It seems that there are less and less people who enjoy phone calls and prefer the discussion to happen in text form, but in some cases it’s easier to just speak, especially in professional settings. What’s not so professional is to make commentary on what was just discussed before making sure that you hung up the phone and the call had ended.
Surprisingly, it happens quite often as redditors shared their own stories of hearing someone say rude things thinking they hung up, but they actually didn’t end the call. Some of the stories were quite wholesome, but the common denominator was that they were all unexpected as the other person didn’t know someone was listening.
More info: Reddit
#1 Boss Ruthlessly Made Fun Of Coworker Who Just Lost Her Mother With His Wife

My MIL had a new boss who hated her. She was about three years from retirement, and she felt like he was trying to push her out early so she’d lose part of her pension etc.
She asked me to check her answering machine while she was gone after her mother died and let her know if anything important came in, and to water her plants.
The third day or so I’d been there, there was a message from this boss giving his condolences. Then you could hear the click where he thought he’d hung up but must have placed the receiver just wrong and was still on the line. He ruthlessly made fun of her with his wife for the next five minutes before saying “Oh, s**t!” and hanging up.
She was at a really low point in her life, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her or leave the message on the machine. It would have absolutely crushed her. But I did record it, and then I deleted it from her machine.
Then I called that a*****e and told him what I had, why I wasn’t telling her RIGHT NOW (but absolutely would if needed in the future), and told him I’d better hear nothing but how wonderful work was going for her and how well she was treated until she retired. I told him I didn’t even understand what a piece of s**t you had to be to talk about someone like that behind their back, and especially at such a time in their life.
And that’s exactly what happened. She had a wonderful last few years and figured that her mother dying had opened him up to treat her kindly and with respect.
That was twenty years ago and I never told her and never will. I wouldn’t want to ever take those last few years there away from her.
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478points
#2 "Whos A Good Boy! Are You A Good Boy?"

called a tech support number for a work related issue during covid. guy was clearly at home and could hear a dog whining in the background. He got my error code straightened out we both said bye but before i could hang up my phone i heard whos a good boy! are you a good boy? i said quietly "I am" then just heard laughing and he said i am sooo sorry! then he hung up :( i wanted to hear his puppy.....
293points
#3 Girlfriend Got To Hear Her Boyfriend Tell His Cats About How Cute She Was

My boyfriend, early on in our relationship, we would talk on the phone before going to sleep. He's terrible about hanging up first, so I got to hear him tell his cats about how cute I am
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279points
#4 Started Singing The Mana Mana Doo Doo Dododo (The Jim Henson Song)

I was leaving a message for a client about data conversion services. After I left the message I thought I had hung up (voip software on my work computer). I started singing the Mana Mana Doo Doo Dododo ( the Jim Henson song). Then noticed I hadn’t hung up. So I hang up. The next morning I come in to check the conversion voicemails and there is a very clear and professional message left from the client, he leaves contact number and says to have a nice day, there’s a short pause and then he sings the same song back in the message licking up where I hung up when I realized I was still on voicemail. It was hilarious and made my day.
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263points
#5 "She Always F*****g Does This. I Don’t Think She Shows Up More Than A Third Of The Times We Make Plans"

I have a friend that is awesome to hang out with but she can be super flakey. Her brother was dating another friend of ours, but they lived in Thailand together. The mutual friend was home for a bit, and was heading back the next morning, so we met up with a few other friends.
The flakey friend said they would be there, but flaked. When I called to see if we could get a hold of her, it went to voicemail and I thought I hung up. Instead, she got a voicemail of an exasperated me saying “She always f*****g does this. I don’t think she shows up more than a third of the times we make plans.”
She confided in me a year later that she’d got it, but thanked me because she said she hadn’t realized how bad she’d been about keeping plans. The voicemail had her reflecting, and she started making a point of keeping plans after that, said it helped improve her depression.
I was so embarrassed, but I’m glad there was a happy ending.
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259points
#6 "What's For Dinner"

Not really crazy, but my grandparents would always call me from 2 different phones in their house so we could all talk. When they'd get my voicemail and leave a message, instead of hanging up they'd talk to each other. Usually silly things like "what's for dinner" and stuff like that, but it always made me smile. I wish there had been a way to keep them back then.
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229points
#7 "My Goodness! He's Got The Most Pleasant Voice"

I was working in a Callcenter for some time, so I'd be calling around 30-40 people per day, which is exhausting work.
There was this one particular call, I still remember very clearly. It wasn't crazy, but the situation was rather unexpected.
There was this one particular call, I still remember very clearly. It wasn't crazy, but the situation was rather unexpected.
So, I'd be calling a woman about the end of her thirties, we'd have the usual chat and she was readily replying to my questions, sometimes giggling and doing conversation outside the topic at hand. She was in a room with her daughter.
When we ended the chat, I thanked her for her time and said my goodbye.
A few seconds after that, she apparently thought I had already hung up and said to her daughter "my goodness! He's got the most pleasant voice."
A few seconds after that, she apparently thought I had already hung up and said to her daughter "my goodness! He's got the most pleasant voice."
I was smiling beams for the rest of the day and did enjoy the work much more for the rest of the week.
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214points
#8 "That B***h Anna Is Gonna Get What She Deserves When Them 'Poh-Leece' Show Up And Point Them Guns At Her"

Back when I still worked in a 911 center, I got a call that was pretty obviously a swatting attempt. Describing a hellish situation feet from them but silent in the background, normal tone of voice, phone not showing remotely near the area they're describing. (Note: I started two calls, one where they said it was in case it was true and one where their phone was actually showing with all the details so we were CYA in case of real issues, but actually investigating what was likely happening)...
Anyway. After a bit they say they have to hang up because it's not safe to stay on the phone. Then I hear pocket rustling sounds and the same person talking in the background about how "that b***h Anna is gonna get what she deserves when them 'Poh-leece' show up and point them guns at her" and a bunch of laughing, clearly not meant to be heard by me.
So I add that all in too. Anyway, PD found them pretty quick, because the area they were actually calling from was very low density population. Hearing them panic when they saw PD outside of their house was a special kind of fun.
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209points
#9 A Coworker Went On A Very Creative Expletive Laden Rant About The Boss And What He Should Do With Himself

I was the third party in this.
A coworker failed to hang up properly after a conversation with the boss and promptly went on a very creative expletive laden rant about the boss and what he should do with himself.
As this went on I received a text from the boss suggesting I should inform the coworker that she’d not hung up.
I got coworker’s attention and told them they hadn’t hung up.
Still in expletive mode I was asked what made me think that.
My response was ‘I got a text from boss’.
First time I ever saw color literally drain from someone’s face.
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207points
#10 "Stupid F**k Fell For It"

"Stupid f**k fell for it." This from a student's parent while I was excusing their kid from an assignment they missed because their grandmother just died. She hadn't. Still, the kid wouldn't pass the class under any circumstances because he was a complete knob. Once I talked to his parents I knew why. So he still failed the class even without the assignment. So I know one of us was the stupid f**k, just not sure it's the same person they think it is.
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192points
#11 "Are You Wearing Pants Today?"

Not a crazy story but I had just finished talking to a client over the phone, we say our goodbyes, then I hear her ask "are you wearing pants today?" I wasn't sure how to answer that but I figure she was jokingly asking because everyone just started working from home due to covid. I just replied "Yes". She then burst out laughing trying to explaining that she thought she had already hung up and she was actually asking her husband that question. We laughed about it for about 3 mins before we actually hung up.
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175points
#12 "You're Going To Break Up With Him Before That, Right?"

Found out I was single this way back when I was in the Army.
I got the chance to call my girlfriend and took it. It was a nice call; she told me what she'd been up to and all that. We made plans for some leave I would be getting soon, we said goodbye and she hung up
I still had a few minutes so I just sat there, holding the phone so the next guy wouldn't hassle me for it, when I hear from the line:
Male Voice: So when's he coming back?
Ex-Girlfriend: Not for a couple of weeks, we have plenty of time.
MV: You're going to break up with him before that, right?
Ex: Of course!
I hung up and felt like s**t, ghosted her when I went on leave, later found out she's been seeing the other guy for a while. Didn't see her for years and years, until one day, I was taking my kid to get pizza at a place in a strip mall and there she was, standing next to an SUV, staring at me like she'd seen a ghost. I waved, went inside and that was it.
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161points
#13 "Well, That Worked!"

I had a job where I was in a position to write-off a substantial phone bill, which the customer said was because her mother was dying overseas and she had dementia and needed to hear things in her voice to believe anything, including doctor’s instructions. She was heartbroken and sobbing about how if she had the kind of money to pay this phone bill, she would have just gone back to her country because the flight would have cost less (she was right about that).
I wrote-off the entirety of the phone bill, she cried like a jilted lover in a rom-com and said people like me are angels from god etc.
After I wished her a good evening and she thought the call was ended, she says to someone in a perfectly normal voice ‘Well, that worked!’
155points
#14 "God I Hate That M**********r"

A former colleague of mine said something in the line of ”god I hate that m**********r” after he hung up on our largest client, problem is he didnt hang up.
Not the worst I heard, but we lost our biggest client, our reputation and in the end all our business. Some 25 people lost their jobs.
Pro tip: don’t tie up 80% of your sales to one customer, also don’t tell that customer that you hate that m**********r.
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154points
#15 Proceeded To Talk Baby Talk To Cat

I left a client a voicemail and thought I hung up but in fact I proceeded to talk baby talk to my roommates cat for several minutes while it was recording.
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137points
#16 "Jesus F*****g Christ People, Mute Your F*****g Phones" Before Realizing He Was Not On Mute

I have a "not muted" story
Webex, 500 people on the call, right when everyone was getting used to working remotely. Whoever set it up didn't mute the audience by default.
The chaos was amazing. Dozens of people simultaneously unmuted and going about their lives. Dogs barking, kids crying, kitchen utensils clanging, the call leaders PLEADING for people to mute themselves.
My favorite part was when they had things mostly quiet, about 5 people were still unmuted, including one guy who thought he was muted who yelled "JESUS F*****G CHRIST PEOPLE, MUTE YOUR F*****G PHONES" before realizing he was not on mute.
They threw in the towel and ended the 1.5 hour meeting after 15 minutes
127points
#17 "He Thinks I'm Still At Work, Baby"

"He thinks I'm still at work, baby."
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126points
#18 "Well I’m Glad He’s Having Sex Now!"

I was FaceTiming my parents shortly after I started dating my now wife. I’d had quite a dry spell and hadn’t dated anyone for a couple years. So I mentioned we were dating on the call and they were happy for me. We ended it and I just put my phone down to grab something without ending the call. Apparently my mom did too because after a few seconds I heard her say “Well I’m glad he’s having sex now!” Awkward but also I’m glad my mom is looking out for me!
105points
#19 Heard Them Telling Their Coworker That They’d Completely Forgot To Send In The Time Sensitive Request In The First Place

I called a service provider who was supposed to order certificates of good standing from a state and they were late in sending them over. They told me there was a delay at the state’s office and gave me a new estimate. They forgot to hang up, and I heard them telling their coworker that they’d completely forgot to send in the time sensitive request in the first place. Never used them again 😂
98points
#20 "F**k"

I work at a children's hospital, and anything serious like a Code Blue is called out hospital-wide over the loudspeakers by dialing a specific phone extension. There's been a few times where someone hit the hold button instead of end call, and the whole hospital gets to listen to the hold music until someone catches it.
The worst/funniest though was a couple weeks ago. Every single employee, parent, and child in my world renowned children's hospital heard this poor guy scream "F**K" when he realized he was still on.
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92points


