Excluding emergencies, is it bad manners to phone someone after 10pm at night?

Answer 1

Unless they are expecting a call from you at that time I just wouldn't bother phoning at that hour, a bit late really, we hate getting phone calls between 10 pm and 7 am as it always tends to be bad news, maybe a lot of people think the same too.

Answer 2

This is an unwritten rule. I work on a different time/body clock to most of my friends and family. I mean I wouldn't call my parents after 10pm but some of my friends don't get in from work till late then by the time you done your thing and eaten etc it's at least 9pm anyway so 10pm is cool. However, if my friend's have kids I wouldn't call em after 10pm. It's all down to circumstances - sorry that's a bit vague innit?

Answer 3

In general, I don't make phone calls after 9:00 pm. However, if I know a person's schedule, I might have a different policy for that person. For example, many of my friends know that I often stay up late, so I don't mind if they call my cell phone quite late at night. On the other hand, I have a friend who often goes to bed around 9:00, so I wouldn't really call her after about 8:00 or so. If I know that the person is likely to be up, and I'm calling a cell phone so I know I won't disturb other members of the household, I don't think late-night calls are so bad.

Answer 4

Reasoning: people needing 8 hours of sleep who must rise and be outdoors by 6am. must be sleeping soundly by 10pm at night.
Unless you have been told, specifically, by the person you are telephoning that it is fine to call that person later than 10pm, it is someone whom you regularly call after 10pm or a true emergency, related to life and limb exists, it is in very poor taste and assuming too much to phone anyone after 10pm at night. The answer is YES, it is bad manners to do that.

Answer 5

It depends on the person and their home situation. Do they have small children that would be disrupted by the phont? Do they go to bed early?

If they're night owls, and you know they stay up late (the entire family, so no one's woken up!), then no, it's not rude.

However, if you're not 100% that every member of the house stays up til midnight every single night, then I would advise to not call unless it's an emergency.

Answer 6

Yes. 10:00-10:30 is the limit. I had a telesales call from India for a broadband provider at 10:30 yesterday. I was not a happy bunny. I told them that I never want them to contact me again, quite angrily (I would have said the same, but nicer if it were earlier).

Answer 7

I'd just say that it's bad to phone someone when they may be getting ready for bed or sleeping. Depends on the person you're phoning. If you phone me at 11:00 midday I will be sleeping still but if you phone at 10:30 pm I will be finishing work. Phone people based on their time table not yours and you should be fine.

Answer 8

Yes. Generally for when I was growing up, anything past 9 was bad and that's the way I still view it till this day. I allow only my family members to call and they have the sense to call only in emergencies. Other than that, I allow my best friend to call me whenever she wants to talk even when she's wasted, but in that situation we talked about allowing that to happen in conversation ages ago. So definitely bad manners unless you talk about it in discussion before hand.

Answer 9

I often phone my work mate after 10pm as I know she has got the kids off to bed , cleared up and we can sit and have a good gossip about work ,catch her out sometimes when she,s gone off to bed but she never normally minds just makes a cuppa and lights up another ciggy

Answer 10

After 9 I think is bad manners. People "settle down" for the night.