Voicemail

[DrFaroohk]

When you check your voicemail, and there's a message on there thats like "Hey this is Bob, call me back."

Well no effing shit. I knew you wanted me to call you back when I saw your name on the caller ID. What the hell do you want? I sure as hell am not taking a call where I might be walking into a buzzsaw.

[MaggieTheCat]

This really annoys my boyfriend, too -- that, and saying something like "Can I talk to you?" or "Can I ask a question?" Like it's just totally redundant, I guess. I'm afraid I'm guilty of all three.

[Boozy]

I wish I had family and friends who could be so brief. My sister and my mother-in-law will have the same conversation whether a human being or a machine picks up. If the machine picks up, they just tell it about their day.

Then they close off with "Call me back!" Why? So you can tell me everything again?

[DrFaroohk]

Yeah, longwinded ones are just as bad when they have nothing to do with the message. When I was a store manager I used to get these calls that were like

"Uh hi this is mandy at the store, well, see, the thing is, so yesterday I spilled some coffee on my shirt, and I've got this kinda burn now, and then I was driving to work and there was this slow guy in front of me, and then I got pulled over when I tried to pass the slow guy and he was a cop, and actually it was jimmy barrinsons brother, did you know that? so he wrote me a ticket for speeding, but he let me off on the no inspection sticker with a warning, cuz it turns out that jimmy talks about me all the time and says i'm cool, so this cop, he was heading to a barbecue, and then i saw a deer in the road, and it reminded me of the time i went hunting with my uncle ralph, so yeah, my till was 5 dollars short when I opened it this morning."

[Dreamstalker]

I'd get similar explanations from my last boss, typically they involved a 5+ minute recap of stuff I already knew (I don't need a damn screenplay on why you think X is a good/bad idea, just tell me a simple yes or no!)

My parents obviously don't need to leave their names, but generally I require name, date and time (you'd be amazed at how often this segment of my outgoing message is completely ignored), phone number and reason.

The ex is the champion of totally random messages...if it's not short and pointless, it's really long and pointless. He's seen fit to "quiz" me on the stupid-long messages...look dude, I don't particularly care that you found 4-inch supersnails in your yard (although they are kinda cute), and I really don't want to hear about how you plan to get rid of them (typically involving dangerous substances and/or ridiculously bad judgment).

[blas87]

That'd be why I still, to this day, haven't activated my voicemail.

It was nice to have if I didn't recognize a number and ignored the call, if they left a message I'd be able to see who they were......nowadays I have to google the number or hope they text me....or I can answer and pee myself when I hear it's another bill collector and hang up....

The worst ones were from my Dad....oh gosh...."Hello hun, it's 10:15, just wanted to let you know that there is a big pothole in the road by your apartment!"

[AFPheonix]

That doesn't bother me too much, what bothers me is when people call me repeatedly and don't leave me a message, especially if they're calling from a number I don't recognize.

I don't call back numbers I don't know, simply because I get far too many of those stupid "your car warranty is about to expire" calls on my cell. That, and it's a force of habit to screen my calls when I was getting married because I was getting deluged with calls from church members who wanted to talk me out of it.

[Giggle Goose]

I think I'm the only person who differs...

I used to have that common sense; meaning that if someone called, they would obviously appreciate a call back. But the reason I leave brief messages such as "Give me a call when you get this" is because some people I know WON'T call back unless I leave a message.

My mom is the worst offender. My brother, sister and I all get mad at her, saying "Did you see I called you?" and she'll say "Yes, but how was I supposed to know to call you back unless you leave a message? I figure I'll see you at home, anyway!" *sigh* So yes, I always try to leave a brief message, even if it's redundant. Thank goodness for texting!

[AdminAssistant]

One of the things that irritates me is, I'll call one of my actors and leave a message saying, "You need to call the costume shop to set up a fitting on Thursday, the number is xxx-xxx-xxx". And then they still call me back, "What am I supposed to do?"

[DrFaroohk]

A good middleground is what people need. Call and give me a FEW details, but just enough so I can decide on whether I want to ignore you or not. Obviously I'm not calling you back if you want me to come in to work a triple shift, but if you're calling me to offer me a promotion, well of course I'll be there.

[Greenday]

LOL, this reminds me of something from today. I was chatting with my boss and one of my coworkers walked in and said how she finally got a call back from someone concerning a question they had. The voicemail my co-worker got? "Hi, this is so-and-so, I have the answer to your question, call me back." Besides not, being there when she called back, why the hell didn't he just answer her question in the voicemail.

[AFPheonix]

Maybe it was a privacy thing. I know when I call patients on work related matters, we can't really leave details on why we called due to HIPPA.

[Greenday]

No, our work isn't anything like that. It's her phone at her cubicle with her own code. No one else would be able to get it.

[linguist]

i know i've left messages like that when i thought the person who's question i was answering might have followup questions, or i may need to go into greater detail than i could on voicemail.

[freeatlast]

My daughter used to call and not leave a message, so I would not call back. I always just figured that she was calling to chat and would call back later. On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend (race day we call it in Indiana) I had just gotten out of the shower and went into the dining room just in time to see my Mom walk off my patio toward the front yard. I went to the front door to let her in and she started laughing. Turns out my daughter had called while I was in the shower and when I didn't answer she called and asked Mom to come and check on me. She told her that she had been calling for several days and I hadn't called back and she was worried about me. After Mom left, I called my daughter and she gave me hell for never calling back. I told her that if she wants me to call back, LEAVE A MESSAGE! To this day (and this happend about 4 years ago) she leaves a message any time she calls. Including telling me she was just calling to talk and that she will call back later.