I've been a member here for 14 years, met some truly great guys and made a few really good friends. I've noticed lately a change in behavior in the classifieds. I've had more than a few cases where I'll receive an email asking some questions on items I've offered for sale.

I'll reply, usually I include my cell number as it's more convenient to just chat than reply to an email or respond through the forum. And.......nothing. No acknowledgement of the email at all. I'm a big boy, if one says they're not interested that's fine with me, won't get offended. Have the courtesy to say so.

I know we get busy with life-my older son just blessed me with my second grandson last week-but try to find 5 minutes to reply.

It's not something I'm used to on this forum-it's always been populated by a higher "caliber" (pun intended) of member. I'm not quite in to "grumpy old guy" stage yet but I might be getting close , just something I wasn't used to here.

To those of you I've done transactions with in the past I thank you for your speedy replies, payment/shipping and overall very fair deals.

Thought it was worth mentioning.

Well spoken, this post should be a "sticky" in the classified

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Jamie wants big boom

I think courtesy is anything but common today. I have entered the "grumpy old guy" stage.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

I appreciate your thoughts and agree generally. I will say that during the day I can email and text but can NOT talk on the phone. So, I am sure there are others that have the same issues. That does not mean that a lack of any response is appropriate or considerate but does explain why some may not call.

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Who watches the watchers?

When you reply do you answer their question or just provide your cell phone number?

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Why does "common courtesy" sound like an oxymoron to me??

Don't let them get you down, we still have many great folks here.......and we won't be sullied by others inaction and/or discourtesies.

This is by far and large THE BEST FIREARMS FORUM on the WWW - Just ask the big gorilla if you don't believe me

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On the Oak Savannah

S&W Fan

I will agree with you on your points. If people cant talk, the least they can do is send a quick message back to acknowledge they received your information.
The lack of curtesy is spreading all over, and is mirrored on many other levels.

Thank you,

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Henry

Yes I always answer the questions and include my cell after I type my name. During work time I can reply more quickly on the cell than through email or messages here.

To me, "common courtesy" is much like "common sense" - unfortunately, neither seems to be very common these days. I tend to agree there seems to be a lack of common courtesy these days. As a result, I've tended to become quite reticent in offering help and advice on this Forum over time. For instance, I got tired of someone asking for opinions on the value of a firearm, and once I provided my opinion, others would remark about how stupid or wrong my opinion was - many of these critics would wait until after the OP would post the purchase price of the firearm they inquired about, and quite often, the OP would not thank or otherwise acknowledge those that provided opinions and/or advice. Same goes for those asking for photos of firearms or equipment. I know people are busy, but I just think behavior such as that is rude at best, and I'm frankly tired of it and have decided to be judicious in my responses.

Regards,

Dave

Yeah i know the feeling but it's not just a recent development. i've answered questions, taken and sent pics for guys and they don't even take a moment to say thanks or reply at all.
i've also had guys say they were going to buy something whether in response to my wts or their wtb then they go silent and i never hear from them again.

now there are also plenty of honorable members here but for the others, this applies a bit....

This may be a little off-base. We are all, to one degree or another, influenced by emotions and our values. Courtesy, civility and politeness have served me well.

To the point: two very dear friends, on this forum, in the past, offered up two really nice, fairly costly karmas. The winners of said karmas never acknowledged receipt nor conveyed any thanks or gratitude for the more than generous gifts.

The givers did not do it for accolades but out of kindness and a desire to give back to the forum community that had given much to them.

They were both stung by it. They hold no animosity but they have downloaded it to their internal memory stick.

A little courtesy goes a mighty long way, especially in these times when it's harder to find.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

It isn't a new development,it's just means no.Move on to the next sale.

Courtesy, civility and politeness have all seemed to taken a downturn lately, just life in general. Unfortunately I don't see that changing in the near future, so I just go about trying to keep positive with those that I interact with and hope maybe that causes another to do the same, and so on....

I've often told others that this has been the best forum I've been part of, thankfully the good folks here FAR outweigh the bad.

I think its the "Internet" and "Texting" generations... its all they know, a lot of younger people dont even want to Email anymore..its all text text text.
I see it a lot on Craigs List too now.. ads will say "Text me, I wont answer emails." ... Im like. What? isn't E-mailing basically just texting but on a different platform? lol

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my short signature.

Me too, especially BC, (before coffee).

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Texting is one thing I will not do and can't understand why people text back and forth and not simply make a call instead. Answering machines also bug me, specifically those at businesses.

I recently needed a plumber. Not being aware of what plumber was that much better than another, I went to the yellow pages (yeah, I still use a phone book). I started calling until I got an actual person on the phone, probably the 4th or 5th call I made. I hired the guy and he came out the same day and fixed my problem. He asked why I chose him for the job and I told him because he answered the phone. I'll use him again in the future.

I think technology is mostly a good thing but too much of a good thing can also be bad.

I used to think the same way. I mean obviously both parties have a phone in their hand when they are texting each other so why not just make a call?

But, over the years I've come to embrace text messages. Taking a phone call while I'm at work isn't feasible about 90% of the time. Someone can send me a text and I can reply to them or call them when I get a chance. Also, there are times when people are around me and I'd just rather those people not have to hear every word I say if I have to take a call. A brief text conversation is more discreet in the presence of others. (Although I do my best to totally ignore my phone when I'm in the presence of other people because it would be rude to be constantly messing with my phone.)

There are also people that I need to share information with that I'd really just rather not talk to sometimes. Take my mother for example. A phone call to her with a simple question will typically turn into at least a half hour conversation with her telling me about every little thing that's been going on in her life lately. A couple of quick texts and my question is answered and I can get back to doing whatever it is I was doing.

Texting and driving is a huge pet peeve of mine. Living in a large urban area I see it all of the time. I can only hope when these idiots cause an accident that they suffer worse injuries than the other party.

Thats funny you say this... The company i work for does not use an answering machine or service for our phone system... we have someone here live during business hours and if after business hours we can all be contacted by emails or just by calling our cell phones. since we dont deal with the general public we give out our cell numbers to our customers... I have helped customers and have even provided them quotes over email at 10 pm while watching TV...lol

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