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Telephone booking etiquete 2014/5/18 19:43
I just made a booking via telephone to a restaurant. The staff I was talking to was very helpful and we managed to confirm the reservation. Towards the end of the conversation, we got in a loop of him saying he confirmed the booking and I thanked him over and over again (a little over 2 minutes) so I hung up on him.
Was I a little rude? Is there an unspoken rule over who should hang the phone first or was I worrying too much about it?
by julianaayu  

Re: Telephone booking etiquete 2014/5/19 22:38
Short answer:
Don't worry about it.

Long answer:
I think that a lot of people, at least those as old as me, find modern Japanese telephone service to be over the top.

They are like, "Would that be all?" "Thank you for calling so and so." "My name is so and so." "It has been a great pleasure serving you." "Good day." in bits and pieces.

I mean, it's okay if this is after a 30 minute counseling, but after a 3 minute call just for reservation? Hey, they're wasting my precious time.

I usually kind of say, "haai (yes), haai, haaaai, doumoooo" and let them just do the talking, but I see no problem about hanging up after more than one "thank you."

People nowadays seem to think that the more you speak the politer you sound, and they're also overly scared of being impolite. If you're familiar with the language and culture, you may have heard of the "yoroshikatta de shouka?" cliche.

Anyway, you must have booked a very nice restaurant with a nice young host(ess). Have fun.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Telephone booking etiquete 2014/5/20 10:44
You are just fine!

I'm a Japanese, and I could point out that a rule the person you talked to on the phone might have been following was, "let the caller hang up". I am not sure if this is common in other countries or not, but often in Japan, especially businesses like hotels, restaurants etc. educate their employees not to hang up the phone before the other end (in this case, their customer) does. The customer called because he/she wanted to ask something or make reservation etc., so in order to make sure everything's clear, they sould wait until the person who called hang up the phone first.
So, in your case, you could have just said thank you, good bye, and hang up.
You were most likely taken as a very polite foreigner;)
Hope you'll have a good time at the restaurant!
by kouneraki (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Telephone booking etiquete 2014/5/20 19:50
Thank you all, glad to know now.
by julianaayu rate this post as useful

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