Originally Posted by Old Fred This might be of interest to anyone bothered by unwanted phone calls;
Firstly, BT have a well-kept secret called "Anonymous Call Rejection". You can get the exchange to reject ALL calls from "withheld" numbers by phoning BT and asking for "ACR to be implemented". I think it costs £9.99 per quarter but that's a small price for peace of mind. Why is it a secret? Well of course BT don't WANT you to reject calls because then the caller doesn't pay BT for the call! But European legislation forced BT to make the service available. They just didn't force BT to advertise or publish it. But now you know! 
So, with ACR you will never get another "withheld" call. Your phone won't even ring. Instead, the caller hears a message telling him "please unblock your number if you wish to ring this person".
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There is a simple method which makes the blood run cold in the telephone sales business - it would bankrupt most of them. If only 30% of people answered with "sounds just what I'm looking for - hang on a moment please" then quietly put the phone down (not on the rest) until the caller gets bored, the number of calls made per hour would drop enough to kill any potential profit. It's a lot easier than being rude as well.
If they're persistent and call again, just repeat the process...
The only snag is that the phone is blocked for a minute or so, but why not enjoy the peace!