In today's information age, it is quite easy to exchange information electronically both with people you know and people you don't know. In response to an ad posted by someone I don't know, I discussed the possibility of this person renting out my camper for a one- or two-week period of time. This exchange was occurring over a community-networking site which allows (verified) neighbors to communicate with one another, ask questions, post events, etc. Everything about this particular interaction with this woman was completely annoying and cumbersome.
It should be noted that she posted an ad about the camper a couple of months ago. I read this ad when she posted it, but I didn't really consider it until recently. I contacted her privately through the site and asked her if she was still looking to rent a camper. Every response she gave me was incomplete! I would ask her a couple of questions, then she would only answer one. Or I would ask her a two-part question and she would only answer maybe one (if any!) of it. Here is how the conversation went:
First of all, her name is Lisa, but after I called her I found out she pronounces it "Lissa". WTF?!? Also, I was asking her all of these questions because I want to know what's involved here. I could charge her a smaller fee for a week if she was going to pick it up / drop it off herself and clean it out and everything, or I could charge her more depending on what all she needed. If we have to clean out the shitter, you bet your ass I'm charging more!
Me: Hi Lisa, are you still looking to rent a camper?
(three days later) Lisa: Could you tell me about the camper, size etc?
Me: I think it is a 26-foot or 28-foot camper. It is a fifth-wheel.
Lisa: How much would you charge a week or 2?
Me: Do you have a hookup for a fifth wheel (to trailer it)? Are you going to be taking it somewhere?
Lisa: No it would be at our house.
Me: Will there be children staying in it, or just adults? This camper also has a toilet, shower, stove, fridge, etc. Do you need to use all of those things or is it mainly just going to be for sleeping? Do you have dates? We are going on vacation in September so I just want to make sure we will be around to bring it to you when the time comes.
Lisa: Adults maybe a week or 2 in July. We are building a house which is almost done we ar waiting for the power to be done from [electric company].
Me: Will you be using the stove and fridge? I assume your house plumbing will be working so you won’t need running water in the camper.
Lisa: Wouldn’t use the stove etc but might use the water
Me: Would you use the toilet? Do you have your water hooked up yet?
Lisa: Don’t have water yet suppose to be this week do you want to just call me xxx-xxx-xxxx?
Me: Can I call you this evening around 8pm?
Lisa: Yes thank you
At exactly 8:00 (on the dot!) I called her but she didn't answer. I assumed that perhaps she wouldn't take calls from phone numbers she didn't recognize, but the fact that she should have been expecting my call and she still didn't answer was ridiculously annoying. I waited five minutes and called her again, and she didn't answer again. I left her a voicemail asking her not to return my call after 9pm because my small child would be sleeping. She called back around 8:45pm, citing some excuse that she left her phone in the house which she apparently never EVER does, and she apologized.
I just don't understand; if it was going to be so difficult (for her) to communicate her needs over the internet, why didn't she just offer he phone number sooner? It would have saved both of us a ton of time. I wouldn't have had to ask her several questions only for her to answer one. I hope all of this effort doesn’t go to waste, and I hope I can profit by letting her rent the camper! What a pain in the ass.
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