So, anyway, the day of the appointment arrives. I work from home, but my office is at the far side of the house from the door. No big deal - I can generally hear when somebody climbs the porch steps, and definitely hear the doorbell or a knock on the door. So I'm not too worried about missing the appointment... that is, until I realize the appointment window (8-12) was well past (it's now 1:00 p.m.)
I called the office and was told that "since we weren't home, the technician had left." I asked why the tech thought we weren't home - apparently it's because he spent a half-hour sitting in his truck in our driveway (just outside the view of the windows at the other side of the house from where I work) and nobody had let him in. I never thought I'd have to explain the concept of a doorbell to a full-grown adult in the service industry...