Ok, have had it with the land line phone

[Tailgate]

I'm pulling the plug on our land line phone and going strictly cellular for DW and I. The robo calls (scams, political calls, polls) are out of control. Looks like savings will be about $600 a year... amazed at the tons of fees assessed to land line phones.

Anyone else cut the cord?

[Mulligan]

Congrats, Tailgate! Did you turn off the lights when you left the landline behind you, as you were the last one standing! Just kidding my dad still has his. I shut mine off 4 years ago and haven't missed a beat. Never have even lost my cell phone once during this time which is no small accomplishment for me. I keep it charged so that has not been a problem either. My initial savings wasn't as much as I wanted as they in turn jacked up my internet rate because I dropped the landline. Of course I have not yet had the opportunity of dropping to the ground with a heart attack and wondering where the hell is my cell phone...

[Buckeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tailgate Anyone else cut the cord?

We cut the cord in 2004. Never looked back.

My mom just dumped Verizon home phone for Brighthouse cable phone. Our apartment complex has a deal with BH so phone costs only $5 per month. She'll be saving about $50 per month.

[Tailgate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan Congrats, Tailgate! Did you turn off the lights when you left the landline behind you, as you were the last one standing!

Ha! I do realize I'm very late to this party.. the expense has never been a big issue until retirement, but it's the robo calls that are the last straw..

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tailgate I'm pulling the plug on our land line phone and going strictly cellular for DW and I. The robo calls (scams, political calls, polls) are out of control. Looks like savings will be about $600 a year... amazed at the tons of fees assessed to land line phones. Anyone else cut the cord?

Where have you been? The cord was cut about 8 years ago around here.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan Congrats, Tailgate! Did you turn off the lights when you left the landline behind you, as you were the last one standing! Just kidding my dad still has his.

I'm on the verge of getting rid of mine, too, but I still have it.

I did take the DVR box back to the cable company, though. I had it for a year and only recorded a couple of shows so for me it just wasn't worth it. Next step with the cable company will be to go from high end digital cable to basic cable and/or OTA. Maybe next year.

[Hermit]

Gee, you folks are making me feel bad. When I get moved, I plan to get a real old-fashioned phone line. No cell phone service available and internet is satellite. Can't do phone service through a satellite. I have the option of running up to the Ranch House (about 2 miles) to use the common phone to check cell phone messages. That may be better than all the garbage calls?

[truenorth418]

I haven't had a land line phone since 1999. I have never missed it.

Not only is it a less expensive and more convenient way to go, but others have no problem reaching me since they know I can be reached via my cell phone at any time.

I actually find it kind if annoying when I call someone on their land line and they are not home. Should I leave a message on their answering machine? Should I try to reach them on their cell phone? And if I decide to try to reach them on their cell phone, should I leave a message there or call back their land line and leave a message on that? Way too confusing.

[LazyErik]

I Cut the landline over ten years ago. All cell now. I don't miss the bills or sales calls. It was a non issue for my family. On My first day of retirement I am pitching the cell. I'm excited about that.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LazyErik I Cut the landline over ten years ago. All cell now. I don't miss the bills or sales calls. It was a non issue for my family. On My first day of retirement I am pitching the cell. I'm excited about that.

No phone of any kind? How do people find you? What do you do when you can't get past the need to provide a phone number?

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh What do you do when you can't get past the need to provide a phone number?

Just use your area code plus 867-5309.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby Just use your area code plus 867-5309.

What does that number do?

[GalaxyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh What does that number do?

I guess one has to be of a certain age!

867-5309/Jenny, LIVE - YouTube

I cut the cord four years ago when we moved to a smaller city. Folks around here still don't get it when I leave "home number" on the form blank or if I put my cell number in two blanks.

[powerplay]

For now I will keep my land line. A couple times a week I have an hour or so conversation with my father and that would really add up on a cell phone. My land line is about $28/month and cell phone about $2.50/month. There is no way I would save money if I had to buy a newer cell phone and a monthly plan.

[Midpack]

Didn't note when, but we dropped our landline about 10 years ago. Once DW and I both had cell phones, why pay for a landline too?

More than half the homes in the USA dropped landlines by Dec 2012 and the article below suggests they'll be gone in 5-10 years anyway.

http://stopthecap.com/2013/07/08/fcc...s-out-by-2020/

Quote:

The general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission predicts your landline will stop working within the next ten years, abandoned by companies like AT&T and Verizon in favor of wireless service in rural America or fiber (if you are lucky) in the cities. AT&T and Verizon — two of America’s direct descendants of the Bell System, just don’t want to pay to keep up a network most of urban America doesn’t seem to want or need anymore. In addition to a dwindling customer base, providing a regulated legacy service means having to answer to unions and government-types who make sure employees are fairly compensated and customers are given reasonable service at a fair price. The alternatives on offer from AT&T and Verizon carry no such regulatory (or union) baggage. Prices can change at will and customers have no guarantee they will receive service or have someone to complain to if that service is sub-standard. Most phone companies aren’t set to retire their landline equipment immediately. The equipment has been bought and paid for, and there’s no real incentive to shut down a working network. He thinks phone companies will continue to use landlines for five to 10 years, suggesting that regulators have some time to figure out how to tackle the issue. AT&T is more direct: It wants to switch off all of its landline service, everywhere, by 2020. Customers will be given a choice of wireless or U-verse in urban areas and only wireless in rural ones. Where U-verse doesn’t serve, AT&T DSL customers will be in the same boat as Verizon customers on Fire Island: pick an expensive wireless data plan, satellite fraudband, or go without. Verizon prefers a “gradual phase-out” according to Tom Maguire, Verizon’s senior vice president of operations support. Verizon claims it has no plans to shut down working service for customers, but it does not want to spend millions to continue to support infrastructure fewer customers actually use. That means watching the gradual deterioration of Verizon’s copper-based facilities, kept in service until they inevitably fail, at which point Verizon will offer to “restore service” with its Voice Link wireless product instead.

[gozer]

We dropped our land line a year ago. With cell phones as primary and Skype as a backup, the land line was redundant.

[Koolau]

If I've relayed this story before, chalk it up to my advancing age.

Almost 10 years ago, a new charge showed up on our land-line bill. $5 for access to long distance. We never used long distance because we also had a (cheap plan) cell phone that we used for our occasional LD calls. We used the land line for receiving calls and all local calls (we were in the phone book and the number was the one everyone knew us by.) So we called the phone company and told them we didn't want their long distance service, so kindly remove the $5 charge for it. "No problem", they said. "But there is a new $3/month charge for NOT having long distance." Expletives deleted, I told them to take the phone OUT by the next day or I would rip it out and leave it on their door step. We had our cell number changed to the old land line number. Still have it today.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GalaxyBoy I guess one has to be of a certain age!

Oh, I get it now, thank you! 😜

[Ready]

If I didn't get such terrible cell phone reception in my house I would have dropped my land line years ago. I get it as part of a Verizon bundle, and the savings of dropping it would be less than $10/month. But the hourly robocalls I get are so annoying that I would gladly pay $10/month just to make it go away. I just can't survive on a single cell phone though.

Maybe others don't have this problem, but my home has three stories. If I didn't have land line phone extensions on every floor, I would have to carry my cell phone everywhere I go around the house or miss a bunch of calls. I just don't want to always have my cell phone on me every second of the day.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready Maybe others don't have this problem, but my home has three stories. If I didn't have land line phone extensions on every floor, I would have to carry my cell phone everywhere I go around the house or miss a bunch of calls. I just don't want to always have my cell phone on me every second of the day.

I got an Ooma device which I hooked to my internet modem. When I activated the Ooma I got a new home phone number. I plugged my base station for my cordless phone into the Ooma. Now, for less than $5 a month (just taxes and fees) I have a working phone within easy reach wherever I am in the house.

Of course, if you don't have an internet service, this won't work.