A waste of advertising dollars

Since the sacrag’s inception, many of us have posted on our various real estate transactions. No doubt some of us have had to contract out work in the midst of either buying or selling, and many of us have surely engaged in the financing or refinancing of a mortgage.

Now that the market has cooled, I’m surprised at the apathy or arrogant attitude shown by some companies who spend a bundle on advertising. Here are some examples I’ve encountered:

• Hubby and I are buying a house (since mine finally sold — hooray), so I contacted a local lender who advertises heavily at Sacramento’s most popular chain of sushi restaurants. This company pays to have its logo embroidered on the restaurant’s uniforms, and they have a full-page ad in the menu. We had already gotten a great offer from one lender, but being one to support local businesses, I contacted this company to see if they could give us a better deal. I faxed over what our other offer was, and I didn’t hear a peep from anyone until more than a week later. The owner called me himself, and he was apologetic that nobody had called me, but he assured me that he’d have a proposal to me by the next morning. Three days passed, and he called me and rattled off some terms that sounded great — I asked him to e-mail me or fax me his proposal. That was more than a month ago, and I have not heard a word from anyone at his company.
• There is a company that advertises on KSTE in the morning (and I’m sure on other stations too), and the opening line to their spot is, “Does your personal credit suck?” I’m sorry, but if that’s how you’re opening your commercial, I’m not going to listen to the rest of it (and the answer is “no,” by the way.)
• Yet another company has radio spots that begin with a long-winded explanation of how “Sometimes it stinks to be the customer, and sometimes it stinks to be the business.” Now that the market has cooled, the person in the spot says, it’s the bad time for the business, so come on in and get a deal. So, are they opening admitting that they’re sticking it to the customer when business is good? Hey, I know we’re all in business to turn a profit, but it’s just so gauche to point that out so overtly.
• Yet another local lender talks about how their loans have no points or fees, “because we’re making enough money over the life of your loan.” Gee, thanks. I know this is reality, but again, it’s just so crass to advertise that you have a healthy profit margin.

Even with free advertising, like Craigslist, there are many people who claim to be licensed contractors, electricians, landscapers, etc. who say they’ll call back right away, but never do.

It’s just really sad that I showed more entrepreneurial spirit, customer service, and follow-through with my paper route and Girl Scout cookies when I was in elementary school and junior high than some of these folks who are supposedly bonafide businesses.

Is anyone else put off by this? I know that the Angie’s List website talks about service providers for home repairs, etc., but what confuses me is why companies would spend such good money on advertising and either not follow through or be completely boorish in their messaging?