It takes 2 seconds to say “thank you” but why do people not do it?

A friend recently asked me if I could visit a personal contact of theirs to give them some advice on how they could improve their marketing.  I owed them a favour so was happy to do so and it was clear that there was no financial reward attached.

I spent time visiting them, listening and asking questions and formulating ideas.  Then later that day I detailed in an email some really good ideas that they could work on.  I even made calls on their behalf to set up a joint event.  As I say I was happy to help here.

But I’ve not even received a response to that email.  Perhaps they were expecting me to come in and wave a wand and get everything done for them.  Perhaps they liked the ideas but are not able to allocate the time to get them going.  Maybe they didn’t like my ideas; but I very much doubt that!

Just a courteous ‘thank you’ would have been nice.  Maybe I’m naive?  I expect it’s got something to do with perceived value.

On the other hand, today I have received such a lovely email with profuse thanks for my time, thoughts and prompt response (and a hint of an order!).  How lovely that was.  It’s nice to know there are people out there with manners.

What’s your experience?  And how do you say ‘thank you’?