s/o Doorbells & phone calls

[neverfstop]

I think we've have several discussions that most people don't answer their door/doorbell anymore.  I think it's a combination of (1)  more deliveries which just get dropped off, (2) more sales/soliciting that I want to ignore, and (3) having cameras that we can see so we don't have to go look.

I get so many spam calls on my phone these days. I downloaded the AT&T spam blocker, which catches 10-20 calls a day.  But several still get through & I answer about 50% of unknown calls from my phone especially if it's in an area code or city where I have clients.  Once I realize it's a spam call, I say "no thanks" and Hang up on the person mid-sentence....  I sort of feel like my phone (number) is somewhere private space, like my front door, and don't be bothering me!

Do you hang up on sales calls?

[penguingrrl]

I still answer my door whenever someone knocks, but if I pick up and realize it’s a sales call I don’t even say sorry, I just hang up. If it’s a robot voice I assume it’s a scam and don’t listen either.

[TR]

I have the Silence Unknown Callers turned on on my phone.

We have a Blink camera on our front door not because we're scared, but because I don't want to talk to sales people. This way I can see if it's a neighbor or someone who might need something before I decide whether to deal with the dogs (who are likely losing their shit if someone knocked) and answer.

[jinkies]

When I'm home, the front door is usually open, because my dog likes to look out our (all glass) storm door. So it's kind of hard to pretend I'm not home. I always answer the door, and have gotten really good and saying I'm not interested in what they are selling.

I do have to answer my phone because it is also my work number. But I hang up as soon as it's clear it's a sales call. I don't even attempt to be polite. THey are usually using spoofed numbers which pisses me off so I don't feel bad being rude.

[ECB]

I rarely answer calls from #s I don't recognize unless it's in my REALLY local area.  I always figure that if it's a real call, they'll leave a message.

And yes, if I answer realizing it's a sales call, I hang up.  

I also don't answer my door unless I know who it is.  Again, not out of fear. Just no desire to talk to sales people. 

[Deleted]

I'm so over all the solar sales people in our neighborhood. They don't ring the doorbell and instead knock on the door (which is glass) so that we can't tell them to go away via the doorbell microphone. We have a no soliciting sign and when asked, they say they are a utility, which they absolutely are not, and don't consider it a sales call. I worked for our utility for over a decade so sometimes I answer the door just to call them on whatever BS they're trying to spew.

[mrsslocombe]

I live in an apartment building so literally the only people knocking are neighbors or building staff, and it's only happened twice in 4 years.

I don't answer my cell phone unless I know the caller or I'm expecting a call. We don't have a landline.

[Michelle]

At 8 a.m. on Saturday, our doorbell rang. We planned to ignore it because we weren't expecting anyone (and were barely awake). Then the doorbell rang again. And then a third time.

I did eventually go answer it because it must have been important... and it was a good enough reason.

@@@@@@@@


Teenager shenanigans


My kid's friend, C, left his key at school. His friend, M, gave him a ride home. When he couldn't get in the house, he left his mom a note that he was going to crash at M's house. She doesn't let him have a phone and he didn't think to give her his friend's number or his friend's parent's number or last name. So she had to worry about him all night and then in the morning she drove around the neighborhood until she saw our house with a yard sign advertising association with their theater group. She was hoping my kid could get her in touch with the kid he went home with! I guess she waited until the latest she could stand do so before it'd be decent - because it was 8 o'clock on the dot when she rang the doorbell!

As it turns out, my daughter and her son are really good friends and she had the number of the kid who took him in that night so she made the right call - we were able to get a message to M to take C home because his mom was looking for him. Now she has my number if she needs it. Her son is a black male, so no telling how these Texas people could react to him being outside his home with no shelter. I'm glad another friend took him in but sheesh - leave a number, kids!

[Jalapeñomel]

I never answer the phone, really.

[tacokick]

I answer the door and have no problem telling sales people/scammers to leave.

We get a lot of calls from people wanting to buy our house which is strange and annoying. I always pick up though because I always think it could be someone calling about my father.

He’s called me from doctors’ offices with a question and his doctors’ offices and different companies he’s hired for repairs/deliveries have called me before for various reasons and it has shown up as “unknown” or “spam risk”. I’d rather risk a scammer than miss something I will have to deal with eventually or play phone tag.

[Deleted]

@@@@@@@@@

We answer the door sometimes. We have a camera, but it’s mostly to see when packages get dropped off, and so we can talk to C’s friends who come over while we’re gone (just to say “hey Matty, C will be home in about an hour, he’ll come by after we get back!).

We get a bunch of solicitors in our neighborhood, sometimes we answer and sometimes we don’t. If we can tell that it’s a kid we always answer because they’re usually trying to fundraise for scouts or a team or whatever.

I usually don’t answer my phone if I think it’s spam, but I sometimes get calls from “unknown” numbers that aren’t spam, so I try to answer those if I can.

[aurora]

May 8, 2023 15:41:37 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

I'm so over all the solar sales people in our neighborhood. They don't ring the doorbell and instead knock on the door (which is glass) so that we can't tell them to go away via the doorbell microphone. We have a no soliciting sign and when asked, they say they are a utility, which they absolutely are not, and don't consider it a sales call. I worked for our utility for over a decade so sometimes I answer the door just to call them on whatever BS they're trying to spew.

I guess I'm not shocked, but disappointed to hear these don't work as I was just thinking I need to get one. Especially now that I'm working from home a lot more, I'm so tired of being interrupted! (Even when I don't answer the door it's still an interruption.)

[Deleted]

May 8, 2023 16:55:17 GMT -5 aurora said:

May 8, 2023 15:41:37 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

I'm so over all the solar sales people in our neighborhood. They don't ring the doorbell and instead knock on the door (which is glass) so that we can't tell them to go away via the doorbell microphone. We have a no soliciting sign and when asked, they say they are a utility, which they absolutely are not, and don't consider it a sales call. I worked for our utility for over a decade so sometimes I answer the door just to call them on whatever BS they're trying to spew.

I guess I'm not shocked, but disappointed to hear these don't work as I was just thinking I need to get one. Especially now that I'm working from home a lot more, I'm so tired of being interrupted! (Even when I don't answer the door it's still an interruption.)

Yup. They knock and stand in our entryway for a while, which drives our dogs crazy so either I answer, or I listen to the dogs bark incessantly until they walk away. 

[litebright]

I WFH, and yes, I generally answer when my doorbell rings even if it's a solicitor, Jehovah's Witness, etc. Unless I'm on some kind of work call. We don't get a lot of them and while it's annoying, I would rather tell them to go away than have them linger and repeatedly knock/ring.

I'm a tech journalist, so I pretty much answer every call I get unless it is flagged as a spam risk, because 9 times out of 10 it's a PR person calling me (I use my personal mobile for work). I will say that I think the mobile carriers have gotten pretty good & accurate at labeling the calls likely to be spam. Occasionally I will get a call that is flagrantly spoofing the first 6 digits of my phone number and I never answer those, because it's a dead giveaway for a robocall.

[dontlook]

@@@@@
Door: I answer my door because it’s usually neighborhood kids.
Phone: I answer my phone because I never know if it’s something kid related (doctor, school, my kid calling from a friend’s phone) @@@@@


I answer the door and if it’s a sales person I make my H deal with it because he loves talking to strangers lol.


I hang up on spam without even saying sorry. It’s so freaking annoying.

[wanderingback]

I answer my door. Well I mostly live in an apartment so I answer the intercom. When i’m at our row house I answer the door.

For the phone my number is from 20 plus years ago and I haven’t lived there since then so I know it’s spam if someone calls from the area code and never answer. Other unknown numbers I typically answer especially if they’re from my current area code cause that usually means it’s an important call.

I don’t get too many sales call but I am on some sort of physician job recruiting lists so I’ll get calls asking me if I want to move to Texas to work for great money and im always like hell no and hang up immediately. I wish I could get off those lists!

[pinkdutchtulips]

I don't answer door knocks unless I'm expecting someone. 

I don't answer unknown phone numbers. If its important they'll leave a message. It's a hold over from my xh days where I wouldn't answer the phone if I didn't know the number bc I didn't have the energy to explain to him spam calls in the hopes that he would believe me. 

[RoxMonster]

I don't answer the door if I can tell it's a salesperson. My dog goes bonkers to the point that to actually talk to someone, we have to go out through our garage rather than just open the front door. So I am not going through all that for a salesperson. If it appears to be a neighbor, we will go out.

I only answer my phone if it's someone I know or a caller from our local area code - and sometimes I don't answer those and figure they can leave a voicemail. It just depends what I'm in the middle of when it rings.

[estrellita]

I don't answer the phone unless I know exactly who it is, and it's usually my H or mom. If I don't know who it is, they can leave a message or text me!

The door is harder. We rarely have people come to the door but it's hard to avoid answering our front door because we have a huge window right next to it and I can't hide 😅 We typically only have a random neighbor pop by (for a specific reason, not completely randomly) or the occasional sales person. Sales people have to be cleared to go around and there's usually something posted on the city FB page.

[agnes]

I answer my door all the time, but I don't generally answer phone calls from unknown numbers because they're 99% spam. If it's important they'll leave a voice mail. If I do happen to answer it and it's spam, I tell them I am not interested, take me off their list, and have a nice day.

[mpm]

I’ve had the same phone number since I was 15 and no longer live anywhere near there. It makes it easy to ignore spam calls since they’re usually from that area code. I only answer unknown local numbers in case it’s @school or something. If it turns out to be a solicitation I politely say I’m not interested and hang up.

I do not answer the door when I’m not expecting someone. Anyone who knows us would text first, so 100% of the doorbell rings we get are solicitations despite our city-wide no solicitation law. I’m either working or dealing with dinner and honestly just don’t want to devote even a minute of my very precious spare time to tell Andersen for the one millionth time that yes I know my windows are 60 years old but no I won’t be deciding to replace them today because I don’t make $70,000 decisions in response to a random ring of my doorbell.

[erbear]

I answer the door but never the phone. I assume if someone needs to talk to me and it’s not one of my contacts, they’ll leave a message.

[Michelle]

Sometimes I do answer the spam phone calls and screw with the telemarketer. If you just repeat the same phrase a few times like, "That'll do 'er," or "I reckon so..." in ways that make no sense, they eventually hang up on you. And by then you're usually crying laughing.

[livinitup]

I had someone knock on my door last week. So odd! It was a company that we already contract for services so I didn’t mind the “personal touch” about new services while they drummed up business in our area. They are a great company who has been to our house a bunch of times. So, I offered them bottled water and a bathroom break. They said yes to both. Ha.

[pixy0stix]

I talk to the sales people that knock on my door because they do so illegally. I usually tell them that they're going to have to talk to the cops soon since I know a neighbor will have turned them in. (All solicitors have to be registered and permitted. Additionally, through the city you can sign up to be on the no knock list, which we are on. So if they're doing their jobs legally they won't ever knock on my door.) I try to frame it as a warning that perhaps their boss isn't on the up and up.

ETA - I don't answer calls I don't know, but Google also does a really good job screening them. Sometimes it prompts the caller to state a reason, and it's usually a doc office or appointment reminder that I then answer.

[pixy0stix]

May 8, 2023 18:38:18 GMT -5 estrellita said:

I don't answer the phone unless I know exactly who it is, and it's usually my H or mom. If I don't know who it is, they can leave a message or text me!

The door is harder. We rarely have people come to the door but it's hard to avoid answering our front door because we have a huge window right next to it and I can't hide 😅 We typically only have a random neighbor pop by (for a specific reason, not completely randomly) or the occasional sales person. Sales people have to be cleared to go around and there's usually something posted on the city FB page.

I forget you live here, lol! But yeah, sign up for the no knock list, too.

[estrellita]

May 8, 2023 22:50:18 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

May 8, 2023 18:38:18 GMT -5 estrellita said:

I don't answer the phone unless I know exactly who it is, and it's usually my H or mom. If I don't know who it is, they can leave a message or text me!

The door is harder. We rarely have people come to the door but it's hard to avoid answering our front door because we have a huge window right next to it and I can't hide 😅 We typically only have a random neighbor pop by (for a specific reason, not completely randomly) or the occasional sales person. Sales people have to be cleared to go around and there's usually something posted on the city FB page.

I forget you live here, lol! But yeah, sign up for the no knock list, too.

I don't But I wonder if my city has a no knock list, I didn't know that was a thing!

[cattledogkisses]

I don't usually answer numbers that I don't recognize, and I figure if it's something important they'll leave a voicemail. Most of the time they're scammers/spammers or Jehovah's Witnesses. On the rare occasion that I do pick up and it's someone trying to sell something, I just hang up.

We don't have a video doorbell (or a doorbell at all, lol) so if someone knocks I just look out the window to see who it is. If it's not someone I know then I don't answer and just ignore, not because I'm afraid or anything but because I'm an introvert who dislikes talking to strangers.

[penguingrrl]

I’m really surprised at plow prevalent door to door salespeople seem to be in some areas! In my entire life I’ve had a salesperson knock on my door exactly once. And Jehovas Witnesses also knocked exactly once. Otherwise knocks are usually people legitimately looking for us (neighbors, friends, etc).

[audette]

I answer my door, if I'm not busy with something else, and I hear it. Right now my home office is in the basement, as are my main hobby spaces, and I can't hear anything at the door from down here (knocks, doorbell, etc). I have to tell friends to message me if they are coming over, because I won't hear the door. We don't get many folks at the door, though - I think we've had a few kids doing fundraisers since we moved in well over a year ago.

Phone calls? My phone is usually on silent, so I often don't even know the phone is ringing. Otherwise, like others, I have an out of (current) state phone number, which makes scam calls a bit easier to spot, too.