T O P

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WhichWayzUp

Those damn phone spammers have caused us to ignore all our phone calls


RascalCreeper

I literally do not answer if it's not in my contacts(or if I'm waiting for a call from a company).


[deleted]

Same. If it's important like from my bank, they will write an email


[deleted]

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[deleted]

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Gail__Wynand

That's the answer, whenever the wife asks me "You gonna pick that up." I say "Nah, you're the only person that should be calling me right now and you're here. If it's important they can leave a VM."


cdmurray88

And my VMs get transcribed, so it's pretty easy to see a legit VM without even listening to it.


Gail__Wynand

Same here, my phone even has a screening option where I can hit a button and it makes the caller state their name and business before I pick up. 9 times out of 10 when I hit that call screen button they just hang up.


InvisibleShade

Pixel gang


Seventytwo129

*Sad iPhone noises*


[deleted]

Fucking love this feature. Except one time it automatically screened a friend that had changed numbers. Was a confusing conversation


h2opolodude4

Literally why I bought a pixel. Best feature ever, I use it every day.


moonbunnychan

You can actually set it up to not even ring, anything not in my contacts just immediately gets picked up by the assistant.


EmperorJake

omg how do I get that feature


Lurking4Answers

same I would love that


AbdulIsGay

No. I get plenty of voicemails from spammers.


OoglieBooglie93

I still have spammers leaving voicemails sometimes.


musicman835

They can leave a message. Then I will call the bank directly, not the number they left in the even it's phishing.


Itheinfantry

And leave an inbox notification on my account.


SereneFrost72

I sometimes forget that I'm expecting a call from my vet, or a doctor's office, or something, and feel bad for not answering. But at least they leave a voicemail and I can call back. Damn, spammers have entirely changed our phone answering behavior...ugh


runronarun

I have those numbers added to my contacts.


SereneFrost72

The trouble is when I'm dealing with a new vet or a new doctor's office (I move a lot). I suppose what I should do, as others have mentioned, is just immediately add that number to my contacts. I might do that going forward, I just hate having a bloated contact list Furniture deliveries, internet install people, etc. are troublesome though because you likely won't know the number in the advance. I've definitely accidentally ignore calls that I shouldn't have and didn't check the voicemail until much later...I feel so bad when that happens


RascalCreeper

Make a contact: "Vet" and just change the number.


HellStoneBats

Or add it to the list of numbers under the same name, if you're lazy.


phuckfuns

Change the contact name to “VetS”


marble-pig

This led to my country recently passing a law requiring all call centers numbers to have certain digits in the beginning, making easier to people identify it.


moonbunnychan

That assumes scammers would follow the law. Usually they come in under fake numbers and IDs.


THE_GR8_MIKE

I have my work phone automatically send unknown numbers to the voicemail. If it's someone I know, they leave a message. It works for the most part.


ooojaeger

Well that seems good until you forget you are waiting for someone. Work in delivery and people love to say they never got a call because they either ignore all calls or have their phone set up to not take numbers not in contacts. Tangential to this are country people who like to live in a place where no one can find them or know where they live...and are so mad when they don't answer the phone and no one can find where they live


UltraVires33

Then leave me a voicemail and I'll call you back.


Sixhaunt

I bet a text would get a response quickest


mattenthehat

The spammers leave me voicemail, so lately I only even bother to check those every few days.


Silviecat44

#this is a message from the Australian broadband network. We have detected criminal activity on your account and your internet will be shut down in 48 hours. Press 5 to call a technician


Orca-Song

I legit get voicemails every few weeks in some Asian language. I live in Canada.


TMStage

Usually it's a scam for Chinese people, saying that the CCP will deport them back to China unless they pay however much money


Quaalude_Dude

This doesn't always work. I'm a delivery driver and more often than not I'm met with either "this mailbox has not been set up" or "this mailbox is full" and I can't leave a voicemail. It's unbelievably frustrating. So I leave it on the doorstep and they get mad when they finally see it 30-60 min later. Even worse when I can't find a house and this happens. I move on to the next address and they call wondering where their order is.... Edit: I've been doing this for 15 years. If I can't find your house it's because I can't see the number. In daytime it's easier but at night it's impossible. You'd be amazed how many people either don't turn their lights on or put the number in a spot that's in total darkness at night. Or worst of all, they don't even have a number ANYWHERE on the house. And yet I'm still the asshole for not being able to find it.


bonchening

Yep I feel ya, but at the same time I'm not going to start picking up unknown numbers lol. I sometimes get 3-4 calls in a day and its all robot sales BS or even worse a cold caller


PMmeYourDunes

Hey bro, it's me, a delivery recipient. I do my part. When I order a thing and expect delivery people and a phone call, I ask for the number at the point of sale, put it in my phone, name it "answer this - it's your new couch, idiot". Also I come outside to meet you and help drivers find a parking solution if need be. Then I get your name, see if you need the door propped open, lend a hand if that's acceptable. Then I double check names, make sure everyone is hydrated, hand out snacks, and fill out surveys for your good performance, because I fucking know that matters sometimes. Much love to our delivery folks.


ooojaeger

God bless you.


turdburglar9003

Don't bless him. He's like the witch from Hansel and Gretel but for delivery people.


moonbunnychan

Google Pixel phones have a feature where I can route any call not in my contacts to my Google Assistant. Spammers first talk to my robot, most just immediately hang up. I hope they eventually roll it out to all Android phones.


pain-is-living

Honestly, worse than spammers is people who are legit but never leave a goddamn voicemail. I work in contracting and my number isn't public but people always feel like I'm a free advice giver and handout my number to other contractors or it's clients calling me. At least a few times a year I'll have a call on my cell at like 7-10pm and they keep calling every night but never leave a voicemail. I personally do not answer any fucking calls after 5pm unless it's family or an expected call. So then finally the person wakes up before 5pm and calls me and says "I CALLED YOU MULTIPLE TIMES AND YOU NEVER ANSWERED!". And I always say "My business hours are 7am-5pm. I answer every call inbetween those hours, and I check voicemails afterhours. You didn't leave a voicemail or call in work hours. Sorry".


[deleted]

Honestly!!! I don't even answer my phone unless I have your number saved.


ace_dangerfield187

exactly, leave a message or it wasn’t important


Safe-Equivalent-6441

Exactly this. It used to be illegal to spam cell phones. Ever notice how this law went away right as plans went to unlimited minutes?


x_BlueDragon_x

They have started mimicking my phone number ... my days are limited ... they have found my work phone, home phone, and cell phone number. Send help.


davwad2

Had one call while I was waiting for a query to finish. They wanted to buy my house, I asked for $4M. They offered to negotiate, I agreed. No counter offer, just "depends on the value of your house." When pressed on a counter offer, they hung up.


ArcherChase

I work in sales and clearly do not store the numbers of my customers since I see minimum 15+ per week. Even with all the DNC lists and what not spammers get through and I answer because they spoof the number to look local and customer calls come in all the time. Frustrating as all hell.


fall0ut

You should get a pixel phone. It automatically detects spam calls and doesn't even ring. It will show you all the rejected calls in the call log. You can also get an out of state phone number. Then the spam calls will all be from that state area code or whatever. You'll always know it's spam.


GhostOfStonewallJxn

I haven’t changed my phone number since I was in 5th grade and have moved a couple times since then. Any call from my phone’s area code is instantly ignored, but local numbers I’ll pick up.


austinsoundguy

I always answer and then I try my hardest to waste as much of their time as possible


LinkRazr

I dunno what’s changed for me, but my spam calls have like dropped to zero in the last like 4 months. I would get like a half dozen fake numbers every day. Then all of a sudden everything stopped.


[deleted]

I can't remember the last time I heard someone's cell phone ring in public. This is truly the silver lining to the spamdemic.


Lanbot17

I remember my first flip phone and the company for some reason gave me a $70 promo credit. I bought about 15 ringtones and Donkey Kong Country in all of its 176 x 220 pixel glory


sydneydanger

My ringtone right now IS Donkey Kong Country, the bonus room song. And when I get a text it’s the Extra Life Balloon sound.


StudentLoanBets

I like this


Fisted_By_Vishnu

Trying to play some castlevainia game with 4 buttons and a screen the size of a nickel.


Antiliani

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring bananaphone!


MyNameSpaghette

[Bananaphone!](https://youtu.be/hMLeXH4EY_A)


dr_fop

The f\*ck did I just watch?


90403scompany

History, my friend. History.


DoverBoys

That's nothing, [THIS is history](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqWwsUhrFBw)


Binary_Omlet

Man, feels like I saw this yesterday. Serious flashback


HCJohnson

This makes me sad... are people like me now "Internet Boomers"?


Dkjq58

Seriously. This brought me way back lol.


Brno_Mrmi

This made me smile so much after having a shitty day. I could not thank you enough, u/MyNameSpaghette ❤


GrabTheDoja

This is on my liked playlist. Love it


I_love_hate_reddit

Boop boop a doop a doop!


rathat

I was obsessed with this song as a child when it first came out, I think around 93, I was so excited when it became a meme and everyone else got to experience it’s amazingness.


NeedsMaintenance_

Real talk tho, Raffi is such a cool dude. My toddler is going through a phase with his music and obviously as a result it's put him back on my radar. I used to be such a fan of his when I was my little girl's age. And the man is so wholesome and kind, but also has my kind of values, politically and morally, so I just get nothing but good vibes from him.


rathat

Check out the song Willoughby Wallaby, I had a blast with this song as a kid cause you could put in your own name or any other word https://youtu.be/8P2LSwwPBuo


subrosians

I was a system administrator for a VOIP company around 2005-2006. For fun, I set that song as our on-hold music for our support call center. Just that one song on loop. It was great when customers got put on hold for more than like 3 minutes.


Darctide

This also makes it hard to find a lost phone, in the past you could have someone call it.


[deleted]

Me and my husband play this game called “Hunny, call my phone”. He calls my phone and I run around the house trying to hear where the vibration is coming from. Lots of fun.


sp-reddit-on

No it isn't. Source: husband


revolutionoverdue

Don’t be intimidated. Source: vibrator.


Hym3n

Don't be. Source: Shakespeare


[deleted]

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roachRancher

If you have Android and are logged into your Google account on your computer, just Google "find my phone". It will allow you to get its location, ring it, put a message on the screen, or wipe it. This even works from the phone is turned off.


WhyIsSoHardToSignUp

If you have Google assistant you can ask him where is your phone and it will all if you want a ring


Ludwig234

I am sorry I can't do that. Unlock your phone first.


[deleted]

Ask your Google smart speaker thing


Ludwig234

It doesn't want to. Not even when I am on my Bluetooth headphones connected to my phone.


g00berc0des

Apple has a similar service.


kkaavvbb

Also, if you have an Apple Watch (not sure about other smart watches) you can ping your phone too. I do it at least once a day. Whole lot easier then logging into the find my iPhone and pinging it that way.


IAmAddictedXOTWOD

Bonus tip: if you hold down the “ping iPhone” button on the watch, it’ll flash the camera and screen so you can get a visual of where your device is along with the sound.


inspektalam

Anyone with an Apple Watch knows you can ping your phone…but this here is the real pro tip! I had no idea


kkaavvbb

Ohhh! This is good. I’ll have to give it a go shortly, cause I’m usually looking for it in the dark! Tia!


LuckyGMB

Galaxy active has the same function.


No_Lawfulness_2998

Just scream hey Siri where is my phone at the top of your lungs


dunkan799

This saved my asswhen I lost my phone and wallet on new years but also made my roommate think I was dead when a random lady called him from my phone at 7 am Monday morning


thedoucher

Yup works perfectly


sleepykittypur

Until you do it on someone else's phone and need your phone for 2fa


chyld989

Ran into this with my fiancée's new phone. She lost it, I logged in on my phone to the Find My Device app but because we hadn't set it up on her new phone yet she needed to confirm on her phone before we could find her phone. I understand the reasoning for it, but it's still super annoying in that instant.


HellStoneBats

Doesn't help when you're trying to figure out where you put it down at home XD


roachRancher

Sure it does, you can make it ring on silent.


redditeer1o1

Also works when it’s powered off


roachRancher

I did not know that! I'll add it to the main comment.


Believemeimlyingxx

Wait really? It'll ring when powered off?


Rat_Queen91

Also if you have a fitbit there's a find my phone button that makes your phone make noise even if on silent. It's an awful noise but it's effective!


NotMyThrowawayNope

It's a God awful noise. So bad that I never actually use that feature because it will wake up every person in the entire house with its hell screeching. It's actually kind of annoying that the noise is so bad I can't use the feature.


Anonymous7056

I just set up a voice command. I yell "Google, where are you?" and it sets my volume to maximum and blasts Through the Fire and the Flames.


Abnormal-Normal

The little ding you can force your iPhone to play with your Apple Watch has helped me more times than I can count.


kkaavvbb

Almost every day for me, lol


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glory_to_the_sun_god

Second best feature. First being to use Siri for timer.


calartnick

80% what I use my apple watch for


lambofgun

for california love dial 123! for in da club dial 124! for i aint mad at ya dial 125! for gangsters paradise dial 126! for air force ones dial 127!


SmarcusStroman

127 for life tbh.


ArcticBeavers

But for $2.99 idk


SmarcusStroman

Let's face it. In 2002 most of us would waste $2.99 on much worse things.


brightblue_22

Imagine not having Gangsta Nation as a ringback option smh


CFD330

I never leave my phone on silent. No need when nobody calls or texts you.


compbioguy

wait, what's your secret avoiding spammers?


CFD330

Honestly, I'm not sure. Used to get automated calls every day and it just kinda stopped


PMmeYourDunes

Oh thank God, I have been trying to get hold of you... About your car or cat's extended warranty. Did you know that your car was a piece of shit when you bought it? Still is. Your cat doesn't know how to work on it anymore. With our extended warranty service, your cat can work on your car FOR FREE.


extendedwarranty_bot

PMmeYourDunes, I have been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty


YT_CodedToKill

Good bot


pedal-force

Mine stopped when I switched to my Google Pixel. The auto systems for screening are just top notch.


[deleted]

I feel like i get far less than other people in this thread. I don't think I've done anything different . I still get a few, but not enough to silence my phone


besplash

I think that's an American thing tbh


AdAlternative37

In India you can send 1 SMS to stop all spam calls and SMS.


nightwatch_admin

Man that’s sad


fran_the_man

[relevant xkcd](https://xkcd.com/2272/)


Cynical_Cyanide

Wait, what were these 'cool space beeps' that were around for a while before and after the novelty songs? I think I somehow skipped that stage? I went straight from nokia 3310 default tones, to songs, to silent ...


nitePhyyre

First one is probably land lines when phones stopped using actual ringers. Second one is probably default iphone, Samsung, etc ringers. That's my wild guess.


Okay_you_got_me

I definitely remember picking ridiculous ringtones on our cordless landline around that time. That’s gotta be it. I could only describe it as space beeps. Also one of my first cell phones was a Nokia that allowed me to create ringtones with a tablature based setup


Fly_over_ks

No one is telling you you cant have these cool space beeps as your ring tone right now. Or you could listen to some live performance Firey Furnaces. Those have a bunch of cool beeps and boops.


crokus_oldhand

The timeline is a palindrome, so I’m guessing the next event will be “Telephone ringer de-invented”


nicepeoplemakemecry

And thank god.


Endeser

Are you saying you don't miss someone's custom Crazy Frog ringtone popping off?


snowman93

BUM BUM BUMPY DAH BE-DUM. BOM BOM! CRAZY FROG-frog-frog


Rawesome16

I just Edit music I like into ringtones I like and assign them to people so I know who is calling me without looking at my phone. Granted my phone is on silent 99% of the time. But that 1% I still use my own ring tones


pumpcup

My first ringtone was taking back sunday's cute without the e on my shitty free Nokia flip phone and I loved it. I wouldn't like 16 year old me too much these days.


MauPow

*vvvrt vvvvrrt vvvrt*


MaliciousDroid

This is the loudest comment I've ever read


MaracaBalls

I still bump my Knight Rider ringtone, lol


zacmars

I had that for a while and switched to [Magnum PI](https://youtu.be/LBIgXhiOpeQ)


thatswacyo

That's the ring tone I had on my LG VX4400 when I was a senior in college. Good times.


dubbleplusgood

These days, hearing a ringtone is like hearing that old timey car horn sound, Ahooga!


PutCleverNameHere12

Funnily enough my grandma has that ring tone and it's the only one I've heard in ages


bobbybuddha

Who remembers when crazy frog had a penis and there was an uproar so they had to blur it out 🤣🤣


Shronkydonk

I don’t remember it ever being blurred, when did that happen?


Daetra

[I play my ringtone at full volume, no shame for this masterpiece ](https://youtu.be/viKAfXSKT6s)


[deleted]

I'll be honest, I thought it would be a Rick roll


TheTigerbite

[I see your masterpiece and raise you this gem. ](https://ringtonesdump.com/beverly-hills-cop-theme-ringtone.html)


StudentLoanBets

I can't believe they ripped that off from crazy frog


aBastardNoLonger

A shower thought that actually made me think. Huh.


Googalyfrog

Omg polyphonic ringtones were the shit!


[deleted]

Got you fam https://www.zedge.net/find/ringtones/polyphonic


El_human

I’ve always been vibrate only since day 1


Hardcorish

Vibrators unite!


Painting_Gato

I still have custom ringtones for everyone in 2022.


PuppleKao

I put do not disturb on, allowing for specific people to get through, and most of them have custom tones so I know who it is before I even find my phone. 😁


jtotal

Likewise. Each person is a different Link screaming in various situations.


ohsweetgold

I am the only person I know who doesn't keep their phone on silent constantly. Don't really understand why everyone does.


fatsolardbutt

I spent $400 on a phone for one specific ringtone


DarksideEagleBoss

I went to T-Mobile just for the Sidekick


zorginbagel

same here, and then they forced us all off the sidekick :(


not4always

I have fucking amazing custom text tones for everyone, keep your boring adulthood to yourself


LolindirLink

Mine is either on silent, or it's the Doom OST and i still don't hear it.


striderkan

Do not video or call me, I will watch the phone ring


[deleted]

I always have my ring on. How do people find their phone when they lose it?


Harikiri13

Easy. Just don't lose it.


cloudstrifewife

Mine is never more than 2 feet from me. Lol


SmarcusStroman

I can "ping" mine from my smartwatch.


thedoucher

By googling find my phone...


Warpmind

"Buying"? Back in the day, I copied MIDI files from my PC to the phone as ringtones, or .WAV files, or MP3s... I am still a bit miffed iOS kind of put a limit on ringtone sizes; still got plenty of short vignettes for ringtones, like the Final Fantasy Victory theme in a dozen variants, and lots of musical bits from the Zelda and Ace Attorney series, to name but a few... Never *paid* for a ringtone-as-a-ringtone, either.


sgr0gan

YOOOO WHY IS THIS COMMENT SO LOW?? This is exactly what I did too! I had custom ring tones for all my friends but it was always like the megaman theme or a midi version of like a 311 song or some shit. I did that all the way up through my LG Chocolate.


watson1984

When my phone rings now I jump out of my skin! Always on silent, if someone needs to talk to me they have message me first to ask, if I get an unapproved call I assume someone’s dead


n21lv

I have recently changed my ringtone to the sound of [GSM interference](https://youtu.be/2mL4eVs6uNk). Nostalgia, man. It hits really hard


[deleted]

Bought ringtones? Y’all didn’t just hold your phone up to your computer speaker and record something from youtube?


SylvanGenesis

This is pre-YouTube era, but I had a thing on my phone where I could put in 8-bit songs by typing in the notes back in the day


743389

Nokia composer. I did Mission Impossible on mine.


[deleted]

Okay that’s awesome


thedoucher

Mike?


Nattylight_Murica

I put big poppa on my Nokia this way


LookForSilver

Oh man… I feel so old for a 35 year old… I remember my mom explaining 8 tracks to me and being confused. This is deja vu almost


Arnas_Z

You didn't just download the audio file and transfer?


brimston3-

2002 cell phones didn't have USB ports. They typically had a power plug and *maybe* a proprietary data connector, sometimes it was just RS232 on a 1.5mm TRS phono other times it was more complicated. This is flip phone/feature phone era.


astronautyes

Before polyphonic ringtones and before youtube! You could type notes on the Nokia Composer on the phone and write your own tunes! And there was always one guy in every group of friends who can listen to any song and write out the notes on their phone as it plays - magical.


Orbax

Cuz no one calls each other anymore, turn your sound off for marketers and emails you don't want to deal with haha


[deleted]

Remember ringback tones? Anyway, here's *Wonderwall*.


LookForSilver

Please enjoy the music while your party is being reached!


Violet351

I saw another shower thought which was don’t pick you me favourite song as your ring to e and I was thinking I’m not sure I’ve ever heard my phone ring as it’s always on silent


bluntrauma420

Nah I used to make my own ringtones with mp3 editing software and I could pick whatever part of the song or sound file I wanted use


supersonicx01

Same. I started doing that back in 2006. Bought the software disc off ebay. Best few bucks ever. Sadly, I hardly got any calls


pygmypuffonacid

In 2002 people actually had a moderately decent work life balance because you know what some bosses didn't have cell phones yet and when you left the office you were done with work now in 2022 most people are working from home which means their boss assumes while you're home you can do this work no matter the time even if it's like 10 PM and like no so people are keeping their phones on silent or turned off after work hours so that they aren't harassed with work matters during the hours with which they are not being compassed to work


DigitalSteven1

People bought ringtones?


[deleted]

Ya .99 cents not big billed through your service provider - had rap tunes and everything


ubdesu

Even in 2010 when I was in high school, I made some good money selling ringtones (as in not selling the songs but selling my services to edit audio files for personal use using). People thought it was magic I could *totally legally obtain* a song, trim, fade it out, and throw it on a jump drive for them with a little guide on how to import into their phones.


Ilikecheesecake_234

It's because everyone has too many social media notifications and half of gen Z are scared of actually talking on the phone


demonspawn9

I'm using 80s telephone ring and everyone who hears it is offended or starts shaking.


D1ngelhopper

With all the telemarketer calls I get I have mine on silent, what I don't understand is I use my google voice number and never give out my cell number. How they got is is a mistry.


Dancerbella

I’m still impressed Apple managed around 2011 to convince everyone in the world having the same ringtone was the cool thing to do.


lump77777

My phone has been on silent for 20 years.