What would you do?

[kaylee]

If you showed up at a ladies place and she didn't answer the intercom? Would you try calling her and wait for a few minutes before leaving? Or would you get someone to let you in the building, buzz you up in the elevator and knock on her door for five minutes?!
I had a potential booking for this afternoon, I e-mailed my address and asked for a return e-mail to confirm, when I didn't recieve a reply I e-mailed again, still no reply, so I figured the appointment was off and made other plans. I came home a few hours later to find out that the client had asked someone in the building to let him in, had asked someone to buzz him up in the elevator and then knocked on my door for five minutes!!
I would never go knocking on someones door if I hadn't been buzzed in and invited up. I try to keep a low profile in my building and try to keep my place discreet, is it too much to ask for the same privacy that I show clients?

 

[wolverine]

First off, the people in your building are complete douchebags for letting a complete stranger come into your building. As for the confirmation, either the guy is a complete asshat or maybe your emails weren't specific enough? Also, a phone confirmation might be better because not everyone has access to their computer all the time. I remember that you asked for my phone number when I booked with you so that you could confirm that afternoon (and btw, sorry I had to cancel on you )

 

[kaylee]

He must have recieved the e-mail in order to get my address, and the last e-mail I sent was very specific, I said that I would be leaving for the day as I hadn't heard back from him. That's okay that you had to cancel, I'm glad you were feeling better later

 

[DaBoneman]

It is not too much to ask. The guy is obviously a completely self centered idiotic jerk-off.

Use the F@#$ing phone guy, it's a great invention.

 

[Commander Chode]

I really do like to have voice contact the day of the meeting.
A meeting set up purely via email/PM makes me a bit nervous.

That being said the dude needs to be smacked with a clue-by-four.

 

[kaylee]

I just needed to vent somewhere when I got home, nice to see that you guys would show some discretion. I usually get a phone number but he didn't want to provide one, it was a work e-mail address so that was good enough for me.

 

[wolverine]

A work email addy? Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! OK, that confirms it - this guy is a complete tool. His workplace is likely screening his emails, and I'm sure that his bosses wouldn't be too impressed by his using company email for communicating with SPs.

 

[Commander Chode]

I read that as "work[ing] email address". But if Wolvie is right, then the guy needs much more then a single application of clue-by-four.

 

[Yman]

I guess when you send your address to someone in the future you can add something about a 'confirmation' is required to book the appointment-- a guarantee sort to speak.

But enevitably something new and unforeseen will come up.
Sucks.

 

[magician]

Sorry to hear your unfortunate experience Kaylee. Your potential client is one dumb mofo. It doesn't seem like discretion is his number one priority. More importantly, I hope your neighbours didn't give you any crap to hear since it wasn't your fault.

 

[hitrack]

Far as I'm concerned e-mail is a botchy way to get ahold of someone. And to get ahold of someone in a hurry.....forget it. It's gotta be a phone.

 

[Fudd]

Suggest you just give them your address first then when they arrive at the building get them to phone you at which time you give them your appartment number. That way you don't end up with the guy at your front door unxepectedly.

Another SP handled our first encounter this way. At the time I didn't understand why but I get it now.

Also, would suggest you get your clients to call you 1 hour before the appointment to verbally confirm.

One quick question Kaylee, are you a smoker or non smoker?

 

[zlmmm]

Wolverine or other techies, I have a question: Is it equally easy to screen web mail accessed through work networks as it is email through an Exchange server? I always avoid risque communications through my work email account to avoid the screening and to protect my personal information, but I must confess to having some borderline communications via webmail at work.


I confess to having a torrid long distance affair a few years back and the amount of filth generated by both of us through my work and home email accounts was insane and I know my employer was screening. I am sure one of the IT guys was hot and bothered by several smoking written fantasies 8 or 10 times over the course of the 8 month fling!

 

[wolverine]

The main difference is that the company email is saved and backed up on company servers, whereas web email is likely not. I believe that any Internet monitoring in place will only pick up on websites visited, not on the contents of your email. A red light will likely go off if you click on a email link to the www.gigantic-black-cocks-ripping-apart-petite-young-blonde-pussy.com website and start saving pics.

And the main reason for monitoring company email is not to check up on your productivity but due to legal reasons. It is well-known that when a firm is under investigation, auditors and lawyers have gone through years of data on backup storage and have found emails that ended up biting the company in the ass (e.g. incriminating evidence of insider trading; comments about customers). The cleaner the company email, the cleaner the company.

 

[Commander Chode]

Wolverine or other techies, I have a question: Is it equally easy to screen web mail accessed through work networks as it is email through an Exchange server?

If all the communication with the web mail server is encrypted (eg, SSL http aka https) it is near impossible as they would have to have a screen and keyboard sniffing software on your machine or have a man-in-the-middle setup for your web mail service. Some web mail services only encrypt the authentication exchange (your password) but still send the contents unencrypted. Rebuilding the unencrypted network traffic and extracting the contents of the email is trivial. And some web mail services don't even encrypt the authentication exchange which would allow anyone to read your mail if they could see the network traffic.

There is a large difference between it being possible and your employer being clueful enough to do it.

The paranoid employee brings his own laptop (with an encrypted file system), VPNs to home, and still uses a fully encrypted web mail connection.

 

[OTR2]

Back to the original post, I'm guessing that if you're doing in-call out of your own apartment, while it cuts down on your business overhead the obvious trade off is that your clients know where you live, and you know how easy it is to get an unthinking neighbour who thinks they're being helpful to hold the door and let you into the building.

 

[Marvin]

He obviously had no tact and discretion as well as no respect for you to possibly put you into a compromising position. I hope he was a first time client and based on his actions, he won't get a chance to screw up again.

Remember, you hold a trump card right now, you have his work email address.

Good luck

 

[kaylee]

I just wanted to post this so that if anyone else is in this situation they show some consideration. Regarding the work e-mail address, I get alot of those and as far as I know there has never been a problem, unless I know the person I don't usually discuss anything other than the date and time of an appointment and never mention anything about my sessions in an e-mail. Sometimes people are uncomfortable about giving out their phone number so a verifiable work e-mail account is the only solution.

 

[WC Drifter]

What would I do?

I would be standing outside the front door kicking myself for not reconfirming our appointment.

 

[Penhold]

Kaylee

Its hard to believe anyone could be so stupid or indiscrete as that person was!

In the past I've also encountered the situation where no one answers the intercom. Since its possible that its not working (happened to me once) or that the SP is in the shower/otherwise indisposed in the bathroom/on the phone, it seems only reasonable to wait a few minutes and try buzzing a second time. If there's still no answer, the solution is to walk around the block and phone her to tell her you're having difficulty and you'll try once more in 5 minutes and if she doesn't answer then you're leaving. Avoids lots of confusion and gives certainty to both parties.

What your client did was totally unacceptable - no ifs, ands or buts. Hopefully he reads PERB and will learn something from the posts on this thread.