Just how dumb are we?

Twenty per cent of my emails to TREB Realtors come back with the following message:

“The users’ mail folder is over the allowed quota (size).”

This has been going on for years. Either TREB has a crappy e-mail system or thousands of Realtors are damn stupid. There is a 20 per cent chance that my message to a Realtor with a “@trebnet.com” mail account will not get it.

This also brings into question the integrity of our whole system of booking showings for other Realtors. Our booking systems look up their registered name and email contact information so that we can verify the legitimacy of the booking. Also, the listing agent is thus provided with a way to contact the buyer agent after the showing.

Surprisingly, I’ve also come across many Realtors who have never activated their phone’s answering service. In this day and age, these people represent the least professional qualities and surely make the rest of us look bad, never mind undeserving of the commissions we charge.

I think it is time for TREB to levy heavy fines on these repeat offenders. They have the email addresses of these people and can easily send them warning notices. In all likelihood, RECO has some obscure regulation that would also condemn this inaccessibility by 20 per cent of our profession.

I’m damn tired of the incompetence that is being poured into our industry by OREA. I think a mandatory 20-hour class on how to clear your email account or set up your answering service would at least eliminate a few of these incompetent unemployables.

Jim Reid BA, MBA, Broker, ABR, ICI

Royal Le Page – Your Community Realty

Richmond Hill, Ont.