Readers share their hints for sensible telephone etiquette

Dear Heloise: Thank you for a wonderful column. I always learn something new from it. I’m putting an address sticker on my little digital camera today — an excellent hint!

I would like to add to the telephone-etiquette letter:

U People should identify themselves when calling someone. It’s conceited to expect their voice to be recognized.

UIt’s rude to be put on hold when another call comes in to someone at home.

UIn stores, the person standing there should take precedence over a phone call. We are there!

UUnless a person is alone, cell-phone conversations are rude and annoying to others. Very few calls are so important that the person someone is with should be ignored while he or she chats on a cell. That’s what voice mail is for.

A Reader, via e-mail

Here’s an e-mail from Cheryl Erhart of Amarillo, Texas: “I read the letter from one of your readers suggesting customer etiquette on the phone. Maybe store employees also could learn phone etiquette. When someone has taken the time and effort to come into your place of business, pay the person the attention and respect he or she deserves instead of answering the phone and talking all during the transaction. Live customers should be more important!

“Maybe they could just answer the phone after politely excusing themselves and then put the call on hold for a moment or call over a co-worker to handle the call.

“All business managers and owners should train their employees to be more courteous and appreciative if they want return customers.”

I hear you loud and clear! Heloise

Dear Heloise: I am so tired of calling the toll-free number to have our fax number removed from unwanted vendors’ lists. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to think of this, but now I write across the page they sent to me with a large marker to remove my number from their list and then fax it back to them. It seems to work well. Gay, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: It’s always a good idea to check prescription orders. We may never talk to our pharmacist these days, and no one can be expected to never make a mistake. There are Web sites where one can go to check medications — it shows what the medications look like. I’ve caught only one mistake, but one could be more than enough. Jane Christopher in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Dear Heloise: Our workplace kitchenette is very tiny. People would wash dishes and leave them on a washcloth to dry. Ewww! I was able to find a small dish drainer that would fit by the sink (a regular one was way too large) in an RV-supply shop. Now cleanliness and peace reign in the kitchen! Julia Lower, Winchester, Va.

Who would have thunk? Great idea when you need small items to organize a kitchen. Heloise

X Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate