There is a reason why scams around deliveries work as well as they do, and that is, if you order things off of the Internet there is some poor soul who is probably hired on a contract basis, using their own phone to deliver your stuff. And that makes it really difficult to filter calls.
I was on the phone booking an appointment with a parent when my cell phone rang. It was distracting and frankly the call I was doing was more important because I was trying to figure out logistics. So I sent the call straight to a voicemail inbox that I no longer have access to. This was the logical thing to do seeing as it was a US number and no one from the US calls me.
They called again, and I was in the middle of explaining something. I sent them to voicemail again.
They called again, and at this point I realized, maybe I should pick up the phone, because no one calls three times in a row unless it was really important. It turned out the poor delivery person was in my lobby, but I was still on an open line with the parent. So I told the poor guy to leave it in the lobby (I was working at home anyways), and I would grab it later. I probably imagine that made him nervous but again, priorities.
But the event brings up a fascinating issue about ordering things online and then trying to keep track of it. I purposely keep order confirmations in my inbox until I get the delivery so I know what I’m waiting for, but there’s nothing I can do if a company uses an obscure shipping company that contracts their delivery people. So I have no choice but to answer my phone even if I don’t know who is calling, especially if I know I have a delivery out.
So that was an interesting moment.