Here we go again

I've put off dealing with this gate, at first because I didn't want to spend the money, and then because I didn't have time to find a contractor, but over the last couple of weeks, I realized that it was time. But realizing isn't doing, and I sat on the realization. But last night I dreamt that I'd actually contacted and hired a contractor, so when I woke up, I realized it was time (I also dreamt that I was balancing on a yoga ball with my eyes closed, probably because we'd done that in class).

So I started looking for contractors. Surprisingly, Google's not useful in that regard, because you get a lot of non-local companies, as well as instructions on how to do-it-yourself, and I'm not interested in doing it myself. I just want it done. I turned to Craigslist, which has been good to me in the past (car, a few roommates/houses, electrician, plumber). They didn't make it easy, because fencing doesn't really fall into any of their categories (it's not lawn and garden, but it's not household services... yet it's kind of both). Eventually, I found a few--and I mean, exactly three, ads by people who do fencing. All provided e-mail addresses, so I contacted them and asked how I could go about getting an estimate. I provided my approximate location, as well as how much and what kind of fencing I would need, in case they might be able to provide a ballpark estimate without having to see it, but I didn't expect that to be the case. Nonetheless, I expected some semblance of customer service, because it had been a few months since I had to hire people for house stuff, and I just forgot what it was like out there.

The first reply--I've now gotten two--was not encouraging:
"Thank you for contacting us for your home improvement project.
Please give me a call to set up a time for an estimate."

Um, if I wanted to call you, I would have called you. Your number was on the ad.

The second one also requires a phone call, but at least they offered to call me (and used my name--which is not a bad business idea--if not perfect punctuation): "First off thank you for your interest A. We can definitely provide you with an estimate. If you can reply to this email with your contact information I will contact you today and we can set up a time to meet. Thank you again and I look forward to hearing back from you."

Missing commas aside--I'm not looking for an editor, after all--MUCH BETTER.