"Your ring tone is really annoying!"

[Audrey Quest]

It depends on the context as to whether someone else can tell you that you should change an annoying ring tone, but I do think that the whistling one is one of the most annoying.

The polite thing is to not have your ringtone be audible by other people when in public--maybe in a grocery store its OK, but I shouldn't have to hear someone else's cell in a restaurant.

For the longest time my husband had a croaking frog as his ringtone.  And not just any croaking frog, but the one that would sit under the downspout on our front porch.  It was a common sound to hear in the summer.  So, when I started hearing it year round it messed with my sense of seasons and I asked him to change it!

Just yesterday I was getting off a flight in Minneapolis and I was hearing the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars.  My first thought was "that sounds ominous."  And then the woman in front of me dug her phone out to answer it...

[FlyingBaconMouse]

I really only mind a ringtone if it alarms/misdirects me in some way. One of my coworkers has a mewing-cat ringtone that nearly sent me running into the halls to see a kitten that wasn't there. (Oddly, I had no problem with his other animal ringtone—generally, horses don't climb stairs.  )

[Piratelvr1121]

I really only mind a ringtone if it alarms/misdirects me in some way. One of my coworkers has a mewing-cat ringtone that nearly sent me running into the halls to see a kitten that wasn't there. (Oddly, I had no problem with his other animal ringtone—generally, horses don't climb stairs.  )

That's one reason I wouldn't record any of my kids' voices.  I know that instead of checking my phone, my first reaction (if they weren't with me) would be to whip my head around, wondering where they were. Especially on my "day off" when DH stays home with them and I take the opportunity to do stuff I can't really do with the kids.   I'd be in the craft store wondering how they found me!

[Diane AKA Traska]

It depends on the context as to whether someone else can tell you that you should change an annoying ring tone, but I do think that the whistling one is one of the most annoying.

The polite thing is to not have your ringtone be audible by other people when in public--maybe in a grocery store its OK, but I shouldn't have to hear someone else's cell in a restaurant.

For the longest time my husband had a croaking frog as his ringtone.  And not just any croaking frog, but the one that would sit under the downspout on our front porch.  It was a common sound to hear in the summer.  So, when I started hearing it year round it messed with my sense of seasons and I asked him to change it!

Just yesterday I was getting off a flight in Minneapolis and I was hearing the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars.  My first thought was "that sounds ominous."  And then the woman in front of me dug her phone out to answer it...

The Imperial Death March, by composer John Williams.  It's a musical score nearly synonymous with evil.

[Sheila Take a Bow]

I've only commented on a ringtone, once.  My coworker whose office was next door had a painfully shrill ringtone, set to the highest volume he could get on his phone.  And then he'd leave his office without his phone and his wife would call him.  But she never left voicemails -- instead she'd call back over and over and over again until she got him.  One day this went on for nearly half an hour.  I tried closing his door and my door, but that ring was still disturbing me.

I asked him to turn down his ringer, and he said no.  I asked him to remember to bring his phone with him, and he said no. 
Instead, he started calling his own number and letting it ring whenever he felt like annoying me.

I had to go to my office manager, who went to our department head.  Department head is not fond of personal calls or loud ringtones, so coworker was forced to change his ways.

But I think my example is pretty extreme.  Mostly, I'm amused by people's ringtones -- the day I heard the theme from "Mission: Impossible" playing from a coworker's phone, I actually laughed a little because, well, he's not exactly Jim Phelps.

[Oh Joy]

Ringtones need to be audible and distinctive to be effective.  I'm on board.

It's out of line to whine 'O. M. G.  I so hate that Katy Perry song.  You have to change it to something by Pink or Lady Gaga.' 

But if it's of such a nature that people are regularly commenting - and not positively - about it, I believe it would be polite to consider changing to something else.  You (general you) know it bothers others - probably many more who don't comment than those who do - and it's only serving your own purpose.  Why not be considerate and change it to something else you like?

[MrTango]

This comic (slightly crass language) explains my ring tone:  http://xkcd.com/479/

[Diane AKA Traska]

This comic (slightly crass language) explains my ring tone:  http://xkcd.com/479/

That's the kind of ringtone I want.  But my carrier doesn't have them in their store, and there's no way to import ringtones you don't buy directly from them.  So I'm stuck with freaking music samplers.  Does my MP3 player ring at you?  No?  Then why should my phone play @#*$&^# music?

[lowspark]

There's a guy in my office whose ring tone is a voice (which I assume is his very young daughter's) saying, "Ring Ring Ring.... Ring Ring Ring". It is extremely annoying. Even if he picks it up on the first ring, which doesn't always happen. He sits close enough to me that I can hear it every single time it rings. But no, I've never said anything. Well. Not to him anyway.

My ring tone is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It's unique enough that I know it's my phone that's ringing. Except once I had that music playing at home and forgot it was going to come up in the mix and started to answer my phone when it started playing! D'oh! Usually, though, unless I'm at home, my phone is on vibrate.

[siamesecat2965]

Personally, I could care less what someone's ring tone is. What bugs me is people who won't or don't turn it down, esp at work. My one boss is guilty of this. for the longest time it was a song, one which I could not stand. Now its simply a loud phone ringing, and her text message alert is annoying as well. My issue with her is that she is a special snowflake who will not put her phone on vibrate. ever. so we all have to listen to it all day long...she's been spoken to about it but it falls on deaf ears.

If I'm out at the mall, or somewhere ese in public, as long as I'm not at a movie or something like that, as long as its answered, doesn't really bother me. But if I'm at my other job, trying to help a customer, and their hpone keeps going off, I get a tad annoyed. I'm giving you my time and attention, you should extend the same courtesy to me.

I always keep my phone on vibrate at work, but every now and then I forget. For Halloween my ringtone was from Psycho, and i forgot to turn it off, so it rang one day at work. Oops.

[Surianne]

I do think it's rude to have an annoying/loud ring tone in a place where people can't escape it, like at work.  The coworker in a cubicle next to mine has a whistle ringtone that goes off every time she receives a text, which is at least twice an hour.  My work requires concentration and it makes me batty.  Even headphones won't block it out, because it's so high-pitched.  I really wish she'd show some consideration and turn it down or change it to vibration or something that blends in with the background noise more easily. 

[oceanus]

I've heard ringtones in stores and on public transportation that are not only annoying but offensive.  Racist, sexist, laced with profanity.....rude?  Definitely. 

I've never said anything; just keep moving (sometimes after giving the stink eye).

[jedikaiti]

I've never had someone complain about my ring tone, except for a couple of friends who like to dance to the tone I have for when my DF calls. Then they don't want me to answer. :-)

[jedikaiti]

Haha Everybody has an annoying ringtone! Everyone finds everyone else's ringtones irritating! Apart from a traditional, medium volume riiiing riiiing tone (like a conventional telephone), I think pretty much all ringtones are annoying. Especially anything involving crazy frog or an irritating cheesy pop song. But it's not a big deal. On the list of things to get irritated about, it's very very low priority.

* I do however think an above poster who set her ringtone to a witches cackle on Halloween is pretty cool. That would make me smile if I heard it.

It wasn't just for Halloween, it was year round, but at that time of the year it was even more fun!

I have to have a ringtone that's a bit more personalized.  Otherwise when other people's phones rang I'd be pulling it out to make sure it wasn't mine.  My notification for when I get emails is a bird chirp and texts is a ship's bell.

Quite a few people in my office have work-provided iPhones, and most of them leave the sounds to their defaults. A phone goes off and several people all check their phones. The first thing I did with mine was change the alert tones. Now if I can just get it to a volume that I can hear but isn't deafening, I'll be happy.

For my personal phone, I have a profile manager app that will change default ringtones/volume levels/etc depending on rules I set, or I can change profiles manually. So much easier!

[jedikaiti]

I really only mind a ringtone if it alarms/misdirects me in some way. One of my coworkers has a mewing-cat ringtone that nearly sent me running into the halls to see a kitten that wasn't there. (Oddly, I had no problem with his other animal ringtone—generally, horses don't climb stairs.  )

I didn't know you worked in my office!

I have a meow ringtone I use for a particular friend, and it has led to a running joke with us answering the other's calls with meowing. We've been known to leave whole voice mails in meow.