dead phone routine

A person's excuse that they flaked out on an agreed-upon meeting or date with you because their phone was not working, not paid, or not charged. These excuses are often belied by the fact that a call to the user results in a normal dial tone, rather than going straight to voicemail.

The dead phone routine usually goes something like this:

1. "Sorry, I got stuck downtown and my phone died."
2. "Hey I just got my phone back up I had to pay it first."