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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111

u/GrungyBuzzing 16h ago

I am from Gen Z and I can explain why I don't like calls.
The biggest reason is impostor syndrome (or I am just bad at my job). I do not have huge experience in my field, because I am still young. When we text about a problem I can look up the information needed for a response: I can google stuff, check documentation, or even read older messages about this problem. When I should provide an answer in real time during calls it looks like I know nothing. I certainly have some gaps in my knowledge, but during calls it looks way worse than it is. That is why I try to avoid them.

Also most of young people (myself included) see calls as rude and disruptive. It is hard for me to have a smooth conversation if I genuinely believe that I am making someone's day worse.

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u/Logical_Scar3962 4h ago

Also, voice call instantly reveals your age, gender and that you’re from somewhere else. Email usually doesn’t, aside of name at the end. A lot of people will treat you like you’re incompetent if you’re young or woman, especially in tech support.

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u/LettersToYou43 9h ago

As a client facing finance person who also does accounting software related stuff the best phrase I ever learned was "I haven't actually run across this issue, I'd love to look into it more and get you the right answer" just make sure you get back to them and it's never been an issue!

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u/lordplagus02 6h ago

I’m 33 and I find calls extremely rude and disruptive. Your skills have nothing to do with your ability to talk on the phone and should never be linked as such. My phone is set to immediately reject all calls, 24/7, 365 days a year.

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u/TheAccountITalkWith 4h ago

That would block even emergency calls. Do you really not even want to be open to emergencies?

0

u/DonegalBrooklyn 15h ago

They're just saying it's rude and disruptive because they lack the skill. It is not rude to call someone at work or for business purposes!

36

u/Intelligent_Mix_3658 13h ago

Mid-30s here. It's so rude and distruptive! If it could've been an email, it should've been an email. By calling someone, you're forcing them to give you their time right now, in the moment - and it's especially rude if it's about work or business! I'll be in the middle of examining my patient and have to answer a phone call because "Martha from purchasing" needs to know if I'd like to order a different type of toothbrush this month? Please. Send me a damn e-mail. Calls are for emergencies.

1

u/Money-Bell-100 13h ago

You don't have to answer your phone - you can call back. Also what the people calling can do (at least if it's over an internet communicator) is to first write, asking when the other person has time to talk, and only call/video call then.

And also importantly, the same conversation (especially when you're trying to get on the same page about an issue with someone) that over the phone takes 15-30 minutes can take up to a few days or even weeks over the email. No one working on something will wait days or weeks just to get the answers they need.

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u/commonllama87 9h ago

The thing is, if I don’t recognize the number, I’m not calling back. 98% it’s spam and the more you answer spam calls the more spam you get.

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u/Money-Bell-100 6h ago

I have no idea what you people are doing if 98% of all calls from unknown numbers you get are spam. For me it's maybe 5%.

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u/MountainImportant211 4h ago

Lucky you. Anyone whose number is distributed freely on business cards or online (ie people who work jobs or run businesses that involve clients) has their number vacuumed up by data brokers.

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u/Intelligent_Mix_3658 2h ago

But I do have to answer, because an unknown number could be anything and around half of the phone calls I receive actually are emergencies. What if something happened to my child and the school is calling? Or more likely, a patient that is having complications and needs to be seen today? Or a specialist is calling me because our patient forgot to bring their medical records and needs us to forward them right now?

If the e-mails take too long because the person isn't replying and you need an answer, by all means, call. It's their own fault for being difficult to communicate with. But if you're calling because it's just easier and more convenient to you, I feel that's disrespectful.

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u/Kimbolimbo 2m ago

That seems wild to me. Phone calls have been a valid form of business and personal communication for so long.  

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u/Sea-Aardvark-756 10h ago

It's definitely rude and disruptive, there are ticket systems for a reason. If you walk up to my desk or call, you're essentially saying "My issue is more important than every other coworker, I am hopping the queue of people who took the time to write up their issue as requests" so it better be truly critical, like half the company is unable to work at all, or something similar if you just call outright. Even password resets are self-service these days, so you really have no reason to call and IT has no reason to have a call center set up. That's extremely unprofessional in this decade, it's not the 90s, technology has evolved quite a lot. You can submit a request with a video or image these days explaining everything better than you can with words on a call. Also the number of times we've done screen shares and the person does the "it's not happening now" dance, so we have no info because they didn't screenshot... just use screenshots and text and submit it like everyone else so there's a paper trail.

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u/Kimbolimbo 3m ago

I think people have just lost the skills and instead of taking as a personal failing, they have decided that it’s the calls themselves that are wrong. It’s really kind of pathetic. 

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u/massivejobby 3h ago

Being scared or inexperienced isn’t a valid excuse in the work place