Alexis

 

There, I feel better now. Thank you all for allowing me to vent.

 

This comment is a very large part of my personality and make up. I simply do not like to talk on the telephone. I especially do not like to talk with someone when I have NO idea of who I am speaking with.

 

Consider this for a moment. If you were speaking with a total stranger that was acting like a friend on your phone, what would you do? 90% of the time if I do answer my listed number, I simply hang up on people that do this.

 

Telephones are intrusive and callers are RUDE. It seems that common courtesy has simply become something that no one feels they must use anymore.

 

I know that when I DO place a telephone call to someone I am careful to listen to their surroundings and to make sure that I am calling at a convenient time for them to speak with me. I keep my calls BRIEF and to the POINT.

 

However, when I am called this never seems to be the case. I can't tell you how many times a gentleman will call me and say, "I saw your ad" and nothing more. This is where I get HIGHLY irritated. IF you saw my ad as you say you did, then you know I do NOT screen over the telephone and you know I REQUIRE screening. This is the way a telephone conversation SHOULD be conducted:

 

Caller: Hello, is this Alexis?

Me: Yes

Caller: My name is XXXXXX and I saw your ad on XXXXX. Is it convenient for you to speak with me for a moment?

Me: ***At this point I will either say yes or that my ability will be severely limited to speak. It shouldn't matter either way. I do not answer specific questions, location questions, service or ANY question for that matter without screening you first.

 

Now, there are several acceptable senarios that could take place from here.

 

But really the ONLY legitimate reason you might have for calling rather than using email would be that you do not have an email account that is private. This is easily fixed by creating either a hotmail or a yahoo email account. Neither of these options require your real information and no one but you will know your password.

 

However, some people just simply refuse to make things easy and would rather I take their information via telephone. If you have an accent, this is NOT possible. I'm sorry, I simply will not understand you.

 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE speak clearly and SPELL all names involved in the screening process. It will help to have my screening form handy because I will need all of the information listed on it. When spelling be aware that "P" can sound like "B", using "B" as in boy or "P" as in parka will help immensely. Have your references ready, again spell names, email addresses, make sure to give me correct contact, advertising and website information. Be aware, I contact providers via their EMAIL ONLY. I only contact them after I have verified the information you have given me AND looked at reviews, advertising and websites. There is a possiblity that a provider could be disqualified as a reference if I cannot verify that she is legitimate and verify her contact information.

 

If I tell you I cannot speak with you at that moment, PLEASE do not push the issue. Give me your name, contact number and convenient time (safe time) to call you back. I may ask you to call back and leave the information on my voice mail if I am somewhere that I cannot write it down. Please honor this request IF you want a return phone call.