This is not intended as a strict poll, so it’s going here (added in case some over-zealous mod - no name, no packdrill - dives in and carries it aloft before smashing it against a rock).
This morning I got a message on my voicemail while I was out in the kitchen fixing myself a cup (mug, to be precise - MPSIMS must get its share of pedants too - I’m taking no chances, anyway) of fake Blue Mountain coffee, with warm milk from the microwave (45 seconds on medium). I punch in all the codes, and wait for the message to get replayed (okay, ‘played’, since I hadn’t heard it already), only to discover that the toss-pot had put the receiver down after listening to the whole of the recorded message and then waiting for the beep to sound.
Now, why do people do this? And hands-up anyone who’s done it? Were you feeling pissed? Had the person hacked you off? What’s going off here?
Could be somebody who doesn’t normally call you, and the end of the message snuck up on them. Does your message end abruptly?
Could be somebody who wanted to hear the whole message to make sure there wasn’t some useful addendum at the end like “we will be on vacation from July 4th weekend until the 15th,” and then the caller didn’t hang up before knowing there was no more message and the ::beep:: starting the recording.
Could be somebody anticipating you being home, and waiting until the end, figuring maybe you’d be the type to pick up while your voice mail is playing its outgoing message.
My recorded message is basic but not brief. As soon as they hear that generic female voice, a person with any intelligence will realise that I’m out:
When the outgoing message is playing, there’s no visible (or audible) sign, so if you pop back in after the phone has stopped ringing and while it’s playing that message, then there’s no way of knowing anybody’s trying to contact you.
Anyway, happens a lot here. What proportion is down to the fact that the caller’s concentrating on another task (maybe typing, or surfing the Internet), and what proportion’s down to the fact that the receiver’s being punished for wasting the other person’s time?
Anyone else get a lot of null messages on their voicemail.
Telemarking companies sometimes use automatic dialers. The operator will have several dialings going on at once, and when someone picks up the line and says “hello” TWICE, then they will pick up the phone and begin their annoying sales pitch.
This happens to me all the time. When I answer the phone and say, “Hello?” I will wait for someone to say something. But I’ve had to train myself to do this; it is not a typical response. What people typically do is they answer, “Hello?” and then, when there is a long pause and no one says anything, they will repeat, “Hello??” That is the que for the operator to pick up the call. If you only say it once, the call will be disconnected automatically.
Additionally, if you let your machine or voicemail get it, it will essentially do the same thing: Your machine comes on, says a few words and beeps. When no one speaks after the beep, the phone is disconnected.
Now this I did not know. I have never experienced this until I moved to the US. My husband always tells me, “If you say hello and there’s no answer right away, it’s a telemarketer, hang up.” Of course, I’m still new at this. I always say “Hello? … (hear background noise but no talking)… Hello?” And suddenly, I’m talking to a telemarketer. I hang up as soon as the spiel begins. Frock that.
But I had no idea they actually waited until you said the second “hello.” Jumping Og Smashing Pogo Sticks, they won’t get me anymore!
Next time this happens, I’ll say “Hello? (pause)… Feck ye, then!” slam
I have no clue, but something about that second “hello” sends a signal to them that they’ve got a live one.
Try it next time someone calls. Only say “hello” once, and then just wait. If it’s a telemarketer, the call will be dropped. If it’s a real person on the line, and there’s a long silence, they will say hello, probably once they realize the phone they’re calling has stopped ringing and that there’s silence on the other end.
If you really want to be sure, and you have caller ID, call the number back, and when someone answers, ask what company it is.
I thought the pause with a telemarketer was just the time taken for the machine (that actually calls you) to transfer you to the real person/telemarketer. It just happens that the pause is long enough to make you say hello twice.
I thought so, too, but if that were the case, why would they hang up when a person doesn’t say that second “hello”? And why don’t they say, “hello?” after they get connected but don’t hear anything?
Incidentally, I just got one of these today. I said my first hello… pause… then I hear background noise… I don’t say a word (and my apartment is very quiet)… then a very loud, obnoxious-sounding female voice says “HELLO?!”
Out of curiousity I say hello back… then she launched into her spiel. ARGH!
I got another one about ten minutes ago, however, and I said two hellos, out of habit, also thinking it was my mother returning a call… and got a way-too-perky automated message. sigh.