Call screen culture hurts small businesses, Snupit warns

South Africans are choosing not to answer their phones.

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Snupit, South Africa’s top online marketplace for local services, is asking for help. It wants to fix a communication problem that impacts many small businesses and job seekers across the country. The concern: more and more South Africans are choosing not to answer their phones, and it is costing them real opportunities.

Mobile apps and spam protection tools help people block unwanted calls. However, this also means that some real business calls get lost.

Snupit has linked South Africans to reliable service providers for over 10 years. Recently, its Pros (the service professionals on the platform) say that customers often don’t answer their phones. This happens even after they’ve submitted service requests.

“Phone calls are often the first step in understanding the scope of a job,” says Mithundra Sivenandan, Snupit’s Sales and Marketing Manager. “Our Pros need to reach out to customers to confirm details before quoting or scheduling. But when calls go unanswered, it stalls the process entirely.”

This is not just a platform issue. It is a national pattern. Job seekers, contractors, freelancers and small business owners struggle to connect with clients or employers. Many ignore calls from unfamiliar numbers.

Snupit points to the damage done by years of aggressive telemarketing and unwanted call centre outreach. South Africans have become cautious, sometimes overly so, about picking up calls from numbers they do not recognise. This mistrust is understandable, but it is now creating unintended roadblocks for everyday business activity.

The problem is compounded by the use of caller ID apps like Truecaller. These tools often automatically label numbers as spam without proper verification. Even verified businesses are not immune. In many cases, professionals using personal or mobile lines to call clients are flagged incorrectly, causing further hesitation and missed connections.

“This is a systemic issue,” Sivenandan adds. "When platforms focus on financial models that favour paid whitelisting or business verification, it hurts independent service providers. Many can't afford the fees or don't realise they've been flagged.”

The consequences go far beyond lost calls. Snupit says not connecting with customers has caused delays for many service requests. It has also affected quote delivery and led to some job cancellations.

The issue also spills into employment. Job applicants depend on phone interviews and callbacks for job verification. A missed call can lead to a missed chance.

Content creators and everyday South Africans are already raising awareness online. Videos on TikTok and YouTube show personal stories about missed calls and business lines marked as spam. These stories highlight the emotional and financial impact of this growing issue.

Snupit is calling on both consumers and platforms to adopt a more balanced approach. The company encourages users to review missed calls from unlisted numbers, especially after initiating a request or job search.

Snupit also urges caller ID services to make their labelling clearer. They want affordable and fair solutions for small businesses to help them keep their credibility.

“South African SMEs are resilient and our people are resourceful,” Sivenandan says. “But when legitimate calls go ignored, we are cutting ourselves off from opportunity. It is time we rethink how we communicate in a digital world.”