When is too early/late to phone people?

[NovaKart]

I'm an advice column junkie and someone wrote in recently to ask about an annoying friend who makes a habit of calling at 8am. Some people in the comments section defended it as late enough to be acceptable but to me, it's way way too early. I start work at 10 and on my days off I give myself credit for being industrious if I'm out of bed and dressed by early afternoon.

I stay up very late but I wouldn't call someone after 10 unless I knew the person pretty well and that he/she stays up late. I think in the morning, it's OK to call after 10, maybe 9 but I wouldn't be up at that time and I expect a lot of people wouldn't. I'm just really surprised some people would think it's OK to call at 8 , most people if they are up would be getting dressed or eating breakfast.

 

[bhsup]

8am to 9pm unless you know the person prefers other hours.

Also depends on day of the week. Sunday, for example should have much more restrictive hours.

 

[Arakhor]

Before 8 am or after 10 pm would certainly be unacceptable. I'd stretch that to 9 am and 9.30 pm for politeness reasons.

 

[Perfection]

Depends on who you are calling duh

 

[Borachio]

Depends what it is. In an emergency any time is OK. For casual conversations, I certainly wouldn't ring anyone much before 6 p.m. And not after 8 p.m. A fairly narrow window really.

But hey. Call me anytime.

 

[Antilogic]

I try to stick to the 9-to-9 or maybe 10-to-10 range by default, but will adjust based on what I know about the person's hours and work times.

 

[Zelig]

Any time is fine, I expect people to set up their phones to not ring at times that they don't want their phones to ring.

 

[Goodfella]

I don't think very many people under 22 or so would prefer being called at 8:00 am.

 

[Cutlass]

9 to 9, unless it's someone you know well enough that you know other times are good. Or emergencies or people who can't be reached any other time.

 

[Perfection]

Any time is fine, I expect people to set up their phones to not ring at times that they don't want their phones to ring.

That's baloney. I keep my phone available 24/7 in case of emergency. I expect people not to abuse that fact.

 

[Antilogic]

It's a good thing your phone number isn't on CFC.

 

[duckstab]

I never call anyone at home either before 10am or after 10pm their time.

 

[Perfection]

It's a good thing your phone number isn't on CFC.

Just call 911 and I'll pick up

 

[Antilogic]

I actually checked your profile before posting to see if it was there.

 

[Leonel]

I had a friend call me at 6am while I was still asleep.

 

[Borachio]

It does depend what it's about and who it is.

 

[Antilogic]

Phoning me at 6 AM is just asking to get yourself blocked.

 

[Leonel]

Phoning me at 6 AM is just asking to get yourself blocked.

Yeah I wasn't very happy about that. But my friend is the type of guy who has crazy amounts of energy and has to exhaust himself to go to sleep.

 

[downtown]

I will almost never call somebody before or after 10. I will text them if I can get away with it.

 

[bhsup]

There are, btw, select people who have my permission to call me 24/7 even in non-emergencies. They know who they are and they have never really abused that.