What is a good way to keep a coiled phone cord from becoming tangled?

I honestly don't think there is one. For years I wrestled with this problem but with no success. Even though I did my best to replace the receiver exactly as I had picked it up it still got hopelessly tangled within a few days. I once asked a telephone engineer about this and he said there was no solution. So there you have it.

It is one of the mysteries of the Universe why they do it in the first place. I sit at my desk, pick up the phone, use it and put it down again with out rotating the handset in any way and in no time at all I have to unwind the coil 50 times. I can only assume that it is a universal joke being carried out by the office cleaners when everybody else has gone home. The one I have at home does not suffer the same 'disease', which reinforces my assumption.

Try holding the cord close to the phone and let the handset dangle in the air. The cord should unwind itself to its original shape -IF- you do it regularly! I know this isn't quite the same as keeping it untangled but it's the best I can manage.

Thanks col, but that is what I currently do. I was hoping that there might be a way to avoid the tangling altogether - but it looks like I am doomed.

You can buy a little plastic device that plugs into the handset that swivels to keep the cord from tangling. Look in stores like Radio Shack, or in the telephone/electrical departments of the home improvement stores.

greencavalier says:
There is a device, called a handset twist stopper.

https://www.qconnect.com.au/product/2194-handset-twist-stopper-rj9

There could be others, to. There certainly are a number of products that will help you untangle a twisted cord.