Pet Peeve #12 - Hold-On Talkers

When I call and ask for someone, common sense should tell you that I want to talk to who I asked for, not to whoever answered the phone. People have a habit of turning the phone call into their own. It makes calling your house a chore. Its okay to make a little small talk while you search for the person the phone call was actually intended for, but it becomes obvious when you have taken a seat in a recliner and jacked the phone call.

                “Hello, Dave speaking.”
                “Hi Dave, its John. Is Fred there?”
                “Sure, hold on… Anyway, how have you been?”

                You get the picture.

                Now Fred gets mad at me because I never return his calls. The truth is that I want to call him back, but his housemate, Dave, is too much to deal with. I officially never want to hear Dave’s voice again. Dave’s phone etiquette it below par to say the least. If I wanted to talk to Dave, the above dialogue would go quite differently:

                “Hello, Dave speaking.”
                “Dave! Just the man I wanted to talk to! How are you?”
                “Great! What can I do ya for?”

                Etc.

                I know a few of you reading this are in Dave’s shoes and you think you are just being friendly. But as I said, there is a line between a little small talk during your search for Fred and phone jacking. Just find Fred and put him on the phone. I’ll talk to you another time, Dave.