Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 September 20

= September 20 =

Harassed by a congressional candidate
I am getting one or two calls every day from people wanting me to vote for Gil Cisneros for Congress. I have asked them to put me on their do not call list, but the calls keep coming. I do need to answer the phone because I am on a hot project and my customer needs to reach me. Any suggestions? --Guy Macon (talk) 02:52, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Is it a live call or a robocall? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:03, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Live. Plenty of fresh faced volunteers working hard to hand Trump a democratic congress (I have no love for politicians on either side). --Guy Macon (talk) 03:18, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Caller ID. MarnetteD&#124;Talk 03:08, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * I probably should get a caller ID box, but that still leaves me hearing the phone ring and looking at the caller ID - not much of a time saving over hanging up as soon as I start hearing the political pitch. --Guy Macon (talk) 03:18, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * That would depend on what you're using the caller ID for. If the political calls always come from a number or range of numbers, with digital phones (e.g. DECT) you should be able to block the caller so it never gets through. If for some reason you need to use an analog phone, it'll be more difficult although you should be able to find a provider who'd let you block the number on their end. If the political calls hide their numbers or come from too many different numbers to block this won't work. If you can be sure of the number of the person who will call you, you could simply whitelist their number but I suspect many people who are awaiting a customer call can't use a whitelist. Nil Einne (talk) 13:26, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Block the number. The procedure varies, but usually you just go into call log, find the number you want to block; from there it might vary, but tap (or select) the number, and one of the options should be something like "Block Caller". WikiHow has "4 Ways to Block a Call", there are also apps for that (no idea if they're any good). 107.15.157.44 (talk) 03:58, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * What if you tell the caller that you will vote for the candidate who calls you the least? Hayttom (talk) 05:46, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Did that. Although I have zero intention of voting for either of them, I have told several of the volunteers making the calls "I asked you to stop calling me and you didn't, so I am supporting Young Kim (his republican opponent). Made no difference. --Guy Macon (talk) 08:40, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * There are various things you could try, depending on how much abuse you want to heap on them. You could say, "Don't ever call this number again." If they argue with you, just keep saying that until they hang up. And if they persist or call back, be as obnoxious and vulgar as you can think of. If they start lecturing you about talking that way, tell them it's your phone, not theirs. Or, for another zinger, tell them you talk the way Trump does. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:46, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Or, keeping with my theme of insulting politicians from both sides, talk to them the way Maxine Waters does. :) --Guy Macon (talk) 08:40, 20 September 2018 (UTC)

I've heard of people sending an invoice for their time to companies that persist in mailing or phoning them. Send the local Democrats' office a bill by recorded delivery, tell them you value your time at $100 per interruption and a $50 admin fee for the necessity of loggin and billing them. A nice bill for a few hundred dollars... they'll quickly stop calling you. They might even pay. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 09:50, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * If you're willing, this strikes me as the sort of thing where a little of more public embarrassment may help. Try making a fuss on Twitter, or maybe Facebook. Nil Einne (talk) 13:26, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * There's no end of facetious/violent/unlikely suggestions on the net for rebuking spam callers. As pleasant as it might be to contemplate some kind of retribution such as blowing a whistle into the mouthpiece so that the caller gets hearing damage, it won't actually provide the relief you're looking after because the person on the call is not the one who decides who to call - in many case, they don't even dial (that's done by a robot, from a list). Long term, the solution is to elect politicians who will enact laws that ban this kind of annoyance. Matt Deres (talk) 14:58, 20 September 2018 (UTC)


 * This is one of the features of the modern world.  I believe that around 90% of email traffic is spam.   I solved that problem by not getting email. 92.31.140.53 (talk) 15:14, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Or you could try spam filtering. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:23, 23 September 2018 (UTC)