General Chat

How about

Cost
Battery life
Size v arthritic hands and failing eyesight.
'Where did I put it?'

Sometimes the landline is the only option. Until fairly recently I lived in a very rural area and had to drive two miles before I could get any sort of mobile signal - no use in an emergency.

the attachment of the older generation to their landlines never ceases to amaze me. They are a very soft target as a result.

Thankyou Sylvia :-)

Just a small addition to Sylvia's advice which came out in a TV programme about scams....

Do not ring the bank on the same phone, or wait for a while. Sometimes the scammers do not hang up, but put a dialling tone on the line....

So guess what... You are not ringing the bank... It's still them! :-0 :-|

Thanks Sylvia, how nasty. I suppose that also shows that they have had to get desperate as people are aware of the other scams.

Thank you for the heads up Sylvia :-)

It makes you wonder just how low these people will stoop :-(

Be warned ............

The phone rang at about 7:30 am this morning (Thursday), I jumped out of bed to answer it before (hopefully) it woke OH who was sleeping in another room. The man's voice on the other end sounded like "Sam" from India who often phoned me about problems with my computer, only he started on about my Visa card.

I lost it, started shouting at him, asking "didn't he know what time it was?". Seemingly, he did know what time it was, or so he said, which angered me all the more.

The powers-that-be have now taught their operators to speak calmly and slowly, and ask "Why are you shouting at me? It isn't polite of you"!! :-D

The more I shouted, the more calmly he spoke. :-D :-D

Eventually I slammed the phone down .......... just as OH emerged saying he had woken to my shouting, and his first thought was that I was shouting at him!

Anyway, this is apparently the scam ...............

It targets people early in the morning when they are sleepy and potentially vulnerable, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

The scam begins with a phone call between 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m, the caller claims to be from the victim's bank or credit card company and says a credit card was used without authorization the previous evening.

Due to the early hour and their sleepiness, the victim will often volunteer information, letting the caller know who they bank with. The caller then reads out the first few digits of the credit card which is standard for that bank's credit cards. Then he asks the victim for the next eight digits to confirm their identity.

Once the scammers have the complete card number, they immediately use the information to make purchases on the account.


I had been awake for about an hour, but also don't respond to calls re bank accounts or credit cards over the phone ........ if a legitimate call does come in (as it has in the past) I hang up then call the security number that I have for the bank of credit card company. Plus, we are just back from holidays, and I discovered yesterday that I owe 30c (30p) on my Visa that has to be paid before Jan 9, so had only been checking that account last evening!