After answering phone: Please wait for the next available representative.

[Rageaholic]

That's annoying enough when you're the one calling.

[lordlundar]

Wait a minute. They phone you then tell you to wait on the line?

Sorry, not that desperate for human conversation thank yew very much.

[BrenDAnn]

Every month or so I get a variation of this kind of call where I will pick up, and it will be silent for about two seconds, just enough for me to wonder if it's a pocket call or whatever, and all of a sudden, there's this blaring sound of a ship horn followed by an announcer telling me about some great deal on a cruise ship that I can get if I just stay on the line.

I'm used to it now, but the first time it happened it was so startling I screamed, "What the FUCK" in the middle of an airport food court where parents stared back at my red face.

I get this one all. The. TIME! So damn annoying, and sadly I'm so used to it now that the minute I hear the horn, I hang up. I've also gotten the "please hold blah blah blah" calls, but haven't gotten those since we had the land line, thank the lord. I agreed with Duelist925 on those!

[Mr Hero]

Wait a minute. They phone you then tell you to wait on the line?

Yep, this is exactly what the topic is about. No, if I have to be put on hold it'll be for the places I call.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Over here, it's the PPI calls that are roundly annoying everyone. I block them from my mobile, and don't have a landline.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20351969

We also get recorded messages about fuck knows what at work; I don't really know what they're about due to the fact that as soon as I hear that braindeath woman on the recorded message say, "Don't hang up," I hang up.

[siead_lietrathua]

The greatest part about these calls is sometimes they give you an option to press a button if you don't want any more calls. Yet the next day and the day after that, they keep calling.

keep hitting 9 over and over. if it's a legit company it should pop up with a message that you've been put on their DNC. if it's telling you to hit anyhting other than 9, hit 9 anyway. it's supposed to be a default.
every company i've done it to has worked, even the stupid boat horn contest one. and they all have the exact same voice and message regarding the DNC so i'm assuming it's a standard across the board.

[bainsidhe]

Kind of a similar topic, but why is it customers call into a business and put the call on hold before even reaching a representative? Sorry, but if I answer the phone ready to help you, I'll hang up on hold music. You weren't waiting that long.

[Andara Bledin]

As a person who has been forced to put calls I made on hold briefly (cause, you know, life keeps happening, even when you're on the phone), it always pissed me off when the rep on the other side couldn't give me a few seconds to get rid of whatever was interrupting me and get back to the line.

^-.-^

[Lace Neil Singer]

The problem with responding to text messages or answering an unknown number is that in these illegal companies' eyes, it marks you as a future target cuz you're proving that your number is active. This is mainly as far as mobiles are concerned; these people use generators to create numbers to call so it's best not to respond and just to block it. Since they're not abiding by the rules, there's no point in doing so yourself.

[Blue Ginger]

Over here, it's the PPI calls that are roundly annoying everyone. I block them from my mobile, and don't have a landline.

Gah! I hated these stupid people when I lived in London. I am not a morning person. When I was between temping roles, I would enjoy sleeping in until about 10am. Without fail, one of these calls would happen between 8:30 and 10am every second day. I had to answer the phone just in case it was the agency. To be woken up and not get paid for it was just beyond irritating.

Why yes, I do subscribe to the belief that if I'm not being paid, I don't even want to know single digits exist in the morning.

[wolfie]

The greatest part about these calls is sometimes they give you an option to press a button if you don't want any more callswant to let the scammers know they've reached a "live" number. Yet the next day and the day after that, they keep calling.

Fixed that for you. As for the calling entity telling the called entity to hold, that's incredibly rude, because in effect they're saying "our time is more valuable than yours, so we don't need to come to the phone until we're sure we have a live person on the line". Unless it's someone SERIOUSLY important (i.e. I pick up the phone and hear "Please hold for the Secretary General of the United Nations"), I hang up.

[Nyoibo]

Unless it's someone SERIOUSLY important (i.e. I pick up the phone and hear "Please hold for the Secretary General of the United Nations"), I hang up.

Who just happens to speak with a Nigerian accent

[Lace Neil Singer]

And wants you to send money cuz the cat is sick. XD