Of course, the WTS is pretty much a pet peeve of almost everyone here. But besides that, what's your pet peeve? I'm in a playful mood today, so here's mine, with some tongue-in-cheekiness, of course:
My top peeve right now is outgoing (or, greeting) messages left on the voice mail system at my place of work by some employees. Some go like this, almost verbatim:
"You have reached _______. I am either away from my desk, or on another line. After the tone, please leave a detailed message, along with the best time for me to call you back. If you need to speak with someone immediately, please call ________ (operator, or another extension). Thank you, and have a good day.
My problem with such a message is that, when I am even the least bit busy, I really do not need to hear all this. Plus, such outgoing messages are spoken very deliberately, so they seem to take forever.
I really don't need to hear if someone is at their desk or on another line. If I've gotten their voice mail instead of them, isn't that rather obvious?
As for the time to call back (we got that valuable tip in training seminars some time ago), if I give them a time, then that now implies that I must be there at that time, waiting for their call. Fat chance, given the nature of my job.
As for speaking with someone immediately, well, I was kind of hoping to, that's why I called them in the first place. With my luck, I'd call the other extension and have to listen to the same thing all over again.
Here's the message people hear when they call my office:
"You have reached _______ (office name). At the sound of the tone, please leave a message".
Nice, simple, quick.
Again, I'm just in a silly mood, blowing off a bit of steam, playing around. But, I'd like to hear what your pet peeve might be.
Have a great day!
"Without compassion, there can be no end to hate" - Billy Joel
