Need Advice from Other Phone-Haters

[Jemima]

I have just contacted a tree service that has a nice website and provides email addresses not only for the company in general but for a number of specific individuals and services, such as a free estimate. So, phone-hater that I am, I emailed and described in detail what I would like done. In return, I got an email asking for my phone number, which just made me cringe and was not a required item on their website form. I not only have a pathological dislike of phones, neither my answering machine for the landline nor my TracPhone voicemail is working at the moment and I'm too busy to straighten out the problems right now. I never answer the phones anyway.

My choices are:

1) Ignore this email and get somebody else, because there were two other vendors in my area on Angie's List which were also highly recommended;

2) Reply that there is no way to reach me by phone at the present time without explaining why;

3) Reply by email and vent my frustrations by getting really snotty and pointing out that neither the juniper bushes nor the evergreen tree are growing inside my house, so why don't they just come over and take a look whenever it's convenient?

I'm also uneasy about this company because they turned out to be much larger than I expected for the tiny town where they are located. They have a sales staff, which to me translates into higher prices. I also think people who depend on phones for communication are living in Jurassic Park and generally do not get along with them.

Psychoanalytic advice with regard to my intense dislike of phones is useless. Other than that, what would you do?

Moderators, please feel free to move this to another topic.

[redfox]

Invite them out, via email, to a cuppa coffee & and an in-person estimate.

[creaker]

867-5309 :-) It's universally not assigned because of the song so it's a good one to hand out.

If you want to do business with them, let them know your phone situation via email and see what happens. I do computer administration work and while we have email and instant messaging, sometimes I'd rather talk on the phone because it's sometimes much faster to nail down details that way rather than going back and forth a bunch of times in email. They may be thinking the same way, but might be just fine doing it via email if that's your preference.

I had some tree work done this year. Yelp was a good resource.

[redfox]

Incidentally, what is the phone hate thing about? That has always confounded me...

[Acorn]

I just let people know it's hard to reach me by phone and it's better to email me. It usually works. I can't stand phone communication either. Probably partially because I don't have very good hearing, but I also find phone calls a bit jarring.

[herbgeek]

I hate talking on the phone, particularly with contractors. I don't think quickly on my feet, and prefer to use email where I can carefully construct my question and mull my answers. I feel I bungle my words on the phone, then have to go back and explain that I didn't mean what came out of my mouth, I actually meant this other thing. I also don't like the sales tactic of high pressure sometimes used in person, its easier to say no or ignore in email.

I also hate calling friends, but don't mind receiving phone calls from them. I'm concerned that I'm catching them at a bad time, but they are too polite to say so. I know when they are reading the email from me, its at a time convenient to THEM. My friends all have jobs, kids and multiple other obligations so I hate to interrupt. And cell phones sometimes put awkward pauses in there, making the conversation difficult anyways. Rather do that in person.

[Anne Lee]

People who struggle with reading, writing and/or spelling prefer phone because they capture details better by hearing than by reading. I know I do.

Email them back and simply state that it's easiest to reach you by email.

[treehugger]

I'm not going to try to convince you to use the phone (I don't really like talking on the phone either), but I do think you need to recognize that many businesses still prefer that method for communication. So you will need to make sure to explain that you will only conduct business with them by email. They can't be expected to read your mind or read between the lines of your emails.

Therefore, I don't think any of your 3 choices are likely to produce your desired results and I think you actually do have more choices than that.

Good luck getting your estimates,

Kara

[Jemima]

867-5309 :-) It's universally not assigned because of the song so it's a good one to hand out.

If you want to do business with them, let them know your phone situation via email and see what happens. I do computer administration work and while we have email and instant messaging, sometimes I'd rather talk on the phone because it's sometimes much faster to nail down details that way rather than going back and forth a bunch of times in email. They may be thinking the same way, but might be just fine doing it via email if that's your preference.

I had some tree work done this year. Yelp was a good resource.

Thank you for that number, Creaker. I have one around here somewhere that spells out 'non-publish', but I forgot where I put it.

I find that doing business by phone means a lot of going back and forth, wasting time playing telephone tag, especially with small contractors who work out of their homes. There was a time when emails got lost now and then back in the early days of the Internet, but I think it's nearly 100% reliable now. I've also had people leave messages from cell phones that were out of range or from just plain cheap phones that were so garbled I couldn't figured out who called or what they said.

The most recent was a call from some woman in the security department of American Express who left a message regarding identity theft. Her phone crackled and faded in and out, but I was able to make out her phone number and called her back, leaving a message that I couldn't understand her message, and she never called back, leaving me to worry for several days thereafter. It was scary because AmEx and I had just recently closed my credit card account by mutual agreement because I hadn't used it in five years, but they assured me I could reopen it any time I wished. This call made me break into a sweat because I immediately thought someone had, in fact, reopened it posing as me.

I can understand wanting to use the phone when you're helping someone with a computer problem. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with the Help Desk during my previous career as an auditor, from which, thank God, I'm now retired. Legitimate business calls have never bothered me, it's the nitwit stuff: wrong numbers, pushy salespeople, unintelligible messages, people who are bored and just want to chit-chat at length at their convenience, et cetera.

Thanks again. Your empathetic response is greatly appreciated.

[Jemima]

Apparently someone at the tree service company thinks the same way I do, i.e., never mind the phone number, and full speed ahead.

I went out early this morning to mail a birthday card to a friend in Florida, ran a few errands on the way back, and found an estimate tucked into my front door when I got home. It's about half what I expected and I only have to clear up a few minor points with them, so I'll be faxing the contract back tonight for tweaking and we'll be ready to roll. This kind of fast action impressed me well.

I must put in a plug for Angie's List while I'm at it. The veterinary hospital I've been using has become unsatisfactory over the past few years, so I looked up others in my area and came up with the cat doctors of my dreams. They're a little farther away, but they offer really good boarding services, which the current vet does not, and overall got rave reviews. I've only been a member of Angie's for two days and I've already gotten my money's worth.