posted
If a number shows up on your caller id that you don't recognise, and they don't leave a message, do you call it?
In my business we make a lot of outgoing calls (not telemarketing) to current clients. I get at least three or four people calling back saying, "did you call me?". With over 4,000 customers, we probably have and dial a lot of wrong numbers. I actually get yelled at sometimes by people when I can't figure out why we would have called their number.
Also when I call a cell phone, I guess my number shows up on their phone while I am leaving a voice mail message. I hate it when they call back in the middle of me leaving a very detailed message, just so I have to repeat the entire thing.
I hate called id, and don't get me started on the rudeness of call waiting.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I won't call back a number I don't recognize. If it's important they'll call back.
But then, my cellphone is for work. I don't get a lot of personal calls on it. And most of the calls I DO get are wrong numbers. "Ray", the guy who had this phone, like 2 years ago, was *VERY* popular.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Do I call back a caller ID number that I don't recognize? Not usually. With the exception of certain friends, I figure if they really wanted to talk to me, they'd have left a message.
quote:Any call that comes up "unavailable" or "anonymous" or 1-800 or 1-888 does not get answered at all. Even if we're in the house looking at the phone.
Ditto, except that if I'm near the correct phone, I use this.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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So the basic etiquette that might surround the assertation that it is rude to screen calls is that people are obligated by manners to answer all phone calls?
I'm with FG, if there isn't a name associated to a known entity on that caller ID I just mute the phone. I think it is rude for people to use my personal lines as unsolicited places of business.
Incidental information regarding cells; there is nothing to indicate to someone that you are leaving a voicemail. How is it rude if the person you called opted not to use call waiting and instead ended thier call, and then called you back?
Also if I am near a land line and receive a call on my cell during day hours I commonly call that contact back on the land line.
I think caller ID and the practice of message screening have given back some semblance of privacy to the private home.
Posts: 686 | Registered: Sep 2001
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Incidental information regarding cells; there is nothing to indicate to someone that you are leaving a voicemail. How is it rude if the person you called opted not to use call waiting and instead ended thier call, and then called you back?
Call waiting for me is a seperate matter. I hang up on any personal call if they put me on hold to answer call waiting.
The voice mail thing is more of an annoyance.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I'm with Rivka and Farmgirl, I never answer the phone if it's obviously a phone solicitor. I'm trying to teach my girls to wait for callID do the same, but they're conditioned to answer the phone right away.
I especially hate computerized sales calls. For over a month now, I've gotten the same call on my voicemail at least once a week. I have no idea what company it is or what they're selling. They always call while I'm at work, and the message starts in as soon as the line is connected (instead of waiting for the beep) so all I hear is "I look forward to hearing from you. Please make this phone call your first priority."
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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quote:If a number shows up on your caller id that you don't recognise, and they don't leave a message, do you call it?
Heck no. If it's not worth leaving a voice mail over and I don't know who you are, I'm not going to go out of my way for you (especially since my only phone is a cell phone). I think the only non-messege-leaving-person I ever call back is my mother. I'm not sure why, but she hardly ever leaves a messege. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I have called back numbers, but I rarely do so. Very rarely. Then again, lately my home phone has been getting really weird phone calls from people who only speak Spanish and who will call back over and over again no matter how many times I tell them they have the wrong number. So my home phone spends most of its time on Do Not Disturb.
quote:I would get annoyed if the caller didn't know why he called me! If your call is so unimportant, I'd rather not receive it.
Some business phone systems don't show as the line that called, but just the main number for the business. I've had to deal with people calling who say our number was on their caller ID, but I have no idea who called them or why.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I do when they really annoy me, like calling ten times in a day. I call and tell them to put me on their do not call list (or if I'm not quite as mad, wait until they do it again and tell them.) If they call again I pick up, inform them that they are going to be reported to the State Attorney, get the necessary information, and then do it.
And I'm a little annoyed when my dad says, "I saw you left a message and called you back," because I usually do leave relevant information in the message (like "Don't bother calling me back, I'll see you tomorrow" or "I'm calling about such and such a thing, could you please find the reference thing I need and have it ready when you call me back" or "I'm calling with that list you wanted, here it is" and I don't want to have to go through it twice.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I guess I'm one of the only ones that calls back a number I see and don't recognize...
It's a curiosity thing.
At the same time, if I dial a wrong number and realize as it's ringing that it's the wrong number - I wait to see if someone picks up and say, 'sorry, I dialed the wrong number but I didn't want to hang up on you'...
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
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I hate receiving calls from people who saw my number on their call display unit. "Who called me?" How the heck do I know? If a message wasn't left, it might not have been that important, or, gosh, it could have been a wrong number. Or, oh my, someone else might have been using my phone. No, don't call, especially if you're going to be rude about it (which is not in reference to anyone in this thread, but rather to real-life experiences of people calling back). I'll probably tell you to piss off.
I also screen my calls. I feel absolutely no compunction whatsoever to answer the door just because you knock or answer the phone just because you ring, especially if I don't know you or like you. My home is my sanctuary and I shall not be disturbed.
posted
I don't answer if I don't know the number, or if it comes up blocked or private or something similar. The only exception is one particular friend whose calls show as private, but he makes a point of coming online and tracking me down via instant messenger to warn me that he's about to call.
I don't return calls to numbers that appear on Caller ID. I do occasionally look them up in reverse directory assist, mostly just when I don't know the area code and I'm curious.
My sister and mother drive me insane with not giving me enough time to leave a voicemail when they don't answer in time. Doesn't matter whether I'm on the cell or the landline, as soon as it stops ringing, they're dialing me back. I've tried talking to them about it but they're being obtuse, and I swear it's intentional.
And I ALWAYS leave a message when I get voicemail. It may only be, "hey, it's me, gonna try your other line", but I always leave something.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I call back unknown numbers. Mostly because I'm curious but also because I have alot of stupid male friends who hate leaving messages and I know it'll be atleast a week before they call me back.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I love caller ID. If I don't recognize the number, they had better leave a message if they want me to call back. I stop getting telemarketers after I registered over at the DNC site. An' depending on how I feel, I use it to screen calls for those I don't want to talk to. Like if work calls after I have gone home. I'm the last to leave out of my office space, I am not going to field calls from the other office to go back in (I don't get paid overtime, like the one civilian that works back there does).
As far as call waiting, I never put anyone on hold to talk to whoever is trying to call. The current conversation is important enough to me to have the intruding call wait.
Now at work, we don't have caller ID. However, if it's 20 minutes after we get to the shop and the phone rings...we don't pick up. We know who it is, and it never changes. It's our civilian supervisor (in another building) calling to tell us to get parts for this "big emergency" (which it isn't), and that we have to rush these parts in overnight (when the job is months from now).
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I don't call back unknown numbers; mostly, I have found that it's timeshares.
I prefer that people not leave voice-mail on my cellphone, unless this particular message is very important. If all you want to tell me is that you called me, I'll generally see that from the caller ID. But I don't expect people to know that about me without being told.
I hate being called by machines, and I hate being placed on hold when I am called. Either of those results in me hanging up the phone. I also hate being asked by a caller who I am.
My caller ID rant: There are other categories of incoming calls besides friends and telemarketers. For instance, teachers of your children, and also psychologists. If I call you, I don't want you to have my number. Too often your children will not appreciate me having called you, and giving them my phone number leads to crank calls. (Ask me about the truly heinous one I received last year.) It is possible to block having your number identified; it is also possible to block incoming calls that block caller ID. If you do this, you will not receive any calls from me, because I will not unblock caller ID; don't complain later on that you weren't kept informed.
Also, the fact that I call you in your home in the evening does not mean it's okay for you to do the same. When I call you at home, I am doing you a favor. When you call me at home, you are intruding on my off hours and asking me to work during time I am not getting paid to work.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote: For instance, teachers of your children, and also psychologists. If I call you, I don't want you to have my number.
I can understand this, Icarus, and see your point. Luckily, we are in a small enough town and all that I never had a teacher block their number, but I can see that it would be necessary in some cases.
The only trouble I've run into with my "do not answer" rule is that many of my friends are in law enforcement. When they call my home phone, it DOES show up as "anonymous" (blocked), for good reason. That is why I try to give friends my cell phone number instead, and I usually always answer any call on it.
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