Why Didn't You Call Me?

Remember this: No one would answer.

I don’t care about people hunting. It is the shooting from a truck that bothers me.

As posted yesterday about the nut shooting from the truck window. I called the local DNR office to see if I could report the problem; the line rung on and on with no automated system with voice mail, or direct calls to an after-hours report line.

I decided to call this morning because those people will be out hunting today and probably the 1^st.

I leave a message at the local DNR office. Officer calls me back. I begin to tell him about this person shooting from a truck. He asks me why I didn’t call him yesterday. I told him I called the office-no one answered. He tells me he was in my area up to 7 pm. I replied how was I supposed to know that? I figured if the person was desperate enough to shoot yesterday, given there was only two more days to the season-they would be out shooting tomorrow. Besides, they already realized they were seen and decided to leave.

I told him that every time I call the after-hours number the person there replies like battery acid and that I didn’t have good experiences with the DNR people on duty.

This is the modus operandi of DNR employees in dealing with caller complaint.

The officer does not take down the complaint and listen to you.
The officer becomes argumentative about why you are calling.
The officer whines there isn't enough help to cover the complaints.
You are suppose to magically know daily schedule of the DNR officer so as not to impose inconvenience on him.
The officer will defend the criminal because it is two days left to the season and why bother? Right? 

   I finally became frustrated and told the officer he wasn’t interested in listening to my complaint. All the officer had to do was pencil my complaint down and tell me he would look into it. This is not what they do. It becomes a reverse argument based on implied lack of response on the part of the caller by the DNR investigator.

The truth seems to be: They just don't want to be bothered.

Somehow, you are the guilty party. I replied that I felt he was defending the person breaking the law. He was trying to reason with me why he shouldn’t bother to look into this person. It was more important to disregard my complaint, upset me and I was already bothered by the shooter from the truck window. It is not my problem the DNR doesn’t employ enough staff to do the work.

I thought about calling the main office in the upstate, but if this officer’s attitude is a reflection of the overall attitude of the state DNR employees-it is a waste of time and effort.

When you have to use the current behavior of a DNR officer as the prime example for why you weren't Johnny-On-the-Spot for calling, is a sad indicator of the treatment a caller complaint is going to receive when calling that agency regardless of the content of the complaint.

Some of the money coming out of your pocket is probably paying that employee for extending to you a poor example of bad customer service. 

But you better be respectful of them at all times even when they are disrespecting of  you? How is that right?

What good is a state agency when the workers refuse to do their job? How safe are you actually as a private land owner when someone agitates your property boundaries out of hunting desperation?

Written by: Angelia Y Larrimore