Let’s face it, sometimes you just don’t want to answer the phone. At some point, though, you are required to return the calls that you missed.
If you are looking for the best excuses to give when retuning phone calls, here are the top ones that you can use:
What are the Best Excuses for Not Answering Your Phone?
Some of the most plausible excuses for not answering your phone are that your phone was on silent, you were occupied with work, you didn’t want to be interrupted, your battery died, you left your phone elsewhere, or you were driving.
How to Use the Excuse of Your Phone Being on Silent
This is arguably one of the best excuses that you can come up with. These days, most people keep their phone on silent or on vibrate. Therefore, it is the most believable option that you have.
The only thing to remember is that when using this excuse that you need another alibi to back it up. For instance, you could say that my phone was on silent and that it was on charge so you weren’t in the same location.
Another variation of this excuse was simply that you didn’t hear the phone ring. There are some people who never keep their phone on silent due to the possibility of family or work emergencies.
If you are someone who falls into this category and most people know this about you, then you will need to say that you didn’t hear the phone ring.
Once again, this is best followed up with a little bit of an explanation. Say that the phone was in another room or you were listening to music, using a loud appliance, etc.
How to Use the Excuse of Work Related Issues
Before you use this excuse, make sure it is a plausible one. For instance, while this will work perfectly well on a weekday during work hours, it isn’t going to be as believable after hours or on the weekend.
If it is someone who knows you well, it is best to tell them that you were in a meeting. In case you work from home, you can say that it was a Zoom meeting.
In general, telling people that you were swamped with work and kept your phone on silent does the trick as well. Few people are going to argue with the fact that you were busy – after all, everyone knows the feeling well.
If it is an individual who doesn’t know you well, you could explain that the company frowns upon you using your phone during working hours.
Once again, telling them that you were quite busy and had your phone on Do Not Disturb works too.
It is best not to use this excuse too often, however. Now, if you are in a demanding or high powered job, then most people will buy this excuse if you use it several times.
If people know that your job is a bit more easygoing, though, you should only use it on occasion to make it more believable.
How to Use the Excuse of Not Wanting to Be Disturbed
While phones are incredibly useful, they also tend to be an enormous source of distraction for most people. So, if you tell someone that you put your phone away or turned it on silent because you didn’t want to be disturbed, they are likely to understand.
You will need to make an excuse for why you didn’t want to be interrupted, though. Fortunately, there are a lot of options here.
You could say that you were completing a work-related task, that you were meditating, reading a book, cleaning the house, etc. Just make sure that whatever you choose is a good fit for your personality, interests, etc.
If you want to be a bit more upfront, you can say that you were ignoring the call because you didn’t want to be disturbed. However, this can hurt someone’s feelings so it is best to say that you put your phone away for a period of time instead.
How to Use the Excuse of Your Battery Dying Out
While this is actually an excellent excuse, you should know that some tech savvy people may be able to tell when you are lying.
This is because when your phone is switched off, the phone rings only a few times before heading to voicemail. Or, after a few rings, an operator will say that the phone is unavailable at the moment.
If you are at home, when returning the call, tell someone that you were busy and in another room so didn’t realize that your phone had run out of juice.
In case you were out, tell the caller that you had no chance of charging your phone until you were back at home.
Or, you could say that you were at someone else’s home, were out shopping, and didn’t have access to a phone charger for quite a while.
How to Make the Excuse of Leaving Your Phone Somewhere Else
This is another good excuse but remember that this action has to seem like it would fit well with your tendencies.
There are some people who seem like they are never without their phone. If this describes you, then it is unlikely that someone will believe that you left your phone for any period of time.
This, of course, is unless you were having a shower. So, you could say that your phone was in another room while you were showering.
If people would believe that you would accidentally leave the house without your phone, then go ahead and use this excuse. As an added bonus, it is a good excuse not to call someone back for a few hours.
If you are planning on returning the phone call reasonably soon, then you could say that you left the phone in your bag or in your car. This would explain the delay in returning the call.
How to Use the Excuse That You Were Driving
In this day and age, simply telling someone that you didn’t answer the phone will not cut it. This is because most people have Bluetooth systems in their vehicles.
This is why your excuse should be around the lines of “I was driving and didn’t have my phone synced up with the Bluetooth”. This could be followed up that you didn’t want to distract yourself by putting the phone on speaker.
If the call was made during rush hour, then you could tell people that traffic was crazy and you wanted to keep a close watch on the road.
If the weather is especially bad, this could be another good excuse for why you didn’t want to pick up the phone while driving.
You could also say that you forgot to take your phone out of the bag when you got into the car and couldn’t reach it while driving.
If you are someone who likes to dodge phone calls frequently, then you could have a rule where you say that you don’t answer the phone while driving.
This gives you the opportunity to use this excuse over and over again and no one will be the wiser.
What Excuses Can You Give for Not Answering Your Phone?
The top excuses for not answering your phone include: your phone was on silent, your phone was far away from you, you were working, you didn’t want to be disturbed, your phone battery was dead, and that you were driving.
