I'm in Real Estate too and empathize. You can whine, I get it. I had to call an agent the other day to get access for a property that wasn't listed yet. He used his office as his contact number, the office had no info on a property that wasn't listed yet, his was MIA and not answering his phone or responding to messages and they had to deal with all the calls. I really felt badly for the girl trying to work through it.

My husband hates VM, and will not leave a message if he reaches that...he insists on speaking to a 'live body'. I'm the opposite, I'd much rather leave a voice mail because I can then explain what I need without an explanation. Does that make sense?

I prefer VM on my phone, rather than coming in to the office after being out in the field a few days and find sticky notes buried somewhere. I guarantee you that I can't find anything on my desk, but I can always retrieve a message off my phone.

I think it is helpful to give the customer/client/caller a little information and options. Our company does not use voicemail so we take down the information and have a policy of returning customer calls promptly. We text important messages to the recipient; others get put in the person's box and the caller is told it may be a few days or -more likely- that the call will be returned based on interest. Salespeople are given an email address and told to email their sales pitch.

I personally hate to be put through to voicemail if I am the customer - that is a pet peeve of mine :-). I usually request and generally receive an email or text address and contact the person that way.

Linda

As a former J.A.R (just a receptionist) I feel your pain. Those callers always came when I was doing 50 other things and didn't have time to write a lengthy message.

J.A.R was a term of endearment used by my former coworkers. It was a public interest law office where we only could help a small percentage of the large volume of callers who sought help from us. We were a strong team where everyone had immense responsibilities and equal respect - even though some held law degrees. My job was to answer the phones and screen each person for eligibility, assess legal problem, give initial advice if it was a critical or time sensitive legal situation, then make appt or refer to other resources. People had the mistaken idea that because we were free, they could call and just talk to a lawyer and would sometimes resist talking to me because I wasn't one. So I was pretty adept at getting info quickly out of reluctant callers. One day, "Hi, may I help you?" 'I need to talk to a lawyer.' "Okay, what kind of legal problem to you have?" 'Oh, I thought you were JUST a receptionist.' "Well, I AM just a receptionist, but I'm the one you need to talk with." So, I became the J.A.R and someone bought me a desk plaque with my name and J.A.R. on it. Now I am a retired J.A.R. This was all a joke in my mind. Anyone doing any job is never a "JUST" an anything.

But boy did I hate to have to write paper messages!

It's different in a RE office because all of the agents are independent contractors and make their own hours. When someone asks me to take a message I usually reply that I don't know what that agent's schedule is, and may not see him or her to give them the message, and that it's best to reach them on their cell phone, which I offer to connect them to, or give them the number.

I'm with Pesky1. I love voice mail. I'd much prefer to leave a detailed voice message so that the recipient knows exactly what I need and can call me when they can fulfill my request. I hate it when someone leaves me a voice mail with no information except a call back number. That means I have to call them back to find out what they want which can result in the dreaded telephone tag. Arghhhh!

I would definitely rather leave a detailed VM message than trust someone to accurately write down and relay a message. Better yet would be to send an email or text that one can read and reread easily.

I much rather VM or e mail so then I can leave a very detailed message. I hate when I call somewhere and they want to take a written message. They usually screw it up and when the person calls back they don't have a clue what I called about. LOL

A few years ago, before texting became mainstream for all ages, not just the 20 somethings, my sisters & I would leave VM messages for their kids. The kids would call back and say (actually yell) don't leave me a message, I won't listen to it, if I see you called I'll call you back. I was old school enough to believe that the benefit of VM is I can tell you want you need to know & it doesn't involve another call. But no, it involved a second call, getting yelled at, and having to repeat all the info. Now I just send them a text or an email. (When they were little the term YUPPIE was in vogue. I labeled them OPUGs - over privileged, under grateful. They are actually wonderful young adults and I'm making them seem like beasts. Sorry kids, I still love you. They probably have a term for me - besides old and grumpy.)

In a business situation, I'd rather leave a detailed VM than expect someone to write out everything.

The list of How Not To Act Old includes not leaving voice mail or email for the very reasons you state hhireno.
I think it' s funny!

My only real communication pet peeve is people thinking my phone is attached to my hand 24/7. It's not and I only turn my cell phone on when I leave the house.

"The kids would call back and say (actually yell) don't leave me a message, I won't listen to it, if I see you called I'll call you back."

My son says that to me - still!

"My only real communication pet peeve is people thinking my phone is attached to my hand 24/7. It's not and I only turn my cell phone on when I leave the house."

Yep - me too. I even have my cell phone message set to say "Don't leave a message here because I won't check it any time soon --"

That's two symptoms of old age, isn't it?

I absolutely don't understand the "don't leave me a message because I won't listen to it" group. I have a friend like that. She won't listen to voice mails or read emails. Her phone is permanently attached to her ear by bluetooth while she multi-tasks. I keep telling her that sometimes I just want to make her aware of something, but I don't want to interrupt her day or have a conversation. I finally gave up. Now, I don't call her at all.

I think there's a difference, too, between calls to/from family members/friends and business calls. While I transferred my voice mail habits from business to my personal life, I can see how young people who always have their cell phone on could think it was easier to call their parent back. They haven't developed habits for using their time efficiently yet in the face of competing priorities.

While we are on the subject of pet peeves with regard to telephones, I really dislike it when someone calls me, doesn't identify themselves, and asks me what I am doing. I really have to bite my tongue to keep from giving them a snippy or crazy answer. Not everyone pays for caller ID.

Another thing I get at work are callers who say "I just got a call from this number/from you". I then explain that there are 40 agents in the office and it could be any one of them, and ask if they are currently working with someone in the office. Many times the caller will say, I'm not sure, they left a message - I guess I should listen to it and find out who called. Then I hit my head on my desk.

Terriks said, "Another thing I get at work are callers who say "I just got a call from this number/from you". I then explain that there are 40 agents in the office and it could be any one of them, and ask if they are currently working with someone in the office. Many times the caller will say, I'm not sure, they left a message - I guess I should listen to it and find out who called. Then I hit my head on my desk."

I laughed out loud at your post. What IS it with not listening to the message. Sometimes the person will call back before you even finish leaving a message for them.

Sometimes I think I'm the only one in the world who doesn't have things to talk about on the phone 24/7. I hate the phone and it is there for my convenience. When I look around and see everyone on a phone I find it disturbing. I think people have become "addicted" to these devices that they have to have them on 24/7 no matter what they are doing.

Going off topic a bit, I get very upset with mothers who ignore their children and choose to talk on the phone while shopping, etc. Just another form of child neglect. When someone I know calls me on my cell and it's usually DH to tell me something I need to pick up at the store, etc., my conversations last all of 1 minute.

I want to shout to everyone who talks and talks and talks their business in my ear while they are socializing on the phone while out in public, you are annoying and I don't want to hear your business.

Sometimes I think I'm the only one in the world who doesn't have things to talk about on the phone 24/7.
Going off topic a bit, I get very upset with mothers who ignore their children and choose to talk on the phone while shopping, etc. Just another form of child neglect.

Me too!

Not everyone pays for caller ID.

I couldn't live without it!

Natal, yes you could! Really, it's not that hard :) If it's someone I want to talk to, they'll leave a message. If they don't they'll call back. If it's a solicitor, they just keep calling and calling. I just don't want to give the phone co's any more of my $ than they already get - my land line doesn't have it but my cell comes with it for the same price. However, most of my friends work in the domestic violence field or law enforcement and have their #'s blocked anyway.

If it's someone I want to talk to I'm happy to pick up the phone. Messages left have a way of getting lost/ignored, especially with dh. He's a master procrastinator.

I don't have caller id. My sisters make fun of me. I just pick up the phone, if I'm in the mood.

I'm so low tech just this week I bought a corded phone. The clerk thought I was joking and wasn't sure where to find them. The phone was less than half the cost of the replacement battery for the cordless. I did buy one replacement battery so we'll still have one cordless but I don't mind being tethered to the wall for as little as I use the phone.

I also looked at 19" or 22" tvs for my husband's office. Again, the clerk thought I was joking that I wanted such a small tv. They actually had one that 70"! I don't need to watch any program in life-size.

I don't listen to my messages *on my cell phone* very much, and here's why... they are a hassle to access! I am unable to skip over older messages to hear the newest one, so I have to listen to the entire old message, plus the automated voice giving me options. Plus I am not attached to my phone so I don't check for messages every half hour (or day), so maybe I won't hear it for a while.

The way I look at it is the cell is there for my convenience and tell everyone if you want to contact me, then leave messages at either home or work or e-mail me. I am very good about retrieving and returning those messages because they are easy to access.

Nicole

nigel-bigel - why don't you go through the old messages on your cell phone and delete them? Try playing the messages and press the 7 key as they play. That will likely delete them one by one.