Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Phone Etiquette

There I lay in the dreary light peeking through the drapes. Half asleep, half awake ...... just drifting ...... dogs snuggled next to me, all warm ......... gray light ......... no real reason to get up early ....... I think hear the phone ringing. No, maybe I was dreaming. Then I hear it again, I am sure this time. Before I can finish the debate I am having with myself, it stops after three rings. One foot was out of the covers and before I can pull it back, the ringing starts again. I get up and head out of the bedroom and after three rings it stops before I reach it. Then the cell phone starts ringing (not mine, his, I only give my number to people I don't mind getting calls from).


I pick up the phone and scroll back wondering who was calling with such urgency. Something must be amiss. Maybe there is a geyser from a broken pipe spewing water skyward ........ or a fire .....or some other emergency has befallen the kampground and three different people have called to alert us. But, why have they ended the calls after only three rings?? Is there a gunman loose shooting everyone on the third ring? My imagination is working without benefit of caffiene. I grab the cell phone and head back to the bedroom, a phone in each hand. I awaken he who sleeps blissfully in any situation and toss his cell phone on the bed next to him as I check to see who has called on the land line .................


First call was at 8:01, second call was at 8:01, third call was at 8:02. Same caller, all three calls, then the same caller calls the cell number. The cell number to be used in the event that a call to the business line is unanswered. You know, like an emergency. Like ........ the building is on fire. And, why would you hang up after only three rings? Even if the office were open with me standing right next to the phone, there are still situations that might prevent me from answering the phone right away. So, if you need to talk to someone, I suppose you call three times in a matter of minutes. Why not let the phone ring nine times in one call? After six rings, you will get the answering machine and you can then convey your message. But, I suppose, with this method you will get my attention and I will be ever so pleasant when I finally make it to the phone before you hang up, right?


So, you may be wondering what was so urgent. It was the company that we purchase our propane gas from. They taxed the last delivery. They aren't supposed to tax what we sell, just the tank that feeds our residence. He who was running some of his endless errands happened to be near their office yesterday and stopped by to tell them of the error. We have been purchasing from them for 7 years and this is the first time they have taxed us. The phone calls, the THREE phone calls in less than two minutes, the calls that pulled me out of bed before I was ready to be up and about .............. They can't seem to locate our tax exempt number. Really. That is the problem that prompted three calls in succession with such a sense of urgency.

12 comments:

SkippyMom said...

Annoying, yes, but at least they admitted the mistake.

Imagine how pissed off you would've been if no one caught the mistake and you had to pay.

Granted - I hate a ringing phone and I REALLY hate when someone can't get a hold of me on one phone they will try a second or a third.

If I am not answering the first one why the heck would I answer the second. OR third.

scarlethue said...

I have a coworker who does that kind of thing-- if I don't answer one phone, he calls the other, then he texts, then he sends an email. Then he'll call again and leave a voicemail saying "hey I just sent you a text and email, let's talk." CHILL.

Whitney Lee said...

How annoying. That would start my day off on the wrong foot. I hope it's not done the same to you.

Brian Miller said...

smiles. they just want to keep your business and maybe find a way to save a little face...

Teresa said...

ugh - what a way to start the day. i hate mornings like that. i tend to get the early morning calls on my weekend mornings, which (even though i'm probably awake that early) makes me get up and walk around the bed to the telephone because my "he who" isn't fast enough to get the phone.

menopausaloldbag (MOB) said...

One cretin from an overseas call centre called us at 7am on a Sunday to ask us if we were considering upgrading our ISP services. You should have heard the language on this side when I realised that he hd woken us up to sell us something we didn't want!

Anonymous said...

What a way to ruin a day! I hate when folks do that.

mamahasspoken said...

What ever happen to not calling before 9:00? Of course this was what my mom would tell me and she wasn't a morning person. Seems like they should have left a message on the machine the first call though.

houndstooth said...

I guess it could have been them calling to say that they weren't giving your money back. Some people really have no sense of decency!

Pat said...

I can understand your frustration. Why couldn't they just leave a message the first time?

Anonymous said...

Never heard of leaving a message? I find it annoying when people call and then hang up when they hear the recorded message. Just tell me what you want and I will take care of it.

Marla said...

I guess it's better than no call back. Maybe not. :-)