I know an agent who is also a member of another group I belong to. She NEVER returns my calls relating to the other group. Because of that I wouldn't ever refer a sale to her. Maybe she's responsive to clients, but as far as I'm concerned, the way she does one thing is the way she does everything.

That is one of the reasons that the average income for agents is so low.

I have never understood that either, especially when I see these types of agents thriving.

Roy Kelley nailed it and the ones who practice it have no clue!

They are at their "day jobs" - that is how they survive (and why they are so hard to reach). That, or they lean on their spouse's income that funds their unprofessionalism.

Some of them don't survive or not for long. And sadly those are agents you don't really want to deal with anyway. It sucks for the client but it might be for the best.

In my market, those agents typically are the listing agents that list a lot of properties and the goal is to double-end them ... so why bother returning calls from other agents? 

Same. Some even put in the agent comments to not call them. 

I am with you, go figure but I sometime wonder what other agents think of my business practices.  Not.

I agree with Kathleen--they just want to double end the transaction.  Sometimes it is best to disable caller ID to get them to answer.  I truly do remember every agent that doesn't return phone calls.

I have no clue why agents don't answer their or return calls. You can't fix stupid and Roy just nailed it!

I don't think there is one single reason but some of the top ones IMHO:

some are just obtuse enough NOT to realize your response and positive interactions with other agents can have greater impact on their livelihood than they could possibly imagine.

as Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® e-Pro CRS RCS-D Vets mentioned, some have a full time job outside of real estate that is more of a priority for them than actually serving clients in a way all clients deserve.

some simply play the numbers game of obtaining listings and not servicing them, if it sells it sells...and will continue to "play the game" of real estate until they run out of victims.

there are full time agents, part time agents and sometimes agents and sometimes it just isn't convenient for them to care about what is best for the client.

Some just don't give a d@mn the COE or about "raising the bar" in the profession and do more harm than good.

and that's not all I have to say about that but will stop there.

This is one of my non-negotiable, passionate subjects i.e. ANSWER your phone/contact. We are in the customer service industry. Demonstrate that!

I know a lot of agents that I feel like this is a hobby vs. making a living.  Generally they are drawing a pension from a former career.

I know,   I get voice mail so many time and can not believe they are with clients of at closing all the time.

If an agent takes a very discounted fee on a listing side, they will likely try to double end to be paid better. In other words, if the seller signs a contract to pay the listing agent 1% or less, they might get offers presented by that agent only~ not ethical but there is the reason to expect someone to work for free or very little. I do not judge and still try to get some kind of response. The most annoying for me personally when you submit the full offer and you can not even get any way of confirmation or a receipt.

 The coming shift with fees might change that. 

If that happens, I will call the broker until the agent is notified. One time an agent ghosted me and I called the brokerage to ask if he was in an accident or had a family emergency. It worked!

I have one right now, he lives in TX, lists in Denver and almost always his VM is full.

It is a mystery, for sure!  I do what you do, I list out how many times I've tried to reach them, by method, and over the number of days.  That satisfies the clients.

List properties, know your sellers and deal direct with them Michael Elliott ! Part time buyer agents, buyer agents from four hours away that are not in your market place are not worth chasing. List, market, sell, repeat.

Truly, Michael, a question for the ages! And to add insult to injury... how about when you call some agents and their voice mail box is full?

Oh, I'm with you 100%, Michael!

Then there are some who play online all day and sell an average amount of real estate. THOSE are the folks who project their perfect behavior to others online. I've called and gotten a voicemail that's full! Hmmm...I guess they were too busy playing online, commenting about how perfect they are, to answer their phones! 😁

I've never really encountered that in my market.

It's inexcusable. Those people don't belong in any business or organization.

They must have a referral base that is strong and don't need new business.

This is a service business- and agents need to remember that. Like you- I am left scratching my head at the lack of responsiveness on impossible to reach agents.