[3.0L]

When I as a kid I was taught to introduce myself when making a phone call:
“This is Johnny Smith. May I please speak with Joey?”

Fast forward to today. Every f-ing phone call I receive these days, the caller
fails to identify themselves without me asking. Even my doctor’s offices do
this and it is infuriating.

And of course, all of the fraud/spam callers hang up the instant I ask, “Who
is calling, please?”

WTF.

[bucketfoot]

We got a phone message from one of my wife's medical places yesterday saying it is time to setup an appointment. At no time in the message did they say the name of the practice.

[dreamingat30fps]

You answer the phone when you don't know who's calling??

99% of the calls I get are spam/scams. If you're not in my contacts I'm not answering. If they are legit they will leave a message.

My personal pet peeve are all the automated answering systems. Honestly whoever invented that garbage should be stoned to death.

[2000cs]

When I answer a call, I always say, “Hi, this is 2000cs”. Of course I only answer contacts. I just think it’s polite to let the caller know they reached me.

When I’m calling, I say, “Hello, is x there”? And then introduce myself based on the response.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

When I answer a call, I always say, “Hi, this is 2000cs”. Of course I only answer contacts. I just think it’s polite to let the caller know they reached me.

When I’m calling, I say, “Hello, is x there”? And then introduce myself based on the response.

Sounds like proper etiquette to me.

[UncleWede]

Which side of the aisle does "TF you want?" fall on?

[erickonphoenix]

All my calls are screened then i'll check the voicemail text conversion to see what's important. Definitely would introduce myself on a cold call.

However, my boss always answers phone calls with just "what?" and concludes his calls with nothing, just hangs up. I find it hilarious but few others do.

[Frostynorth]

How about all the turds that walk around with speakerphone blasted. Would rather ask who is this than deal with that.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

You answer the phone when you don't know who's calling??

99% of the calls I get are spam/scams. If you're not in my contacts I'm not answering. If they are legit they will leave a message.

My personal pet peeve are all the automated answering systems. Honestly whoever invented that garbage should be stoned to death.

Generally this is what I try to do but doctors’ offices also use unknown numbers (as opposed to their main number I have in my contacts) to call. While they leave messages, an incredible percentage of those offices don’t answer the phone when calling back, despite having 3 or 4 people sitting at the front desk who appear to do nothing whenever I walk into the office. So if there is a chance a doctor’s office is calling I answer and catch these spam calls sometimes when I do. They are pretty easy to identify when asking for me by first and (mispronounced) last name, though.

[DocL]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Generally this is what I try to do but doctors’ offices also use unknown numbers (as opposed to their main number I have in my contacts) to call. While they leave messages, an incredible percentage of those offices don’t answer the phone when calling back...

This is one of my biggest per peeves. There is no reason for a doctor's office to not answe3r a phone call. I have someone who works remotely. If she notices the phone ringing more than three times, she answers and then transfers to my office. Sometimes there are three lines ringing at once, and I only have one receptionist in my office.

I answer and catch these spam calls sometimes...

I ask how do they know the deceased. They usually appologize and hang up lol.

[floridaorange]

Don't even get me started....

My dad was a customer service/marketing consultant who drilled into my head what customer service is and what it is not.

The customer service in Florida is notoriously terrible. Nobody says "thank you" they say "no problem" after you thank them for selling you their product. Talk about backwards.
Most other cities with decent customer service that we visit we always feel like royalty when the employees use basic customer service because we are so unaccustomed to it now. I remember when we first moved from San Diego, I would get angry at the lazy employees for their total lack of awareness in basic customer service, now I have completely settled for it.

Also - if you don't know the number - I would strongly urge you to let it go to voicemail. Your phone should let you know if it's a spam call. Won't fix the problem, but we get a ton of useless sales calls that I never answer.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Generally this is what I try to do but doctors’ offices also use unknown numbers (as opposed to their main number I have in my contacts) to call. While they leave messages, an incredible percentage of those offices don’t answer the phone when calling back, despite having 3 or 4 people sitting at the front desk who appear to do nothing whenever I walk into the office. So if there is a chance a doctor’s office is calling I answer and catch these spam calls sometimes when I do. They are pretty easy to identify when asking for me by first and (mispronounced) last name, though.

My iphone lets me see the voicemail as its being left and I can decide if I want to answer it mid voicemail. I believe this is a new feature within the past few months. I'm sure android has something similar.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

My iphone lets me see the voicemail as its being left and I can decide if I want to answer it mid voicemail. I believe this is a new feature within the past few months. I'm sure android has something similar.

I have a iPhone and am familiar with it. Easier to me to answer and just hang up if it turns out to be a spam call though. Some of those voice mails are quick.

[M5Rick]

I answered the phone once and caller said 'oh what number is this' and after me replying 'well, what number do you want' she hung up the SB.

[unluky]

"get off my lawn!!!!!!!" =)

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

And of course, all of the fraud/spam callers hang up the instant I ask, “Who is calling, please?” WTF.

Speaking first when receiving a call is frequently used as a trigger to kick-off the spam script. Say nothing first is one way to avoid fraudulent spam callers.

Speaking first when initiating a call is prudent in all professional settings. When I call a business for personal reasons I like to introduce myself to personalize the conversation.
With personal calls to the people you know well it is redundant, since they can recognize you by your voice, or caller ID (or they would not have picked up in the first place).

Originally Posted by bucketfoot

We got a phone message from one of my wife's medical places yesterday saying it is time to setup an appointment. At no time in the message did they say the name of the practice.

Customer service in Medical Services field is the worst, by far.
Frequently arrogant and condescending receptionists on site, most calls handled by 3rd party answering services. Even when Dr's or dentists (who are not really Dr's ;-) are OK, few bother to take responsibility and invest time to run a professional business end-to-end.

IMHO,
a

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by afadeev

Speaking first when receiving a call is frequently used as a trigger to kick-off the spam script. Say nothing first is one way to avoid fraudulent spam callers

My observation is that the robodialers are listening for the word "hello" before starting their sales pitch. I have a list of foreign language phone greetings that I use instead, which confuse the robodialers until they hang up. I will not provide a list here, because the "enemy" lives in Canada and is a BP-OT regular.....

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by afadeev

Speaking first when receiving a call is frequently used as a trigger to kick-off the spam script. Say nothing first is one way to avoid fraudulent spam callers.
a

I do this often when I'm expecting a call from somewhere that I know I don't have in my contacts or on my business line. I'll answer the phone and not speak. Usually the bots will just hang up after a little while.

Although I will say I have occasionally come across bots that with say like a random Hello? or Sorry, I'm having trouble hearing you. However those are rare and they totally sound like a recording.

Just wait till they get AI involved.

[M5Rick]

Now have list of spam callers, check with google the numbers and if spam mark as such then block every new number they call on.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Excessively

See, if this was my father, the caller would break the line himself out of embarrassment. My father is the best defense line of everything robocall – he will send them to their own mothers.

If I'm in the mood, I'll talk to the spam callers. My wife asks me why I bother and I tell her because it amuses me! I had one hang up on me twice and the third time she called back she threatened to have me charged with harassment!