(I’m sitting in a park with my mom, playing with my phone, when I get a call from an unknown number. As I never get calls, I answer out of curiosity.)
Me: “Hello?”
Caller: *very clearly a child* “Hi, yeah. You just won a trip to Paris.”
Me: “Oh, really?”
Caller: “Yeah, and you have to go to China to get the tickets.”
(I think to myself, “Wow, what a creative prank call,” and decide to call them out on their attempt.)
Me: “Mhm. Since you have my number, I will guess this is one of the little kids from [Local Pokemon Go Chat Group].”
(To my surprise, the kid on the other end starts spewing out the foulest string of insults a person could muster. I wait a few minutes, turning to look at my mother staring confusedly at me.)
Me: “And since I now have your number, I will be calling the police.”
Caller: *click*
(I started explaining to my mom what was happening, and not ten seconds later, I got a text that read, “We are sorry. Please don’t call the cops! It was just a joke and it was my friend, anyway.” We laughed all the way home.)
(It’s a typical morning at work, before the afternoon crowd gets in. The phone rings.)
Me: “Hello, thank you for calling [Store]. This is—”
(There’s a sound over the line, like someone dropping the receiver on the other end. Once it stops, I try again.)
Me: “This is [My Name]. How can I help you?”
(Silence.)
Me: “Hello?”
(I’m about to hang up, when suddenly a voice comes over the line so loudly I have to jerk the phone away from my ear.)
Caller: “Oh, boy!”
Me: “Hello?”
(No response. The caller never says another word, and after a minute, I just hang up.)
Manager: *seeing my expression* “What’s wrong?”
Me: “I don’t know.”
(I’m the dumb customer in this story. One day, all of a sudden, my mp3/aux port in my car is not working. No sound comes out at all. I try with a different cord and the same happens. I make an appointment at the nearest dealership. I go in and talk to one of the employees.)
Employee: “It’s your mp3 player, right? Okay, so, do you use your phone or…”
Me: “I use my phone.”
Employee: “Okay, looks like we have the same phone. Let’s try my phone first before we do a diagnosis and have to charge you.”
(We go over to my car and connect his phone and… it works.)
Me: *frustrated* “Oh, my God, really? Must be my phone… I’m gonna have to go get that repaired…”
Employee: “Well, let’s check your phone first. Can I see it?”
(I give him my phone and he connects it, and it works. I groan.)
Me: “Really? How… it must have been temperamental that day or something.”
Employee: “Yeah, I guess it just had a temper tantrum. All right, since everything’s working, we can get you out of here quickly with no charge.”
Me: “Thank you… I just feel so dumb.”
(I quickly left in embarrassment. Hopefully, it doesn’t have a tantrum again.)
(I work front desk reception for a furniture store.)
Me: *answers phone* “Thank you for calling [Furniture Store]. How can I help you?”
(Silence.)
Me: “Hello?”
Caller: “Hello? That’s how you answer the phone at a business?! You guys are so unprofessional!” *click*
(One weekend morning I’m woken by my work cell ringing. I hurry over and pick it up.)
Caller: “Is Joe there?”
Me: “Who?”
Caller: “Ah, wrong number.”
Me: *slightly annoyed* “Yeah–”
Caller: *hangs up mid-syllable*
(I go to put the phone down but it rings from the same number before it leaves my hand.)
Me: *somewhat amused* “I think you dialed the wrong number ag–”
Caller: *aggressive* “I don’t appreciate how you said, ‘Yeah,’ earlier.”
(What follows is a blistering lecture about phone manners as this caller nearly shouts me down for my tone on one word. I don’t recall most of the details save for his farewell.)
Caller: “God Bless, f*** off, ya b****!” *hangs up*
(He never did the polite thing and apologize for calling the wrong number.)
