The phone - answer it.

[workerbee222]

Bosses came across a large amount on the credit card and neither could immediately remember what it might have been. Didn't remember the purchase or the name of the vendor. One checks around and eventually calls the vendor. She called three times, and just got transferred to a sketchy-sounding voice mailbox. At this point, she figured our account had been hacked, again. She called the credit card company and started the procedure for disputing the charge and cancelling the credit card.

Magically, the vendor now calls. The name of the company didn't have much to do with what we purchased, but is turned out to be legitimate. Disputing the charge made them look bad, the vendor said. Boss mentioned she phoned three times, and no one answered. Oh, the vendor said, I didn't recognize the number so I didn't pick up.

[Kristev]

That vendor wins the Dumbbunny of the Day award. That's not something you want.

[Argus]

I am reminded of this: https://despair.com/products/apathy

[Ironclad Alibi]

It's amazing how many people don't call when you leave the phone off the hook.

I do that when I'm sleeping. It cuts way down on telemarketers waking me up.

It also shows my age. Do phones even have hooks any more?

[workerbee222]

It's amazing how many people don't call when you leave the phone off the hook.

A family rented a restaurant near us, and morphed it into a pizza place. Problem was, being family owned, they refused to hire anyone outside the family. It was one tale of woe after another - the landlord wouldn't fix things, someone would get sick so everyone in the family stayed home and the place would close for a couple days. We wanted to help them by ordering food - especially during COVID. We tried - when they were open. One day we called and called - for maybe an hour and a half and the phone was busy. Finally called the convenience store next door. Was anyone at the pizza place? Nope, nobody had been there all day. So in a year and a half, they'd never done so much as spend thirty or forty bucks for an answering machine. *sigh*

[EricKei]

Do phones even have hooks any more?

Office phones often do, even if they're really VOIP phones in disguise. That being said, the standard "make a phone call" icon on cellphones is still a landline phone handset. Makes me wonder if there are younger users who have no clue what that symbol is supposed to be!

[Nunavut Pants]

Kind of like the "Oh, look--someone 3D printed a save icon!"

[Pixelated]

It's amazing how many people don't call when you leave the phone off the hook.

I do that when I'm sleeping. It cuts way down on telemarketers waking me up.

It also shows my age. Do phones even have hooks any more?

I have an aged pushbutton phone that is attached to an answering service courtesy of my ISP. I don't leave the phone off the hook only because it's set to have the answering service pick up after 4 rings. I figure if it's important, the caller will leave a message. If they don't, it wasn't important.

[EricKei]

I figure if it's important, the caller will leave a message. If they don't, it wasn't important.

My cell's voicemail message is basically this. It says not to expect a return phone call if they don't leave a message.