No I don't want to ring you, that's why I emailed

[Misty8]

Anyone else find it annoying when a company provides their email address in the 'contact us' section, but when you email them for information they write back and say " if you could please call us on this number we can discuss". But if I wanted to call you, I would have

Some examples:
When planning my wedding I sent a few very basic questions to multiple suppliers, just to compare & help decide- ie what's the cost, are you available on this date, do you travel to this venue?

Or when I was looking for a gym in the area I sent off mails to all the gyms just asking how much for annual/monthly membership, any off peak deals?

Or researching creches/montessoris and asking how much per child, do you have spaces, what hours is the creche open?

AIBU to think they should just write back with the answers?

I hate this too even more so when I’m complaining. I become a pushover on the phone I want time to mull over your proposal on how to resolve the issue not 30seconds on the phone.

They prefer to talk so they can bamboozle you - bamboozling is almost impossible by email!

YANBU. I don't like phones, either. I get all tongue tied. You'd be surprised how common it actually is

They want you to ring so they can start on the hard sell. I hate it when companies do that.

Yanbu, I have suffered bad social anxiety, especially post natal, and hate talking on the phone, I avoid it wherever possible and prefer written communication.

Yep - they want to upsell you stuff. Gyms almost never have price structures online! Cheeky sods

I agree! I want all the information in writing so I can make informed decisions!

Well just say no I cant, its email or nothing. If they want your business its up to them. I often do this especially with premium numbers. They don't always comply but so what? Another company will.

Bad luck if you're deaf then.

Conversely, it's annoying if you do want to talk to them and all you can find is an online form or similar.

Companies should offer both methods.

Oh, yes. Definitely. The worst is when you complain to somewhere about a faulty item and they ask you to call about it. I don't need to call, I don't want to have to go through a confrontation with someone who isn't actually empowered to help me!

I hate it when I'm just making an enquiry into say, windows4less or similar. Please don't phone me - I want an email with offer deals where everything is in black and white and I can read it through properly. I always ignore my phone when they call in the hope they'll try my email. Nope. Oh well too bad - you might have lost a customer.

They'll phone 20 times over 2 days but don't think to try email 🤨

I work on Webchat for a breakdown company and there are some things that we can't do due to the business demands or don't have access to on our systems which does mean that you would have to call to get it sorted.

I understand your pain as it bugs me but as I have to deal with people day in day out asking me 'why can't I do this online' I do feel the need to defend ourselves as well.

Sorry!!

agreed. please dont phone without asking if it is ok to talk - which someone actually did today. emails are great because they can be dealt with when convenient.

No I want to talk to places on the phone I can't be arsed to email them.

I’m the opposite, but it’s irrelevant really, it’s bloody frustrating when you - as the CUSTOMER/CLIENT - are unable to communicate in the way that suits you. Grrr

It annoys me more that when looking for a contact number all they have is an email.

I don't want to have to wait for a reply.

Bad luck if you're deaf then.

So many people are that I can't believe that companies make more from hard-selling by compelling people to talk to them than they would if they were upfront and gave out prices online/on application by email. It says a lot about their confidence in their price competitiveness...

I totally agree with you OP... I hate the phone and today had to resort to it... Got passed from pillar to post, unresolved issues and then kept getting thrown out of live chat. Solution, wangled an email address out of an operator and complained bitterly via that!! We shall see....

Equally annoying if you want to phone but no number is provided.

YANBU. It pisses me right off when I can't find a phone number or email depending on what I want. If I want to speak to somebody because it is something I can't do online, I don't want to hear a crappy message telling me I can do stuff online!

In the same way, if I just want prices or to check info, I just want an email reply. I was trying to compare software prices today, nowhere could I find what I wanted, you have to ring them to discuss it!

They want you to ring them because that way they can talk you into buying their service/product. Captive audience.

Yes and even more so when you say on your Emil that you want a written response and then get a phone call. I’ve had experience of some companies not only calling but then closing the issue at their end because they didn’t get to speak to you on the phone, even when you have specifically asked for the response by an email or letter.

It's so they can give you the hard sell. I won't engage with companies that do this.

In my experience a 5-minute phone call is far more efficient than emailing as customers often ask the ‘wrong’ questions and/or don’t provide enough details to answer the questions properly. I provide a much better level of service if I can establish a rapport, and ask the customer the questions that will help me help them.

I used to get emails ‘hi, just enquiring about weddings, no date yet so what do you have on every weekend in 2019 and 2020?’

Yep, I detest it, that ended up being more of a complaint than the original complaint with BT, I kept telling them not to call me about it and they kept phoning. One said, "oh but i wanted to call you to tell you X", yes but i've told you not to call me and especially not at 9am on a Sunday about something that can go in a fucking email!!!