Can we ever get rid of cold callers?

We still have a landline and every so often the phone rings, you pick it up and there is nobody there. Nobody that is except for some odd clicks. Or perhaps the sound of people in the background as if their phone has been left off the hook. This is the world of cold calling which the government, perhaps mindful of the impending election, is promising to do something about. Whether they can do anything is another matter; some people who have gone ex-directory claim they still receive these calls even though in theory their number is known only to people they know.
It’s easy to see that some older people or those who live alone might feel they are being stalked by a mysterious figure intent with some ill - intentioned motive. In a way they are because at the end of the day many of these unsolicited calls are to sell you something you probably don’t want. I could have insulated our loft about ten times over in the past year had I responded positively to such enquiries. Equally I could have filed dozens of PPI complaints, insulated the walls, replaced the windows and even switched gas provider. Which is odd because we don’t have any gas.
Usually these calls have some barely understandable operator clearly phoning from halfway round the world and thus their voice is feint and crackly. Or else It’s an automatic message; the one I’m most familiar with lately has a woman sharply declaring; “HSBS, Barclays, Nat West…” I usually put the receiver down at that point. Maybe she just likes to list banks. Perhaps next month she’ll says “Orange juice, lemonade, Coca Cola..” Other cold callers want you to take a survey because they get in right away and say “I’m not trying to sell you anything” but then claim “it’ll only take a few minutes”. Don’t ever fall for that because this is a new definition of “a few” which translates as “about fifteen minutes.”

People have tried various methods to get their own back including trying to keep the caller on the line for as long as possible, pretending to be someone else or even blowing a loud whistle down the phone. But for some people they are, at best, a nuisance and at worst a worry.
The prevalence of cold calling suggests there is too much information about each of us floating about especially as these unwanted calls have found their way to smartphones as well. Can we do anything about it? Well short of refusing to sign up to anything which in the online world is difficult, all we can really do is carry on complaining. You have to feel some sympathy with the people who have to do these jobs; imagine spending your day phoning people who don’t want to speak to you and may insult you as well.
If responsible firms and places like banks and even the government  can call a halt to the behaviour then it would certainly be a step forward because then we’ll know that we can swiftly decline any cold calls we get. There are plenty of other advertising and promotional avenues around today- more than ever in fact- for cold calling to be dropped. Being able to see the number of calls, even if it is not given by the caller, could be a help as well. If all else fails and cold calls continue to come then you can always resort of playing a recording of a baying moose down the phone and that would probably ensure you are left alone.