This just chaps my hide!

[thatcrazyredhead]

Normally, when people email about information, we prefer to call back. There are so many variables which determine what product you need and what the 'estimate' will be (we won't even quote a job until the site inspection) that it could require dozens of emails to even get an estimate of price and products. A real time phone conversation is usually easier, and our salesmen all have cells, they will call you at 2:17am if that's the only time you're free.

I can understand that there can be many variables to a thing that could make emailing difficult with people who cannot be bothered to think, plan, and/or communicate. I, however, take the time and effort to do all three to the best of my ability. I do my research, I find out as much information as I can without having to ask. I organize my questions in as logical an order as possible. I use complete sentences and proper spelling and grammar as much as I can. Sometimes I even attach photos to better illustrate whatever it is I am talking about. It irks me to no end when the company on the other end doesn't even bother to TRY working with me in the way I obviously prefer. If they flat out refuse to do so, then they don't get my business.

[Dips]

I have the problem from the other end.

A customer types up an email with questions.

Unfortunately, there was some information he did not supply which I need to answer the questions. It's OK because the customer probably didn't know he needed that information.

So I write back and ask for the information.

Customer does not supply the information but asks the same questions a different way.

So I apologize that I can't help right now because I still lack some information. I ask for it again this time explaining in more detail why I need it.

One more round but this time I simply copy paste my last request for information into the body of my reply.

Then the customer sends back a request that I call them because this email thing is getting frustrating for them. Yeah. You and me both, buddy!

I'm not saying you do this, of course. It's obvious you wouldn't. Fortunately the majority of my customers don't either. But that tiny minority? Ugh.

Unlike the companies you've dealt with, we actually read emails and respond to them the best that we can. Since we have customers in every time zone in the world it's not practical to expect them to drop everything and call us. It seems pretty stupid for any company to behave that way.

[thatcrazyredhead]

Unlike the companies you've dealt with, we actually read emails and respond to them the best that we can. Since we have customers in every time zone in the world it's not practical to expect them to drop everything and call us. It seems pretty stupid for any company to behave that way.

I'd like to clone you, Dips!

[wagegoth]

A lot of companies that do this are looking to get you on the phone with a salesperson and hoping to sell you something. Another group is an offshore center where they are paid more for phone calls than for emails.

I recently went through a site that sent requests for quotes for new cars to dealers. The dealers that responded with emails with links or messages I was happy to deal with. Those that immediately left me piles of voicemails and emails that just said to call, I avoided.

[thatcrazyredhead]

I've gotten to the point where I won't put my real phone number in an online form. (I don't make one up so some poor random soul gets annoying phone calls, I just put my area code and 555-5555.) That way, they don't even have the option of calling me.

Edit: Actually, once I got an email from a business who said they'd tried calling me, but couldn't reach me on the phone, so could I please call them to get my quote? My response (in my head) was that if you're stupid enough to actually call 555-5555, you're too stupid for me to do business with. Crossed them right off the list!

[Peppergirl]

I so very much feel your pain on this.

I, too, work a really messed up schedule and, while we can make personal calls at work, I work in a call center - so the last thing I want to do is talk on the phone.

I love sending emails via the 'contact us' links and always am very thoughtful, organized and grammatically correct when doing so.

It irks me to no end to get a response to call, or a badly written response in which you can tell the person responding has very little grasp of the English language and/or almost sounds robotic. Bonus points if they've misunderstood my query and answer to something else entirely.

[Mer-Mer]

If you haven't heard that analogy for chronic pain before, here it is: Spoon Theory
)

That is a really awesome analogy. I hadn't ever heard of it before, but it helps me understand a lot. I thought it was some sort of weird British slang for minutes or something, and googled it, but didn't get anywhere since I had the wrong search terms.

[AccountingDrone]

That is a really awesome analogy. I hadn't ever heard of it before, but it helps me understand a lot. I thought it was some sort of weird British slang for minutes or something, and googled it, but didn't get anywhere since I had the wrong search terms.

And it also works for short term illnesses like flu or even a bad case of the intestinal crudies, really anything that would make you get tired faster than normal.

[Kit-Ginevra]

I would tell them 'I do not have a phone,so I cannot be called.' And although it might seem amazing to modern people,there are still people who live in the UK or US who do not own a telephone.Not many,but they are out there.

[Teskeria]

you can always tell when an IT dept didnt bother to read your email when you clearly state you have cleared your cookies and cache and their response is 'Clear your cookies and cache and contact us again if that doesnt work'

[EricKei]

My aunt has this problem too. Although she has problems with everyone's voice, which has led to several misunderstandings.

Just to hazard a guess -- does she assume that what she "heard" is accurate until proven otherwise, even tho she is aware of the issue, or does she ask people to restate what they said?

Then the customer sends back a request that I call them because this email thing is getting frustrating for them. Yeah. You and me both, buddy!

This reminds me of the boss/owner back at AccountingFirm. I learned quickly to not ask more than one or two things per email, as the rest would get ignored. If I tried to clarify, or sent too many emails [keep in mind that this was with a guy who repeatedly told me to keep all inquiries to email whenever possible], I would get told that "He couldn't be bothered", and would simply stop responding for the day. Naturally, if something HE failed to respond to covered an important topic, it was MY fault for failing to bring it to his attention >_<

you can always tell when an IT dept didnt bother to read your email ...'

Got that a lot with tech support for AccountingProgram -- especially with their point of sale product [which had the added bonus of techs who...er...probably did not have English as their first language, and so, were harder to understand/explain to]-- they were reading from a script, as mandated by their bosses, even AFTER I had told them the steps I had already taken. It was really frustrating. Save for the POS proggy, it got much better once we got enough sales to be upgraded to their next higher support tier, where they were allowed to assume that I might have gone through the routine once or twice before.

[raudf]

you can always tell when an IT dept didnt bother to read your email when you clearly state you have cleared your cookies and cache and their response is 'Clear your cookies and cache and contact us again if that doesnt work'

Bonus suck points if you're contacting them back because it didn't work!

And it gets worse when they don't LISTEN to what you say once you get them on the phone. When my eldest was a toddler, he'd dumped tea on my laptop keyboard. I got it cleaned up before it got any further, but the keyboard was fried. It was out of warranty, so I just wanted to buy the dang keyboard for it. Couldn't order it online for some idiotic reason, so I had to contact their customer support..

I explain exactly what happened and what I wanted.. and get told to try using the keyboard in test mode, do this, do that and "Okay, those didn't work, so I'd like you to do a reinstall of the OS to see if that fixes it." I admit, I got a little bitchy with them. "You're f'ing kidding me. Look, my kid spilled TEA in my keyboard. It's FRIED. Not a warranty or service contract issue! I just want to BUY A NEW ONE. Let's just skip the stupid script and let me ORDER A NEW KEYBOARD, MKAY? NO, I DON'T NEED A TECH. I JUST WANT THE PART. Or do I need a sup to do that?"

I wanted to cut them some slack, but all I wanted to was to use my own money to buy the part. I wasn't asking for advice on how to fix it. I'd already run the trouble shooting, and half the keyboard no longer worked and it was the half with the enter key and the all important F7 to F12 keys! I couldn't DO the stuff they were wanting me to do!

[Eisa]

I feel your pain. So, so much. My sleep schedule is very wonky most of the time, so I'm asleep when most businesses are open, AND I have a horrible phone phobia, to the point that even thinking of making a phone call gives me a panic attack. (And making a phone call can make me panic so badly, I throw up. ) I love it when places have the option to email! Yay! Email! And I hate when their only effing response is "call me." Yeah, if I wanted to call you, I would have done so in the first place. >.<

[lachesis]

I have to play devil's advocate here... I work as a customer support rep at a small bank. When a customer emails us to reset their online banking password or something else that requires verification, we ask that they call in for security purposes. I understand everyone's point about being called or to have a company ask you to call in, but honestly some things just cannot be done over email to protect your information.

I just hope there is some light shed on why a call is necessary for some businesses. Upthread, i believe someone mentioned quotes on a project since it's much faster to ask those questions over a call and certain things don't always translate well over email.

Just my two cents.

[thatcrazyredhead]

Recent exchange with a doctor's office:

Me: Good morning! My husband and I need to get physicals so that we can purchase life insurance. We would be new patients and currently have <health insurance>. We are hoping to get appointments on a Saturday, either <date 1> or <date 2>, or <date 3> at the latest. Can you let me know if you have appointments available? Thank you!

Doctor's office two weeks later: Hi ThatCrazyRedhead,
What is the best phone number to reach you on?