Text before answering the phone?

[Guest]

Every time I answer the phone, I regret it. Anyone who really needs to get a hold of me knows to e-mail or text. I tell people I won't answer the phone, unless they text first to ask me if it's an OK time to call. The only people who seem to call out of the blue are assholes. Except for a few people who I know don't do texting, I always text someone before I call them. Do you answer you phone when it just starts ringing? If so, what's your experience?

Edited August 22, 2019 by Unicorn

[+ funguy86]

I will if I know the number otherwise I let it go. They can leave a message if it's important. It seems they never do. lol

[jawjateck]

I use the phone as little as possible. I don't always have it on my body, and it is on silent at all times. I never answer unknown numbers, and as for the rest, I answer when I feel like it, which means people I know don't have unlimited access to me. I also respect their decision if they cannot or do not want to pick up and take my call.

[+ ArVaGuy]

I will only answer my cell if I know the person. All of my friends text and that’s the preferred means of communication. If we need to discuss an issue in detail we make arrangements to call. I will not answer an unknown number or blocked number. They are invariably telemarketers or some scammer.

 

I carry this over to work as well, all colleagues and business associates know to email me prior to schedule a phone call. Unrecognized numbers go straight to voicemail. The vast majority of messages are solicitations for my business. I do not return those voicemails. In fact I’ve let my voicemail max out and then mass delete them after a couple months. Even my out of office greeting is generic enough to imply I’m on travel and that I may return a message “when practical” which is seldom. This has yet to cause me any issues. I’m also trying to lead an effort to have voicemail removed from our phones like several large corporations have done.

[craigville beach]

i only answer for a number or person i know. all others can leave a voice mail. 99.99% don't leave a voice mail.

[+ Hoover42]

I prefer text, either iMessage or WhatsApp, and I usually only answer calls from numbers in my address book.

 

Sometimes, if I'm really annoyed by the call, I'll answer with a very loud annoying "WHAT?!"

 

That has occasionally caused problems for me, so I try to keep my address book current.

[+ sniper]

Try answering with "Yeah, yeah, fetch you the ruby slippers, what else do you want?"

[+ FrankR]

I always answer my phone. The IRS inspector is still trying to reach me and I may qualify for a scooter through medicare (i’m not even 50 yet). ? I especially enjoy these robocalls - nowadays they even come in Mandarin from the Chinese consulate! ?

[+ Charlie]

90% of the calls I get on my home phone are scams or solicitations, so I glance at the ID, and unless it is a person or a number that I recognize, I don't answer. If it is important, the caller can leave a message. My voicemail is set to pick up after six rings, because robocallers almost always hang up after 4 or 5 rings. Some unwanted callers call almost every day; apparently they never scrub their lists despite the lack of response. Only a few people know my iPhone number, and they hardly ever use it; I never seem to get robocalls on it. There are a couple of people with whom I only exchange texts, which is one of the reasons I got the iPhone.

 

I do have an old flip phone as well, with an AT&T account I hardly ever use. When I tried to get an error on the bill corrected, I couldn't find a service rep who knew how to do it, so I finally had to write a letter to customer care in Indiana; they have never responded. Last week I was trying to get the bill paid through their customer service (it was due in two days), but they said they could only help me if I gave them my special ID number, which I didn't know, so they said they would send it to me, but they texted it to the flip phone, which doesn't receive texts! I had to deal with four customer service reps before I found one who could figure out how to take a payment over the phone without the special ID number. I'm ready to cancel the account--if I can figure out how to do it.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Charlie

[Spursy]

There's an app called Hiya that can block many scam calls and spoofed numbers (especially useful for the scammers that use a spoofed number with the same prefix as your phone to make it appear "local"). I've used it for a year or two and it has made a huge difference. It occasionally allows a bogus call to get through, but it has never blocked a legitimate call to my cell phone. If you're worried about missing a legitimate call, you can set it to warn you rather than block calls altogether.

 

I estimate it cut down on calls to my cell phone by 70-80%. The remaining 20-30% can be solved by touching the red "decline" option.