Is it too much to ask that service providers CALL if they are going to be late for a scheduled appointment?

I’ve been waiting at home for a HVAC repair person to come out to fix our humidifer. He was supposed to be here between 9am and 2pm. It’s now 10 minutes after 2pm.

I called the main office and was informed that they were running behind schedule. They had some No Heat emergency calls that had priority.

Obviously I don’t mind if they have emergency calls that have to be taken care of first … but, in my opinion, it should be standard operating procedure that they call me to say they are running behind schedule. Maybe even give me the option to reschedule (although I wouldn’t have opted for that this time).

When my Covad DSL went out, they the repair tech called to tell me that he was 10 minutes behind schedule … and he called more than an hour before he was due.

I’ve also had service techs from other companies arrive BEFORE they were scheduled … stick around a few minutes, leave a note that they were here and I wasn’t, then leave. I, of course, arrived at home right on time to find their note.

Of course, the worst was ADT … when we had our windows replaced they were supposed to come out and remove all the sensors from the existing windows. They never showed up and never called. And I took time off of work to be here when they were scheduled to arrive.

Maybe I should start sending invoices to service providers that don’t meet their promised time window and don’t even try to notify. What do you think? $25 / hour? Maybe $50 / hour on weekdays where I have to take time off of work.

[tags]service, repair, appointments, schedule[/tags]