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Customer Service vocabulary · Phone & Chat Phrases

Hang up

Meaning in customer service, with examples

/ˌhæŋ ˈʌp/phrasal verbCore term

In customer service, hang up means: To end a phone call, by pressing a button or putting the phone down.

In Turkish: telefonu kapatmak, hattı kapatmak

How it is used

Agents ask customers "Please don't hang up" before a transfer. To hang up on someone means to end the call suddenly while they are still talking, which sounds rude. Many call centres have rules about when an agent may end a call with an abusive caller.

Example sentences

  1. Please don't hang up; I'm transferring you to a specialist now.

  2. If the line stays silent for 30 seconds, you can hang up and log it as a dropped call.

Common collocations

  • hang up the phone
  • hang up on someone
  • don't hang up
  • hang up and call again
  • call backTo phone someone again, or to return a call from someone who phoned you earlier.
  • abandoned callA call in which the customer hangs up before reaching an agent, usually because the wait is too long.
  • transferTo connect a caller to another person or department, so that the call continues with them.
  • irateVery angry, usually about something that seems unfair or badly handled.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Phone & Chat Phrases

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