What’s with No Call Backs, No Follow-Up? Part #1

Most anyone in the Bay Area can commiserate with me when I say I’m frustrated with service people who don’t return phone calls, and even worse, service companies that promise an estimate and then don’t bother to produce one.

I’m trying to get a couple of projects done around the house — a small area in my backyard needs to be landscaped and I want to remodel a bathroom. For the landscaping, I’m trying a few estimates and I’m shocked that some companies don’t return messages. You keep hearing how tough the economy is, and how people are looking for work, so why not call an eager customer back? I have money and want to spend it!

The contractor came out to look at the bathroom promised an estimate the following week. Two weeks later, I still didn’t have an estimate. Then the following week I called and the receptionist said I would have it by Friday. Still no estimate. I waited more than a month and called again and left a message. I never got an estimate, and with some probing, I learned why. I’ll tell you about that in next week’s blog.