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Why would I answer if we're not open??

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  • #1

    Why would I answer if we're not open??

    Me: you're ever present receptionist
    Caller: some choad

    Me: thank you for calling (redacted), how may I direct your call?
    Caller: Are you open today?
    Me: (pause)... Yes?
    Caller: ok, thanks!


    Well, gee, why would I be answering the phone asking you where to send you if we weren't open? Sure, i come in when we're closed just to dash your hopes of us being open against the rocks of despair. When we're not open calls get routed to voice mail, no answering service.
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  • #2
    Some places still have to answer the phone even if the business is not officially open. That's how it was at my old place. I used to get those calls often there, too, even when open; they didn't really bother me.

    When I call to find out the hours, a lot of the time it's not an automated message so I end up just asking for opening to closing hours so it doesn't sound that stupid, lol. Nature of the beast.

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    • #3
      In the case of my store, it's because the person calling could be an employee calling in sick, a family member of somebody working before open to tell them something, somebody from the alarm company telling us the alarms are going off for some reason...

      For some reason such as my company believes modern technology does not exist, we have no after-hours voicemail. Thus if I need to call in sick for a 5 am shift, I have to wait until 4:45 or so when somebody's in the building to call.
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

      "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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      • #4
        On our phone system, if someone hangs up while listening to the opening greeting, it rings at the reception desk anyway. Then when you pick it up, there's nobody there.

        We had dozens of hangups Christmas Eve, apparently from people calling to find out if we were open. When they heard the opening message saying we were open until noon, they hung up. And the phone system still rang the operator extension.
        "I look at the stars. It's a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near. That's where I'll be going soon. "We are all star stuff." I suddenly remember Delenn's line from Joe's script. Not a bad prospect. I am not afraid. In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all."
        -Mira Furlan

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        • #5
          My <last job> sank money into a voice mail & automated answering system. So, if someone called before they were open they got a list of general options, but they couldn't get through to any department unless we were open.

          However the one exception was the door-greeter phone. I'm not sure, but I think it could still receive outside calls ... however you had to know the exact extension number. That way employees could call in sick.

          granted before opening hours it was usually manned - but not always. as more people came in to start work however, they usually had someone there to open the doors etc. (only LP or a manager could open the doors)

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          • #6
            The phone at my desk is basically the gateway to all the other lines. The answering system gives them the chance to enter in an extension, which if they know it they do. If that extension rings the person at the desk (if there is one) can either pick it up or let it ring to voice mail. The first recording states our usual hours and hours that we have that are special. It also give them instructions for getting to the emergency line. There are very, very rare times when someone takes calls after hours, usually only when they're expecting someone.

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            • #7
              Quoth Slayer View Post
              Some places still have to answer the phone even if the business is not officially open. That's how it was at my old place. I used to get those calls often there, too, even when open; they didn't really bother me.

              When I call to find out the hours, a lot of the time it's not an automated message so I end up just asking for opening to closing hours so it doesn't sound that stupid, lol. Nature of the beast.
              Or, depending on the nature of the business, they might have limited hours for the holidays ... and I might have called just in time for them to be flipping the "Open" sign to "Closed" .

              But I do the same as Slayer ("What time are you open till?") so I don't sound like a total twit.

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              • #8
                Boss had to field one of these calls yesterday. I had just gotten back to the office really late, put in over 10 hours, and someone had called. Her excuse for calling and wanting to pick up a package is "Well I see one of your trucks out so you must be open." Yea...no we had been closed already for two hours by that time.

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