Time Zones & Appointments & Being Late

Quick blog post here... if I know you're in a different time zone, or even think it, I will bring this up when we are setting an appointment, to make sure that when we say 11 am, it is the SAME 11 am for both of us.

So, let's take today.  I had an appointment coming from Indy.  They are an hour ahead, so 10 am here is 11 am for them.  So, I went through the email an realized, I never mentioned the time zone, which means, they likely don't even realize there is a time zone different (you'd be amazed how many people are clueless that this portion of NWI is in a different time zone), so I would assume they'd come at 11 am, their time... which would be 10 am, my time. 

But in case they really did mean 11 am, my time... well... it's now 11:24 and they are not here.  So, even if they meant 11 my time... they're 24 minutes late already.  Now, maybe it's just me, but if I'm running late, I call, or text, or something.  I have somewhere (well, multiple somewhere's) to go today, and was planning on leaving as soon as this appointment left.  Well... are they coming?  I sent them an email at 11:15 and asked if they're still coming, but it's been 10 minutes, and so far, nothing. 

Going forward, when I set an appointment with someone, I am going to ask for a phone number, so, should something come up or they not show up, I have an immediate way to get ahold of them... versus email, where they may not check it for hours. 

So... here comes the conundrum... now what do I do?  I mean, should I wait for them?  They're going on 30 minutes late, and clearly don't have the common courtesy to let me know that they're running late.  This happens all the time.  People show up 45 minutes late, and think nothing of it. 

I used to have a few paragraph blurb that I would send to people when they set up an appointment, which included the address and house description, payment options, bring a carrier, time zones, and.... being on time.  At the time I had that, it basically just said that the person needed to call if they were going to be more than 15 minutes late, to notify us, but I think I may re-implement this, and it may NOW include, instead of just saying "call us"... NOW, it may say, "if you're more than 15 minutes late and you DON'T call, we have the option to pick up and leave, since we would think you are a no-show."  Worded better, of course.  But the issue here is.... are they running late, or are they not coming at all?  If running late, well, of course I want to wait for them, but if they're not coming at all, then time is wasted just sitting around waiting for them... to never show up.  It gets old.