Do you still have a land line?

[ruadisneyfan2]

I can't stand our land line phone. It's only telemarketing computers that call. Even if I do answer it there's no one on the other end. I haven't looked into how much we'd save by cutting it but it's more of a nuisance to keep. We have Verizon Fios phone/internet/cable so I think it works out to around $30/month. It's not even so much a financial question but a matter of privacy and nuisance.
We keep it in case there's some emergency where cell phones don't work or in the case of extended power outage when we can't recharge our cell phones.
I realize that might happen some day but in the meantime we get bombarded by calls with no one there, with caller ID showing "unavailable" and no message left on the answering machine. Probably 6+ calls per day with this. Our number is unlisted and we're on the Do Not Call list but apparently that is meaningless.

What have you done with your phone?

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I can't stand our land line phone. It's only telemarketing computers that call. Even if I do answer it there's no one on the other end. I haven't looked into how much we'd save by cutting it but it's more of a nuisance to keep. We have Verizon Fios phone/internet/cable so I think it works out to around $30/month. It's not even so much a financial question but a matter of privacy and nuisance. We keep it in case there's some emergency where cell phones don't work or in the case of extended power outage when we can't recharge our cell phones. I realize that might happen some day but in the meantime we get bombarded by calls with no one there, with caller ID showing "unavailable" and no message left on the answering machine. Probably 6+ calls per day with this. Our number is unlisted and we're on the Do Not Call list but apparently that is meaningless. What have you done with your phone?

We have exactly the same issue.
We have been debating getting rid of it too, but I just can't do it.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[bigbabyblues]

We still have a landline. We get some calls on it, I don't give my cell # out except family and friends. The main reason we keep it is 911. Cell service is spotty here, and it isn't always quick for 911 to find you (DH is a paramedic and part time 911 dispatcher, he insists we keep it for that reason).

We added it to our cable internet package and pay $5/month for it.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Nope, don't have a land line and I don't miss it. The only thing it was good for was telemarketers and wrong numbers.

 

[justintime]

I really haven't gotten many telemarketing calls after adding my number to the do not call list. When we first got Directv, we were required to have a landline (I'm not sure why, it was 10 years ago). I'm not sure if we still need it for that reason or not. I like to have it for the reason you said - an extended power outage and we can't charge our cell phones (which has happened numerous times)

 

[usd2bmd]

We still have it but I don't know why. The only calls we get are charities asking me to donate and my MIL. We have only basic service (i.e. we pay for a dial tone and each call that is made)

 

[wendybeth75]

We finally got rid of ours when our kids were old enough to have cell phones. We didn't want them to ever be in a situation where they needed to call and couldn't.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Yes still have. Our alarm system needs a landline. I guess we could switch to a wireless alarm system but haven't bothered.

My kid is just starting to stay home alone (11) and does not yet have a phone. So until both kids have phones which will be 5-6 years we'll keep it.

 

[laurafergie]

I am Other and Yes.

We got rid of our landline YEARS ago, I think maybe 2005, we were living in VA at the time in a large metro area. It was a really just a cost cutting measure and everything, including 911 (had to call a few times) worked just fine with the cell phones. DH and older kids had cell phones and then there was the "house" cell phone. It was SO WONDERFUL only talking to people I wanted to talk to.

Fast forward to last summer. We move out to the middle of nowhere, rural Oklahoma. Cell phones are spotty. GPS and Google Maps have no idea how to get to our house. We had to get a house phone for 911 and have a conversation without a dropped call.

 

[lauradis]

op the last year we had a land line it was on mute the whole time. My cell phone is on mute most of the time too.

Im enjoying the non ringing.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I picked other.

We technically have landline service, but I have no phone hooked up for it. Our TV/internet package was cheaper bundled with a phone than it was without. (weird but it saved $15 a month that way).

 

[HookdonWDW]

We're stuck with a land line because of Comcast. If we get rid of the phone, our rate goes up. I've tried to get around this 3-4 times, and no dice. Oh well, at least we have a dedicated line for scammers, surveys and telemarketers. I don't know if most of the people who actually know us have any idea what our land line number actually is!

 

[MillauFr]

We're stuck with a land line because of Comcast. If we get rid of the phone, our rate goes up. I've tried to get around this 3-4 times, and no dice. Oh well, at least we have a dedicated line for scammers, surveys and telemarketers. I don't know if most of the people who actually know us have any idea what our land line number actually is!

I put up with the nonsense from Comcast for a couple of years that if you cancel one of your services the price will go up. I finally told them fine, then cancel everything. They "found" me an internet plan for $39.95 per month. I didn't need the cable TV or phone. I got an OOMA that runs our phone of our internet line. We never get junk calls, political calls, charity calls. It is wonderful. The only people who calls us are family which is how I like it.

 

[lizzyb]

We finally got rid of ours when our kids were old enough to have cell phones. We didn't want them to ever be in a situation where they needed to call and couldn't.

This is why we haven't got rid of ours yet. When the kids are older we will.

 

[usnuzuloose]

We have a business, and don't like dropped calls when talking with customers or anyone else. I like it and it is staying.

 

[3boymthr]

Even though we live in a well populated suburban area since none of the cell phone carriers have coverage that is strong enough that it will penetrate the walls of our house a land line is required and we do actually get lots of non telemarketer calls on it. I'd drop it if we got consistent coverage and we would save money.

 

[jewjubean]

I picked other. We technically have landline service, but I have no phone hooked up for it. Our TV/internet package was cheaper bundled with a phone than it was without. (weird but it saved $15 a month that way).

Same here.

 

[disney meema]

We have 1 land line for my husbands business

 

[HopperFan]

Personally we have no use for it, there are four of us with cell phones in the house. If I could pull it out I would but my DH works from home some and is on constant conference calls. He would go nuts trying to use his cell for those so he works with the land line on speaker. He has tried those internet and other gimmick phones but they are unreliable. So we only have it for him and it's there in an emergency if need be.

We have to keep it but we don't use it SO we have his office phone, the kitchen wall phone and the master bedroom phone all plugged in and usable BUT the kitchen and bedroom phone have their ringers totally turned off. The only place it rings is his office and it's on low so we never hear it. We finally ditched comcast for AT&T (saving a bundle) and it has voice mail but I don't even know how to check the thing. All junk calls come to it and we are not bothered. If we are watching TV the number/names pops up on the screen so if we actually wanted to answer it we could.....
but that would mean getting up.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Everything you said in your original post was everything we rethought for a while. We eventually dropped our landline about 4 months ago- so far so good and $30 a month back in our pockets. Cell service is not spotty where we live, so that was never a worry. We did get cordless phones that when my cell phone is int he house it hooks up to them automatically and I can answer or talk on those as I would mu cell phone. I like that because if I can't run to my cell in time (or can't find it) I can answer one of the two cordless phones. Good luck!