Homewrecker!

[TonyDonuts]

Easy guys.
<NotAMod>

Let's keep it friendly, or take it to that other wonderful site Raps has for us - Fratching

</NotAMod>

Fine by me.

[Primer]

Back before Caller ID was common, but answering machines were, I received a message along the lines of: "Hi, Mrs. Whomever, this is the doctor's office, please call us back." No way that I could call them back to tell them they called the wrong person. I hope it wasn't something too important. <shrug>

[Rahmota]

I have posted a thread in Fratching about this and how our personal boundaries are being assaulted by stupid actions like this.

I had a bit more here but I moved it over to fratching as when I got on a roll a lot of stuff came out that needed to be more over at fratching including a response to Tonydonuts that I will proably still edit when I take it over there.

Suffice to say though that if you wont answer who you are, why you are calling and where you are calling from when you call a peron's home then you deserve what you get.

Whats legal aint always whats right and whats right isnt always whats legal!

[Ree]

How did we get so far off on this tangent?

A friendly reminder that we're all supposed to be on the same team here, guys.

Let's fight the sucky customers and not each other.

Seriously, all that legal mumbo jumbo and civil liberties and breaches of confidentiality, and hippocratic oaths, and infringement on rights...blah...blah..blah... aside....

The lady shouldn't have gone off on the girl who was calling, because she didn't have all the facts, but obviously, she had some issues.

The girl probably should have used a better tactic for making the call, but she was new. I hope someone has worked with her coaching on proper business phone etiquette.

I really don't see how difficult it is to just identify one's self and ask for the customer.

I have looked up several articles, all dealing with business phone etiquette, and this is what they say:

"When making a business call, be sure to first identify yourself and your company. If you're routed to a receptionist or operator, also include the name of the person you're trying to reach. A simple, "Hello, this is Mary Robert from Off the Wall Productions. May I please speak with Mark Grand?" will do."

"If the caller is not known to the receiver it is important that the purpose of the call and the caller’s credentials are established immediately. A simple introduction followed by a sentence or two not only shows good phone etiquette but allows the receiver to set the forthcoming information within a context."

"...a greeting such as “Good morning, this is Penny Jones, I’m returning a call from John Jones, is he available? is a bit of etiquette well spent in the long run."

"Identify Yourself
* When calling someone , do you identify yourself after they've said hello?"

"Courtesy is expected when using the telephone just as if you are talking in person. Give your name when the telephone is answered, before asking for the person you are requesting."

"State your name when placing a call. The game of "guess who this is" may not play very well..."


Seems pretty clear to me.

[Rahmota]

Ree: My apologies. I most likely helped contribute to the off tangent veer of this with my comments.

I was not aware though that this was about an US Vs THEM attitude but about sucky vs unsucky behavior in general? If this is going to start any other discussions there is already one on Fratchign about this I would inviate anyone to come to.

Speaking of Fratching I went to the Health and Human Services website, the folks who run the HIPPA and whom you go complain to if there is a problem, and they say that I was right a person is able to say "This is Nurse name calling from Dr's Office to speak with Person name about a personal matter." and stay within the law. Anyone who says otherwise is misinterpreting the law or otherwise ignorant of the law. A few more details are available on Fratching for those who are willing to travel there.

You are right that both sides where at fault in the OP.

I also quite like the examples you have given. Very proper, respectful and professional. If only more people would follow those guidlines.