Telephone Pet Peeves

[pygmalion]

Sound off, folks. How do the people out there use the phone to get on your last nerve?

My pet peeve: people who unnecessarily create telephone tag. I called a guy Friday and left a specific message with a concise question and said please call back to confirm. He called back, but did he confirm? No. He called back and said, I'm returning your call. Please call me back. And I got the message after business hours. Uuugh! Why not just answer the question? :x

[SDsalsaguy]

I positively hate when someone wants to get off the phone and says "I'll let you go now." As if I couldn't "go" antime I wanted to and as if I was the one who needed to get goinig. Did I say I needed to go? No...so why don't you just say that you need to get going. Sheesh! (Can anyone tell that this really irks me?)

[Swing Kitten]

I positively hate when someone wants to get off the phone and says "I'll let you go now." As if I couldn't "go" antime I wanted to and as if I was the one who needed to get goinig. Did I say I needed to go? No...so why don't you just say that you need to get going. Sheesh! (Can anyone tell that this really irks me?)

... wow ...

[pygmalion]

I hate that, too, SD. :evil: Say what you mean. If you want to go, say so.

[trujigalo]

I'd just like to include one positive thing about phones, CALLER ID!!! I don't know what I would do if I couldn't screen my phone calls! haha. Also, I thought this could be useful for anyone, its actually quite funny but in a harsh way. Its called the rejection hotline, its for when people ask for your number, but you don't want to give it to them, so you give them this other number. Give it a try, lookup the numbers on www.rejectionhotline.com

[danceguy]

Hmm...I think my only real gripe about phones is when you're waiting for someone your courting/dating/romancing to call you...and you feel awkward for calling them too much because they never do. But if you don't call enough, they will say you are ignoring them! :oops:

Could also be I've just made bad choices in my ill-fated love life. Come to think of it, I'm very glad my ex-girlfriends don't call anymore. :)

[dancer_of_god]

1. i hate it when people make their telephone # unlisted or so u can't see it on the caller ID. i just don't answer it any more. i mean, what have they got to hide?!?!
2. i despise telemarketers that call twice in one night. yes, this has actually happened to me.
3. i hate it when people perform bodily noises on the phone.(i.e. burp, fart, need i say more?)
4. i really, very, utterly hate boys that call more then 3 times in one night, especially when u don't like them.

PS i will say this, phones are great for asking people out on dates. then again, u can't see their faces- they may be saying 'no' very sincerly while at the same time shoving their finger down their throat and gagging. usually, people w/ very low ego may prefer the phone for certain reasons.

[danceguy]

Dancer of God,

I agree with you there! But usually for me, getting a ladies phone number is asking them out on a date, or letting them know you wish to. It is always nice to see that special someone face to face...so you can actually see them gag and make faces at you when you ask them out in person. No better way to get the point across! :o

And for anyone that really wants to hide out, that's what online dating is for. You can't see the other person or hear their voice, and that picture you've been sent may be from a Glamour magazine, so you could easily end up on a blind date with a Gorilla in a cheap tuxedo. 8)

Oh yes, if the boys are calling you too much...just use your #3 post on them...that ought to prevent them from calling back a fourth time. :twisted:

[pygmalion]

3. i hate it when people perform bodily noises on the phone.(i.e. burp, fart, need i say more?)

My Mom yawns on the phone. Then has the nerve to be surprised I could hear her. Like, duh. Yes, I can hear you, and it annoys the heck out of me. :x

[dancer_of_god]

thankz for the advice, but it hasn't worked yet. anyway, that only happened once with one guy and i literally slapped him afterwards.(hey, he deserved it- he was a jerk and a play boy.)
i totally agree with u- online dating is very helpful; the only problem is my mom doesn't allow me to go to chat rooms(in fact im not really supposed to be here either, but at least this is clean and appropriate) 8) :lol:

[Swing Kitten]

1. i hate it when people make their telephone # unlisted or so u can't see it on the caller ID. i just don't answer it any more. i mean, what have they got to hide?!?!

I think it's more about general privacy, some people like that. What did you do in the days before caller ID? You just picked up the phone most of the time. They're probably not hiding if they are trying to contact you (although I'm sure this is not always true)

[will35]

I guess my only pet peeve about telephones is that they exist. I think I might answer to the post about three wishes that I should like to go back in time and give Alexander Graham Bell and Don Amici a good drubbing to settle the score between us three.

[dancer_of_god]

kitten- i know it's usually privacy, but most of the time it's a telemarketer.
I don't even have a problem with telemarketers, i meen, they are just doing their job. i just don't like it when they call on Sunday or during dinner. :x

[SDsalsaguy]

Yeah, and for some of us who keep non-traditional hours, 9am calls are really infuriating too... :evil:

[Swing Kitten]

What do you know about the national Do Not Call List?

[pygmalion]

It works. And if someone ignores it, all you have to when they call is say, "I'm on the do not call list." They can't hang up fast enough! :lol:

[Swing Kitten]

How exactly does one get on said list?

[pygmalion]

There's an 800 number to call. I'll see if I can find it again. I signed up when the list was first advertised. Long ago. So I'll try to find the info again. :D

Jenn

[pygmalion]

To sign up, call 1-888-382-1222.

For more information, check the website:

http://www.puc.state.oh.us/PUCO/Consumer/information.cfm?doc_id=438

[Swing Kitten]

thanks! ;)

It's funny but I heard on NPR that the Telemarketing comanies are fighting the do not call list... that it is unconstitutional.... Ironically there are a number of executives of the top such companies that are ON the list!!

[MissAlyssa]

#1 when people don't say goodbye
#2 when people hang up when they get mad

[pygmalion]

How about this one -- when people on the other end are EATING! I got that one today. :shock: :x :lol:

[bouncybouncyweee]

I am going to take this moment to thank the DF's in general for that lovely number to get me off the telemarketer call list. Thank you Pygmalion. :notworth:

And, the thing I hate, aside from the "I'm mad at you, I'll hang up" tactic, is when I tell people I have to go do something, (not just that I have to go, but go do SOMETHING) and THEY STAY ON THE PHONE! and keep talking
and talking
and talking.

[SwinginBoo]

BBW, I have a friend who is famous for that! It's like a big joke now because she just can't stop herself from talking.

[Sagitta]

Hooray for the National Do not Call list. It definitely works. Now I can listen to the messages on my answering machie rather then spending hours deleting telemarketeer calls!!

My top phone pet peeve (ppp...am hallucinating here, probably need to go to bed): people watching TV or typing away on the computer while on the phone.

Veering off the highway for a brief detour...There are a lot of people who do the same thing in person. If you want to leave, or if you want them to leave why do you stand 20 minutes talking at the doorstep. It's obvious that there is something going on here. How explicit do you have to be. Sometimes you just got to be rude!

Cutting back onto the highway...when people say they want to leave and stay talking on the phone, or you need to do something and try and end the conversation but the other person refuses to do so ---one of my pet peeves too ---(1) you can hang up (2) that's what they made speaker phones, headsets etc. They soon get the message. (Who wants to hear a person doing their thing in the restroom. Hehehe :twisted: ) Hey, if they won't listen let them suffer.

I'm guilty of the "I'm mad, so I'll hang up". But I usually try to call a time out first. I also do that when I get really angry in person. I say "let's have this conversation later as I'm too upset to talk about it now". If you persist I walk away. So, if I tell you the same thing on the phone and you persist, I hang up. If you're not listening to me I'm not watsing my time with you.

[Swing Kitten]

I'm pretty good about letting others go when they say they need to go. But when I need to go and still want to talk to that person it's a different story... it's especially bad when it's more that I should go... but nothing is pressing when I'd much rather continue the conversation. :shrug: it's my own fault

[MissAlyssa]

I'm a chronic offender of the "I'll let you go" phrase....

sowwie :oops:

[SDsalsaguy]

I'm a chronic offender of the "I'll let you go" phrase....

sowwie :oops:
Apology accepted... just don't let it happen again! :x :wink: :lol:

[salsachinita]

Hey guys, this might not be exactly relevant.....but
What do you do when someone 'telephon-stalks' you....? :shock:

(this is true, this guy called me something like 20 times a day.....! Tried everything.....had to change the number :( :evil: )

[Sagitta]

Sounds serious. :shock: You probably can get a court order ordering the guy not to call you, and I would think he would face serious consequences if he breaks the court order.

So, you changed the number. Did the phone calls stop?

[NeoDevin]

I often say something like "I'm gonna let you go now, because I have to go do such and such". Does that cound as really annoying?

[SDsalsaguy]

I often say something like "I'm gonna let you go now, because I have to go do such and such". Does that cound as really annoying?
Geez, you have half the truth in there...why can't you just go all the way and say "*I* need to go now because I have to go do such and such?" Sheesh! :roll: :wink:

[peachexploration]

My pet peeve? CALL WAITING!!!! I hate when people get beeps in the middle of a 1 minute story I'm trying to tell that takes 30 minutes because of the beeps. ARRRRRGGHHH!!!! And even worse, they get a beep and leave you on hold forever or never come back to you. It drives me nuts!! I've learned that when my friends call and they have call waiting and they start to answer the beeps, I hang up and will not answer the phone if they call back. :evil: If you're expecting an important call, I understand but just let me know. Don't leave me hanging. You know what, I think I just hate phones. Thank goodness for email and chat. No call waiting there. :lol:

[Sagitta]

Have you tried video chatting then?

[peachexploration]

Yep. NetMeeting rocks! Much better. :D :D :D

[peachexploration]

New one for me. People calling me a 1:00am to say hello. :shock: Don't they know that's DF IRU time? :lol:

[pygmalion]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[SDsalsaguy]

New one for me. People calling me a 1:00am to say hello. :shock: Don't they know that's DF IRU time? :lol:
Some do... which is why they know that it's a fine time to call me! :lol:

[peachexploration]

New one for me. People calling me a 1:00am to say hello. :shock: Don't they know that's DF IRU time? :lol:
Some do... which is why they know that it's a fine time to call me! :lol:

Note to self: Make annoying callers join DF so they can hang at IRU with me. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[dancingdragon]

I work in a call centre so I have the "pleasure" of taking phone calls all day everyday. Most of my pet peeves have already been covered off: eating on phone, sniffing/coughing/clearing throat on phone, being put on hold interminably ... and in my personal time I really HATE being phoned by telemarketers, and I wish we had the Don't Call List here in NZ. I know they're just doing their jobs but I totally resent companies who cold-call trying to get me to change over, especially cell phone companies. I'm a very intelligent, well-educated and well-informed (and did I mention modest :) ) adult and when I'm ready to change companies, I'll call them!!!!! I don't need them to help me take the initiative!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRR!!! :evil:

Ahem ... :oops:

[SDsalsaguy]

Dot how do you really feel about it? :lol:

[dancingdragon]

Ha ha ... that's what I'd like to tell them when they call me, but of course what really happens is I just politely say "I'm not interested thanks" and hang up. :D

[peachexploration]

I think every person from now on should be jailed for at least 24-hours form talking on cell phones while driving. :evil: :evil: Three people just tried to run me over because they were talking on a cell phone and not paying attention. ARRRRGGGG!!!!!!! :bkick: :evil:

[pygmalion]

I can't remember if I posted this before (this is an elderly thread LOL) but I read somewhere that people talking on cell phones are about as likely to have a car accident as people who are drunk.

[peachexploration]

Yeah, that makes total sense, Pygmalion. People should know that by now. A total impairment. All senses are altered. One guy was talking on the phone, looking right at me as I had to drive on somebody's lawn to get out of the way. Something an inebriated person would totally do. :evil: Actually, that's pretty funny. No wait, I'm still mad!!!!!! :evil: :P

[Larinda McRaven]

I have to talk to a certain person over the phone on a regular basis for work.

I call and say "hey I need to talk to you about this"
She says "hold on a minute" and then carries on a conversation about something ese with someone in the room with her, ignoring me (can you say Long Distance Charges) then coming back talking nonstop about things she needs to address, then tells me shes got to go and hangs up. I never ever get to address my issues.... :roll:

[pygmalion]

Or my girlfriend with two young boys who keeps interrupting conversations to yell to them in the background, "I'm going to spank you!" I mean, every three minutes. :x If she doesn't have time to talk, I can understand that. But the constant screaming at her kids (in my ear LOL) is just about more than I can take. :( And yes, I know that toddlers view mom's phone time as the perfect opportunity for mischief. Just call me after bed time, if you can. 8)

[mhgroove]

My pet peeve? CALL WAITING!!!! I hate when people get beeps in the middle of a 1 minute story I'm trying to tell that takes 30 minutes because of the beeps. ARRRRRGGHHH!!!! And even worse, they get a beep and leave you on hold forever or never come back to you. It drives me nuts!! I've learned that when my friends call and they have call waiting and they start to answer the beeps, I hang up and will not answer the phone if they call back. :evil: If you're expecting an important call, I understand but just let me know. Don't leave me hanging. You know what, I think I just hate phones. Thank goodness for email and chat. No call waiting there. :lol:

Peachexploration,

I agree with you on the Call Waiting! When I'm phone with you..talk to me and then when the conversation is finished..then go to your other call. CALL WAITING..UGGHHHH!!!


Also, when you call a business(I know I work for Wells Fargo) and you're caught in Automated Zone. Automated Zone is the worst invention ever created. I get the idea..it's suppose to be efficient..but you don't to talk to REAL PEOPLE!!!! My .02....

[peachexploration]

Oh geez! I actually tried to have Call Waiting removed from my service package and the phone company was like :nope: :evil: Whomever created Call Waiting should be punished severely!! Like nothing but potato salad for a whole week. :lol: Got another one. On the phone with one of my relatives and I've really got get off the phone. I'm at work, need to turn the stove off because my food is burning or just plain tired of hearing about Susie and looser boyfriend. I say to this certain relative nicely: I really have to go now... Their response: Child, me too but let me tell you about so and so and she said, blah, blah blah. So 15 minutes minutes later, I'm screaming I HAVE TO GET OFF THE PHONE!!!!!! :evil: :evil: ARRRRGGGHHH!!!!

So now I don't answer the phone at all. :?

[sanityhaven]

How about when the phone company tells you the wrong number for your house phone. Then you call them to tell them that you don't have the right number. And they say we don't know your number either, try calling someone with caller id. Then you tell them that you just called them and they say they don't have it. And they're the flipping phone company. Sheesh.

[MacMoto]

Pet peeves? I don't like telephone. Period. Don't like calling people, don't like being called. I prefer to be able to see the person I'm talking to. :?

[Bob]

I positively hate when someone wants to get off the phone and says "I'll let you go now." As if I couldn't "go" antime I wanted to and as if I was the one who needed to get goinig. Did I say I needed to go? No...so why don't you just say that you need to get going. Sheesh! (Can anyone tell that this really irks me?)

Thats why I just hang up. Usually in the middle of one of my own sentences. :shock:

[mamboqueen]

I *detest* call waiting, too! My BIGGEST pet peeve. I usually hang up if someone doesn't blow the other person off. And I love it when they come back to me and say "gotta take this call."

I'm on the Mass. "do not call list" and it seems to do the trick. I did get a call from a woman from Dial America (or one of those mass telemarketers) and when I told her I was "on the list"; her (schmarmy) answer was that it was okay by law for someone to solicit if they already had condcuted business with you in the past (she was calling on behalf of Vanity Fair). I should have thought to say "well, then it's okay for THEM to call me, not you", but I just hung up on her.

[Bob]

I like getting the calls.

I try to see how long I can keep them on the line before they hang up on me.

My personal best is 20 minutes... but I know I can do better.

(learned a lot about windows that day, I can tell you...)

[peachexploration]

Bob, too funny... :lol: :lol:

[cocodrilo]

Pet peeves? I don't like telephone. Period. Don't like calling people, don't like being called. I prefer to be able to see the person I'm talking to. :?
SAME HERE!
When I've finished work at 9:00pm and spent an hour making a sumptuous dinner and finally sit down with it and a glass of good vino, click on the telly (satellite TV, MOVIES) and then some *@!#&% calls and want to gab- it's infuriating. This only happens when I forget to turn off the sound on my phone(just press th' button! answering service & fax still works!). This handy-dandy system stays on till I get up(7:00am, most every day) as my Mom has the habit of occasionally calling at 5:30am ("Oh, but it's 3:00pm here!" Get a calculator & get a CLUE! :evil: )

[Pacion]

I try to see how long I can keep them on the line before they hang up on me.

My personal best is 20 minutes... but I know I can do better.

:shock: :lol: Okay, making notes. Do not call Bob to try and sell him anything or conduct any surveys :lol:

[peachexploration]

....... This handy-dandy system stays on till I get up(7:00am, most every day) as my Mom has the habit of occasionally calling at 5:30am ("Oh, but it's 3:00pm here!" Get a calculator & get a CLUE! :evil: )

ROTF LMAO!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: My mom does that too and she'll use the "but I was up at 5:00am every morning when I was your age" excuse!! :lol:

[peachexploration]

Notice to all callers: It would be much easier on you if you call and leave a message on voicemail rather than call someone 50 times and hang up when the voicemail comes on! :headwall: ARRGGGHH!!! That is aggravating!!! :mad:

PS: The house phone is now unplugged and the cell phone is now turned off. :evil:

[irMax SALSA]

I don't have any peeves YET.

But I would like to share this one...

My Mom usually receives phone calls for hair appointments at the Upstairs & Downstairs Hair Salon. She tried to rectify the problem but she still gets calls every weekend.

She became so annoyed that she started making appointments.

lol

[LindyKeya]

I can't remember if I posted this before (this is an elderly thread LOL) but I read somewhere that people talking on cell phones are about as likely to have a car accident as people who are drunk.

Some researchers at the University of Utah did this study. I don't have time to look for the link right now, but in their simulation, none of the drunk drivers hit the car they were "following" but several of the phoning drivers did.

Did I mention my car was totalled 2 weeks ago because a girl who was talking on a cell phone totally ran a stop sign (and then lied to the cop about it - "I stopped at the stop sign." Yes. And somehow your SUV accelerated to 40 mph in 10 feet).

[DanceMentor]

What does "MM Bye" mean?

[PasoDancer]

I hate it when I say "hello" and the other person just barges into a conversation without a greeting. When they're finished, they just hang up. I usually call them back and say "Oh, you forgot to say goodbye" and then hang up quickly.

[fascination]

i find it annoying when : a) people call and don't leave a messge but assume that I have caller ID which i don't at home and then get ticked b/c I didn't return their call

and b) when they just say call me...could you please specify...like is it urgent ...do you just want to gab...what?...b/c if it is a hectic time maybe not so good for me and I'd like to prioritize

[DWise1]

We had a phone situation when we rented for a year. We'd be to bed by 10:30 or 11 and between 11:30 and midnight a woman would call us asking for her cousin. She only spoke Spanish, but that was my wife's first language so she'd try to handle the call -- she said the woman had a back-hills accent that she could hardly understand. Try as she would, she could not convince that woman that she had the wrong number and her cousin did not live with us. Sometimes it was every night and sometimes a few days would go by between calls. And it was always on a night before a work day and it was always when we had been asleep for less than an hour, jarring us awake and leaving us unable to fall back asleep for a while. Finally one night I took the call and in my broken Spanish went over the number with her over and over again. I guess it finally sank in after that, because I guess that her cousin wouldn't be living with such an obvious gringo.


Similarly, I've gotten a lot of voicemails where the person would just hang up. Though I did get a couple voicemails in Japanese (given a large enough sample, I can recognize that it's Japanese, but I only know a few words). I finally discovered the reason for that when I made a purchase the other night and they entered in my phone number and a Japanese name was attached to it.

[tanya_the_dancer]

We had a phone situation when we rented for a year. We'd be to bed by 10:30 or 11 and between 11:30 and midnight a woman would call us asking for her cousin. She only spoke Spanish, but that was my wife's first language so she'd try to handle the call -- she said the woman had a back-hills accent that she could hardly understand. Try as she would, she could not convince that woman that she had the wrong number and her cousin did not live with us. Sometimes it was every night and sometimes a few days would go by between calls. And it was always on a night before a work day and it was always when we had been asleep for less than an hour, jarring us awake and leaving us unable to fall back asleep for a while. Finally one night I took the call and in my broken Spanish went over the number with her over and over again. I guess it finally sank in after that, because I guess that her cousin wouldn't be living with such an obvious gringo.


Similarly, I've gotten a lot of voicemails where the person would just hang up. Though I did get a couple voicemails in Japanese (given a large enough sample, I can recognize that it's Japanese, but I only know a few words). I finally discovered the reason for that when I made a purchase the other night and they entered in my phone number and a Japanese name was attached to it.
One of the phone numbers we had used to belong to local social security office. So we had quite a few senior citizens calling us and asking about their benefits, and they were quite often unhappy when we told them that we are not social security office. But fortunately they did not try to call at night and once the new phone directory came out, they eventually stopped.

[TangoRocks]

Pet peeve? Getting voicemail when calling someone you don't really know, and trying to fumble through crafting a half-way intelligible message to leave on the spot. The only way I can think of avoiding this is to ALWAYS prepare a vmail message to leave before you call people but life's too short for that! Oh, and it's worse if you get voicemail to the same person twice in a row, then you don't know if you should call them again, or wait for them to call you back (this, assuming I didn't forget to leave my number in the message) arrghh!

[fascination]

phone peeves;

people who call once a year, say "call me" and don't leave their number assuming I have caller ID or something...I don't

people who call, and simply say call me back and don't give me some sense of why, which gives me no idea how pressing the situation may be

people who say they will call you back and mean some time before you both die, or not....specify; day or in a week, not sure...whatever

[wonderwoman]

People who don't speak right away when you answer. Or the first thing they say is um. Wrong. The word you were looking for was hello.

[bclure]

#1 people that block their number for caller ID. I figure if they don't want me to know who is calling, I don't want to ruin it for them.

#2 People that leave vague messages. "Call me right away".. Or "this is so and so, call me at ###-####. Finally I return the call after getting too many messages. It's a marketing firm. I tell the obnoxious woman that I don't like talking to her and if her tactics reflect her business practices, she could not possibly represent me or my business.

[bclure]

OH! OH! OH!!! AUTOMATED ANSWERING SYSTEMS THAT REQUIRE LISTENING TO FIVE MINUTES OF DRONING!! arrgghhhhh!!!!

[pygmalion]

People who talk on cell phones in public using their outdoor voice. I find this especially prevalent among people with those Bluetooth headset thingies. This may surprise you, but, since I'm at the grocery store and don't know you from Adam, I have no desire to hear about your Aunt Matilda's bunion surgery. No. Really. No desire at all.

ETA: And yes. I do understand that cell phones are everywhere and that many people are required to use them for business and are on call 24/7. I don't begrudge people their phone conversations ... much. I just don't want to hear them from 25 feet away.

[Peaches]

Agreed. One time I was one the train, at one end, and some guy at the other end was talking unbelievably loudly. At one point he gave the other person his cell phone number. I was so tempted to jot it down and then call him...and tell him I was at the other end of the train and the only reason why i could call him is because he was speaking that.loudly.

I wish people would realize that it's perfectly possible to speak normally, and even quietly, while on a cell phone.

[chachachacat]

Agreed. One time I was one the train, at one end, and some guy at the other end was talking unbelievably loudly. At one point he gave the other person his cell phone number. I was so tempted to jot it down and then call him...and tell him I was at the other end of the train and the only reason why i could call him is because he was speaking that.loudly.

I wish people would realize that it's perfectly possible to speak normally, and even quietly, while on a cell phone.

Ha! That would have been funny!!