Check opening hours before you drive there. We make the call.
To check opening hours properly, somebody has to ring. The times on the website were typed in years ago, and the map listing says open while the door says back in ten minutes. On a public holiday it is anyone’s guess.
It is a thirty second call that nobody wants to make, so let us make it. Tell us the place and the day you want to go. A real person rings, asks, and texts you exactly what they said.
The problem
Why the hours online can’t be trusted
Online hours go out of date
A small business changes its hours and updates the sign on the door. The website, the map listing and the old social media page each keep telling a different story, and you only find out which was right when you arrive.
Public holidays change everything
Easter, a long weekend, the stretch between Christmas and New Year. Some places shut, some open late, some close the kitchen and keep the bar going. Most never get around to posting it anywhere you would look.
Open does not mean what you need is open
The pub is open but the kitchen closed at two. The tip is open but stops taking loads half an hour before the gate shuts. The shop is open but the person who does repairs is only in on Thursdays.
It feels too small to bother
Ringing to ask whether somewhere is open feels faintly silly, so you chance it instead. Then you are standing in an empty car park, reading a handwritten note taped to the inside of the glass.
The fix
What you get when we ring ahead
Hours from a person, not a listing
We ask someone who is actually standing in the building. You get the hours for the exact day you care about, public holiday or not, instead of whatever a listing guessed.
The detail that matters
Tell us what you are going for and we ask about that. Kitchen hours, last entry, whether the key cutter, the jeweller or the manager is in, and whether you need to book.
No wasted trip
If they are shut, you find out from your couch. If they do not answer, we keep trying, and we tell you if the number just rings out, which is often an answer in itself.
An example
What it looks like
You tell us
Can you ring the Wattle Creek Hotel and ask if the kitchen is open for lunch on the public holiday Monday, and what time last orders are? There are eight of us.
We text you back
The Wattle Creek Hotel is open from 11 am on the Monday. The kitchen does lunch from 12 to 2.30 pm, with last orders at 2.15. For eight people they would like a booking. Send us a time and a name if you want us to book it.
An example only, with made-up names, to show the kind of answer you get.
Three steps
How it works
- 1
Tell us who to call
The business or person, and what you want to ask, book or find out. Thirty seconds on the form below.
- 2
We ring them
A real person makes the call and says they are ringing on your behalf. No answer? We try again until there is one.
- 3
We text you the result
What they said, in plain words, sent to your mobile. The recording and a written transcript too, if you asked for them.
Good to know
We can only pass on what the business tells us on the day, and plans change, so for a long drive it is worth asking us to ring close to the time. We can’t reach places that never pick up, though we keep trying and tell you what happened. This is not for emergencies, and we can’t ask about anything that needs your identity.
Free while we’re getting started
Who do you want us to ring?
Give us the who and the what. We make the call, keep trying if nobody answers, and text you what they said.
- A real person makes the call, not a robot
- We say we’re ringing on your behalf
- No answer? We try again, and again
- The answer lands on your phone as a text
Leave it with us.
We’ll make the call and text you what they said. Now go and do something better with your day.
Questions people ask
Can you ask more than just the hours?
Yes. Hours are usually only half the question. Tell us what you are really going for and we will ask about that too, like whether they take walk-ins, whether there is parking, or whether the thing you want is available that day.
Why not just look it up online?
Often that works. This is for the times it does not: public holidays, small places with no website, or listings that disagree with each other. A person on the phone can tell you what is true today.
What if nobody answers?
We try again at different times. If it keeps ringing out during the hours they are meant to be open, we tell you, because a phone nobody answers is a fair hint about whether the door will be open.