"What do you mean 'voicemail?'"

[BeeMused]

So I just don't get people younger than that having so much difficulty with something as basic as voicemail.

It's their mindset. I call it neophobia, anything new is a big NoNo; almost like their mind shut down.

[Hyndis]

You and me both. It really baffles me because my grandmother, at the age of 70, decided she wanted HER OWN game console so she could kick my mom's ass at Tetris more often than when she came to visit. So she went to the game store, got herself a used Nintendo and all the gear, hooked it up herself, and was SO proud of herself it was all she could talk about for the next year. And Grandma had never dealt with anything more complex than 'plug it into the wall'.

So I just don't get people younger than that having so much difficulty with something as basic as voicemail.

Its not an issue of age but rather of curiosity.

Some people simply are not curious. They have no urge to solve problems or fix things. If the answer isn't instantly obvious or something they had learned previously from someone else they give up and seek someone else do it for them.

The curious people look at a something new as a problem to be solved and then figure out how to solve it. Problems could be anything from how to make a program do what you want it to do, how to hook up a gizmo, how to repair something broken.

Its a very odd sort of learned helplessness. One way you can assist people with this is to refuse to help them. You bought your own laptop? Congratulations! I'm not going to help you with it. You're on your own. Figure out how to use it or its a paperweight.

Its interesting how when there is no one to do things for them people are forced to problem solve on their own, and most of the time they can indeed do it. They just need to get past that mental roadblock where they think they are helpless if they do not already know the answer.

[Dave1982]

I'm back at this site again today, and had another call in the same vein as this one. Guy calls in and asks to speak with a specific agent who was not in at the time (she was going to be coming in late).

Me: I'm sorry but she's unavailable right now. Can I get you her voicemail?

SC: No, I'd like to speak with her directly.

Me: Well, as I said, she's not here.

SC: Well then what do I do?!

Me: I could get you her voicemail so you can leave her a message and she'll call you back once she gets it?

SC: Oh....ok.

Me:

[MoonCat]

See, when you said "she's unavailable right now," the customer heard "she's here but she's not answering her phone." So he figured you could make her take the phone call if he insisted.

Either that or he was stupid.

[XCashier]

See, when you said "she's unavailable right now," the customer heard "she's here but she's not answering her phone." So he figured you could make her take the phone call if he insisted.

Either that or he was stupid.

Option 2 is usually the best bet.

[EricKei]

Me: I could get you her voicemail so you can leave her a message and she'll call you back once she gets it?

My (former) boss actually specifically instructed us NOT to take paper messages for him -- he wanted VM's only. Why? He was frequently out of the office seeing clients, so he was in the habit of checking the VM via his cell whenever he had a break in the action. Also, papers left on his desk tend to get lost; it was a banner day if he checked his paper inbox more than once every other day; and, he didn't want emails because a "slow" day for him was 200 emails, of which only half were spam or so (he changed his email addy yearly-ish to keep the spam volume down; he just wasn't careful who he gave it to)...

Thus, when I got the occasional odd client who REFUSED to take a VM, I told them OK, wrote down their message, and then proceeded to call the boss' voicemail and leave the message there myself >_< Given half a chance, I told them that I was doing it, as well. Bonus points to the people who refused to take VM, were told he would not be back/be available until AFTER <insert time here> and then called back 2 or 3 times before that time had even arrived...Then, they wondered why he hadn't called them >_>

I can understand not wanting VM because it's a common way to blow someone off, but in his case, it really was the best way to contact him!