I don’t know about you, but I never pick up a call without the caller’s name being on my contact list. Because, it’s almost always a marketing call. The correct word is unsolicited sales call, but since everything is lumped under marketing, am using the same word.
With condominiums coming up in every city, we share our phone numbers at the security gate. Then with departmental stores we share our phone number so that we end up getting some “gift”. We send or receive a courier, once again, our phone number is shared publicly. Every social media platform wants our phone number and many of us don’t know that the number can be hidden.
The following screenshot is from my phone –
This is just till 6.30 pm on a given day… I had already received 12 unsolicited marketing calls !! Most of the calls come from a cellphone number and they are recorded messages. Everyday am asked if I want to sell/buy property, get a loan or sell/buy a car, invest in some mutual fund/insurance policy etc etc etc.
It’s irritating and invasive. I tried checking out the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) website. There seems to be a way out ! The website has a link with instructions to register for DND as per your service provider. I just used the instructions and have put in a preference to stop the unsolicited relentless calls. The link to the TRAI website is – TRAI TSP Website.
I followed the instructions given on the Jio link as Jio is my service provider. The DND is buried deep inside the app :):), but I did manage to register my preference. Instantly an SMS popped up as below –
While this will hopefully stop all the unsolicited marketing calls, I don’t know how to stop the unsolicited Whatsapp messages ! I keep blocking and reporting, but different numbers are used to send marketing messages :(.
Am certainly hoping that the calls to get our non-existent RO system serviced will stop … have told them a 1000 times that we don’t have an RO system at home for the past ten years, but they are insistent on getting it serviced.
Do share any other tips you might have to avoid these marketing calls and WhatsApp/SMS messages. It’s tiring and a total waste of time.
Like you, I resent the intrusion, but I have always resented the telephone, except on my terms, like when I want to call someone. I remember land-line days, and even party lines, when several neighbors shared a phone number. I like knowing neighbors, especially in emergencies, like hurricanes, but times have changed. AI has opened up multiple methods for scams and marketing tricks. I don’t think there is a way to avoid the multiple intrusions on precious time today.
Oh unlike you I have loved the telephone because it helped Krishnan and I keep in touch right through the time we were seeing each other 😊. We were in two different cities and without the telephone we would have been really stressed out. But with the cellphone, it’s a different deal altogether. It’s very invasive. Just hoping to get some time back with the DND option. Let’s see.
The DND option is unlikely to work for some time to come because most of these pesky callers are private persons and not listed against any marketing companies. You have already chosen the wise way out by not accepting calls from unknown callers. In case somebody is really keen to speak to you they would send you an SMS stating so !! And then you can decide whether you want to take the call.
Agreed. I still got some of these unsolicited calls yesterday despite registering for DND. Will just follow my rule till things get better.