Are People Keeping Their Word to Call You?

[Dibbons]

Is it just me? I can't count the times I have been told to expect a call back from someone, business or otherwise, when they actually do what they say. This week O'Reillys clerk was supposed to call me back yesterday after I made a visit to the store regarding the request for a special order. No call yesterday. Today, I gave him a second chance and I waited until 3:00 PM, but still no phone call. I called the store at 3:00 PM, spoke to the person I was waiting to hear from who gave me some lame brain excuse for not calling. But he did verify my special order had been made which was a relief (done for me without asking for a deposit or payment). Keep in mind this is Mexico.

This week I called a Napa Store in Chico, California, to order a Jeep Cherokee transmission line coupler that is out of stock on Ebay and not available here locally. The phone only rang one time and a human being answered. I was floored to find myself speaking to someone after only one ring of the telephone. Anyway, the clerk said he would order the part for me over the phone (again, without prepay) and he said it would arrive the following day. Much to my surprise, he called back that same afternoon to tell me the part was already there in his store. Now I have to track down a friend of mine in Chico to pick up the part for me (and hopefully mail it to me).

Anyhow, hat's off to Napa, for being the only source that had the item available and for their due diligence in running a business like one should. The local Napa store here closed years ago.

 

[YY1]

10%

 

[DeltaV]

 

[DeltaV]

Less than 10% in Georgia because Bubba has fishing and drinking to do.

 

[Hey-O]

 

[Hey-O]

The new world order.

 

[beanhead]

This is the year we needed to drain our swimming pool (every 5-6 years recommended here). In the past, I threw my trash pump with it's 2" line in and did it myself, then we'd get in there and brush the walls down with chlorine and refill it. This year I've just been too busy with stuff so I called 4 local area full-service pool companies.
2 of them never returned my calls and another one hmmd and hawwed and in the end referred me to someone else they said was 'better equipped'....and that guy never called me back...
They must be so flushed with money that they didn't need mine!

 

[YY1]

If I was in that situation, I'd at least return the call and say it could be months, if that were the case.

 

[cr8crshr]

Happens all the time to me it seems. I have had emails and phone calls promised and then Zip, Nada Zilch, when inquiring about some work I just cannot do myself. One was lawn maintenance where I only had 1 response back and the owner personally showed up to discuss my needs and proposal. I hired him on the spot because his competitors never replied back. Then a week or so later, several that I had asked for a quote and inspection, just showed up unannounced ready to do the work. Cr8chshr don't play that **** and they were very indignant that they should be the ones doing the job. Without even an initial reply or what have you!!! These days I guess these companies don't want the money and just brush you off as a waste of time...cr8crshr/Bill

 

[72redbird]

Nobody calls back anymore. I've called 5 business here in town to come out, take a look at our sales lot and shoot me a quote on the cost of washing the exterior of the units we have here. This account will be worth thousands over the course of the contract. So out of the 5 only 1 has called back and came out to look. I have called the others a few times, still not call back. And the one that did come out and look, been almost 2 weeks and still no estimate! Amazing!

 

[alsant]

Na no one does anymore , it’s a different world we live in now.

 

[moparedtn]

Sadly, it's so frequent in these times to say "I'll get back to you" and not actually mean it - that it's used as a means
of simply blowing someone off.
SOP apparently...

Me being me, I take that sort of thing literally though - and often will call them back after a bit and ask bluntly:
"did you forget to do something?"
Not that I had any hope of actually hearing back from them at that point, but more to let them know I didn't
appreciate the rudeness.
Their reaction is typically one of shock.
GOOD. It oughtta be.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

If I don't return calls I don't work.... I'll admit I don't want to work quite as much as I have in the past, but I still have that response built in...
Can't understand the new way of the world...

 

[Richard Cranium]

After thinking about it, I can count three “I’ll call you backs” that I haven’t received in the last two weeks.

 

[GetX'd]

I’ve given up on a few “friends” that I’ve been the one staying in touch by phone or visit out of state. Seems like people can’t be bothered to pick up the phone for an occasional chat anymore. I simply stopped doing it for them and then they wonder - “Hey where’ve you been”? And then there’s the texting only bs these days. And yep business calls back - not a priority. Except we have our health insurance company with a team of client support people that is unbelievable. They always call back to inform you and have gone multiple times to lengths to make sure it’s a one on one call back. I think that’s almost unheard of anywhere - but based in CA? They’re truly great…. And I compliment them every Single time I call them or have any contact.

I’ll throw one other tidbit into this - Things have gotten exponentially worse with all of these things since the plague and 2020 shenanigans……

 

[j-c-c-62]

Sadly, it's so frequent in these times to say "I'll get back to you" and not actually mean it - that it's used as a means
of simply blowing someone off.
SOP apparently...

The distinction here is IMO, is this somebody you know or have met, do they have a connection with you, are you likely to deal with them again, or is it to their gain to stay connected with you?

If not, "I'll get back to you" should have no more merit today than a typical fleeting campaign promise, and if one feels slighted, your expectations are no longer current, whether you like it or not, so yes SOP, with conditions.

 

[Detective D]

I don't get as much of that in WI. Sometimes.
What I do get is returned calls, or even just conversations, and then whoever it is doesn't actually want to do what their entire business is built to do. But they will answer, or call back, to talk about how they don't want to do it, usually.

HVAC guys that don't want to repair anything. Furnace company in my area actually got downright MAD I didn;t want to replace my furnace for 5 grand, when the repair was 3100. "If that other blower motor goes out it is 900!" He says. That's still 1000 dollars less then new, and the motor isn't bad yet. The guy actually left and I called their office to sk the lady there if he was going to come back and do the repair or not. They did, but the owner guy never talked to me again. Rather lose a customer, almost walk away from money, then acknowledge the math.

Construction/remodelers that don't want to quote. Easier to build a new place then cut a hole in a wall. Easier to hide hurried work I suppose, and no one wants to discuss details of the costs when discussing an entire house I suppose. My living room window has been "not quoted" by 4 seperate companies locally that don;t want to be bothered to even come look. In a small town, that's basically all of them.

Auto parts stores that don;' want to look up my old truck or car to see what they have on the phone. "What year? 98? Yeah I don;t know if we have anything." Can you look? "Uh.... yeah, what was it again?"

Clerk in oreally's a couple years back gave me a 5 minute speech about buying a plug for my brake line. "It's illegal to drive without all your brakes!!" and on and on, when all I wanted was for my old Ram to stop when I was pulling it into my shop instead of rolling through the back wall because the front lines blew. I had some words for that guy before I left. Then I called the regional manager and explained maybe yelling at do it yourselfer's buying parts is not a good practice for a store that sells to do it yourselfer's. Especially right after selling me the rotors and pads and some new line the evening before.

I was in a local department store looking at some stuff in a glass counter. I looked for 20 minutes. I used the pager thing to get someones attention, I looked around in the nearby aisles for a worker, nothing. I did this 3 seperate times over the course of 2 months. Never did by the item I was after. From them anyway. Now, when I call this place to ask about something, they always answer. 50/50 the nice lady actually knows, or even knows what I am talking about, but at least they answer. Maybe I should have called them on my cell and told them where I was in the store?

 

[Stereolab42]

I've lost patience over the years and these days when I'm looking to spend significant money on a business for a service or a product, quick responsiveness is a must. If I leave you a message, Yelp you, email you, or whatever, I'm likely doing the same with five competitors, and the first one to respond with a reasonable price and a good rating is likely getting the job. I've made split decisions to abandon big-dollar purchases or restorations and go in a different direction because nobody contacted me back promptly. I know businesses get weary of dealing with tire-kickers and time-wasters, but unless you're the "best at what you do" and people will put up with you regardless, then you are losing customers by being slow.