A Short Rant

People and companies really need to quit calling regular real people and starting out asking “Is this [your name, or another name, even]?” before identifying who is making the call. I’ve always hated that, and I even remember a time when a person working to be certified as an office manager (a pre-cursor to the paralegal cert) would lose valuable points on the exam if they called someone and began the call before stating their name and organization.

I do hope no one here does that so sorry-not sorry, but I’m fairly certain that most of us receive these calls. I also feel that more people agree with me than don’t, so I’m taking the risk of ranting about it here. It is at the very least inappropriate to call someone and start out with, “Hello, is this [you]?” If you’re not up to no good, ID yourself first, then ask for who you’re calling.

Thank you. That is all.

Unknown's avatar

Published by ali redford

I love dogs and people. I want living creatures to thrive. I love to cook, and share the food, but ya gotta get in line in front of the dog.

7 thoughts on “A Short Rant”

  1. When I (still) get those calls, the correct answer is “Who are you and what do you want?”

    There is a posted, um, *conspiracy* theory for that that the reason for this is to get your “yes” recorded and use it to agree to all kinds of credit card charges.

    I can neither confirm nor deny.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I’ve heard of that, too. I think I’ve heard of that during the late local news, from the friendly police officer who’s on to help people with scams.
      I always say, “who’s calling, please?” and sometimes they get a little huffy. Sometimes, though, the huffy ones end up being a call center for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. I don’t know; it really made me crabby today. They interrupted the last 3 minutes of Y&R! 😄 I’m almost over it now, though.

      Like

      Reply

      1. The proper way is that the caller identifies themselves (if they aren’t known to you that well, or at all) without you having to play 20 questions. When I get one of those “WHO IS THIS” calls I quietly hang up and let them work it out. They rarely call back.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. It actually turned out to be the central scheduling center for my optometrist’s practice. It’s with a big company; the people here in the office are great. But I had no idea who it was. I have a number in my phone for the office here, but apparently their other offices and central scheduling don’t piggy-back. Or something.
          I appreciate people letting me vent! It’s been a bugaboo most of my life. I guess the venting tipping point was finally today! 😀

          Like

          Reply

    1. I just don’t get skipping that first step. I always start out with who I am before I ask what I need.

      Like

      Reply

    2. Also, when I answered hello, she first asked for Katherine. I told her she definitely had the wrong number; she interrupted me to say my name, but by then I was a little suspicious. She finally said, “hehe! Oh, yeah; this is Katherine with Grene Vision confirming [my name’s] appointment!” I never finished a sentence with her through the whole call, either. Plus the thing with interrupting the last 3 minutes of Y & R.
      I am also thankful that this is so far the worst thing that’s happened with me today.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment