Double the rudeness in just one phone call!

[edible_hat]

SC is waiting in line. It's nearly his turn. So he makes a phone call. As soon as the other person answers he says "hang on a second" and pulls his wallet out. Then talks to them and to me at the same time.

We all know it's rude to talk on the phone while buying something. I think it's also rude to phone somebody and put them on hold as soon as they answer.

[EricKei]

We had a solution to people calling us up and then putting us on Hold at the pizza joint. We hang up immediately. If it's important, they'll call back. I have carried this policy forward to every other job I've worked at, as well as my own home. If you don't want to talk to me right when you CALL me, I don't want to talk to you; call me back when you're ready to speak.

[SarcasticJerk]

We had a solution to people calling us up and then putting us on Hold at the pizza joint. We hang up immediately.

How very rude of you!
I put them on hold, then make sure not to pick it back up for at least two minutes. If I'm really lucky, they'll call back in the meantime and complain that I hung up on them. I will then point out that I merely put them on hold, because I had another call...

[Taz]

I work in an office covering many jobs including receptionist. This means there are times when I will make a phone call only to have to put it on hold because another line has started ringing and I *have* to answer it - there is no one else to get it for me. So putting a just dialed call on hold is not always optional.

[taurinejunkie]

Getting put on hold, or basically any delay at all, pisses me off as it completely kills my average time per call (target is 26 seconds). So what I do is cancel charges and hang up. But there are two things:

1) Caller on a landline might call back and bitch because my hanging up on them means they "paid for nothing" as they don't know that I cancelled the charge. If I get them when they call back I can explain it, but any other operator might not catch why I did what I did, and send the call to a supervisor, who will then want a chat with me regarding my poor customer service, then I'll explain it and maybe get away with it, maybe not.

2) Caller on a cellphone is double the danger - in my experience, more cellphone than landlines can take two calls at a time, so there's a higher risk of having a customer on the line to whom I can't speak as their phone is giving them the other conversation. On top of that, only the cell provider's customer service department can remove charges for a call, which means I have much less freedom to hang up on someone.

Also, people most of the time go, "Can you just hold on a second?" and when I immediately reply that I can't and that they'll need to call back, they're already gone. So "Can you hold on a second?" is really "Hold on a second!"
Rude bastards and bitches.

[Horsetuna]

When I was working phones at Home Depot, OTHER STORES would call us, and while waiting through the que, put us on hold.

I actually hung up on them... technically we're supposed to put them on hold but that seemed kind of silly.

[calulu]

If they put me on hold at the place I work I immediately hang up. I don't make money on hold, I'm commissioned sales and I've learned most of the twatwaffles that try to put me on hold are just checking prices. Not on my time when the next caller might be placing a big big order.

[Hyndis]

We had a solution to people calling us up and then putting us on Hold at the pizza joint. We hang up immediately. If it's important, they'll call back. I have carried this policy forward to every other job I've worked at, as well as my own home. If you don't want to talk to me right when you CALL me, I don't want to talk to you; call me back when you're ready to speak.

I get this a lot. And I simply don't understand it.

Person calls seeking tech support. I give the opening spiel, and then they put me on hold to deal with something else.

I just hang up the phone.


You can only call someone and put them on hold if you really are important. And in this case, you usually have a title like CEO, General, Admiral, President, Pope, and so forth.

Joe Schmoe who found the number on our website and is calling asking for tech support because he's too stupid to read the instructions? Not a chance!

[Broomjockey]

So putting a just dialed call on hold is not always optional.

There's a bit of a difference between doing it at work, and when you're standing in line at the store. If you need to pull your wallet out, do it before you place the call.

[Sauletekis]

Person calls seeking tech support. I give the opening spiel, and then they put me on hold to deal with something else.

Seconded. This happens far more often than it really should.

I love when we get a call through, I answer, and it's hold music. I wait 30 seconds and then hand up. Ditto someone that puts me on hold while doing troubleshooting. It's actually great in a way, because it brings my average time down

Still, though, WHO DOES THIS??? Urgh.

[Andara Bledin]

Another receptionist here with tales of being required to put people on hold when another call comes in. Sometimes, it's not done by choice.

That dude in line, though? Total douche.

^-.-^

[Rapscallion]

I got a voicemail yesterday with hold music on it...

Rapscallion

[calulu]

This morning it was a spate of senior citizens calling and then putting me on hold, at the same time that traffic was heavy in the queue. I was hanging up left and right.

[EricKei]

I have found one notable exception for the "On Hold" issue....We do tech support here. If I'm working an actual support call and they want to put me on hold, I say "no problem". You see, we charge by the minute...