The Annoyances of Life: The Message Machine
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
July 9, 2007 3:27pm CST
Okay I had done a discussion about one of our annoyances of life, and that being the phone and how people will have the annoying habit of calling whenever they feel like it just to yak, while you're trying to get work done at a computer.
Well, hhehee..here's another annoyance of like...the phone's partner..the answering machine...Now what I mean here, ---Do you get messages on your machine and it's like, duh? You just can't understand what the heck the person is saying. Now there's nothing wrong with my hearing...I hear very well thank you...but either the person is talking to fast, or mumbles, you can't understand who they are when they give their name, or rattle off the phone number to call back that you just can't comprehend what the number is, no matter how many times you play it back. Whatever happen to people speaking clearly and enunciating their words to make them understood?
So is this an annoyance of yours too?
12 people like this
21 responses
@AmbiePam (121018)
• United States
9 Jul 07
One thing that bothers me is when people who leave numbers, and expect you to call them back, yet they zip it off so fast, you can't understand it. Then you play it back over and over, trying to get the right numbers. I hate that! I always repeat my number, and slowly, if I am leaving it on someone's voice mail or answering machine.
4 people like this
@texasclassygal (5305)
• United States
9 Jul 07
We get a ton of wrong numbers at our house, it seems our phone number is for a car dealership published in the yellow pages, needless to say if I don't know the number it goes to the answering machine and you gotta love the messages I get, most just hangup or mumble things in the machine, sometimes I don't know if it is for us or if they are trying to reach the car dealership, so those I can't understand, sadly don't get a return call back.
4 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Jul 07
I think I remember you mentioning that about how most of your calls are for a car dealership--I get a lot of hangups or mumble jumble garbage too...I think my number is similar to the WIC number near me...What throws a lot of people off is my message on my machine--it starts off "Bonjour, comment allez-vous..." Leaving a message in another language does throw people off...ah, what a shame
2 people like this
@kelly60 (4546)
• United States
9 Jul 07
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who has this problem. I get a lot of these messages on my answering machine and it drives me absolutely crazy. If they can't speak clearly enough that you can understand them, they shouldn't call in the first place. Of course I also get my share of hangup calls which leave just a dial tone on my machine. These are pretty annoying too.
3 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (51838)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
10 Jul 07
The hang-ups are usually telephone solicitors... they're usually told not to leave a message if they get a machine. (I was one, in my younger days.)
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Jul 07
Nope you're not the only one that gets annoyed at messages one can't understand, or the hangups
2 people like this
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
11 Jul 07
LOL - the ones that get me are the "hi, it's me, give me a call".... Ok like I know everyone in the world's voice. Add to that the fact that they block their phone number so it doesn't show up on the caller ID.... needless to say I don't call, even if I do know who the caller is. Next time I talk to them and they ask why I didn't call I just say, "Oh was that you? I thought it was another wrong number."
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Jul 07
That's happened to me too...I'm pretty good at recognizing most of my friends voices but not all
@BarBaraPrz (51838)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
10 Jul 07
Yeah, I can't always understand what the person is saying in a message... and people who don't usually call and get the machine, when they do get it, aren't sure if it's me on it. I guess it just likes to garble things.
2 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (51838)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
10 Jul 07
That's garble, not gargle...
1 person likes this
@raychill (6525)
• United States
10 Jul 07
Oh. What about the most annoying part of the answering machine!!
Not the messages people live on your machine.
Not the lack of messages on your machine.
NO!
It's the 5 minute message you get when you call someone to try leave them a message! The machine goes on and on and on and on and omg will it ever stop?
When I used to work at a radio station I'd have to call my interns and let them know when to meet me and where to meet me and all that stuff. I had this one intern one time who had the longest message. Seriously, he went on about how he hated answering machine messages especially long ones and this and that and I swear it was at least 3 minutes long! Everytime I called him, I'd complain to no end about his machine. He finally did change it to something short and sweet and oh how happy I was.
That's what I hate most about answering machines.
2 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
10 Jul 07
you should have heard the message my dad used to have on his machine-i had friends calling me and saying "will you tell your dad to make a shorter message!" LOL
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
10 Jul 07
Oh my--then I've led a blessed life as I've never encountered long messages...ah,..yet
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
15 Jul 07
Yes it is and I get plenty of Messages like that at times and I always find by the time they leave their Number they seem to start to mumble as well as talking to fast
I just delete and wait for them to ring me back
If I had my Way I would not have an answering Machine but it is part of the Companies Service so I have no choice lol
@Withoutwings (6992)
• United States
13 Jul 07
There is that - the not being able to understand them - but there is also the fact that often times people drone on and on and on on the machine. This is especially bad when you are watching a movie and not answering your phone and then your machine picks up and the person starts leaving a 20 minute message about absolutely nothing important.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
15 Jul 07
At least I don't have that problem--my machine will only record for about five minutes then cuts itself off...ah...what a shame...hehee
@sigma77 (5383)
• United States
9 Jul 07
When the call is from someone I don't care to talk to, the message is usually clear. When it is somebody I want to talk to, the message is often garbled. People are in so much of a hurry. I think along with the TV, this is another anoyance I could do without.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Jul 07
Ah--such is life...yes the messages we DON'T want are nice an clear..the ones we do can't understand for the life of me
1 person likes this
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
12 Jul 07
LOL—more so at work than at home- My pet peeve at work is people leave messages with no area codes- Hello--- How am I going to call back-
At home I hate the hang-ups- If I’m too busy to answer and they don’t leave a message- It just irritates me- then you get the “well I called” but did you leave a message??
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
13 Jul 07
Oh yeah, all of those annoy the heck out of me. But what aggravates me the most are those people that call, let the machine to go through its' entire message, wait for the beep, and then all they do is let out a big sigh and then hang up their phones! It's like hello people, did you really need to waste the space on my answering machine with your breathing? Did you REALLY have to wait that long to decided that you didn't want to leave a message after all? DUHHHHHH!
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
15 Jul 07
I know...duh?? Maybe they're still hoping someone will pick up the phone anyway
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
12 Jul 07
Forget the machine...the people who mumble annoy me. The guy next door is a mumbler. He'll sit out the front of his place and talk to me in a normal tone, but my house is a double block so I'm well out of hearing. He attracts my attention by calling my name. I say excuse me while getting closer and closer and closer, then I still can't understand him when I'm standing right in front of him. It's embarrassing and I have excellent hearing. The other thing is people who face away from you while they are speaking so their words are lost...or the others who speak so loudly you have to step back several paces or risk damage to your eardrums!
And people wonder why I prefer my own company! lol.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Jul 07
OMG--I know people just like that too...one of my friends is not only very soft=spoken but a mumbler too...there's just so many times you can say "What?" The worse is when I talk to on the phone..now I can actually understand her but only if she uses her regular phone...but NOOOOO!! She insists on using her cell phone which then really makes her speech garbled...and yes the opposite is true...I think most people who talk loudly usually have a hearing problem of their own, but like that doesn't mean I can't hear...need earplugs to listen to them...I like my own company too--LOL along with my kitties of course
@wifeofharvey (1156)
• United States
9 Jul 07
Yes, this annoys me a lot. Especially when the people I am talking to do not have english as their first language. I do not object to people using english as their second language, please understand, I object to them speaking it so fast. I am elderly, I have trouble with anyone speaking too fast. I have gotten to the point that I tell people twice that I need them them to speak slower, if they don't I simply say 'sorry, good-bye'. If it is a message on the answering machine I simply ignore it.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Jul 07
Well I've had cases where the person is English speaking, but they say the message so fast I just can't understand it
2 people like this
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
9 Jul 07
I threw out the answering machine for that reason, people can call back if it's important. People just don't like talking to answering machines so they mumble or talk real fast so no one notices that you are basicly talking to yourself.
Answering machines and voice mail, the worst of the new technology.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
9 Jul 07
Ah--modern technology..isn't it wonderful--NOT :)
1 person likes this
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
10 Jul 07
I have had a few messages that were hard to understand but luckily I have caller id and that picks up most numbers. But usually if the caller id doesn't record the number, then its probably a bill collector and I really don't want to call them back anyway.lol.
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
10 Jul 07
Oh man I'm lucky! I don't have this problem.
People rarely call me and usually when they do they get me.
I would find that really annoying though!
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
10 Jul 07
reading my mind again LOL
my mother has a caseworker that i cannot understand at ALL.every message she's left has been incomprehensible,she giggles through half of it.
i just tell mom she called,when she asks me for what i tell her i have no idea.
why they would assign a 20yr old to a 62 yr old as a caseworker is beyond me.
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
10 Jul 07
I understand exactly what you are talking about, pyewacket. That is the reason that I no longer use mine. The messages would be so unintelligible or garbled, I would have to play them over and over. I would just let them pile up until my daughter came over. She would then go through them and try to make some sense out of them for me. I think that the answering machine is just one more of those inventions put here to make our lives miserable.
@wachit14 (3595)
• United States
10 Jul 07
I have to admit that this is, indeed, a pet peeve of mine. I know myself, I try to speak as clearly as possible so when someone else gets my messages, they can hear the name and phone number.
I am astounded at how many calls, coming from doctor's offices, especially, that are incoherent. Either someone is speaking too low, too fast and/or not pronouncing words so that they can be clearly heard by the listener.
I wish that employers would advise their staff to speak clearly and loudly when returning a phone call to a patient, especially, otherwise it could just cause that person far more stress than they need to experience over a lousy phone call.
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
10 Jul 07
I got rid of the old answering machine a long time ago. My favorite is the caller id. That way I can see who is calling and don't have to answer if I don't want to. They always have the option of leaving a message. It's also great for those people who rattle off their number because 9 out of 10 times it appears on the id.
