I have been wanting to see this particular person for well over a year, and for a variety of reasons (former agency closing, schedules not meshing, whatever) it just never happened. Candidly, there are few women that are more my type.  So, when I got an email on Saturday that she would be in Baltimore this week for a couple of days before heading to DC, I immediately (like within a minute) responded and booked a 2 hour appointment.

So, the big day arrives and as usual I am to call to determine the location.  Well, much to my surprise, without prior notice, she is now in downtown DC, not at BWI as planned.  It is now 90 minutes prior to the appointment and I am 45 minutes north of BWI.  

Obviously,I had to cancel and it should be even more obvious that I was pissed as hell at the lack of consideration shown.  Perhaps to some it makes little difference when it comes to these things, but common courtesy should always prevail. Give a guy a little notice please.

Now I don't know if it was the lady's fault or the assistants fault, but I can tell you one thing, this person is now off my list.  The old adage burn me once...well you know the rest.

This could be a sticky situation. While yes, it would have been nice for her to give you notice, did you make sure she knew it was okay for her to contact you? Some clients may not like you contacting them and she probably thought you were one of those guys.

I understand your point, but yes her assistant had my email and my cell number, both of which go to my BlackBerry 24/7.  Plus, it's not like this was a last minute change on her/their part.  If the decision was made not to be in Baltimore/BWI on the 21st (as her email to me and her ad clearly stated) and to relocate to downtown DC, it was clearly done well in advance.  In fact, since my appointment was in the early afternoon of 21st, the move was probably made on the 20th. I had already received 2 emails from the assistant previously.  So, I think a communication of change of the appointment TO ANOTHER CITY might have been something you would want to tell the client.

Things like this seem to happen frequently. Nature of the biz, I guess. Doesn't make it any less maddening. Communicating is not that hard.

What happened is really unacceptible and I would first look to place responsibility with her assistant.

I would see if I could determine whether your date was assuming you would be informed by her assistant on her change in venues. It may not be her fault at all. I know of cases where providers thought they were paying for someone's help in scheduling who actually knew what they were doing only to find they did not.

Dont give up on your friend yet! I would give her a chance to redeem herself. Hope it works out for you and youre certainly owed an explination.

TGB:

It's been a while I hope all is well with you.

Valid points have been made so I wont rehash them.

When your disappointment has dulled perhaps you will consider this prospective. Based upon what you wrote I take it she is NOT from this area ? If this be the case, could another factor be she was merely ignorant of not only the geography but of how the roads are laid out and the traffic flow of the region? How many times have we read "a convenient walk from downtown" only to find that walk was two miles or that 5 min drive was only 5 mins if you drive it a 1 am !

Perhaps she genuinely didn't know downtown DC is NOT a "quick and easy"...(the way I love my women) ... drive from BWI. It may look easy on a map, but if you don't live here, you may not have a clue.

Mishaps happen. I can't tell the number of times I've had to scramble to cover an associates lack of preparation, commonsense, direction or lack of honoring her commitments. So I get it, I really do. I merely present for your consideration how something as small as "not having a geographical clue" could lead to the end result you experienced.

Sincerely,

Lee Dreams
Edamus, bibamus, gaudeamus.


-- Modified on 4/22/2010 2:43:13 PM