediately. Maybe I should have taken their kids' names and info and let the shit hit the fan when everyone showed up for the big tennis event.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,852 posts)
26. Good grief! I'd probably create a voicemail message...
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:34 PM
Sep 2021

... in your case, announcing that you're NOT the school which has a phone number with a different digit.

I'm sorry about your situation!

Heck, I might be ready to request a different phone number too.

csziggy

(34,131 posts)
27. At the time I'd had the number for my business for ten years
Mon Sep 13, 2021, 10:08 AM
Sep 2021

So I was not about to give up my telephone number since it was on all my stationery and business cards, plus it was out in the public domain for a lot of my contacts. My telephone answering system had a message about the business and I didn't want to confuse people by mentioning another one.

Oh, well. Now, thirty years later somehow the school has educated their staff and parents so I don't get those calls much anymore. Maybe it's that people are using their cellphones' memories to store number and call them so are not confused by trying to dial a keypad?

Fla Dem

(23,593 posts)
9. Well, like you I don't answer my landline or cell if I don't recognize the caller.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:53 AM
Sep 2021

They can leave a message if it's important.

csziggy

(34,131 posts)
23. I've had too many cases from doctor's offices and insurance to assume they will leave a message
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:13 PM
Sep 2021

Because in more than one case I've both categories not leave messages. And some of the calling services for my doctors do not have caller ID and they do not leave messages. PITA!

I let the phone ring three times before answering - most scammers especially robocallers will hang up after three rings.

Jeebo

(2,021 posts)
7. We do.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:49 AM
Sep 2021

On your cell phone, where it says the number that an incoming call is coming from, that's caller ID.

-- Ron

Jeebo

(2,021 posts)
11. When I had caller ID ...
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:55 AM
Sep 2021

... that's the information it showed, the number the incoming call came from. How's that different from the same information your cell phone gives you now?

-- Ron

mopinko

(70,024 posts)
12. it used to give the name that the number was listed under.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:57 AM
Sep 2021

unless you paid to be unlisted, it showed up like it was in the phone book.

which also, i miss phone books.

Jeebo

(2,021 posts)
14. I have no memory of that.
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:13 PM
Sep 2021

The caller ID that I had showed only the number the incoming call was coming from, nothing else. That's the same information my cell phone gives me now.

Oh, and I still get phone books delivered to my house, but they're not nearly as useful as they used to be.

I feel nostalgic about rotary dial phones. I'd actually like to have one just because of ... well, nostalgia. I haven't even seen one in 15 or 20 years. It's hard to find a phone booth nowadays, too.

-- Ron

csziggy

(34,131 posts)
21. I had to threaten the phone book distributors here to have them STOP bringing books
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:08 PM
Sep 2021

Even though the people delivering there were supposed to deliver to each house, out here in my rural area, they did not do it. They left them leaning up against the mail box, sometimes in a plastic grocery type bag. More often than not, by the time I noticed it, it was soaking wet. Once, I found it as I left home and along my route to the store for seven miles, there were plastic bags with wet phone books at every mailbox.

I got tired of dealing with the phone book company's wet messes, so I called them and asked to be taken off the delivery list - four years in a row. It wasn't until the year I saw all the wet phone books that I told them if I go another one, I was reporting them for littering. Haven't gotten one since.

Besides the type in them got so small I couldn't read them anymore.

grumpyduck

(6,225 posts)
10. I get a lot of calls from
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 11:54 AM
Sep 2021

"Scam Likely." Keep wondering who it is, maybe someone I went to school with?

ret5hd

(20,483 posts)
16. And who would name their child that???
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:30 PM
Sep 2021

Damn irresponsible parents! I tell ya’, it’s no wonder the kids today are up to no good.

EYESORE 9001

(25,909 posts)
18. Unless I see that it's someone I know, it goes to voicemail
Sun Sep 12, 2021, 12:40 PM
Sep 2021

I’m not putting up with their shit any more.

Phentex

(16,330 posts)
28. I understand all the reasons phone companies say they can't do this...
Mon Sep 13, 2021, 10:19 AM
Sep 2021

but I want a phone that ONLY works if the call is from one of my contacts.

Like you say, the best we can hope for now is it gets recognized as spam or as unidentified which goes unanswered.

Most of the time I have to keep the ringer off because of the spam calls. And then yes, I often miss a call from someone I'd have answered. I am not the kind of person who keeps the phone near me all the time but I try to check it every now and then.

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