From Swearing Grannies to Singing Toddlers – How People Are Fighting Back Against Unwanted Calls

By CPR Call Blocker Team

If cold callers think they're going to catch people off guard these days, they might want to think again. Following a wave of responses to Adrian Chiles’ recent Guardian article on the dying art of “slamming the phone down,” it’s clear the British public has reached peak creative resistance—and cold callers are the punchline.

Read Adrian Chiles' article here

At CPR Call Blocker, we’ve seen many trends in how people handle nuisance calls. But the sheer volume of wit, frustration, and tactical genius in response to this single article is a goldmine of insights and inspiration. Let’s break down the crowd-sourced survival guide.

From Civil Disobedience to Straight-Up Trolling

One user revealed a friend from the ‘80s who would get revenge on rude call recipients by ringing them back from public phone boxes to hurl abuse. Another said he simply replies with “It was my fault, I meant to run him over, can I still claim?” when told he’s had an accident.

Meanwhile, the gospel of “never answer unknown numbers” is now practically doctrine. Dozens of commenters preach the gospel: if it’s important, they’ll leave a voicemail. Others take it a step further—screening unknown numbers with call-blocking handsets, or letting them ring out while an app identifies likely spam.

Weaponised Politeness and Comedic Counterattacks

You might think a cold call is annoying. Some see it as performance art. One commenter sings old show tunes to confuse callers. Another plays “Mull of Kintyre” on repeat. One person even trained their toddler to sing “The Wheels on the Bus” until the cold caller gave up.

And then there are the theological approaches—“Have you found Jesus?” being a popular curveball. As one commenter gleefully reported, “If you keep preaching, they hang up first. Job done.”

Tech Tactics and Practical Tools

Aside from humour, there's a serious side. A number of contributors mentioned effective methods for truly blocking cold calls:

• Call blocking devices (like ours at CPR Call Blocker) that screen or auto-reject spam calls.

• Truecaller or similar apps to flag likely spam numbers.

• The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) – although not foolproof, still worth registering with.

• Voicemail-only setups for numbers not in contact lists.

• Spam text reporting via 7726, a little-known but powerful UK service.

The Dark Side: Spoofing, Scams and Vulnerability

Despite the jokes, some stories revealed darker experiences—spoofed numbers from trusted institutions, scam artists posing as police, and vulnerable individuals being targeted. One commenter shared how they were almost duped by a call appearing to come from a police force, while others detailed disturbing abuse from scammers when confronted.

What This All Tells Us

The takeaway? People are fed up. From passive resistance to full-blown sabotage, cold callers have ignited a mini cultural movement of pushback.

At CPR Call Blocker, we believe in combining humour, community tips, and the best technology to protect people from nuisance and scam calls. The Guardian’s comment section has become a microcosm of what we’ve known for years: people are clever, resilient, and ready to take control of their phones again.

If you're tired of the scams, the spam, and the serenades of sales pitches—maybe it's time to let the technology do the work for you. Cold callers may be evolving, but so are we.

Ready to fight back with more than sarcasm? Check out our range of CPR Call Blocker devices and protect your peace today.