Mentsch – no, I don’t. It has to do with age. When I was younger, there were no phone calls, but once you reach a certain age, that’s how it works in both MO and Yeshivish circles. I was actually taken by surprise by it and didn’t like it until I got even older and found out that I have now reached the stage that I am allowed to choose to have a phone call instead of a date and not in addition to a date.
Older-single dating is very different than younger-single dating, and the rules keep changing the older you get.