Not long ago, I spoke with 
a young woman who was trying to buy a house. She was pre-approved and ready to go. She called her agent, but her agent was on vacation. The buyer was given the back-up agent who said, "Sorry, you're on your own."
It might be me, but if I discovered that my staff was turning business away, I'd be pretty irritated. Ironically, the buyer's agent has a reputation for being a challenge to work with. I sold a home in January to a client who tried to work with her. My client said, "She opened the door and after a few minutes said, 'Are you going to buy it or not?'" Excuse me?
This is one time where being the second agent (buyer's agent in this case) is easy if you just show common courtesy to a client. In a sales business, client referrals and client reviews are the vine of life or the kiss of death. How this agent stays in business is a mystery. Her broker and I have spoken multiple times since this incident, but I haven't brought it up because I didn't know who the back-up agent was. I do know I would appreciate knowing if my agents are running business off, and in this case, that conversation might come around eventually.
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