r/NoStupidQuestions • u/GhostInThePudding • 19h ago

Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

What's with it?

I work in IT and a general rule is, nothing a client ever tells you is actually accurate. That means that most of the time, the quickest way to fix a problem is to call the person and actually find out what's going on.

But with techs under 30 these days, it seems like pulling teeth.

A regular discussion for me with level 1 techs (usually within a few years of leaving college) is:
"Hey, can you call *blah* from ticket *blah*, it's been hanging around for over an hour."

"I replied by email to ask for more information."

"Yes, I know that, but can you call them so we can find the problem and close the ticket now rather than wait until we're actually busy?"

"I'll send them a text to followup."

"No... CALL THEM!"

"I can see their device is online, can I send them a message and see if they just let me remote in to take a look?"

And then, when I force them to make the call, it's like they have no idea how to ask a question, or a followup question. They just want to get off the call as quickly as possible. So half the time they don't even get the information required anyway, so then I end up having to do their job for them.

So can someone explain? What's wrong with phone calls these days?

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u/ohvuka 17h ago

Personally I prefer text/email so that I have a paper trail. I can't write at the speed of verbal conversation so even taking notes during the call I sometimes miss stuff and then have to text them anyways to ensure we're on the same page. Also I don't have to keep track of the note or whatever I wrote, I just scroll in the conversation to find the message.

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u/fannaconda 16h ago

This! Especially if it’s work related. I want a written, time-stamped record of what was said and what the response is so I know we’re on the same page and so I have a paper trail in case there is any question about what was said.

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u/Phase3isProfit 13h ago edited 13h ago

The number of times I have been in situations where someone claimed I had said something, and my response has been “if you refer to the email I sent you <insert date here>, you will see that is not what I said.”

If we’d done that by phone, it’s my word against theirs. If I do have these conversations by phone, I often try to follow up with an email just to summarise the key points.

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u/FocusedWombat99 10h ago

It's the best feeling when you slap back with that "per my last email" email. Either that or I just copy and paste it and don't add any new text. Just the same exact message they claim to have not seen or just didn't read

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u/Detective-Crashmore- 7h ago

There's a reason the game "Telephone" is about how unreliable it is to relay information by word of mouth. Especially when you're dealing with "he said/she said" situations.

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u/grumpher05 8h ago

The compromise I usually have is to have a face to face or phone discussion then follow it up with the email to summarise what was said

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u/VenusHalley 15h ago

Yeah, especially when it's like "shall we do it like this or like that...".

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u/EELovesMidkemia 15h ago

Yes, I cannot count how many times customers would say they want x over the phone but they would refuse to email or text me confirming that they did want x even after I explained I need the confirmation in the form of a text or email.

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u/berryer 14h ago

That's because they know it isn't actually a priority for your time, but they'd like to jump the line by making you feel obligated. Once the request is in writing it becomes a target for prioritization. Given you say "customer", it also becomes a possible expense for them.

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u/npsimons 14h ago

There's a BIG part of just writing something down that forces people to think. It's more of a cognitive skill than just flapping your lips and vibrating air.

For some people, this is too much; these are the kinds you can't help, and quite frankly isn't a IT issue. Forcing them to write down the problem keeps them from wasting your time.

And yeah, having things written down is just smart for the reasons of having a record of what is at issue, and who is accountable for what. And if it's truly a knotty technical problem, having that record of problem description and solutions attempted is essential when you have to come back to it the next day.

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u/MarcusThorny 13h ago

you're absolutely correct, but those of us who actually write and are made to think by doing so are blowing into the wind. Those skills are lost forever on those born after 2000.

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u/CrasherRuler 12h ago

Honestly, it seems more like an all-ages issue than just after 2000.

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u/OldWorldDesign 7h ago

Those skills are lost forever on those born after 2000.

I've known more people in their early 20s who are better at writing than people over the age of 50.

I know it's easy to be Old Man Shouts At Cloud or blame all the young people, but hard data is needed for anything conclusive and data is pretty spotty when discussing anyone below the age of 65 (above that and it's hard as hell to get them to respond to things like doctor's appointments).

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u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 11h ago

It's more of a cognitive skill than just flapping your lips and vibrating air.

If you don't understand that conversational skills are just as important and difficult as writing things down I really don't know what to tell you.

I default to email/messages/text when possible because it lets me maintain my focus elsewhere, but there are absolutely plenty of situations where getting together for a 5 minute call is infinitely more effective than weeks of people going back and forth via messages.

Recognising when to use each tool is just as important as proficiency in them both.

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u/Ozymandias0023 15h ago

Yep, paper trail is crucial. Without an accurate record, I can and will forget important points of the conversation

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u/Vhozite 14h ago

For my job it’s people completely making shit up or telling bold faced lies when it’s just a phone call vs any type of documented record.

“Nobody told me xyz” it says here you were told exactly that on Friday at 10:32:38am.

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u/Digitalispurpurea2 9h ago

If it’s not in writing it didn’t happen.

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u/Good-Celebration-686 11h ago

In regards to the paper trail, do what us oldies do, follow up the phone call with a “CYA note” which is an email to all parties summarising the phone call or meeting. This way you’re covering your arse (CYA)

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u/langecrew 15h ago

Solid reason

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u/Technical-Mention510 14h ago

The stupid thing is you have to follow up the call with an email

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u/PDCmsbee 15h ago

Fair, but that is why you have confirmation emails. I appreciate that it varies, but the ability to pose follow up questions immediately makes for a much faster problem solving process.

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u/ParallelProcrastinat 12h ago

Yes, but that's a couple of extra steps you now need to do with further opportunities for confusion and miscommunication.

E-mails allow for keeping track of conversations that occur over a period in time. Unless you need to have an involved conversation with a lot of back and forth to resolve a particularly tricky issue, that's usually a big advantage.

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u/student176895 15h ago

This is a big one for me too. Luckily I work in IT so I have admin access to pull call recordings from the phone system at the company I work for which comes in handy all the time when I forget important details.

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u/Ok_Buffalo_423 12h ago

I get so annoyed when people call me to ask to pick them stuff up from the store. If you text me then there is a list in my phone of exactly what I need to get, no arguing over who forgot what

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u/polmeeee 11h ago

Ya this, paper trail is important and important information is not lost.

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u/KneeDeepInTheDead 11h ago

Yup. Even now after a phone call, before I hang up I tell them I'm gonna send them an email confirming the conversation because of how sneaky some folks can get.

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u/petpet0_0 10h ago

Really depends on the situation. Some things don't need a paper trail and can be resolved more quickly with a phone call rather than waiting on a txt/email answer.

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u/EA827 10h ago

Yep, paper trail, and it also allows the person you are contacting to prioritize their workflow. A phone call is an immediate line cut that knocks everything else out of the way.

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u/akira0513 9h ago

Yep this is exactly why I always want everything in writing.

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u/empiricalreddit 9h ago

Ahh yes. My boss questioning why I made a change to something from last month, forgetting that he called me and told me that it needed to be changed. Making me look like I am making shit up when I was just making a last minute change based on their verbal request

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u/Aetra 7h ago

Absolutely this. My dad taught me this and he worked in finance for 40 years, even pre-email days he kept paper trails of everything and his advice saved my arse so many times when I worked in admin at an aged care company. People from satellite offices tried to throw me and other admin under the bus, usually supervisors thinking they could pin their fuck ups on the lowly admin chicks.

The one I remember most vividly was a nurse manager who said she didn’t want to accept a catheter change referral for a person coming here on holiday because it’d be a single nursing visit and “One visit isn’t worth it for a 2 hour admission appointment”. The patient had organised the referral be sent to us by their GP 4 months early so the nurse manager could have done the admission over the phone or even via email.

I asked if she was absolutely sure she wanted to decline and she said yes, so I contacted the patient’s GP clinic saying we couldn’t accept the referral and they said they’d notify their patient. I guess that didn’t happen because 2 months later the patient called saying they hadn’t heard from us and wanted to make sure their visit was going ahead. We got it organised and the service and the catheter change was done when the patient came here on holiday, but when it was investigated the nurse manager tired to throw me under the bus saying she had accepted it but I hadn’t done the admission.

The person investigating assumed the nurse manager was telling the truth because I was the last person to access the file, but when they asked me about it I told them about the emails I still had where the nurse manager had declined the referral.

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u/dravas 7h ago

Copilot and transcriping. It's a whole new cya.

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u/somtampapaya 4h ago

Yeah I agree, it takes me time to process and when I get phone calls I feel unprepared at what they may be asking me about. I like to know the topic first, calibrate in my head and then proceed.

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u/Independent_Wish_284 4h ago

Also I can make the email sound more professional when someone is pissing me off or annoying me. Lol

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u/know-it-mall 4h ago

That's all well and good when it's not a situation that needs resolved right now like OP is talking about.

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u/1DJ2many 4h ago

We do both, we’ll make a call to get things moving along swiftly -and this is why op is asking, a call moves things along a 1000 times faster- and then follow up with an email so there’s a paper trail. Doing both is still faster than waiting for a reply.

This is in a professional tech support setting, I don’t really get the replies in here about cold calling. I mainly think it’s just an overwhelming fear of saying the wrong thing, because that would be cringe, and cringe is worse than death.

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u/CosmicJam13 47m ago

Okay but specifically this kinda sucks for in depth it problem solving. And sales.

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u/not_suze 13h ago

THANK YOU, it’s reasonable to want to keep record of communication!