Warning, if you work or teach for a drum shop..

Do not give your phone number to customers!

Over the past year my phone number has been given out to people who pretended to be prospective students, or through salesmen at the chain I used to teach for. Usually the reason seemed benign. The result though has been phone calls at 11pm regarding "what snare should I buy?" Or "is Brady a reputable company?".

Foolishly I offered advice only to have it not acted upon and then faced with the same question asked countless times.

I am over it!

Don't allow yourself to be caught in this trap.

As far as I can tell, non pro drummers like some sort of association to pro players and then try to hook in. Why? I have no idea. All I know is it has saturated my patience and made me intollerant. Which has transfered to the site.

I made the effort to practice and buy pro gear. It is not for me to absolve those who did not.

Good point...thanks for passing the word mate!

I just got a text! Here it is:

"I saw a Bnady blackwood snare at #####, is it worth $"""" at over 1am????

I am over it and will crack heads. Of course I will then be the bad guy. I was awoken at 4 am a few days ago by a text regarding Aquarian heads?????

Simple solution ... screen all your phone calls with an answering machine ... those people you want to talk to, you pick up, or call back ... those you don't .... you don't ...

I only have a mobile. I must take calls because one may be a genuine student or session enquiry.

I will however stop being so open to offer help. My time is worth money after all. I have worked drums for people like Pearl jam, Smashing pumpkins, Alice in chains, Sound garden and many more. My time and effort is often undervalued by me. Enough is enough.

Might I suggest you either get a second line or second phone. Like any other business, you answer your instructor phone during normal business hours, then turn it off. Let the messaging system pick up everything afterwards. In your "pre-beep" recording, indicate to the caller what you do (teach lesson or whatever). Then,point them to the internet if they are looking for purchasing advice.

If you are handing out your phone number on business cards, again indicate what you do and what your business hours are.

And you can always query the caller as to how they got your number so you will know who's the breach point.

playItLikeThis said:

Might I suggest you either get a second line or second phone. Like any other business, you answer your instructor phone during normal business hours, then turn it off. Let the messaging system pick up everything afterwards. In your "pre-beep" recording, indicate to the caller what you do (teach lesson or whatever). Then,point them to the internet if they are looking for purchasing advice.

If you are handing out your phone number on business cards, again indicate what you do and what your business hours are.

And you can always query the caller as to how they got your number so you will know who's the breach point.

Click to expand...

+1. Maybe it's a matter of just setting your ringer to off at a certain point and you address any inquiry during your own set time.