If you're asking a friend for a last minute favour I think it's only good manners to at least bother to phone them about it. I also find the notion of tracking who'd done favours for whom rather awkward.
A favour is a personal request from a friend, I can't see this is an area that needs to be made more efficient...
For me, it depends how big the favour is. If it's to pick someone up from the airport, it should definitely be a phonecall.
Por Favor aims to fill the space where it's a small favour, like turning on the oven at a certain time or taking out the bins. Things that aren't too much of an inconvenience but are also easily forgotten.
You mention tracking favours, that's definitely not what it's about. It's about remembering to do things you said you would, not about keeping score.
I explicitly said that it's not about keeping track of who's done whom a favour. I'd even say that each day, any old favours get reset and hidden from view.
Ah, my mistake. I have no idea how that managed to sneak onto the site. I'll get it changed soon.
@ollysb, @nodata: Sorry about that. I was honestly confused why people thought it was about keeping track and kept bringing it up when I'd said it wasn't. Now it all makes much more sense
A favour is a personal request from a friend, I can't see this is an area that needs to be made more efficient...