AAARRRGGGHHH !!! (Annoying)

[Cliff Rogers]

I like the conversations you have when ......

Dave? Dave's not here.

[Dan]

It's just the attitude. They miss a call, have no idea who rang (could be a wrong number) and ring back. Why bother ? Must cost them a bloody fortune.

The whole mobile phone thing goes right over my head. Poeple seem to be desperate to talk to someone else on the phone. Even with land lines people will drop what they're doing and run inside to answer the phone :confused: . If I'm busy or simply don't feel like being disturbed a ringing phone won't get answered (private numbers definately won't get answered). Email on the other hand makes much more sense, look at them when it suits and reply if need be after you've had time to think.

[Cliff Rogers]

The whole mobile phone thing goes right over my head.....

Dan? Dan's not here.....

[BJP]

ahh, Cheech and Chong, havn`t heard them for years

[keith53]

I run a sales team and in the course of our business we need to phone clients who have previously contacted our office. This is usually on a mobile and if they don't answer and don't have message bank, we hang up (naturally).

Well a number of calls every day now from these people who see our number and ring back "Hello, I had a missed call from this number. Who are you " etc. Why do they call back numbers when they have NFI who it is ? I don't !

Telstra must be laughing all the way to the bank.

It got me thinking though, is this normal ? If you have a missed call on your mobile and don't recognise the number, do you ring them ??

(Pees me off, not to mention our receptionist)

Gumby,

By the sound of it, you're making your calls via a PABX?? It may be possible to configure it to send the extension number making the call as the number received by the called party. I look after a couple of Nortel Meridian 11C's which are 10 years old and we've been able to get them to do it. Check with your techo people and see if they can do some tweaking..

Cheers,
Keith

[Gumby]

No Keith, it's just an older style Telecom Commander with 5 lines. Thanks for the thought but the office isn't all that big. Only 6 of us.

[AlexS]

At work, one of the numbers I had programmed into my speed dial occasionally went through to a wrong number that didn't even have the same area code.

Eventually, Julie in Yass & I became quite friendly

[Gumby]

Eventually, Julie in Yass & I became quite friendly

Go on, tell the whole story

..and got married, lived on a farm, had babies etc

[gatiep]

Good point but then we go through the process of asking who they were dealing with, "don't know" is the usual answer. And they say that they weren't dealing with anybody in our field at all. My receptionist goes through the list, rattles off the names "oh yeah, we have might talked to Colin" but of course he has gone out by then.

It's just the attitude. They miss a call, have no idea who rang (could be a wrong number) and ring back. Why bother ? Must cost them a bloody fortune.

Gumby it seems like you are not the one paying for your firm's outgoing calls, if you were and they are to mobiles you would be happy that they are paying for those "huh dunno" type calls.


Slightly off the topic but still about phones. Nothing p's me off more than when I've gone to all the trouble to physically go into a business and while I'm being 'served' the phone rings....."Excuse me sir, I just need to take this call" or something to that effect. Far out....the caller is sitting on his a*s* in a comfortable chair, spending all of 15 to 25 c, depending on what deal he got from the telemarketer, while I spent, time, effort, travelling costs etc to get to be served in the shop, but I have to wait patiently. Chances are the caller is only comparing prices anyway! I have made up my mind that next time a salesman says: "Sorry sir, do you mind if I take the call", my reply will be;"Yes I do!"

I don't get excited about being 'abused' generally but I really get hot under the collar when this happens. It will be so easy for the receptionist to take the number and the caller to be phoned back when convenient ( that means when I'm not standing in the shop waiting to be served )

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[Driver]

Slightly off the topic but still about phones. Nothing p's me off more than when I've gone to all the trouble to physically go into a business and while I'm being 'served' the phone rings....."Excuse me sir, I just need to take this call" or something to that effect. Far out....the caller is sitting on his a*s* in a comfortable chair, spending all of 15 to 25 c, depending on what deal he got from the telemarketer, while I spent, time, effort, travelling costs etc to get to be served in the shop, but I have to wait patiently. Chances are the caller is only comparing prices anyway! I have made up my mind that next time a salesman says: "Sorry sir, do you mind if I take the call", my reply will be;"Yes I do!"

I don't get excited about being 'abused' generally but I really get hot under the collar when this happens. It will be so easy for the receptionist to take the number and the caller to be phoned back when convenient ( that means when I'm not standing in the shop waiting to be served )

:mad: :mad: :mad:

Couldn't agree more, Joe! Answering the phone in that situation is the precise equivalent of turning away from you and serving a customer who has arrived after you did.

Don't put up with it. The last few times it has happened to me, I have (politely) interrupted the phone call and explained that I don't appreciate being treated this way and that I would not expect to be ignored if another customer arrived behind me - so why is this any different? I've had varying reactions but no-one has been game to continue the call once I've made my point.

Last year I had someone make an appointment with me to sell me something. Ten minutes into our meeting, his mobile rang. Without missing a beat, he answered the call! Sitting at my meeting table in my office! He mouthed at me: "Sorry. Won't be a minute."

I said: "You're right. You won't be a minute."

I got up, took him by the elbow and gently eased him out of my office.

When he had finished the call, he had the nerve to come back in and sit down at the table. By this time, I was back behind my desk. I said:

"Our meeting ended when you answered that phone call. Don't bother closing the door on the way out. And don't try to arrange another meeting with me because we won't be having one."

He attempted to apologise but by then he had tuned in to what was going on and he realised, finally, that he was wasting his time.

I wonder if he learned anything from the experience? I suspect not. If he had thought in the first instance that it was acceptable to bring his mobile phone - switched on - into the meeting, he probably hasn't got the gumption to understand.

Col

[namtrak]

Good point but then we go through the process of asking who they were dealing with, "don't know" is the usual answer. And they say that they weren't dealing with anybody in our field at all. My receptionist goes through the list, rattles off the names "oh yeah, we have might talked to Colin" but of course he has gone out by then.

It's just the attitude. They miss a call, have no idea who rang (could be a wrong number) and ring back. Why bother ? Must cost them a bloody fortune.

Let me get this straight. You are part of a business which calls people to generate income from clients, yes? And when those potential clients call you back you are a) confused as to why they would call you back and b) give them the run around when they don't know who called them and c) dont have a simple system for tracking which sales person calls which number? and d) use a mobile to make the call in the first place?

Expect to be in business long?

I run my own little landscaping business and return all missed calls from unknown numbers - probably half of which are potential clients. If you don't want potential clients to return your call (I mean who needs those pesky customers anyway) then just use Telstra to make your number private.

I would be grateful that I was dealing with a potential client who was smart enough to use the technology to call back.

[vsquizz]

I'm with Namtrak & Jack E on this one. I have Ads running in the local rag every week. I return every call I miss as these are often my customers. I get really ****** off when its some telemarketing mob. What am I supposed to do...the public are fickle and often wont call back if they can't get through pronto.

Cheers

[Gumby]

I'm with Namtrak & Jack E on this one. I have Ads running in the local rag every week. I return every call I miss as these are often my customers. I get really ****** off when its some telemarketing mob. What am I supposed to do...the public are fickle and often wont call back if they can't get through pronto.

Cheers

I don't blame you for ringing back in that case. I see it differently to the problem we have. When we make a call that isn't answered, it's on a different line from our advertised number so the number displayed on the recipient's phone gives them no idea that it was one of our sales team.

[scooter]

Col & Joe, totalliy with you on this.

For some reason too many people place too much importance on the ringing phone, rather than the flesh & bone person in front of them. I'm all for good telephone customer service, but not at the expense of good face to face service.


Cheers..........Sean, thanks for calling

[Auld Bassoon]

I said: "You're right. You won't be a minute."

I got up, took him by the elbow and gently eased him out of my office.


Col

Col, Well done!

If only we all had that sort of gumption!

I normally try and be polite and decorous, but there are times..

Anyway, that gets a green star from me