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Has anyone heard of this prank call doing the rounds? The phone rang at half past twelve and, what seemed like a girls or childs voice said something like ;so you decided to answer the phone this time did you? when I said, sorry? or pardon or something it said something else, and when I realised it was best to stop talking it coughed a couple of times, then burped and then went away. Of course it was number witheld. Now; when the phone goes at that time of night you do fear the worst . Anyway, I digress. The fact is I’ve been pretty poorly recently and had crashed out watching telly on the sofa with the dog trying to get a good few hours sleep as I’m at work quite early tomorrow/this morning. It really has totally freaked me out [everyone is away this week, so I’m in the house alone].Maybe it’s because of the fact that I read that if you put Vicks vapour rub on the soles of your feet at night it stops you coughing in your sleep and it seemed to be working; maybe Vicks vapour rub has some sort of hallucagenic effect and I imagined it all!If it’s someones idea of a joke it is really warped. Time I became ex directory, I think! Anyways; back to the sofa and the dog..got to be up in a few hours. Thanks for listening..well, not listening, because I bet I’m the only person in the country awake at the moment. I so needed that sleep as well, darn it!
Seriously Moe,don’t worry about it.Just some idiot/s phoning a random number.Don’t lose any sleep over it.
Prank, silent, abusive calls, etc can be unsettling, unpleasant and the effect they have on some people should not be under-estimated.
If it has upset you Moe you should report it to BT’s dedicated ‘Nuisance Calls’ line: 0800 661441 who will advise
The ‘number withheld’ option should be banned and the 1471 identifier made universal. If you don’t want to be identified don’t make the call IMO
Also have you opted for the Telephone Preference Service?
0845 0700707
won’t stop unsolicited calls from members of the public but it does prevent the majority from marketing companiesand of course there is always the option of going ex-directory. Don’t have a number for that but the ‘nuisance’ advisors above should help you
Thanks Drone; BT have given me a police number to contact on Monday. I just don’t understand why anyone whould put time and effort into setting something like this up. Just hope that, whoever they are they might one day need halp from someone in the nhs who has had a lousy nights sleep because of hoax phone calls who then gives them the wrong tablets or [even better] slips with the scalpel! Divine retribution is probably more likely than the police doing much about it imo. I am registered to stop sales calls, and BT said that being ex directory probably won’t stop calls of this nature either.[ps I didn’t kill anyone at work this morning, by the way..at least, I don’t think so!]
Moe, are you sure it wasn’t just a wrong number and the person phoning was just too rude to acknowledge it?
I had a strange call a few weeks ago when this old dear phoned up wanting to change her hair appointment. Obviously, I politely explained that she had got the wrong number. However, she was having none of it and insisted that she couldn’t make Thursday and wanted to change it to Friday. Once again I politely explained that she had got the wrong number, only to be told by her she couldn’t make Thursday…..and had to change her appointment.
******* silly old bag…she must have been deaf as a post.
Anyhow, I soon got fed up with her so I booked her in Friday, 3 o’clock for a shampoo and set.
It was voice activated; even though I was all spooked up I realised that quite quickly. Of course, saying ‘so you decided to answer the phone this time’ means that these calls are always at night and, if you don’t get to the phone the first time it probably rings again and again [how many people would answer the phone withing a few seconds in the early hours of the morning apart from me?]. Anyway, I reckon it’s British Gas. For years I advised friends to do a price comparison and switch to save money. They all did, but twice I tried to do it and something went wrong with the switch and I still reamined with them. Eventually I moved to a cheaper supplier, but since then they’ve been phoning me up asking me to go back. Last time I pointed out that, having been overcharged by them for years, even if they were the cheapest suppliers on the planet they could stick their gas and electricity….I reckon they phone you six times and then do this to get their revenge. I am tonight, however, a bit like Scrooge waiting for the next Christmas ghost to arrive.
I’ve been getting a lot of 0800…… numbers calling lately,three times a day sometimes.They will be marketing and/or silent calls.As I have caller display, I don’t bother to answer.If they are from BT (my ISP) then they can always get in touch via email.
Also rarely answer withheld numbers.Caller display is a marvellous thing.
Moe, have you been smoking any funny fags recently?
I honestly don’t believe British Gas make prank phone calls – to ex customers who may or may not have Vic Vapour rub on the soles of their feet…
That’s a good idea, Tor, but unfortunately I work for the health service, so all numbers from work are number withheld….I could however ignore those in the early hours of the morning, but my daughter is also number withheld and would phone me late at night in an emergency.Tor, it may be an idea to register with that number that Drone gave, that stops sales calls..it does work quite well. It’s strange how things that happen at night can be scary, when they wouldn’t bother us in the day; taps into our primevil instinct I guess. I have to say that the Vicks Vapor rub thing really did work [unless the torpedo sized antibiotics were starting to kick in]. Probably the ‘heat overriding all other sensations’ that causes it to work, or may be reflexology based.
Moe, the 0800 calls I get don’t bother us at all.They will get pissed off before I do
Moe
It certainly is worth call the TPS. Sales calls at least will dry up after a couple of weeks.
CrizzyBeing alone with TRF at 0217 is enough to give the most resilient of souls the ghoulies Moe
Torment by Yahoos, Googles, Gambles, Pompeys and similar incubi
I’d recommend a glass of warm milk in the company of ‘Match of the Day’, a liberal application of Vicks, bed before the witching hour and a sound night’s sleep accompanied by sweet dreams of Gary Lineker.
With the lights on if necessary
Seriously, if you really are troubled by late night calls (and it sounds as if you are) have you considered disconnecting your land line overnight and advising your nearest, dearest and whoever else you don’t mind phoning to contact you on your mobile, assuming you have one.
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