Maybe the guy has a different system for dealing with queries. If you answer emails quickly people will think "yeah great service" but perhaps your other work is falling behind. The solution is to only reply to such queries at certain times of the day and let people wait.
But really depends on the job.
If I answer a query I have to put it in the spreadsheet, if I answer the phone I have to put it in the spreadsheet, if someone comes up to me and asks me a question - spreadsheet. Same with every little thing I do at work down to putting paper in the photocopier. It's all a prelude to me loosing my job on the basis that I don't really earn the pittance I get, I presume.
It's exactly this kind of nonsense that makes being a customer absolutely horrible.