What is a Rejection Hotline?

The rejection hotline is a service begun by Jeff Goldblatt in the early 2000s. Primarily begun as a joke, with a little intent on being serious too, Goldblatt came up with the idea of using the rejection hotline as a way to shake off the amorous advances of others who simply don’t appeal. Instead of prolonging conversations with people you honestly don’t want to get to know, you hand the person a dummy phone number. When the person calls the rejection hotline, they’re greeted with a message delivering the news that they have not reached the intended person and that they’ve been rejected.

The phone message on the original line then suggests that rejection may have occurred because the person has bad breath, body odor or a combination of the two, and give several other potential reasons for rejection. At the end of the message, people are enjoined to forget about the person who gave them the phone number, since that person has already forgotten about them.

Though Goldblatt initially began the rejection hotline as something of a joke, he was also inspired when he watched a woman attempt to spurn the advances of a would-be suitor. She eventually ended up embarrassing the guy in public by calling him several unfortunate names, producing an uncomfortable public situation for the rejecter and the rejected. Goldblatt felt providing a hotline to avoid this type of public discomfort was a little funny and definitely necessary.

Rejection hotlines have grown in popularity, and now you can find numbers for numerous major US cities. There are also a number of copycat lines, some meaner than others that eviscerate the rejected person with cruel statements or suggestions about why such a person was rejected. While some believe that the rejection hotline is a public service, which has long been needed on the dating scene, others believe that polite rejection in public is still the best way to get rid of someone in whom you have no interest.

Goldblatt contends that even when you’re trying to be polite, you simply can’t shake some people. Men and women may each have had the experience of trying to politely negate the advances of someone they find undesirable. If a person appears “creepy” or is a little frightening, there may be no good way to tell the person to go away. In this case the rejection hotline may be a better way to extricate yourself from a difficult situation.

Local rejection hotline numbers are easy to find on the internet, and Goldblatt profits a little if you download rejection hotline ring tones. There are several other free joke hotlines that Goldblatt has produced since, which may be fun (or insulting) to visit. Other services embrace the era of the Internet and offer rejection email addresses too.