Is talking on the phone dead to most people?

[Welder]

So I'm in the market for a motorcycle. I don't buy new, and I don't buy from dealers. I'm having this continual issue with sellers who don't want to talk on the phone about their bikes. Their phone number won't be listed on CL, so I use the email exchange. Once they reply back to me, I send them a second email giving them my full name, phone number, and non-encrypted email address and asking if they'll give me a call so we can talk about the bike. Often I get no reply, zero. These aren't scam ads, at least near as I can tell. Others totally ignore the phone call request and say they're on vacation, their grandfather died, etc. One dude I've been emailing back and forth with for going on 3 weeks now, still won't call me or give me his phone number, and supposedly now has to fly to FL but will email me when he gets back.

So today, I finally find THE bike. The exact one I've wanted. Hundreds of miles away. Seller writes back to my request for a phone number so I can call him and talk about the bike, that I can "text him in the morning." At least I have a number this time. But seriously. What is the thing with phone calls? Are they taboo now? Would we all rather sit around pushing buttons and taking 10 times as long to answer five simple questions? I really don't get it. Is the sound of somebody else's voice or the idea of a short conversation so offensive?

I guess everybody's so busy posting crap about themselves on FB that they no longer have time to lower themselves to talk to a stranger. Yeah, I'm bitter. Kids need me to get off their lawn.

[ReverendMeat]

Give it time, eventually all informal communication will be done with emojis.

[beenalongtime]

Here a while back, my debit card company decided a charge may be fraudulent (you all know, things have to ship to a FFL). So they held the charge and sent me a text. The problem being, I don't have/receive texts, so I didn't know about it for a bit.
Then all the kids who don't answer calls, don't make calls (ever deal with them trying to text in to work), etc. etc. etc.
I can't stand and don't have texting. Call me or if you want to send me photo's, images, info, email me.
GOML!

[Odin Bravo One]

I'll sell you my bike, and even talk to you on the phone about it.

[Hambo]

My observation is that things that make people nervous or uneasy (quitting a job, buying/selling, telling mom you're pregnant, telling mom you're guy, etc) are dealt by text instead of face to face or even phone. Call it fear of confrontation.

I'll talk to you on the phone, but I don't have a bike for sale.

[VT1032]

I work with college students daily and often have to call them with problems or other things. I'd say a solid half won't answer their phones. Among that half, I'd say another 25% or so haven't set up their voicemail or its full. They really don't like it.

[Drang]

I hate telephones. Don Ameche should never have invented the thing.
















That joke was old when my grandfather first heard it, it occurs to me that not only do few people remember that Don Ameche played Alexander Graham Bell in a movie, most of these young whippersnappers don't even have a clue who Don Ameche was. This makes me hate people even more.

[TGS]

I have not experienced this to the degree you're writing about.

I'm way worse about it in personal life, and we use texts/emails to communicate a lot at work as it's more convenient for most issues since you can triage/prioritize. I've never had someone refuse to give me a phone call to answer a few simple questions, however.

[voodoo_man]

Most conversation can be done over text or email. By most I mean the majority of your average conversations over most things.

I make it a point to speak over the phone on topics which are important because tone is important for some types of things. Is tone important for a bike deal? I don't think so.

It's also 2017, the kids who are young today may likely only have direct voice communication with only their family members, if that.

[olstyn]

It does seem mildly silly that people are unwilling to talk on the phone in order to facilitate the sale of a motorcycle, but OTOH, it's probably not something you need to get bent out of shape about - just ask your questions via text or email like they want. I actually have the opposite problem; 2 nights ago, I launched the safety plunger from my Walther P99 across the garage (hooray for springs!), probably never to be seen again, and the only way to order a new one is to get Walther customer service on the phone. I haven't had time to make a call during their business hours yet, so I'm really wishing they'd let you order parts via the website, because then I could have easily ordered a new one that same night and been done with it.