Message to clients

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Dancing_Diva

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Does this sound ok to send to my liveries? I'm a groom on a yard and a few people keep contacting me via Facebook (have no problems then being on my Facebook) work related things & also texting me late evening (Facebook messages at 11:20pm & such) Am I being unfair with this message?

Hi everyone,

Just a polite request & a little reminder. Facebook, I'm happy having you guys on there as friends but would like people to understand that it's my personal account & anything work related I would rather people contact me via my mobile not over Facebook. Also just that could people remember that unless it's an emergency (which if so I'm contactable any time of day or night no matter how early or late it may be) that people don't contact me after 8:00pm or before 6:30am or on my day off (Saturdays) unless again it's in an emergency. Thank you x

I don't want to be mean but I do want time away from work & the people. So does what I've written sound ok? Or any suggestions, I'm pants at this sort of thing hence why I work with the horses lol
 
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Sounds great, polite, courteous but to the point...

Fingers crossed it has the desired effect and you get some peace and quiet! :)
 
It would perhaps be an idea to have a seperate page for work on Facebook from your own personal page?

I would never text someone that late, but frequently send FB messages late (I work away and am on different time zones). I log on and off Facebook, so expected other people to. Facebook 24/7 would drive me mad, I prefer to dip in and out of it.
 
Honey08 I had though of a seperate Facebook page but I'd never use it lol so would be pretty dull for whoever was on there.
I'm logged in on my phone to Facebook & if I have inbox messages it does alert me same as a text, it's not the problem of people messaging me I just would rather not be messaged on Facebook work things when they have my work number for stuff like that!

Lol PaddyMonty, my bad I never got told that when I took on this job. Maybe I should also give them my land line and home address so they can also pop round whatever time they like to lol :p
 
Dancing_Diva said:
Lol PaddyMonty, my bad I never got told that when I took on this job. Maybe I should also give them my land line and home address so they can also pop round whatever time they like to lol :p
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Much better! Make sure you always have a healthy supply of tea and biscuits available for those unexpected guests.

Your original message sounds fine, hopefully it will remind them to be a bit more courteous in future!
 
I always message people late on Facebook. I don't think of it as something that could disturb people. Could you not turn notifications off on your phone? Or log out at night?
 
Elsiecat said:
I always message people late on Facebook. I don't think of it as something that could disturb people. Could you not turn notifications off on your phone? Or log out at night?
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I think the point OP is trying to make, is that whilst she is happy for her liveries to be her FB friends, she would prefer work related items to be send to her mobile and not via FB. Hope your message works OP!
 
Agree with Elsiecat. I always think of Facebook messaging as a means of communication that doesn't require or expect an immediate response, like email. So maybe they Facebook you thinking, "I'll send her a message while I am thinking of this at midnight, and she'll see it in the morning."
 
Caol Ila said:
Agree with Elsiecat. I always think of Facebook messaging as a means of communication that doesn't require or expect an immediate response, like email. So maybe they Facebook you thinking, "I'll send her a message while I am thinking of this at midnight, and she'll see it in the morning."
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Me too, I'm afraid. I just the other night at silly o'clock, when I couldn't sleep, messaged my farrier on FB and emailed my vet. Didn't at all expect immediate responses just figured they will read them when they read them and get back to me at their convenience. If farrier wants to contact me he will generally message me late on or at the crack of sparrow fart when he gets up and I'm sure he too expects an answer when I can and doesn't think he's being intrusive any more than I do. I hope the message works for you, but really I think keeping your FB page completely personal and restricted to actual friends and family is the way forward, if you don't want business messages from clients you have as fb friends.
 
Just put your messages on silent. If there's a dire emergency people will call anyway. I think probably people don't realise fb sends alerts to some peoples phones - it would drive me nuts.
I wouldn't say your message is offensive but why have people on it if you don't want them to use it to contact you..
 
Caol Ila said:
Agree with Elsiecat. I always think of Facebook messaging as a means of communication that doesn't require or expect an immediate response, like email. So maybe they Facebook you thinking, "I'll send her a message while I am thinking of this at midnight, and she'll see it in the morning."
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Me too. Sorry but I can't see why it's such an issue for you, and if I received this message, I'd be pretty upset about it. I don't really understand why they're contacting you - is there no yard telephone? Maybe if it's such an issue you should speak to your boss & they should lay down the communication boundaries.

I run my own business (however do keep personal & business life separate), and clients email me at various times - I've even had emails on Christmas Day. It's my choice as to whether I check my emails or not, and also my choice as to whether to respond.

If you are responding to late texts/fb messages then your clients will be thinking it's an acceptable way to communicate with you. If you receive a message on your day off, ignore it and respond once you're back at work. You can always make the point then, that you were off work, if you feel the need to.
 
JennBags said:
Me too. Sorry but I can't see why it's such an issue for you, and if I received this message, I'd be pretty upset about it. I don't really understand why they're contacting you - is there no yard telephone? Maybe if it's such an issue you should speak to your boss & they should lay down the communication boundaries.

I run my own business (however do keep personal & business life separate), and clients email me at various times - I've even had emails on Christmas Day. It's my choice as to whether I check my emails or not, and also my choice as to whether to respond.

If you are responding to late texts/fb messages then your clients will be thinking it's an acceptable way to communicate with you. If you receive a message on your day off, ignore it and respond once you're back at work. You can always make the point then, that you were off work, if you feel the need to.
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This. My work blackberry used to drive me mad, going off all hours of the day and at weekends... until I realised that I was quite entitled to either not read/not reply!

Just don't reply until your set working hours if it offends you :)
 
I think your message sounds fine :-)

I try to not contact my YM (although I'm mainly DIY) through phone calls or texts before 7.30/8 & after 8pm unless an emergency. She's entitled to a life outside the yard.

I use my phone as an alarm, so although I charge it overnight, I rarely turn it off (as alarm won't work) - so texts, whatsapp messages etc all come through at whatever time they are sent. I must admit, I did de-install the FB app as it was getting silly the amount of notifications that came through.

I do leave my phone on silent overnight, so I'm not on the whole, not woken - but I'm a heavy sleeper & have slept quite peacefully through two fire brigades & police cars in the cul-de-sac for my next door neighbours before :D I imagine if you're not, it'd be a nightmare.
 
NativePonyLover I've never had a mobile that had an alarm that didn't work when the phone was turned off, they all just turn themselves back on.. I turn my phone off when abroad and sleeping on different time zones to my friends back home so that I don't get woken up by texts, yet the alarm still works.
 
Elsiecat said:
I always message people late on Facebook. I don't think of it as something that could disturb people. Could you not turn notifications off on your phone? Or log out at night?
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Caol Ila said:
Agree with Elsiecat. I always think of Facebook messaging as a means of communication that doesn't require or expect an immediate response, like email. So maybe they Facebook you thinking, "I'll send her a message while I am thinking of this at midnight, and she'll see it in the morning."
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Capriole said:
Me too, I'm afraid. I just the other night at silly o'clock, when I couldn't sleep, messaged my farrier on FB and emailed my vet. Didn't at all expect immediate responses just figured they will read them when they read them and get back to me at their convenience. If farrier wants to contact me he will generally message me late on or at the crack of sparrow fart when he gets up and I'm sure he too expects an answer when I can and doesn't think he's being intrusive any more than I do. I hope the message works for you, but really I think keeping your FB page completely personal and restricted to actual friends and family is the way forward, if you don't want business messages from clients you have as fb friends.
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lastchancer said:
Just put your messages on silent. If there's a dire emergency people will call anyway. I think probably people don't realise fb sends alerts to some peoples phones - it would drive me nuts.
I wouldn't say your message is offensive but why have people on it if you don't want them to use it to contact you..
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JennBags said:
Me too. Sorry but I can't see why it's such an issue for you, and if I received this message, I'd be pretty upset about it. I don't really understand why they're contacting you - is there no yard telephone? Maybe if it's such an issue you should speak to your boss & they should lay down the communication boundaries.

I run my own business (however do keep personal & business life separate), and clients email me at various times - I've even had emails on Christmas Day. It's my choice as to whether I check my emails or not, and also my choice as to whether to respond.

If you are responding to late texts/fb messages then your clients will be thinking it's an acceptable way to communicate with you. If you receive a message on your day off, ignore it and respond once you're back at work. You can always make the point then, that you were off work, if you feel the need to.
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montanna said:
This. My work blackberry used to drive me mad, going off all hours of the day and at weekends... until I realised that I was quite entitled to either not read/not reply!

Just don't reply until your set working hours if it offends you :)
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All of this!

I think the message would come across as sightly rude, bearing in mind that you are telling your "friends" not to message you. Albeit they are clients, but it is you who has chosen to have them on your RL FB as opposed to a business one.

Firstly, most certainly turn off your phones alert system being linked to your fb, that would drive me bonkers! Just read your fb when ever you feel like it, and don't feel like FB messages require immediate attention.

FB messages are just another form of E-mail, so treat them as such. If you do your emails at night, then do your fb mails then too.

If people have already started to depend on FB as a way to contact you regarding work issues, then try something more like a post on your wall saying -

"Hey everyone, just a wee heads up that I don't always have access to my FB, so if there is anything work related or urgent you need to get a hold of me for - please drop me a text or give me a call. Thanks! :)"

You get the message across, and no one is offended :)
 
Honey08 said:
NativePonyLover I've never had a mobile that had an alarm that didn't work when the phone was turned off, they all just turn themselves back on.. I turn my phone off when abroad and sleeping on different time zones to my friends back home so that I don't get woken up by texts, yet the alarm still works.
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Oh really?! I was told the alarm on my iPhone wouldn't work unless it was on?! How exciting if this is not the case! Thanks :D
 
NativePonyLover said:
Oh really?! I was told the alarm on my iPhone wouldn't work unless it was on?! How exciting if this is not the case! Thanks :D
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Ah! I've never had an i phone, so do a test run before you turn it off! I've had various other types of phones over the past decade and they've always turned on, it would be wierd for Apple to take a backward step.
 
alainax said:
All of this!

I think the message would come across as sightly rude, bearing in mind that you are telling your "friends" not to message you. Albeit they are clients, but it is you who has chosen to have them on your RL FB as opposed to a business one.

Firstly, most certainly turn off your phones alert system being linked to your fb, that would drive me bonkers! Just read your fb when ever you feel like it, and don't feel like FB messages require immediate attention.

FB messages are just another form of E-mail, so treat them as such. If you do your emails at night, then do your fb mails then too.

If people have already started to depend on FB as a way to contact you regarding work issues, then try something more like a post on your wall saying -

"Hey everyone, just a wee heads up that I don't always have access to my FB, so if there is anything work related or urgent you need to get a hold of me for - please drop me a text or give me a call. Thanks! :)"

You get the message across, and no one is offended :)
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But they aren't sending messages as friends, they're sending them as clients! And your suggested message doesn't get the point across at all, as it still suggests that it is okay for people to use facebook to contact her about work.
I think it's absolutely reasonable that the OP ask people not to use facebook for anything relating to work.
 
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