telephones?!?!

[MrsPeel]

I'm back...kinda... ish...still finishing the last steps to close down my disaster week!!!! but, in a muuuuuuch better mood so, here I am... I have had some sleepless nights as I had to be up for Sarita, now trying to catch up....!

I had a week of constant telephone use.
I used to LOVE talking on the phone- my dad would make me pay part of their phone bill when I was a teen, still loved it all along until a few years back..... because of having to deal with people who are.....don't even know how to call them, I suppose one word maybe ignorant....

It goes both for governments organizations (which I understand...being a civil servant in this country is NOT the ideal job!!!) and private institutions.... (which I reckon should train their people better, especially when is a place that deals exclusively with disabled people, but happens to me with the gas people, the TV, everything!)

I had a week from hell this past one.... some of you may have seen my Facebook post about my car rear window being smashed by kids...(posted some photos on FB but I don't even want to look at them again, as we STILL don't have the car...only will be back on Tuesday evening: 10 days without my car, which is a first necessity for me as my wheelchair is on the repair too and my crutches are not enough for me to move around at the mo....arrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!) but it started with Sarita getting an allergic reaction in the area where the dressing (from the operation) is...of course , after almost 10 months!!!!

The car- the insurance people, then a delivery from TNT...then the supermarket online shopping which keeps not sending all that is in the bill...and, of course, the hospitals and then the repairs for the heating system (our boiler broke...)

all together, I made more than 100 calls this past week...I hardly ever use the phone these days, but it was almost like torture.

so...telephones... which kind of caller are you?
patient with the person on the other end of the line?
or do you break down (I have times in which I start rising my voice and end up shouting, others break down and cry!!!)
do you use it a lot? or try avoiding?
do you talk to people just for chatting?

if any of you have any tips on how to remain calm when dealing with people who seem to have one grey cell left on the other end of my phone....any advice is more than welcome!!!!!

 

[jk703]

I used to be a phone person, not so much anymore. I actually don't like it much, lol! When I was in high school, I had my own line or my parents couldn't get on that thing... And I was an only child!

With calling people and most communications... I give them the benefit of the doubt and try to put myself in their shoes. Unless it's some kind of emergency, I roll with it. I try not to be too pest like if I need something. After time, I will just be plain and honest, but usually nice. I try not to get mad but sometimes it has happened. Morso with bigger issues - medical, school, kids. It's hard. When I get like that, I hang up and will call back calmer. If it's via email, I write what I want and then trash it until I've calmed down. That doesn't happen often, unless I'm at work, lol! But there, I've got contracts and such to back me up.

Good Luck! Sometimes it's hard to deal with people!

 

[readingfool]

Talking on the phone is my job & while I don't hate it, I sure as heck don't love it either! I work for an answering service, taking calls for all sorts of businesses - doctors, heating & a/c, plumbers, home health care, etc... I should be used to it by now, but still, I am amazed by the amount of rudeness I deal with every single day. From the callers, from the on call technicians & doctors, from the offices of our clients. And yes, an awful lot of ignorance and attitude as well. Whatever happened to telephone etiquette? I fear it has died right along with common sense. I could rant about this for hours, but I won't - you're welcome! Outside of work, I rarely talk on the phone....my kids & I text most of the time, and my mother & I email, but I do call her at least once a week as well. I loathe calling to make doctor appointments, etc...and can't stand to even hear the phone ring.

 

[lorryfach]

I will go to great lengths to avoid the phone, especially nowadays. I don't understand people over the phone as well, and when it's in Danish, why even bother. Ugh. I have never liked phones.

 

[berniek]

Omg that truly sounds like a horrible week! Let's hope with the new week just one sleep away, thing will turn around for the better.

About phones and making phone calls. I don't like it. I've never liked it and only recently started enjoying talking on the phone with close friends or family. But never longer then half an hour. I also don't like texting and when it's family and it's taking too long, I'll just call them. I'm so not a typical person.
When I have to get stuff done I do it. Two weeks ago I had a horrible time because my salary wasn't paid in time. I was supposed to get it on Friday. So I called and called. On Wednesday i yelled and almost started crying because my rent was due to the next day it just was horrible. Normally I stay calm but after 5 days the stress took over. Luckily I got my money that day but ugh. You can't do this to a teacher in the first month after the summer holiday. There was literally no money left whatsoever.
Anyway to get back on topic, no I don't like making phone calls. I prefer to email or use the chat help service!

 

[Lindzee]

I don't like phones. I hate it when you sit on hold forever then get an incompetent person who doesn't seem to speak any of the languages I have ever heard..... I know it's not their fault but companies are really falling down on support. - it should just be called run around or no support available...

I don't even talk to friends or family much on my phone. We text, email send photos with texts etc. A call ends up being a three minute going something like this. " did you get my text? You didn't answer. I'm in line which one do you want.... ".

Strangely my husband and I also call each other when we are in big boys stores... He will go in one direction and I'll wander off in another then we are calling to find each other to leave.

 

[QuiltyMom]

Unfortunately, they're a necessary evil. I used to love them, but after working as an administrative assistant for years (listening to screaming people on the other end of the line), to a SAHM (dealing with telemarketers of all types), I wish they were never invented. The only time I like them is when I talk to my family and close friends, all who live far, far away from me.

 

[jaye]

Here's hoping to a brighter week for you my dear

I had to call a store about Braeden's new hockey skates, they were too tight in the heel and did not fit correctly. We decided to go with a cheaper pair then what he has had in the past due to playing intramural now, not travel. However we weren't really helped or fitted properl. Our problem was He had the skates and the bill but of course I have the credit card and am three hours away. They put me through to a manager who was wonderful, he didn't feel we got the level of service we should have had and wanted another chance to make it right. He also contacted the store closer to me with instructions to refund if we wanted ( skates had been sharpened, so unusual to take them back). He said he would leave all instructions with the other manager in case he wasn't there when Braeden came in. Braeden said they were amazing, very apologetic and he was fitted properly, skates baked, sharpened and profiled (that is usually extra) plus they gave him $30 off the new skates. I plan on calling the store Tuesday to thank the manager for handling it the way he did.

 

[Dalis]

Funny you mention this. I worked at Lucent/ATT for 10 years testing and developing cell phones but I never bought a fancy phone. I always got the free phone w/ the account. A few years hubby bought me a smart phone and now I am texting and browsing the internet. It's insane how much I use it. I mostly use the phone with my bluetooth device.

 

[MrsPeel]

well, I see most of us are in the same line of thought, with the variants.....

I did work in Market Research , actually was one of my very first jobs here, and it paid so well at the time ...£9 to £11 per hour if it was in a foreign language and £6 to £9 in English..... that was 90/91 these days I know it pays even less than what the English rates were then, and is a flat £5 per hour no matter what language.... and I have to say I took some really bad abuse, especially from the Portuguese people ... so I do think about the other side of the line and usually treat them so very well, I always start by saying I know this is not your fault but I need to communicate with the company so please bear with me....

Now I wonder, how did my mother go through my teenage years, without the mobile phones...because , and this is the only time I really love the phone...) Sarita calls me to let me know she arrived ok, when she is leaving a place, changing trains or buses.... I think I would go mad if I couldn't know where she is....