Apparently there is something wrong with me!

[Furrydog7]

I hate the house phone with a passion. I much prefer texts and emails as i can answer when it is convenient for me. However my mum thinks that there is something wrong with me as i have the house phone unplugged a lot. She doesn't understand that i don't always want my time inturupted by people talking crap about what they have had for dinner etc and the only way to convey to certain members of my family that i cannot talk is to unplug the phone.

Our house phone broke a few months back and we haven't bothered replacing it. Don't miss it.

We don't own a house phone as we used to get people trying to sell us stuff non stop, but asking for the previous owners of the house - we have had this house for 15 years...

Happy with Whatsapp convos all night long, but chatting shit. Nah.

That makes no sense to me. Why are Whatsapp convos regarded as sensible important conversations but if that person spoke on the phone theyd suddenly start talking shit?

I only do WhatsApp really unless it's some kind of official business I have to talk to someone about. I don't have time for phone conversations and the vast majority of my friends who, like me, have small children and work are the same. I do not answer numbers I don't recognise on my mobile.

I think I last used a landline around 10
years ago.

I've not had a house phone for 5 years at least. The cold calling was getting ridiculous. However in my job I regularly have to contact clients, most are generally older, and they all give house phone as first point of contact and their mobile as 2nd. It amazes me how many people still use their house phone and I was beginning to think I'm in the minority until this thread.

Only 73% of UK households have a landline that can be used to make and receive calls. In 2014 it was 81%. If you asked the people who have those lines whether they actually use them to make or receive calls ?I’d imagine you’d find a lot of people only have them as part of their broadband deal. I haven’t had one for a couple of years. For the 6 years or so before that I had one as part of my broadband package - only my parents, ILs and phone scammers ever called it.

The stats also say that as of 2018, 78% of those aged 16 and over own a smart phone. That % will have only increased over the past couple of years.

www.statista.com/statistics/386778/share-of-calls-enabled-landlines-in-uk-hoseholds/

Its definitely a generational thing.

In my brothers office, the younger generation have generally no phone skills and they have to learn those. They hate having phone conversations, even on a mobile. They'll also never phone in sick, it's always a text message, even though its policy to ring and speak to someone.

I'm not buying that people are too busy to have any home phone conversations at all. Everyone has 20 minutes spare in a day.

Speaking on the phone to older family members is so valuable to them.

Sometimes emails and texts don't cut it do they.

I haven't had a landline since the 90s

Absolutely generational. I’m in my 20s and very much doubt anyone my age bothers with landlines!

I have a landline that came with my broadband package. Apart from my mother and cold calls, I use it to ring my mobile when I can't find it! I wish I could do the same with my car keys.

Maybe future generations won't bother speaking to each other at all. Just digital communication.

I often see young people out together and they're all typing/scrolling on their phones, not much talking to the actual people they're with.

*disclaimer; I'm old and would much rather a conversation than a How R U. Smiley face message.

Just tried to work it out and I don’t think we’ve had a house phone for 9 years. I assume we have a landline due to needing it for the broadband, but we’ve never plugged a phone into it.
Neither of my parents have a house phone either, in their 60’s. They just use their mobiles. I think the IL’s have one (they live abroad) but I don’t have the number and I don’t think DH does either.

Surely the only people who want to 'talk crap about what they ate for dinner' are your close relatives? That's a bit mean

I don't even have voicemail set up on my cell.
I don't blame you for not wanting a landline!

Speaking on the phone to older family members is so valuable to them

My 87 year old grandmother prefers text messages to phone calls!

@LastResorts

I do the same, I like to know who’s calling so I know if I want to answer. I have a friend who’s lonely, I dedicate some of my time to her but she’d call everyday if I answered & talk for over an hour. I don’t want it

So rather than politely set boundaries with her, you avoid her?

We haven’t had one for a few years. The only people that called on it were DM and MIL. DM died, phone broke and never bothered replacing it. Phones should be a convenience not an inconvenience. YANBU

My mum called me on my mobile earlier and stressed me out.
Always takes about half an hour to recover. She was complaining I cant make a bbq next weekend. Only mentioned today and I work shifts so weekends are difficult.
Then she complained because i am working the weekend my sister wants to visit. Again I work shifts, nothing I can do if people want to arrange things without checking. There is a high chance I will be working.
No one rings my house phone. That doesnt mean I dont have to answer calls that I know are going to stress me out though. Moral obligation.
People are probably less likely to want to chat on the phone now as they are more exhausted. Women are expected to do a lot more.

Possibly an age thing and slightly off-thread, but when I phone people on my mobile, I find I often talk over them and don't sense when they've finished speaking. On my landline with conventional receiver, we take turns nicely to talk. ???? Anyone else?

No one has a house phone these days !

Wrong. I do and the people I call do. I would have gone mad during lockdown not being able to call people. Even though I live on the outskirts of London my phone signal is awful so a landline is useful. It’s also good to know that I can call the cops should a deranged axe murderer break in.

We have a landline, because it was cheaper to get it as part of a bundle, thank without, but it’s never been plugged in since we moved to our current house, 5 years ago.

No house phone here. Only ever cold callers anyway

I agree with you, I find the house phone intrusive, and only older people use it to call, and scammers. We keep it purely for another way to contact outwards in emergencies, kids etc. Mobiles can be set to mute, and you can see who is calling.

For those with broadband and don't use your house phone, cancel the line and save yourself some money. Doesn't affect your broadband