Why do people think it's okay to call/text late?

[MossRoad]

An off-topic/on-topic question for those of you that state you are on-call 24/7/365: what happens if you can't be reached? What will the company do if you become incapacitated by any manner of things? Will things simply stop and the company is soon to be out of business?

I only ask because I work for a manufacturing facility that generally runs 24/7. We are usually only down for major holidays (4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas) and even then we typically have contractors or maintenance work going on. We, of course, have people "on-call" but make every effort to not call them unless absolutely necessary. This is because it was discovered very early that there is no way that you can have any one person responsible for something all the time, because sooner or later, that person will be unavailable. Of course there are people that are better at some things than others, but we always make every effort to have multiple people available to cover different departments. We have had people that were of the opinion that after they left, the company would struggle. So far, none of those prognostications have come to fruition, and in some cases, the department has run better upon the departure of the person that we couldn't do without.

We have some people here that are leashed by the cell phones because they are set to receive work email on them and they get "dings" at all times of day, everyday.

We have folks that arrive early and stay late, come in on weekends, etc.

We also have people that show up, do their job, and go home.

I have not a squabble with either party. What I have observed, through many years of experience, that someone's dedication to the company is by no means a guarantee of continued employment or preferential treatment. About 6 years ago, a large portion of our office staff was relocated to another city, and they were told they were free to move there and continue employment (it was about 200 miles away). A couple of people did, but most did not. Many of them felt betrayed because they were "come early/stay late/always on call" people.

There is very little loyalty in today's business world. I feel I am compensated fairly for the time that I provide to my employer, but work stays at work.

To each their own, and I respect that.

Good luck and take care.

When we had a good boss, and a good team, there was always at least one other person that could do your functions. Neither of you could be unreachable at the same time. So you staggered vacations with several people. A good team, with people you actually like and respect, makes a huge difference. You don't want to leave them hanging and they don't want to leave you hanging so you avoid calling someone after hours or on vacation, but you know they'd be there if you really needed them.

I had a period of about 8 years where I only had one vacation when I didn't get a call. Then I got a different manager, and I had a period of about 8 years where I only got called once on vacation. Its all in the manager's abilities and how the team is trained.

 

[Dftodd]

Me too... life was simpler when the company issues pagers... cell phone is like a 24/7 leash.

That pager was just as much of a leash. But at least you could claim you needed to find a pay phone before calling them back :cool2:

 

[MossRoad]

That pager was just as much of a leash. But at least you could claim you needed to find a pay phone before calling them back :cool2:

The first day they gave me a pager, I went out to my car to get something. I leaned in through the open car window and stretched to reach towards the console (we left our windows open back then), I felt a big old bee buzzing in my waistband, jump up and smacked my head on the door frame.... it was the pager going off.

 

[MossRoad]

That pager was just as much of a leash. But at least you could claim you needed to find a pay phone before calling them back :cool2:

Also, when we had a pager, and we were primary on-call, we had a bag phone that we had to carry with us. It was the size of a small lunch box. We had to stay within 30 minutes of work on those weekends. My boss called me for something, and asked where I was. I told him the next town over. He said I couldn't get to work within 30 minutes from there... I said maybe you can't, grandpa.... that didn't go over too well, either. :laughing:

 

[mark02tj]

That pager was just as much of a leash. But at least you could claim you needed to find a pay phone before calling them back :cool2:

Back in the day I had text pagers for me and a couple of my employees. We had some software that we could use to send a text message to the pager (via a modem). One afternoon I was a little bored and sent one of my employees a text that looked like it was from his wife and indicated that she was feeling "frisky". A few minutes later I hear his beeper go off and then I hear a soft chuckle. A few minutes after that he says "Mark, I think I'm going to call it a day a little bit early today..." :laughing:

 

[ultrarunner]

That pager was just as much of a leash. But at least you could claim you needed to find a pay phone before calling them back :cool2:

Which was often true...

My issues with cell phones are two fold...

Several places where I spend a lot of time... work and home are problematic at best for reception... company supplied phone. The lead walls in the hospital and the shielding in the MRI suites plays havoc... so many times the only time I get the call is walking to my truck in the parking lot...

The only reliable place at home is in the bedroom on the dresser... every night time alarm answered without fail.

The other is expectations... with the change to from pager to cell... the expectation was it must never go to voicemail... ever... reality is I can be in the Hospital and it often goes to voicemail... it is not as much as a problem now because the expectation is lower with the new boss and too many now has my company cell... before it was only the admin and department heads and when I was hourly... I got paid if called... even if called in to sweep a broken bottle in the parking lot.

E-mail for Craigslist and work are much preferred... at least I have a document with time and response... not infallible... in that I still remember my boss getting really upset saying I ignored 2 days of e-mails... thing is IT put in a new spam filter on the Boss's computer and all my replies went to Spam... at least I was in the clear... e-mail has saved me on several occasions!

I still prefer overhead page at the Hospital which is discouraged...

 

[nickmags]

LD1 - I sympathize with your frustration in dealing with rude and or stupid people. There is literally nothing that you or anyone else can do to fix their problem, ( you can't fix stupid) What you must realize by now is any solution has to come from you. You are the one who has the capability to end your frustration. Not fixing it places you in the whining category, someone gaining enjoyment from the attention. If that is your cup of tea, so be it.

Personally I am amazed you want contact from craigslist people. Around here, 90% are doper meth head welfare leeches. (translates to super stupids) Dealing with them is like dealing with ISIS fanatics - best done from long range and heavy calibers.
If you run this as a business then run ads in newspapers, etc that have a business phone listed. If this is just a hobby you do for beer money, then take your lumps and go get another half-rack.

Yes...another solution indeed. But not without drawbacks. Carrying around a second phone....added expense, etc. Not worth it for me given the relatively few (maybe 6 a year) inconsiderate calls/texts I get.

Like I said, I personally am not looking for a solution. Just wishing the 6 people a year that think it's okay to make contact at 11pm-midnight....would learn some manners and respect

 

[oosik]

I must admit that I'm FAR from experienced in areas such as CL or any other mode of product sales - HOWEVER. I see a very simple answer to the receipt of "off hour" calls, messages, texts, etc. I simply turn my phone off in the evening. All incoming calls, texts, messages go to "storage" and will come to me again if I turn the phone on in the AM. This, of course, will not work if you want or expect to receive calls during off hours.

 

[LD1]

LD1 - I sympathize with your frustration in dealing with rude and or stupid people. There is literally nothing that you or anyone else can do to fix their problem, ( you can't fix stupid) What you must realize by now is any solution has to come from you. You are the one who has the capability to end your frustration. Not fixing it places you in the whining category, someone gaining enjoyment from the attention. If that is your cup of tea, so be it.

I say again, I am not looking for a solution. This is not an everyday or every week occurrence. And yes, I accept it and take my lumps along the way. I started this thread because I was annoyed and needed to vent. Not exactaly what I'd call whining. And it has been very productive and eye-opening and have learned some things as a result.

Like just how many people view texting the same as e-mails....and that is okay to send them 24/7. And if thats what most peoples opinion are....then I am in the minority....something I was unaware of.

Personally I am amazed you want contact from craigslist people. Around here, 90% are doper meth head welfare leeches. (translates to super stupids) Dealing with them is like dealing with ISIS fanatics - best done from long range and heavy calibers.
If you run this as a business then run ads in newspapers, etc that have a business phone listed. If this is just a hobby you do for beer money, then take your lumps and go get another half-rack.

99% of people I do business for on craigslist are great people to deal with. Ditching c-list as an advertising means and relying solely on a paper ad does not make one immune to the bad apples. Craigslist must vary a lot by region, but around here, if you are a small business selling goods or services, and you are not on facebook and craigslist....you are missing a TON of business.

 

[LD1]

I must admit that I'm FAR from experienced in areas such as CL or any other mode of product sales - HOWEVER. I see a very simple answer to the receipt of "off hour" calls, messages, texts, etc. I simply turn my phone off in the evening. All incoming calls, texts, messages go to "storage" and will come to me again if I turn the phone on in the AM. This, of course, will not work if you want or expect to receive calls during off hours.

Its not that simple for me, as I have said in numerous previous posts.