Or, He Could Have Just Called At a Reasonable Time

As a rule, my phone is off between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. Those aren't business hours and I don't have a reason to take calls during those hours anyway. These personal boundaries were set months ago, and it has been a sanity saver. This way, I won't get the the, "Mrs. Landlord, my sprinklers didn't go off last night and my grass might turn yellow," calls at 6 a.m. I just wished I had figured out how to do this much sooner in life.

We have an issue at Mrs. Sherwood Forest's home. It is kinda ugly and there were rumors it would require insurance. So, we called the insurance company and sent an adjuster out there. Of course, the adjuster was on Southern Time, and didn't bother to contact me at a reasonable schedule. Then he couldn't "remember what he did with Mrs. Sherwood's phone number" and called me back four days later to ask for it again. Meanwhile, Mrs. Sherwood was strumming her fingers impatiently, wishing her home would be fixed.

This past week, Mr. Adjuster called me on Monday at 6 a.m. He left a message, ordering me to call him right away. I called him back at a reasonable and mutually win-win business hour and got voice mail. In my message, I also pointed out there is a two hour time difference and it would be best to call me after 10 a.m. his time.

Tuesday he called me at 6:30 my time, leaving me a message that it was urgent to talk with me and to call him back. And, because my phone is on do not disturb, I didn't get the message until later in the day. What did I do? I called him back, left another message saying that unfortunately, there is a two hour time difference, and it would be beneficial for both of us if he could call me after 10 a.m. his time and I was anxious to get moving on this particular issue, as the tenant has waited long enough.

Wednesday he called me at 6:17 a.m., and left me a message, yada, yada, yada. I returned his call yada, yada, yada... and said, "I will expect your return call on Thursday morning at 10:05 your time. I will be waiting by the phone so we can get this resolved."

Today, at 8:01 a.m. Mr. Adjuster called me. He wanted to let me know the insurance company had denied my claim. "You could have left that in a voice mail earlier in the week." I replied. His retort was that I should have answered my phone earlier in the week.