Dear "Polite"
1. When you post a message to the thread, everyone reads it. Whether you thought you were replying to me or not.
2. Your perception of being "attacked" or me "complaining about your posts" is your perception. I was (in my perception) disagreeing with you and feeling very strongly that you had not registered my disagreement and reasons for it - and that for as long as you were stating definitively that your method had worked you were devaluing my experience that it hasn't worked for me. There are, as I said, many possible reasons why your calls have stopped.
3. Yes, I read your three possible reasons (all guesses). Yes, I have considered them. I still see no reason why other techniques shouldn't work as well as politeness. Why do I need to say why I think that? Is this a philosophical debate? Life is too short.
4. Over the total of eleven years in which we've received the "Mrs Clements/Mr Ball" calls we have tried everything except changing our number. Yes, we tried lying. It didn't work. It did mean that on one occasion I was called a liar by the caller who said that she knew Mrs Clements DID have our phone number because she had spoken to "Mr Clements" the night before - my husband, trying a different approach to find out where the calls were coming from.
5. I've had enough of this now. Bad enough to get the calls without having an argument about them with someone who doesn't even identify his/her self. I won't be following the thread any further.
Oh and this morning a phone call interrupted our (much needed) sleep in. "Good Morning," said the horribly chirpy male voice. "This is Chris calling from the Energy Explanation Centre in downtown Newport" (or that's what I think he said). "Good morning", I said in return, "and aren't you a complete pain in the arse. Goodbye." And put the phone down. That felt good.