Years ago when I worked second-level support, I was the on-call guy for Thanksgiving. Our customers were specialty retailers, so I thought nothing of it. I figured they'd be closed. Turns out, we had an "Urban Clothing Store" as a customer, and on that day — what?! — someone couldn't ring up an 8-ball jacket? I was with my family, enjoying a cocktail when I got the call. I have seldom been more pissed off. In the end, from what I could remember, after wasting almost an hour, we tabled the whole incident.

I'm with you. On-call is never worth it. If a company needs 24/7 coverage, they should hire round the clock.