blocking a number when calling the uk from spain?

[hockenc]

how do you go about blocking a number when calling the uk from spain? i need to call uk when in spain to cancel an appointment but dont want the person knowing im abroad? anyone help please? thanks in advance..

[boxtops]

Use your mobile, that will show your mobile number but won't indicate you are not in the UK

[hockenc]

Didnt know that thanks a lot..cheers

[boxtops]

It'll cost you, though, calling the UK from a mobile isn't cheap.

[malagabob]

What if you use a road side coin box, or hotel reception phone, will that tell the person you are calling you are away?

[boxtops]

I suppose if they bother to dial 1471 to check the caller number, or have caller alert on a screen, it might show the Spanish dialling code.

[Celticv11]

Call outside office hours and leave a message, Or send a text?

[boxtops]

Can't you cancel the appointment before you leave the UK?

[malagabob]

Is it possible for someone you know still in the UK to do it for you.

[hockenc]

Thanks again for all the advice much appreciated..cheers

[KARL]

This is where the backwardness of the UK (BT) telephone system may work to your advantage. If the people you are ringing have Caller ID (whereby the incoming number is displayed on their telephone) then that will show up a UK number calling them in full. Similarly if they dial 1471 after the call has ended and before anyone else calls them then a machine will give them the previous caller's number. In both cases this assumes the caller did not block the disclosure when making the call. However, if the incoming call originates abroad then the information, although transmitted by the overseas telephone exchange, does not reach the UK receiving telephone because BT do not process it. In the case of caller ID the display will say "Unobtainable" and in the case of 1471 the machine will state that "We do not have the caller's number" as far as the receiver of the call is concerned, this can be for any reason including the call originating abroad.

This has been the case with BT lines/exchanges (and any provider leasing BT lines, such as TalkTalk) until very recently. I cannot say for non-BT lines (cable, etc.).

[boxtops]

Karl, that is true - if you get a nuisance call from overseas, there's never a return number.

[mushroom25]

.......and yet, when my dad rings me from home in Perpignan, my mobile correctly identifies his "00334..." number.

[KARL]

I was of course referring to BT landlines, not other landlines and certainly not mobiles - in any case an office is presumably taking appointments and cancellations via a landline ? Boxtops, that is exactly our disadvantage in the UK, the nuisance callers have a field day here for this very reason. Elsewhere (anywhere from Europe to Asia and Africa) people see the number and can recognise it for what it is.

[Kjohn]

I've got caller display & the call would show on mine as "International", therefore giving the game away. Get someone in UK to ring for you as suggested earlier.