The Price Of Listening Is Too High

I work front desk reception at a church that regularly rents out rooms to the community. I get a phone call today about a rental, but the rental administrator isn’t in.

Caller: “Can you tell me if [meeting space] is available on [date]?”

Me: “Absolutely, but in order to make the actual reservation and check that there are no pending events on that date, you’ll need to contact [Rental Administrator]. I can give you her email address.”

Caller: “Can you check?”

I am literally looking at the public website because I don’t have access to anything more than that.

Me: “Okay, it looks like that space is open after 5:00 pm on that date.”

Caller: “So, how do I reserve it?”

Me: “Email [Rental Administrator]. I can give you her email address.”

Caller: “Can you tell me how much it will cost?”

Me: “[Rental Administrator] is the person that has the power to negotiate price, but I can tell you what our official starting price is.”

Caller: “What’s that?”

Me: “[Price].”

Caller: “Wow, that’s a lot!”

Me: “[Rental Administrator] can negotiate it with you.”

Caller: “Seriously, that’s prohibitive. We’re a community group.”

Me: “[Rental Administrator] is the one with the power to negotiate the price.”

Caller: “I know people at your church, and they said it would be [lower price]!”

Me: “[Rental Administrator] can negotiate that with you.”

Caller: “Because [price] is just too much.”

Me: “If you’ll email [Rental Administrator], she can negotiate the price with you. Can I give you her email address?”

Caller: “That price is just too high. My group can’t afford that.”

Me: “[Rental Administrator] has the power to work with you and maybe lower it if you’ll email her.”

Caller: “Can I talk to her?”

Me: “She’s not in right now. Can I give you her email address?”

This went on for another two minutes before he finally took her email address and announced that he would be emailing her because [price] was just too much and he was part of a community group.