Incompetence is Rampant

My rant for today involves the continued incompetence by listing agents and brokers. Someone takes a listing for a home - bank owned of course - and places it on the MLS. The lock box is not ARMLS and so it required contacting the number given on the MLS form. Guess what, no one answered at 4 PM in the afternoon. So I contact a number for the agent whose name was listed on the form.

After a dozen rings the lady answers with such noise in the background I could barely hear her. I requested the code to show my clients and she said, "I don't know why they put my name on the sheet." Then she groused, "I'm in California and I don't have my book with me to give you the name of the agent." I said, "apparently, you don't want to sell this house." She then said can you call me back tomorrow? I thanked her and hung up.

I'm wondering, like her, why put a number for an office on the listing and then never answer the phone. Second, why put her name on the listing when she obviously didn't have the information and frankly, wasn't interested in selling the home? This is an incompetent broker and agency.

I certainly can understand that people go on vacation but they should at least leave correct information with someone to assist in selling the listing. A number of weeks ago I called an agent a dozen times and received no return calls. Finally I called the broker to get information on the listing and the code to show my client. The broker got back to me and sheepishly told me that the agent was out of town and she apologized and said she had no idea he was gone. I indicated how unprofessional it was to not receive a response and again she apologized.

After making an offer on the property and three weeks later not hearing anything after several attempts I had to call the broker again. Once again I was given an apology and she had to track down the agent to get the information. I wonder how this company, along with the other still remain in business. Yes, incompetence is rampant!