I had seven showings to book at around 8pm at night. It took 30 minutes to accomplish because all the offices are closed and I'm dealing with very busy call-in centres. Out of the seven, four put me on hold; three were long distance and never answered; and four didn't understand which agent I was looking for.

The next day, of course, only 3 confirmations came in. I re-called to the now open office and asked for a 2nd request. The first requests hadn't come in I was told. They'd book now.

So much for 24 hours notice.

Three of the agents never got their message which is not a surprise. I find most answering services somehow lose showing requests on a regular basis.

My client and I went to see 5 homes. The other two hadn't confirmed by showing time. 

So my question is... if you're paying so much money to your brokerage for a great service, why is an answering service responsible for your image? Most people (agents and customers) call at night after the office is closed. The services most brokerages use are the same and are overworked. They also have no clue who you are.

I work for a small, 100% commission brokerage. You know, the kind that are frowned upon by the big franchises. We hire a top knotch answering service because they're in charge 24/7. And most of the people answering know me as they've had our business for some time.

I pay for answering services just like you do. I pay a little more because they're on tap all day and night. But I don't pay the heavy fees you pay to have office staff work 9-5 when most clients are working themselves (and not thinking about real estate).

Wouldn't it be easier to do the "showing" thing by computer? Are we such an backwards industry that we can't come up with an online system for booking? 

Of course, then you wouldn't need all that office staff. Heaven forbid, we need to keep them working. After all, that's what the fees are for.

Robert J. Morrow is editor of www.HamiltonHomeReview.com, an online real estate magazine serving Greater Hamilton, Ontario. Click here for a FREE SUBSCRIPTION sent to your email monthly. Click here to receive new Hamilton area listings in your email daily.