New phone number, people keep calling?

Question

I have had this house phone number for 2 weeks. We only use cell phones, but we had to get a house phone to get the internet (small town, small technology)- now I get calls all day long for the previous people who had this number. It wouldn't be so bad if they would not call again, but several of the same people call more than once a day- one even wanted to know how long I had the number and why the previous one would all of the sudden have a different number... and they are really early in the morning.. what should I do? The phone company is also charging me 2.00 a month to keep the phone number out of the directory. Is this right? All of this just to have the internet.... sad..

Answer 1

I'm in a rural area, so my phone service is with CenturyTel.  I don't know who your service is with, but see if they have an answering service, or else get a phone with an answering machine built-in.  

That way you can put up a message saying "If you're calling ...., they have a new phone number, so please don't call them here.  We were just issued this phone number and don't know why they no longer have it."

I don't see any need to NOT list in the phone book.  All phone companies charge for unlisted phone #'s.  Females can safeguard themselves by listing first initial only, and last name.  I did that once and got phone calls intended for my dad, whose nickname started with the same letter as my name.  

You can let the answering machine filter your phone calls, and if you're there and it's someone you know, you can pick up the phone to chat with them.

It sounds like the phone company didn't keep the phone # out of use long enough.  They are supposed to keep it inactive long enough to prevent this kind of problem.  

Usually your callers will ask for their friends by name.  If you don't know the name of the person(s) they are calling, ask.  That way you can put in your answering message the name of the person who no longer has the phone, so there's no question in their mind that they DID reach the right number and it is NO LONGER the phone number they should call.

As your first responder said, if it's ONLY for internet usage, just don't plug in a phone... ONLY plug in the computer!

If you ask to be issued a new number, I think they will charge you for it, so I'd just leave the phone NOT plugged in unless you wish to make a call out.

Answer 2

If you just have it for internet access, just don't plug in a landline phone - bam, no calls!  Or you could request a new number from the phone company.

Answer 3

This is a tough situation.  The unlisted number might help some, but since the real issue seems to be people who already have (and use) your number, you need another solution.  There are technical solutions, and administrative solutions that might help.  Technically, you might (depending on your local provider) be able to buy 'call blocking service' that would allow you to block all calls from specific numbers so they will never ring your phone.  In that case when they call, they are sent to a call treatment recording.  Where it is available, the incremental cost of adding call blocker is usually low.  But what if it isn't available?  Well, there is another fairly common technical solution, which is to buy phones like the GE DECT 6.0 phones that have a 'DND' or Do Not Disturb button that silences the ringers on all your phones at the touch of a button.  You could turn off your ringers at night, and not turn them on until morning.  That way the annoying phone calls wouldn't stream in until after your first cup of coffee.

Another angle is to temporarily change your phone number.  Many local service providers will change your phone number at no charge for 60-90 days in cases of harassment, which you can probably support.

If you would consider a permanent number change, and if it's available in your area, you could sign up for a (free) grandcentral number, which is like an 'alias' phone number that doesn't cost anything, works most of the time, and allows you to selectively block callers who you don't want to hear from.  http://www.grandcentral.com.  If you did that, you would also have to request a permanent phone number change from your local provider.  If you make it clear to them that the change is a result of harassment (or the equivalent of) you might still be able to get the change for free.  

An administrative solution might be to simply complain to your local service provider, who, if motivated to do so, can contact the callers and ask them firmly to cut it out.  You could also use the CLASS feature *57 call trace, which (if both parties phones are in CLASS equipped offices) will provide your phone company's security department with a printout of who exactly is calling you and when.  This can be a little pricy, and isn't for frequent use, but if you dial *57 after you receive an annoying call, that call will be reported to security.  There is a per-use fee that you can figure out by consulting your phone book (usually).  

You can decide what your tolerance for technical solutions is, but fundamentally  you are being harassed.  You can make it an administrative issue for the phone company, and get them on your side.  You have lots of options, but I think I'd try to get a new number or get the phone company to persuade the frequent callers to cut it out.