If the call is before noon, I would typically aim to call back the same day, assuming the day of the week is no later than Wednesday of course.

If before lunch, then call back by end of the day. If afternoon then by midday the next day.

I mean that’s assuming it’s an urgent matter

Thursday

only if there's no R in the month, goose?

depends how busy you are and what your priorities are

hth

Or a U.

Tbh, I'm a bit iffy about May as well.

If it's urgent then same day. If it's not urgent I don't really care.

Why are you calling me without first scheduling a time? 

Surely you know enough by now to know you either schedule a time or you email me. 

And if you leave a voice message and expect me to listen to it I will cut you. 

Horses for courses but generally (when I was in PP) I aimed for within 2 hours. I’m now in house and my calls are nearly always returned within that time or if not I’ll get a text saying “can I call you in an hour” etc. 

My practice areas are employment and health and safety. 

I get many many many more emails than voice calls and my voice mail says email is the fastest way to reach me so I do not really have many calls. I had one today when I was out and h e said he would email (and he did and I replied to the email).

You don’t call Thuggy. 

Thuggy calls you. 

if you are worthy. 

I’m a conveyancer.  If there’s a tight deadline or someone is just about to exchange them as soon as I get the message otherwise whatever timeframe seems reasonable given the nature of the transaction.  However, if you’re a house chinny and I’ve taken a dislike to you I won’t return the call and you can try me another time and hope I don’t recognise your number.

within 10 mins if not in a meeting

within 10 mins of the end of the meeting if in a meeting

private funds

What Scylla said. 

I've trained my regular clients to think i'm super busy so now they generally email me to arrange a time to speak, such that I know their unannounced calls are genuinely important and get answered.

Whilst I admittedly take the piss a bit, the other extreme of responding super urgently to everything is stupid. Most clients wouldnt expect it if we didnt do it.  Once you start doing it, you create an unrealistic expectation.  Most things really arent important enough to warrant it.

it’s not really about being super responsive for me tbh

i want to get everything off my desk as quickly as possible

and unless a client is an idiot (or not actually paying) they rarely want to spend too long on the phone. so calling back the client asap ensures that task is off my list asap 

Lucky you.  I have a few who like to phone half a dozen times a day to keep me updated on what time their survey is booked for and the like.

'client is an idiot (or not actually paying) they rarely want to spend too long on the phone'.

Except when you're inhouse and the person calling you isn't really a 'client' rather they are actually a colleague... who isn't paying your salary …  and who generally just wants you to hand hold them through their own job.

In which case they really don't care how much of your time they waste.

Really depends on the urgency: I reckon same day for an urgent matter, 72 hours for usual.

In short, people need to chill out. Try some mindfulness.

scylla m7 i think that scenario falls into my “not paying” exception

i appreciate there r different rules for he who dunt pay