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I hate telephones

jameshfisher.com

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Re: I hate telephones

#141

Post by msangi »

blfr wrote: post #105
jimbokun wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hahaha, like "using the phone" means "talking to a human", that's a good one. Using the phone means 1. Listening to a long list of automated selections, none of which are ever useful (pretty much information more easily available over the Internet). 2. Getting placed on hold for tens of minutes or an hour or more. 3. Talking to someone who will ignore your question and ask if you have tried some obvious or irrelevant…

I have no trouble getting to a human in a reasonable time (under 10 minutes) as a regular customer for services like cable/Internet, mobile, building maintenance. And for business services I usually have a real person's card and a direct phone number to them.

I would find "under 10 minutes" to be a quite annoying amount of time, especially if I'm paying for them the premium rate that some customer services have.

Re: I hate telephones

#143

Post by marssaxman »

microcolonel wrote: post #21

I love telephones, they're useful for having efficient and comfortable synchronous conversations. I don't think the level of hatred expressed here is warranted. Yeah, it's annoying when occasionally you receive a phone call at an unwanted hour, but sometimes it's crucial for people to get in contact with you. I have a publicly listed number (in addition to a private one), and I have not received a spam call this year…

Why do you want to have synchronous remote conversations?

Re: I hate telephones

#144

Post by saltcured »

jimbokun wrote: post #77
strathmeyer wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, things that cause you stress can be neurosis and psychoses. If it ruins your focus it is affecting your life and can be classified as a disorder.

How can a phone ringing not ruin your focus? Maybe you never actually focus on anything, and so do not understand the phenomenon?

Some of us have a different problem, which is that our focus can endanger us or ruin our marriages. For us, it is easy to tune out things going on around us like phone calls, houses burning down, or our spouse repeating the same question with escalating irritation...

Re: I hate telephones

#145

Post by a_e_k »

yoodenvranx wrote: post #133

> If I were rich, I would have a permanent secretary. If I ever play and win the lottery this is the one thing I would spent big money on. No expensive cars, no expensive wine, just a person which takes care of everything. Need a new insurance for the car? Tell the secretary to do it. Car is broken? Tell the secretary to take care of it. Need a hotel? Tell the personal secretary to book one. Phone broken? Just send a…

There's a shared service a bit like that that I've seen discussed here before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10846540

Re: I hate telephones

#146

Post by giblfiz »

gonehome wrote: post #138
yoodenvranx wrote: post #133

> If I were rich, I would have a permanent secretary. If I ever play and win the lottery this is the one thing I would spent big money on. No expensive cars, no expensive wine, just a person which takes care of everything. Need a new insurance for the car? Tell the secretary to do it. Car is broken? Tell the secretary to take care of it. Need a hotel? Tell the personal secretary to book one. Phone broken? Just send a…

I think that’s basically what this company does (though I haven’t used them): https://www.zirtual.com/plans-pricing

In general this doesn't work out as well as you would hope. In many cases (financial, medical, legal) another person can't trivially act as your agent. (I.E. your secretary can't do it for you)

I think the very wealthy handle this via specialists with specific licensing, but I personally had no luck going the virtual assistant route.

Re: I hate telephones

#147

Post by laretluval »

maxerickson wrote: post #132
izacus wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20 spam calls per day? That sounds like torture... is there really no body in USA that would prevent that from happening? (I've never received a spam call on my now 20 year old phone number.)

The internet myth is that it doesn't work but all you have to do is answer and ask them to put you on their do not call list. Not give them a big tiresome speech about how they are breaking the law, just ask them not to call anymore ("Please put this number on your courtesy do not call list"). They actually don't want to waste their time...

A lot of the spam calls I get are just recordings or they just hang up once I pick up. Hard to imagine it would help to just say "please add me to your do not call list" into the void...

Re: I hate telephones

#148

Post by deskglass »

maxerickson wrote: post #132
izacus wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20 spam calls per day? That sounds like torture... is there really no body in USA that would prevent that from happening? (I've never received a spam call on my now 20 year old phone number.)

The internet myth is that it doesn't work but all you have to do is answer and ask them to put you on their do not call list. Not give them a big tiresome speech about how they are breaking the law, just ask them not to call anymore ("Please put this number on your courtesy do not call list"). They actually don't want to waste their time...

It's interesting that you assume it's a myth. I can personally attest to answering spam calls, politely asking to be added to the do not call list, and still receiving calls from the same spammers over a period of months. Eventually I just downloaded a call blacklist app.

Re: I hate telephones

#149

Post by fivre »

_nalply wrote: post #23

Me, too. I don't hear, so I don't phone. However some business is almost impossible to conduct without phoning. AWS requires identification by phone. Customs tried to call me to ask me something about my bike I sent home from a holiday abroad. Credit cards are only unblocked by a phone call. And so on. (And phone relays are only a partial solution because some commpanies deem them insecure - I have currently a credit…

Interesting. You don't use TTY devices then? I wouldn't be entirely surprised if those became less prevalent as telephone services decline in popularity, but I'd figured most of the deaf community used them still.

Re: I hate telephones

#150

Post by ThrustVectoring »

blfr wrote: post #33

Rarely can I get the same level of service out of companies over text that I can easily over the phone. Talking to a human over the phone is by far the most customer friendly medium of communication. I can do it without physically going anywhere, yet I get almost all the benefits of visiting the business. Online chats on websites are usually undermanned and overall useless. On the phone I am sure I have at least one…

It's less about having one person's attention, and more about making the BATNA for solving your problem "customer ties up a CS agent for phone support at $10/hr until the problem gets solved".
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