# Do you answer the phone calls from hidden numbers?



## eveningbat (Jan 21, 2013)

As for me, I don't. This makes me suspicious. In fact, I ignore any unfamiliar phone number. What about you?


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## blue2 (May 20, 2013)

no I don't answer them generally....I don't really like talking on the phone in general,unless I know the person really well, but I have to for work, else I don't get payed....


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## ineverwipe (Jun 16, 2013)

Nah. I screen all my calls. Unknown numbers are trouble


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## KILOBRAVO (Sep 17, 2011)

well, a hidden number.....generally no.

Becasue the fact that they are not wanting their number to be seen, make it suspicious. 
it is a way to say....' I dont want to be identified'...its either a crazy person , someone joking or a telephone sale.

if its a unfamiliar number, then you think. ' well they are not hiding' and am more likely to answer it.


by the way, I sometimes feel me adrenaline jump when the phone rings......I dont really like that thing in general.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Never.


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## Peme (Jul 17, 2013)

Never. I will almost never answer any unfamiliar number.

What do these people from Texas, Kansas, and New York even want with me


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## eveningbat (Jan 21, 2013)

KILOBRAVO said:


> well, a hidden number.....generally no.
> 
> Becasue the fact that they are not wanting their number to be seen, make it suspicious.
> it is a way to say....' I dont want to be identified'...its either a crazy person , someone joking or a telephone sale.
> ...


Well, sometimes I jump up at the sound of the fridge.


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## Steinerz (Jul 15, 2013)

Peme said:


> Never. I will almost never answer any unfamiliar number.
> 
> What do these people from Texas, Kansas, and New York even want with me


We want everything...

I tend to just not answer the phone. Even if it's someone I know.


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## CharmedOne (Jun 1, 2013)

No. I really don't even like answering calls from people I know.


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

CharmedOne said:


> No. I really don't even like answering calls from people I know.


same. I think I have more anxiety with phone calls than real life conversation actually.


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## Lacking Serotonin (Nov 18, 2012)

Most the time.


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## Paper Samurai (Oct 1, 2009)

I tend not to, unless I'm expecting a call - and that's when the tele-marketers strike ! :'-(


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## KILOBRAVO (Sep 17, 2011)

eveningbat said:


> Well, sometimes I jump up at the sound of the fridge.


lol.....since when did fridges ring?

what sort of noise is it.?

but seriously..when that phone rings.....you wonder what the hell it is all about, and who you have t speak to about god knows what but if its for someone else...you are relieved.....LOL telephone phobia.


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## BoBooBoo (May 15, 2012)

I don't ever. I screen all my calls I won't pick up until someone starts talking, even then I usually don't pick it up. If I start getting calls every hour or so (it has happened) with no message left, I'll *69 the call. They always come up as a private number. I just assume it's a telemarketer or a scamming-type call.


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## brooke_brigham (Nov 28, 2013)

I dont answer any calls. I hate it when my phone rings. It makes my brain hurt.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

No. If I don't recognize the name or if it's an 800 number or it says private, I just let it ring. This never used to happen and I notice it happens more and more as telemarketers get more and more desperate.


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## Charmander (Sep 5, 2012)

No. I get called almost every day by one particular number. I just ignore it. In the early days when I answered it I ended up getting charged.


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## JH1983 (Nov 14, 2013)

No, I only answer numbers I know unless a real name also shows up with the number in question.


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## Pompeii (Aug 25, 2013)

Never. I rarely answer the phone even when I do recognise the number.


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## visualkeirockstar (Aug 5, 2012)

No.


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## ltrain (Sep 11, 2011)

Never. Even if the number is only an unfamiliar one I will not answer it. I'll then punch the number into Google and see if I can work out who it was.


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## Amphoteric (Sep 11, 2011)

I'm reluctant to answer phone calls even from numbers I know, so unknowns don't really stand a chance.


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## wiseman (Dec 14, 2013)

Voted "Sometimes"

I typically do not answer hidden numbers. I only ever do if I'm actually expecting a call from somebody.


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## tlgibson97 (Sep 24, 2009)

I never answer any number that doesn't have a name pop up. The only exception to that is if I am expecting an unknown number to be calling such as a Dr. or when I was selling something on craigslist. It's really hard for me to answer it even then. I figure if it is important they will leave a messge and then I'll call them right back.


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## eveningbat (Jan 21, 2013)

KILOBRAVO said:


> lol.....since when did fridges ring?
> 
> what sort of noise is it.?
> 
> but seriously..when that phone rings.....you wonder what the hell it is all about, and who you have t speak to about god knows what but if its for someone else...you are relieved.....LOL telephone phobia.


I also have telephone phobia which is perhaps tightly connected with my SA.


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## Elad (Dec 6, 2009)

I do, but I'm always a bit scared that it'll be bad news (police, landlord etc).


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## Stormclouds (Mar 8, 2011)

Nope. If you're hiding your number, don't hold your breath waiting for me to answer.


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## foe (Oct 10, 2010)

No.

The only unknown calls I answer are ones from my area code.


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## AceEmoKid (Apr 27, 2012)

I almost never answer the phone unless it's from my mum. I keep my phone off most of the time anyway.


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## konqz (Jan 7, 2014)

No. If I don't recognize either the name or number it can go to voicemail.


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## One Man Band (Jan 7, 2014)

I barely even answer calls from people I know!


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## Amethyst Forest (Jul 29, 2012)

I do not answer unknown, unfamiliar, or 800/888 numbers. The only time I _might_ answer an unfamiliar call is when I'm expecting an important call, or if the call is from my area code (I do receive a fair number of important calls from unfamiliar numbers in my area code). For the rest of the unfamiliar calls that I don't answer, I type the numbers into Google to see who it could have been. Once I've verified that a call was from a telemarketer or a scam (either of which it is 99% of the time), I add them to my list of blocked callers (along with the 800/888 numbers) so the phone won't ring again when they call again.


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## Canadian Brotha (Jan 23, 2009)

I usually don't unless I'm really bored, then I might answer to see what happens


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Sometimes depends on my mood at the time but mostly no


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## Gavroche (Jan 12, 2013)

No, I never answer unknown numbers. I don't have phone phobia, but I just am not inclined to answer the phone to chit chat with who knows who. The ringing telephone has got to be one of the most annoying sounds there is, I don't like being bothered by it with people I know let alone these phantom numbers.


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## ravens (Aug 31, 2011)

If I don't recognize the number I won't answer.


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## Whatev (Feb 6, 2012)

No, if its that important they can leave a message. 

The times I did answer hidden numbers it was either someone trying to sell something, wrong number, or people from my past trying to reconnect. Rather not deal with that.


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## prettyful (Mar 14, 2013)

nope. if its important, theyll leave a message.


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## sad vlad (Nov 9, 2013)

NEVER. 

If the person would be well intended would not call you with a hidden number in first place. It is usually some ******* that has nothing better to do but calling random people just to insult them or threat them. They will do it as a form of ''entertainment'' so I can only see them as sociopaths or idiots. There is also the case in which he is an ex that wants to harrass you, I guess.

I've answered, without looking twice in the past, just to regret it. The first time, as soon as I've answered there was nothing but cursing. I think the individual wanted to break the world record. The second time it was a girl but you could clearly hear she had a group of idiots around her. She started talking like she knew me but when I told her I doubt we know each other so maybe it would be best to tell me her name she said something insulting and all those *******s started laughing. So I told her she is a ****ing idiot and stopped the conversation. :twak

The cure was to set my phone to automatically reject any calls from hidden numbers. No problem ever since.


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## Zetsubou78 (Jan 2, 2014)

Weird as it sounds, I tend more to answer the phone if it's a hidden number or an unfamiliar one. Just to know what they want.
On the other hand, if it's someone I know, I will not answer and shortly after text them "Sorry I missed your call, you wanted to tell me something?"
I hate it when people call for anything. I'd rather you send me 10 texts than call me :blank


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## KILOBRAVO (Sep 17, 2011)

eveningbat said:


> I also have telephone phobia which is perhaps tightly connected with my SA.


well when I hear a phone ring...I kind of slightly jump, but also I feel like a kind of adrenaline rush......but not a pleasant feeling. however its not every time....but soemtimes. 
Usually if it is answered by someone else I will listen and hear the jist of it.

if its nothing to do with me, the 'fear' passes. .

if the phone rings. I will ignore it and hope someone else picks up, so I can avoid the ritual of starting the conversation.

its like the phone is a intrusion of somethig you don't want anything to do with. it is like some assault on your personal space, and you think that yo might have to be involved in somethign you don't want to be.

Its like when you are on that phone, its like you are caught, there is no way out then....unless you blatantly slam down the phone....

is it like this. ? I am sure this is common anxiety .


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## straightarrows (Jun 18, 2010)

1-It's illegal to hide nubmers in this country.

2-around a month ago I got got from another country offering me a Traveling card...I acted like a dump!


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## cortisone (Jan 16, 2014)

For some reason whenever I get a call from work, the number is hidden...therefore, I basically have to answer whenever I get a call from a hidden number because it's usually work-related.


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*I was glad to hear from my senior brother*

a very long time ago when I asked him that question.

Him being a hi profile extraverted businessman with 4 daughters with different wives and an anchor point for all daughters of other brother

I was surprised he said he ignores any unknown phone ID. Happy I always have.
Thought that would be socially naughty

'tele' means so, so, so far away in all languages.. starting with Greek...
magic about radio, B&W TV, then colour, enriching the magic of telly comms further with internet on back of year 1800 basic corporate commercial expansion


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## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

I literally almost never answer my phone. Full stop. lol

If they _really_ want to get a hold of me, they'll leave a voicemail.... Or text me, like a civilized human being. 

(The only exception to this rule is my family. Because they hate the phone almost as much as I do. Therefore, if they're calling me, there is a distinct and likely urgent reason...)



Persephone The Dread said:


> same. I think I have more anxiety with phone calls than real life conversation actually.


Me too. Though, strangely, with practice, I didn't have as much difficulty answering calls for work. It was nice to have a certain level of social script to pull from as a crutch, I think--something you don't always have in spontaneous conversation.

(Also, it just occurred to me that this is an old topic that was revived--so I've just quoted something extremely old. Which may or may not be kind of weird and off-putting. But. Ya know. Business as usual.  Sorry...)


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

Ai said:


> I literally almost never answer my phone. Full stop. lol
> 
> If they _really_ want to get a hold of me, they'll leave a voicemail.... Or text me, like a civilized human being.
> 
> ...


Weirdly I actually find casual conversation a bit easier, but calls to places like doctors/bank/formal stuff make me very anxious and I start rehearsing stuff in my head beforehand. I also don't like answering the phone if I don't know who is calling, and saying goodbye on the phone generally.


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## Fangirl96 (Apr 13, 2015)

Nope. I will google and make sure its just dodgy sales people, and then i might pick up if they call back. But i will answer in a foreign language to mess with them and then just hang up after like 5 seconds. Pretty fun actually. But i have only done that like 3 times.


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## Cascades (Jan 16, 2013)

Nope. Sometimes if I'm feeling good I do but then it's always someone from my bank trying to make me up my credit limit or some bull**** useless phone call.


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## kivi (Dec 5, 2014)

I haven't received phone call from any hidden number yet, but I wouldn't answer.
I usually answer if it's an unknown number (though, if it looks weird, like a foreign country number, then no). Maybe it's our far distance relative or acquaintance (I only have close ones' numbers) and maybe they keep dialing a wrong number then I answer to let them know so they wouldn't insist calling my number anymore.


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## Darktower776 (Aug 16, 2013)

Nope. If it is unlisted or unfamiliar I don't answer it. If it is someone who needs to get a hold of me they can leave a voice mail. Also there's too many telemarketers and scammers out there to be answering the phone every time it rings.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Never. I barely even answer if it's a number i know. I like to call people on my own terms.


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## vela (Apr 19, 2012)

Never! I hate unexpected phone calls. There's an entire process I have to go through to prepare to take or make a call. lol


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