Text Decorum – Down the tubes

The other day I received a text inquiry from a real estate agent about one of my Destin Florida listings. I tried to call her back. Of course, she didn’t answer and I left a message on voice mail. Then I responded by text.

I provided the agent with some of her requested information about one of my Destin condos for sale. She had asked whether owners’ pets were allowed. Of course, there are always restrictions (pet size, number of pets, type of pets, dogs, cats, etc.), so asked if I could have her email address. She had only given me her name in her original text, and I wanted to send her more details from the condo documents. I simply asked for her email address for the sake of brevity (after all, we are not writing a book via text).

I received the most terse reply.

“NO SPAM”.

Excuse me?

I was taken aback and wondered who the agent thought I was? Maybe she had so many text messages going at once, that she thought I was an unsolicited phone call, or some junk advertiser?

It took me a few minutes, and I responded:

“Ma’am, this is a real estate agent. I am going to email you the condo documents pertaining to your inquiry. This is not a spam company. This is Wendy Rulnick, Broker, Rulnick Realty”. (Did she actually think I was going to shower her with incessant emails about my listings or some-such?)

This behavior made me aghast. I question how a business person could operate successfully in this less than collegial manner. Who knows what future encounters she may have with the recipient of her admonitions. It seemed a less than lovely way to start a professional relationship.

Perhaps it was an innocent error? Unfortunately, I doubt it.