Must Be a California Thing

A couple of times a year, I call all the stores listed on my websites, who don't have their own websites, just to make sure they are still in business. I call after hours so I don't take up their time asking, "Are you open?"

The Texas stores all have answering machines with detailed messages, including store hours, location, etc. You can even leave a message for them in most cases. I'd say about 50% of the California stores have no answering machine at all. It just rings and rings. Of the ones who have a message, about 30% are a robotic voice that simply says, "Please leave a message at the tone."

Hmm!