People who keep calling until you answer

[Rageaholic]

Enough said in the title. Just like being asked again and again after saying no, why can't these people see that I am either not there, am busy with more important stuff, or am watching TV? It's especially annoying during TV shows when I'm trying to focus on the show, but have to listen to this constant RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGG!!! If it's a dire emergency, I could understand, but if it's just people wanting to talk, it's just being an obnoxious, inconsiderate asshole.

[McDreidel09]

This is why I love texting. :D I can quickly text that I am busy and not feel bad about answering after that.

It does get annoying if it is not an emergency. I have kept calling until they answered because it was an emergency or because I want an explanation as to why they are late.

[Ree]

My BIL will start calling me on Saturday afternoon, usually just after lunch, and then proceed to call at 15 or 20 minute intervals for most of the day, and then start again on Sunday.

I know I should just answer, but, as much as I love him, talking to him gets on my nerves a bit.
He doesn't really say anything.
It's sweet of him to call to make sure things are OK, but seriously, he doesn't know I'm home screening calls, so why call every 15 minutes?

(He's bipolar and paranoid schizophrenic. It might be part of his illness, too. I don't know.)

[Fryk]

Calling me over and over again just makes me less likely to answer your call with each attempt. I'm stubborn.

[insertNameHere]

I will agree it sucks if you really want to talk to a friend because something is going on in your life and you need some advice but unless it a dire emergency or they were supposed to be there to answer I see no reason to keep calling or more than 5 texts that go unanswered because well

Calling me over and over again just makes me less likely to answer your call with each attempt. I'm stubborn.


I agree with this statement, depending on who it is I just let shit go to voice mail, especially unknown numbers. I hate being put on the shot and needing to have to lie when someone wants me to work for them. If im not wanting to work I don't answer m phone that simple, that way when I call them back two hour later they go its cool so and so is covering for me. "OH danm, i just saw you called, ok glad to hear it is taken care of" <- much better than im sorry that you want to get drunk I have plans of my own

[draggar]

Calling me over and over again just makes me less likely to answer your call with each attempt. I'm stubborn.

QFT. I'm in IT and even though people are supposed to log tickets, they call me and if they think the issue is important, they won't leave a voicemail, they'll just call again, and again, and again... Doing this just makes the caller an @$$hole. If I don't answer the phone I have a reason and they have other options available (logging a ticket online, calling the help desk etc..)

I once had someone call me 15 times in an hour while I was on vaction. Yeah, I didn't call them back.

[IDrinkaRum]

OMG!

My MIL does this!

Drives me insane!

She'll call and call and call. She'll leave messages on home phone, cell phone (mine & Mr. Rum's), drive his admin assistant insane.

Let's see what was so important?

1. She wanted to make sure Mr. Rum was going to pick up her mail when she & FIL went out of town.

2. She wanted to shoot the breeze with him.

And yet she was calling ever hour or so.

I wanted to shoot her.

However, neither she (nor the rest of his family) calls when it's something important.

How many people want to bet I hear nothing from Mr. Rum's side of the family even though I sent out invites on Tuesday to call me back by May 3 to let me know they're coming out to dinner to celebrate Mr. Rum's birthday?

[smileyeagle1021]

I am copying this entire thread and submitting it to management to have a quickword assigned to it to send to deaf users.
I can always tell you which users were born deaf and which ones became deaf. It is very easy to tell, became deaf won't redial more than twice before leaving a message (which actually requires a third redial, but that's beside the point) or giving up. Born deaf will ask you to keep dialing until someone answers. I can understand that the only thing they have to compare to a phone ring is the strobe light that many of them use for doorbells where if you aren't looking at it you might not see it and need to have it rung again and can't comprehend that phone rings aren't mono directional like that. That in and of itself doesn't make them sucky. What does make them sucky is the few times we do eventually get someone to pick up they'll get hostile about why they didn't pick up and will get upset when the person says that they were (insert very valid reason not to answer the phone here).

On that note, telling me to redial because it's an emergency doesn't change how I do my job. I don't give a crap why you want me to redial, it's going to be done anyway. Telling me it's an emergency just makes me overly tempted to use the "call911" quickword just to be a smartass.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Especially people who call when I'm trying to make dinner or eating. -.-

[blas87]

I hate people who call me while I'm sleeping, period.

But on the original topic, I hate hate hate people blowing up my phone oh so much. What makes them think calling over and over and over and over again is really going to make me answer, especially numbers I do not know?

If I get a call from an unknown number, I ignore it and as soon as possible I google it and track it, to at least find out if it's a personal cell phone or a business line or a landline, and to see what city and state it came from. I won't pay to find out "who" it is, all I care is it isn't scammers and telemarketers or people who somehow got my number without my knowing.

If they don't text me or call from a number I actually do know, I will not answer, and they can keep trying all they want. This has been happening a lot lately, and it's infuriating.

A few weekends ago, some number called me 5 times throughout the day. It was a cell phone from somewhere local, but still....I didn't answer you the first or second or third or *you get it*....time...

[Lace Neil Singer]

Personally if someone kept calling me, I'd just switch my phone off. XD

[Fryk]

Admit it--- You feel an evil sense of glee when you shut your phone off, too. I know *I* do.

[Lace Neil Singer]

:D How did you guess? In fact, I switch my phone off while emitting an evil laugh, much like many old skool evil villains do after carrying out their evil plans. XD

[Fryk]

HA! I do that, too. And I have an awesome evil laugh for it. Sometimes, if I am in the mood, I also sing the "I'm not talking to you, fuck off!" song.

[Plaidman]

I remember when I was a kid, and this was before every phone had voice mail, caller ID what have you. It was early morning. Phone rang. I wanted to sleep, and I wasn't really allowed to answer the phone anyway. This was when I was staying at my cousins with ma tempory.

The phone kept ringing. Over and over. Midway I started to keep count. I got to ring 67 (That's what I counted and it was way after it started ringing) when ma storms out, picks up the phone and screams WHAT.

A moment later she says "IF SOMEONE DOESN'T FUCKING ANSWER AFTER THE TENTH RING, THEY MIGHT NOT BE HOME OR IGNORING YOU!" she slams the reciver down, rips off cord and throws it.


I later learned that it was one of my cousins many girlfriends, wondering if it was safe for her to come over, or if he was busy with his wife.

[Amanita]

As a night shift worker, I can't tell you how much I HATE the sound of a ringing phone. But here's the sucky thing- through no choice of mine, our home phone number is unlisted, so it comes up as an unknown. This is because years ago, my dad was a teacher and didn't want students prank calling us. But even after my dad retired, the damn number is still unlisted. Which means if I try to call somebody, I get hosed. I fucking hate talking to answering machines, sorry.

[Greenday]

If I know you are home and I have something important to say, I'm going to keep calling until I piss you off enough to answer.

[Stormraven]

All calling me incessantly will do is get me to turn down the ringer so I don't hear it. Even without caller ID, I will answer the phone only if I feel like it. Anyone who really needs to talk to me can leave a message.

Yes, we screen our calls, and our family and friends are aware of that fact.

[DrFaroohk]

Back when I lived in an apartment building I had this problem with people knocking. They'd knock and knock and knock and knock. Finally I put up a note that said whether I'm home or not, if I don't answer the door after a couple of knocks you're not coming in, so just drop it. The next day they smashed the windshield out of my car.

[Lace Neil Singer]

If I know you are home and I have something important to say, I'm going to keep calling until I piss you off enough to answer.

All that will get you is a switched off phone. :rolleyes:

If I need to tell someone something important, and they're not answering their phone, I'll send them an email or a text rather than repeatedly calling them.

[blas87]

I think calling someone repeatedly, even if you know they are around, is just going to piss them off more than anything else.

[evillebee]

OMG...this is my mother. I was on the home landline and call waiting kept beeping (I hate call waiting, but that is another rant), I saw the call was from my mother and didn't click over. Soon after, my cell starts to ring, then hubby's cell starts to ring. No messages left on any phones, just persistent calling. Landline phone started beeping again, then cells...ARGUHHHH!!!! When I finally got off the phone, I called her and asked who died. She got the point. Of course, the call was nothing important, but she did try to make me feel guilty by saying that she was worried when no one was answering the phones. Didn't work, I felt no guilt at all because her crazy stopped working with me years ago.

If I don't answer the phone, there is a reason and I will call back at my convience. If the call is important, leave a message and stop fucking calling over and over.

[blas87]

Going back to the first page, I feel for you, Ree. I'm sure it's related to his illnesses. My Nanna did the same thing to my family when she first started showing signs of Alzheimers, and it only got worse until we got caller ID and my parents would sometimes unplug the phone.

Nanna started constantly calling both my mom and my great aunt and great uncle, any time of any day or night. This was in the later 90s, before people switched to all cell phones and not everyone had caller ID yet. This (well, and telemarketers) was the reason we did get caller ID.

Especially when Nanna started calling in the wee hours of the morning. Her mind was telling her it was morning, and why hadn't Uncle P came to see her yet?

It's not like my parents could disconnect her phone. And what if it truly was an emergency? The whole family was reluctant to get her one of those "Life Alert" thingies because we were afraid she'd misuse it and the emergency services would be constantly at her house for no reason, but at the same time, what if what if, what if, what if she fell or wandered off? What if, what if, what if...?

We came up with a plan that if she continued to call over and over and over, we'd unplug the phone. Uncle P and Aunt C did the same, even though we knew there was always a possibility it was something bad, but how many nights could we be woken up at ridiculous oclock because Nanna got off her rocker again?

*Please note that a lot of it is Uncle P's fault for never putting her in a home or getting her any help....he was the closest one to her and always neglected to take any responsibility, after a few years of guilt, my parents started making anonymous calls to social services*

Back on track...anyway, one time in particular, I didn't know this was possible (and we didn't have call waiting, just a busy signal if someone were on the phone) but I was in the middle of talking to a friend on the phone when some "ding ding ding" chimed in and some voice popped in to say "This is the operator.....we have a call coming from a Nanna Blasenheimer, she says it's an emergency and needs to get through" (like I said, I didn't even know it was possibe to call the operator and get a call interrupted....but even my friend could hear it on the other end) and then it was transferred, and Nanna was frantically babbling about Uncle P not stopping by and some more other stuff. I just hung up. Felt a little guilty, but what could I do?

That was before the caller ID, by the way.....I told my mom that Nanna called the operator when our line was busy and managed to get through and said it was an emergency, and Mom said "Yes, we really need caller ID and call waiting."

That got a little long, I apologize. I suppose it's a different story if the person calling has a mental illness and every situation is different.