# Unrecognized number on your caller ID. Call it back? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471 "2010-12-08T22:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/1 "2010-12-08T22:05:30Z")
The title pretty much sums it up. You discover a number on your caller ID and they didn’t leave a voicemail. Do you call them back? The difference between “Sometimes.” and “It depends” is that “Sometimes” is random depending on your mood or whatever. “It depends” means that under specific conditions you will call back, for instance all calls from a specific area code. Poll to follow. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/2 "2010-12-08T22:22:05Z")
If it was important, they’ll call back. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/3 "2010-12-08T22:30:25Z")
Curiosity would definitely get the better of me, I think. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/4 "2010-12-08T22:34:49Z")
Never. Nor do I answer the phone for unrecognized numbers. Close to 100% of the time it’s a wrong number, telemarketer, or collection agent looking for someone who isn’t me. If that ever changes, I may start answering again. Meantime, nobody gets through who doesn’t leave a voice mail. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/5 "2010-12-08T22:37:16Z")
Poll: A random dog barks in the night - do you answer it? ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/6 "2010-12-08T22:55:27Z")
Never. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message. Every now and then I will look the number up. Not very often though. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/7 "2010-12-08T23:00:42Z")
I don’t actually have caller ID, but why on Earth would you call back? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/8 "2010-12-08T23:04:42Z")
Of course not. That’s not even remotely what caller ID is for. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/9 "2010-12-08T23:18:40Z")
I said ‘it depends’. There a few numbers that I recognize that are not in my phone, and if it’s one of those numbers, I’ll call back. Otherwise, never. ETA: I know an old man who got scammed like this. He called back a number in (I believe) the Dominican Republic. Because the U.S. has no jurisdiction there, the people he called charged him a few thousand dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/10 "2010-12-08T23:38:32Z")
It depends on if I know who it is. Many of my neighbors and friends don’t like to use voicemail, or don’t ring long enough to get it. Yet they had a reason to call – unless a wrong number – and even wrong numbers around here are probably someone I know. So I return those kinds of calls. Not so much numbers that begin with 800… or unknown names. > [@Doug K.](#): > > Of course not. That’s not even remotely what caller ID is for. Caller ID can indeed, serve as a crude answering/call logging system. What’s wrong with that? ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/11 "2010-12-08T23:45:46Z")
No. If it’s important for this person to speak with me, they’ll call back. If they want me to call them back, they need to leave a voicemail to that effect. I do return messages. On the other hand, if I see a missed call from a friend or family member and they didn’t leave a message, I usually call them back to see what was up. I assume unrecognized numbers are telemarketers. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/12 "2010-12-09T00:08:14Z")
Nope. I wait to see if they leave a message. If they don’t, and keep calling me then eventually I’ll answer to see what’s going on. One call from an unrecognized number could easily be someone that dialed the wrong number. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/13 "2010-12-09T00:12:10Z")
No. If a it wasn’t important enough to leave a message, he/she didn’t need to talk to me. I will usually google it though. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/14 "2010-12-09T00:24:43Z")
Never - if it isn’t a telemarketer, they’ll leave a message. There is almost never a message. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/15 "2010-12-09T00:44:44Z")
I google the phone number and see who it is. I don’t call back or pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/16 "2010-12-09T00:50:51Z")
No, and it really annoys the loving fuck out of me when people do that. Not that people are calling to see what I wanted, but the way they tend to act. A typical callback goes something like this… Me: Hello? Totally Unfamiliar Random Voice on Phone: Who is this? And why did you call me? Me: Um, who is this? [If I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what I called you for. Duh.] TURVP: I asked you first. Who is this? Me: This is CCL. TURVP: I don’t know you, why are you calling me? Me: I don’t recall calling you. TURVP: Well, this number was on my caller ID, so you called me for _something._ Me: I dialed a wrong number earlier, maybe it was yours. TURVP: Oh. Okay. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/17 "2010-12-09T00:54:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Never. Nor do I answer the phone for unrecognized numbers. Close to 100% of the time it’s a wrong number, telemarketer, or collection agent looking for someone who isn’t me. I had a call recently from an unrecognized number. It wasn’t even a recognized area code, which is saying something, considering that all of Montana is 406. But it turned out to be one of my students, asking a question about lab that really needed to be answered before the next morning. So completely ignoring that call would have been a bad thing. That said, the student _did_ leave a voicemail. If he hadn’t, I probably would have just ignored it. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/18 "2010-12-09T00:56:39Z")
If they don’t leave a voicemail I assume that it was either a telemarketer or a wrong number. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/19 "2010-12-09T01:19:06Z")
It depends on whether or not it’s local but I will usually call back. Never know when someone in the family might have an emergency and not be able to use their own phones. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471/20 "2010-12-09T01:41:19Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I google the phone number and see who it is. I don’t call back or pick it up. Yes, I always google. It probably was a wrong number, but who knows, maybe it was somebody I know who just didn’t leave a message. If I know the person I might call back and ask if he needed something. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unrecognized-number-on-your-caller-id-call-it-back/563471.md?page=2)