# How late is "too late" for people to call you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215 "2003-10-08T03:34:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/21 "2003-10-08T13:05:51Z")
I needed to call a lady I didn’t know last night and I didn’t think about it until 9.45pm – I decided to wait until today. 11.30 is about the cutoff for people I know. ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/22 "2003-10-08T13:21:50Z")
Friends or familiy can call me whenever, I don’t mind being woken up in the middle of the night, I’ll just go back to sleep. I would rather people who don’t know me did not call after 9pm, or before 10am. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/23 "2003-10-08T13:25:42Z")
I go to bed around 9 under most circumstances, so I don’t want the phone ringing after that. In fact, the ringer on the phone in my bedroom is turned off. If I don’t hear the phone in the kitchen, I won’t even know if someone is calling. My inlaws always stay up late - they have no problem with calling as late as 10:30 or 11. They never seem to remember that I go to bed early. It’s hard to be civil when you’re semi-conscious. Bottom line - unless there’s a death or a terrible accident, I don’t need to know till morning. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/24 "2003-10-08T14:00:01Z")
I’ve got a 10am-10pm rule. There’s always dispensation for great news/horrible news or if it’s agreed upon previously. (The rules do change if I’m calling someone I know has young’uns.) ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/25 "2003-10-08T14:18:17Z")
I don’t like the phone ringing after 8pm. I also don’t like people calling me before noon on the weekends. Curses to the people that call me at 8am on a freaking Sat.!!! ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/26 "2003-10-08T15:11:58Z")
It depends: SO - anytime, or no time is too late Family - 1am Close friends - 12am Friends - 10pm Random and assorted annoying people - leave me alone! Emergencies excluded as usual ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/27 "2003-10-08T15:20:53Z")
For the most part, I have recieved maybe a half-dozen phone calls in the past three plus years that were actually people I wanted to talk to. Therefore, I have ceased answering the phone entirely. While I wouldn’t really mind terribly if one of my close friends called late - say 11-12 at night - they never call at all, and now that we have a toddler we’re kinda bushed by that time and usually in bed at 10. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/28 "2003-10-08T15:27:57Z")
Never before 10 a.m. For business, never past 8 p.m. For family/friends, never past 10 p.m. If the phone rings at 10:30 I’m bitching about my brother before I even pick up. He’s a slow learner. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/29 "2003-10-08T16:47:38Z")
Strangers shouldn’t call after 8pm, and family and friends shouldn’t call after 10pm unless it’s really important. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/30 "2003-10-08T17:12:26Z")
On my cell phone: any time. If I forget to turn it off when I go to sleep, that’s my own damn fault. On my house phone: 9 or 9:30, since there are other people in the house, and they often go to sleep rather early ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/31 "2003-10-08T17:44:09Z")
I’m a lot more likely to do a marketing survey AFTER 9pm. Like most working parents, I spend the hours between 6-9 doing family stuff, dinner, supervising homework, reading stories, etc. After that it’s stuff I can do while talking on the phone (loading dishwasher, doing laundry). (However, since I work in advertising/marketing I usually get ruled-out with the early rule-out question, namely, whether I work in advertising or marketing). Telemarketers never. In general I’m much happier when the person on the other end is someone I want to talk to. Who isn’t? In that case, any time’s okay. (My friends know I’d rather talk on the phone than sleep. At least, I’d rather talk to _them_ than sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/32 "2003-10-08T18:04:01Z")
Strangers, 8pm. Friends / Family, 10pm on weekdays, later on weekends or if we are making plans to go out. We recently had an ad in our local paper selling a vehicle, and I was really irritated at the people who would call at all hours. 11:30pm is not the time to call about the car, and neither is before 8am on a Sunday! I didn’t think I needed to put acceptable calling hours in the ad, but apparently I was wrong. Then again, the same people who called at 11:30 were the ones who ended up buying it and picking it up around _3am_ one night the next week…so I think they just lived in a different time universe. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/33 "2003-10-08T18:47:21Z")
I’m with **Ringo** , 8 for strangers, 9 for friends, and 10 for family. Anytime for emergencies. And don’t call me before 8:00am on Saturday and Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/34 "2003-10-08T18:57:38Z")
For telemarketers - never. For close family and friends - 10pm. Anyone else - 9pm. On the weekends, don’t call me before 10:30am. I generally don’t call friends with young kids after 8. Most other people - 8:30 or 9. And if they have a new baby in the house, I generally won’t call after 7. For close friends with new babies, I just ask them to call me when it’s convenient for them, because I never know when they might be sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/35 "2003-10-08T19:14:47Z")
telemarketers and market research people - never anyone else - according to the importance of the call ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/36 "2003-10-08T19:33:48Z")
8am - 5 pm… I won’t answer - I’m supposed to be at work, so no one I know is calling 5 - 7 pm… All calls answered, even telemarketers 7 - 10 pm… Depends on what I’m doing. Only answered if Caller ID somone I want to talk to 10 pm to 8 am - I will assume that someone has died and answer the phone accordingly. “What?? What’s wrong!!?!?!?” ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/37 "2003-10-08T20:08:27Z")
Midnight. And I _like_ taking surveys. Especially Arbitron. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/38 "2003-10-09T06:42:42Z")
I won’t make a personal call after 9 p.m. or before noon unless I know the person’s habits. My MIL, for instance, is a serious night owl, so when my kids were babies and developed some worrying (but fortunately always innocent) symptom at 2 a.m. I had no qualms about calling her for advice and reassurance. She was still awake. For receiving calls… people who know me know that between 9 and 10 p.m. is a good time, since the kids are in bed. After 10 it had better be important, although I’ll make allowances for MIL and her weird circadian rhythms. I go to bed at 11. If you call me after that hour, somebody had better be dead or dying. ---
**Author:** ![Sqube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Sqube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqube)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/39 "2003-10-09T06:47:59Z")
Don’t call before noon, don’t call after 3AM. I’m always up around that time, but calling before noon… rest assured that you will get me in the worst possible mood. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215/40 "2003-10-09T07:36:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moo the Magic Cow \* > \*\*don’t call me before noon goddammit. \*\* That says it all for me. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-late-is-too-late-for-people-to-call-you/206215.md?page=3)