Have you ever been "stood up?"

Jay - You really are fortunate. Twice in 5 years isn't bad at all.

Tom - I thought it was interesting. Just asking people to be accountable causes some of them to BE accountable.

Wallace - You're too nice. After a while I did set some rules about how long I'd wait.Can't remember if I ever went back. My feeling was that if someone is going to be late, it's not that difficult to call.

I set the same rules for how long I'd wait for other appointments too - and you should have heard the dentist's receptionist squeal when I said "We've been here 20 minutes past our appointment time and you have not had time for us. We're leaving now."

Cheryl - Pre-approval? You mean for their loan?

Pete - Can't smack 'em with your can if they aren't there!

Debbie - That huge waste of time is what's maddening. You can't start doing something else when you're waiting for an appointment to show. Or worse - when you've gone to a property to meet someone.

April - It would be nice if buyers didn't need/want to look at homes on Sunday. But when I was an agent I used to try to remember that in some cases that was the only day that both husband and wife were off work.

Gita - calling, even at the last minute, is better than leaving you sitting there waiting for an hour. But yes, still annoying and a lot of work to call everyone else involved and let them know.

Keller Williams - Anybody can be a few minutes late. A flat tire, a traffic tangle, or something else unexpected. And where I live cell phones don't always work. So I always had that same attitude - they're just delayed. That is, until an hour went by.

Debbie - That's wise practice.

Wayne and Jean - I think some of them do. And they think they're your only customers, so the world revolves around their time frame. Thank goodness the "completely rude" are in a minority.

Doug - that is a nice dream.

Joan - People just don't think. I wonder why Sundays are worst? Maybe because they get company or someone calls with an idea to do something fun?

Bobbie - I think anyone in a service profession has probably been there.

Now that I've switched from selling real estate to writing for people who do, it still happens to me occasionally. The difference is now it's a telephone appointment. Someone will ask me to call at a given time, then all I get is voice mail. I know agents can't control incoming calls, so will leave a message and then call back in a little while, but if it goes on for an hour I decide the person wasn't serious.

I emailed one gentleman to ask if he'd forgotten and he wrote back in an angry tone. NO he didn't forget - he was busy. He made it sound like I was the rude one for expecting him to keep his commitments. Not the kind of agent I wanted to do business with, so... "Bye!"

Chris Ann - I found that surprising too, but I guess it's getting the customer to answer and commit that makes the difference.

Karen - Well, at least they found out how it felt! I got stood up twice in a row by a young couple - and the second time I should have known better than to show up. I saw their pickup parked near a fishing hole on my way to town to meet them, but thought I must be mistaken. Surely someone who claimed to be a friend of mine wouldn't just go fishing without bothering to cancel the appointment. Yes he did!

Good for you Christiansen Team - it sounds like you're establishing a good relationship with those buyers from the start.

Mike - That reminds me of doctors and dentists who over-book, just to make sure their precious time is never wasted. It's the same thing as saying "I'm important and my time is important. You and your time are not."

Good for you for dumping them!