Harassing Hang-Up Calls

I hate them.

Mainly because you don't know who is calling. Caller ID is nice, but
that's not always helpful. If the number is from outside your local
area, the phone company isn't guaranteed to know it. And people can
block their ID from coming through, but that's helpful because you can
put a device on your line that can detect it and reject the call for
you.

We had 4 harassing hang-up calls tonight, starting just minutes before 9
pm and seemingly repeating every 15 minutes or so until just before 10
pm tonight.

Bill collectors are not allowed to harass people on the phone and
certainly not after 8 pm local time regardless of where the call
originates.

When they hang up, it creates nervous anxiety because you don't know who
is doing it, why they are doing it, and just how much longer are they
going to interrupt my peace and quiet before they give up and stop. Of
course one good way to get them to stop is to pick up the phone and
record the call while asking them who they are, their address (if they
don't lie about it), and then send them a registered letter telling them
to stop. And if you record the call, you have court evidence that they
lied about it, which is further trouble for them.

It was sneaky for these 4 calls to arrive after 8 pm when we usually
don't expect them, but considering all the other calls we have gotten
during the election, we screen ALL calls from now on. If they hang up,
well, they should stop bothering us about their ability to remember a
string of numbers.

I mean, really, this type of behavior has to stop. I wish they would
leave some sort of message and get on with things.

We also need another verb for using the phone in regard to "calling" a
number. You can't dial very much anymore because most phones are push
button.

Hmph. Been online 20 minutes and no interruption. How about that.