Calls from Romney campaign.

[TNcitizen22]

So earlier this year I donated a bit of money to the Romney campaign. Not much, just $100. Ever since, I have been called every two weeks (or more frequently) from a campaigner for Romney droning on and on with anti-Obama rhetoric as a sales pitch for another donation.

Whenever I do accidentally answer the phone without checking the caller ID (which shows up as UNKNOWN - this really irks me) I explain my circumstances that I have donated all I can. This always seems to just piss off the person on the other end at which point they start hurriedly asking for a pledge for future donations.

I appreciate that they are trying to raise money for a campaign, and probably hold some of the same values I do but damn.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm honestly getting so damn annoyed with these people I may just toss my vote elsewhere.

My only reason for supporting Romney is that he is not Obama, but he is a far cry from what we need.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

It's that season. If I'm not interested, I just say no and hang up. They called me. Something known as

telephone courtesy. It starts with the originator of the call.

[DaveTN]

We live in an age of scams. I won’t give money to anyone that calls me; even if they are causes I support. If I want to give money to something I go to a reputable site or mail it in.

And I won’t answer calls that show up as UNKNOWN. There is a reason they are blocking their ID.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I've lately not been answering the hardline home phone unless it is a caller ID I recognize, and I want to talk to them. Some of them have caller ID's which would lead one to believe it is a survey company, but they can guess at my opinion. Lots of "unknown" and lots of "toll free 888" caller ID's lately. Then there's that pesky rare coin dealer from TX that calls every couple of weeks since forever, when I bought (for a good price) a stack of 20 silver eagles many years ago from an NRA backpage ad. And the nosy nurse from the insurance company who wants to "coach" me and ask me what my blood sugar is and second guess the doctor. I don't need to talk to any of those folks.

[Hotrod]

We live in an age of scams. I won’t give money to anyone that calls me; even if they are causes I support. If I want to give money to something I go to a reputable site or mail it in.

And I won’t answer calls that show up as UNKNOWN. There is a reason they are blocking their ID.

Same here DaveTN .. We give to causes we believe are worthwhile. We never donate over the phone. Caller ID is a wonderful thing.

[kieefer]

How many of you got a request for donation in the mail on the day of the obamacare ruling?

Mitt raked in $100million in June, no doubt because of his "claim" that he'll repeal oblameocare.

He better come through on this one or WE WILL BE PISSED.

[gregintenn]

I just hand the phone to my 8 year old son when I see an "unidentified" number. He has a big time talking to those clowns.

Why is it that politicians are immune from the "do not call" list? I'd vote for anyone who'd pledge to rectify that situation.

[56FordGuy]

He better come through on this one or WE WILL BE PISSED.

He won't come through for you. A bunch of the American public will whine a cry. Nothing will happen. We will all continue to be effed in this deal as the Titanic continues to sink. The general public will not care, or raise a ruckus as they will still receive their handouts from Big Daddy Government...or to go along with the metaphor, the band is still playing in the ballroom.

[tnhawk]

Several of the candidates have become irritating in their numerous calls and emails. While I will support those I agree with, constantly begging for more, usually results in a negative result for them. If a caller is ashamed to use an ID, he will remain "unknown".

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Internet sites for reverse phone lookup never seem to give useful info, but today noticed that "scam, spam or annoying phone numbers" annoy so many people that it seems easy to get info just by typing the phone number into google (or presumably other search engines). Several sites are dedicated to annoying phone numbers, but because each site doesn't have complete reference to every annoying number, it seems quickest to just google the number.

So in curiosity to find out if I've been "missing anything" by refusing to answer the phone on "known numbers but unidentified owner" on the caller ID, I looked up the known numbers in my landline phone (which remembers the last 30 or so calls). There were only two numbers remotely useful. The rest were completely useless. The following time-ordered list doesn't include "unknown number, unknown name" blocked ID's, and the list doesn't include "known names" regardless whether I wanted to talk to the "known names". These are "known number, unknown name" only--

NRA (annoying waste of time)

GOA (annoying waste of time)

Google Voice (possibly legit)

NRA (annoying waste of time)

NRA (annoying waste of time)

Financial Ctr (scam)

Credit Card Services (scam)

NRA (annoying waste of time)

NRA (annoying waste of time)

NRA (annoying waste of time)

Campaign for Liberty (political annoying waste of time even if I agree with them)

RiteAid auto-RX refill (legit if you like the service)

Breast Cancer Charity (scam)

Exchange Student (scam)

Exchange Student (scam)

Credit Card Services (scam)

Some people enjoy and appreciate the RiteAid auto-refill service, but I don't, so that was no big loss.

Google Voice-- If somebody calls you from their computer via google chat, supposedly one of a small subset of google numbers show up on the caller ID. The impression from reading user complaints-- About half the calls are from foreigners calling free trying to cheat you. The other half of calls might be from your mom or dad. Or maybe even that beautiful girl from high school who never gave you the time of day, but she finally changed her mind and wants to meet at the no-tell-motel to fulfill your wildest fantasies.

So the google voice number could be problematic-- If you pick up the phone, it may be an annoying criminal from India or Serbia. Or it might be that old girlfriend who never quite was. Or maybe Bill Gates wanting to hire you for a million bucks per day. It might even be Bill O'Reilly who desparately needs your opinion because he just doesn't know what to think. Improbable but maybe not impossible! (Am guessing so close to impossible that it is the same thing)

So IMO the google voice number is eminently ignorable as well.

[analog_kidd]

The next time they call, tell them to put you on the do not call list. I say this every time. By law they are supposed to honor your request. Does not always happen, but sometime it does.

Also, get a free Google Voice number of your own. Then to everyone but family and friends give out the Google Voice number. You set up the GV # to forward to your real phone #, but you can set up a ton of options. You can set up groups of numbers and some groups ring your phone (family/friends) some groups go to voice mail (that guy you don't really want to talk to, but sometimes has free tickets), some groups get blocked (those annoying people that wont stop calling you). You can also have unknown numbers get a message that says "say your name" when they do, you get a message with their name and you can decide to take the call or not.