Insistent 4am Caller

[Seshat]

It's nearly 5am, on December 27th.

For the last HOUR, this one guy has been calling and texting my wife's work phone, trying to get her to pick up.

Dude, it's OHMYGOD o'clock. Go to BED.

[Pixilated]

Is this a coworker, a customer, a wrong number of what?? (Sounds almost like someone who's calling from some other time zone and who hasn't stopped to think about what time zone he's calling ...)

[Seshat]

I checked the messages he's been leaving (interspersed with the calls). It's a customer. And it is for her, not a wrong number.

I eventually was worried it was, say, someone trying to tell her about a family emergency. Nope. Customer.

[dalesys]

... Nope. Customer.

Needs status change to Cork+Stoma+Er.

[PepperElf]

a CUSTOMER is texting her constantly, asking to be picked up at 0400?

sounds like a good time to block the number and/or tell them to stop (or you'll contact the police).


Cos unless it's your wife's job to pick up customers and cart them around, then... he has no right to demand any such service from her when she's off duty. And even if it IS her job to cart people around - off duty is off duty.

[Akasa]

Pick up = pick up phone, not pick him up.

[PepperElf]

Pick up = pick up phone, not pick him up.

yeah I just noticed.


can she tell him to stop calling/texting? i mean i know it's a work phone but... unless she's not on call, then this is clearly harassment.

[Jay 2K Winger]

After the fourth or fifth call/text, that's when I would have let the asshole have it with both barrels.

As Bill Engval told us: "Nice Stops At Midnight."

[Marmalady]

Sounds almost like someone who's calling from some other time zone and who hasn't stopped to think about what time zone he's calling ...

In which case, whenever it's 4am where he is, that's when to ring him back.


Persistently.

[Seshat]

Thankfully, she completely slept through it. And once I knew it was a customer, and not a family emergency, I ignored it.

Other than to post here. Cause, y'know, I think this is my first actual 'customers suck' story (brief as it is) in years on this site.

I suspect she'll block his number.

[VComps]

Nah, answer it "Seshat's wife here, what is the nature of your emergency?"

[MoonCat]

I learned a long time ago that answering a customer call outside of regular working hours is a huge mistake. Usually opens the famous Endless Can of Worms.

True story: A woman I worked with once had a customer call her at home on Thanksgiving. Seems he had missed deadline for Sunday's ads (which is usually Thursday but that week was on Wednesday) and he wanted her to get his ads in. The fact that she (a) was at home and couldn't do a damn thing about it from there and (b) had left numerous messages for him on Mon, Tues and Wed.... didn't faze him. Not to mention (c) even if she had a way of getting it done, she was not allowed to work from home (both company and union rules) and (d) the deadline WAS PAST.... Idiot. She was never sure how he even got her home number.

[Pixilated]

In which case, whenever it's 4am where he is, that's when to ring him back.

Persistently.

Absolutely. I once tried to contact an author on the west coast to ask for an interview (he was coming to my area). He was very polite, couldn't squeeze in the interview, but he also thanked me for taking the time zones in between us into consideration -- apparently he *had* in the past gotten calls at unholy hours from people who didn't realize there was a whole continent between the two of them ... and he was not someone to be polite in the face of this sort of idiocy.

Thankfully, she completely slept through it. And once I knew it was a customer, and not a family emergency, I ignored it.

Other than to post here. Cause, y'know, I think this is my first actual 'customers suck' story (brief as it is) in years on this site.

I suspect she'll block his number.

With a very sharply-worded note explaining why, I hope. That's just inexcusable.

[PepperElf]

you know... this is why when my supervisor at the old job wanted me to text a customer I balked.

first i pay per text so ... that right there could land the business into some legal issues (would they be forced to reimburse me for spending my own money on their tasks?) but second... "What if they get disgruntled?"

cos the last thing I'd want is some psycho calling me at all hours of the night in revenge etc

[Pixilated]

It's amazing how businesses are blurring the lines between your property and your work. I'm waiting for the day when reporters will have to have their own computers. Many places already expect you to have your own photo equipment ... and they don't necessarily pay for maintenance and on-the-job damages.