Phone etiquette- Am I the jerk, or am I surrounded by jerks (or both)?

[SacredCow]

Though I LOVE the invention of caller ID, I'm less enthralled by call-waiting.... I have a close friend who has a somewhat co-dependent relationship with another person. If I'm on the phone with my friend, and this other person calls him, literally, I get "Hold on-" and he clicks over without even letting me respond. My response to that is to hang up, and if I'm in a particularly pissy mood I'll not answer when he calls back. I'm picking on my friend because he did this to me this morning, but he's not alone. I'm sorry, but I really don't see the point of sitting there with a phone to my ear for no reason...

If I'm on the phone with him (or anybody, for that matter) and get another incoming call, I see who it is and do one of two things- 1. Let it ring and call them back once I'm done with the current call; or 2. Tell the person I'm on the phone with, "Hey- I'm sorry, but I really need to take this call. Can I buzz you right back?"

What say you, loungers? What's the more respectful way to handle this?

:hi:

[HopeHoops]

1. I usually ignore call waiting unless I'm expecting the call. Caller ID lets me know who to call.

Actually, I ignore the phone completely if I don't recognize the caller. There's a story I heard a long time ago about an old man who got one of the first phones in his town. A younger man was visiting and the phone rang several times but the old man ignored it. He said, "Aren't you going to answer that?" The old man replied, "The phone is there for MY convenience, not for theirs." I still work on that theory.

[SacredCow]

3. Truth be told, I hate celly-phones....

Once, just ONCE, I'd like to drive home from work blasting my tunes and singing instead of talking shop, or talking about nothing.

[HopeHoops]

5. It has an off button!

:evilgrin:

[SacredCow]

6. I've done it a few times....

and the ensuing, "I tried to call you and you didn't answer!!!! Why didn't you answer?!?!?? WHAT?!?!? Why was your phone off>!?!?!?" conversations are usually worse than the original call.

I'm telling ya- If I ever win the powerball, I'm buying an island in the middle of the ocean somewhere with absolutely NO communication links.

[AirmensMom]

15. "I must have hit a dead spot."

:shrug: Works every time. ;)

[SacredCow]

17. Well, if I happen to be on my AT&T phone, that probably wouldn't be far from the truth....

But away from work, I generally stick to my personal (Verizon) phone...

For someone who hates cellys, how in the world did I end up 2 of them, PLUS an OnStar phone? Life is weird.

[AirmensMom]

18. My Verizon phone hits dead spots.

Right in my basement is a dead spot.

I'm with you! Never had a cell phone until 3 years ago. Now I depend on it. How did I ever drive anywhere and arrive safely before? :shrug:

[SacredCow]

19. My Verizon phone is my "home" phone- I don't have a landline.

And aside from fighting with them about my current handset (LG Dare, which is the suckiest thing EVAH), their service has been much better than AT&T as far as coverage goes. Seriously, I can NOT talk on that AT&T phone for 5 minutes without the call being dropped. But it doesn't cost me anything, so I use it when necessary.

[AirmensMom]

21. I agree completely.

We dumped AT&T over 2 years ago. Not only did they drop the calls all the time, but their service sucked.

[MissMillie]

2. I hate call waiting

I never switch calls... not for anybody.

[SacredCow]

4. The only times I do option 2 are for work-related calls, or something I'm expecting...

Otherwise, I let it ring. If they leave a voicemail, I listen to it and call them back if need be. Otherwise, in lieu of the voicemail, I give the caller a jingle back.

[Javaman]

7. It's right up there with when you go to customer service in person

and while they are talking to you, the phone rings and they pick it up in mid sentance when talking to you.

THAT really pisses me off.

[SacredCow]

9. Yeah, that's always fun.....

I have to go to a Verizon store (again) tonight, so I'm likely to see that very thing....

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Second call should always get a "I'm on the phone, I'll call youback"

unless the person says to the first called, "I can talk now, but I'm waiting for another call that I have to take when it comes in".

Give people a warning, that's okay.

otherwise, it's totally rude to ignore the person in front of you.

Same with cell phones when you go out with friends - keep the phone off, unless you really are expecting an important call, and then tell your friends, "I'm so sorry, but I'm expecting a call tonight, and I need to take it when it comes in, but otherwise I'm ignoring it because I'm with you".

[SacredCow]

11. As I said elsewhere in here...

I only take call #2 when it's work (if they call me off-hours, it's important). Otherwise, I stay on the line with the original caller and call back (if necessary).

Early in the history of celly-phones, I remember being at a restaurant with some friends when some self-important dude and a date sat at a table across from us. It was clear that it was a "first date" kind of thing, as their conversation was "what do you do for a living?... Are you from here?...." and that kind of thing. Dude's celly-phone rang, and the moron not only answered it, but had it to his ear throughout the rest of their meal- occaisonally mouthing words to his date, who was giving him a SERIOUS case of the stink-eye if I ever saw one. I'd bet there was no date #2....

[blogslut]

10. Have you asked your friend

...to please stop dropping you for the other caller?

[SacredCow]

12. Oh, yeah.... Several times....

And he's all, "Oh, I'm sorry- I didn't mean to be rude, but Mike wanted to tell me <insert trivial information here>." I swear, those two don't make a trip to the toilet without calling the other to inform them about it...

:eyes:

[blogslut]

13. Well, as long as you make it clear

...that when your friend does this, you will hang up, there should be no problem. Although, not answering the return call out of spite is going too far. Lay down the rules and all should be well.

[SacredCow]

14. Yeah, I know the not answering is on the bitchy side....

I just get tired of the repetition.... And I guess I *could* lie and say the call was dropped, but sometimes when he calls back and asks "what happened- where did you go?" I say honestly, "I hung up, because I didn't know how long you were going to be and I don't like holding a phone to my ear for no reason." And, usually, that isn't received too well....

:banghead:

[blogslut]

20. Then you should tell him up front

"I just want you to know, when you do that, I will hang up."

[Iggo]

16. "My response to that is to hang up,"

This is correct. Let him call you back when he's ready to talk. He puts you on hold again, hang up again. Repeat as necessary...

[Skittles]

22. if I get that treatment I hang up

period

[SacredCow]

23. I don't blame you....

It basically says, "Someone more important is calling!!!"

:eyes: