I don't know in which way to write it so it gets out what I mean without sounding like a rant...

Most of you know that I have a passion which is making nails, I do it for the forum members and readers only, its a hobby and also a way they can have beautiful hand and feet at a insane low price (in Switzerland)

Tonight happened something that I wasn't comfortable with and would like to have your advise to find a way to deal with it.

Someone had asked me to make her nails for A and B, since last week we exchanged pm's trying to match our agendas and finally this morning we agreed on tonight 6.30pm.
Thanks to the forum and recommendation of my clients I get a lot of interest on my services and other ladies 3 called to have services with me and had to say no because I was already booked the last 2 appointments of the day (is normally the time that my working clients like to come)

On the first visit, I take the time to go and wait for the person at the bus or tram stop, as my apartment entrance is not so easy to find. So I was at 6.30 at the bus stop and nobody was there, 6.35 I called A to ask if the information I sent her regarding my location was clear or maybe she was just some minutes late which can happen and its absolutely fine with me I can wait. No answer on the phone and 1 minute later i receive an sms saying that she was still at a meeting and was sorry not to be able to make it at the appointment.

I am not mad or angry or anything like that, but I would like your advise on how to avoid this to happen or handle the situation.

Like I said in many posts before I charge only the material costs, so If I know a client is coming and which service I will provide, I have to go and buy the product I'm going to use. Not showing up leaves me with extra material, also blocks my appointments for the afternoon and on top of that I had to figure out who will take care of the kids for the time of the service.

Please any advise is very welcome, Thanks in advance!

CoCo

While sometimes things happen beyond our control, I would expect some sort of prior notice if someone is going to miss a meeting. Failing that, I would be understanding if this person contacted me at the next earliest convenience (i.e. later that evening, if its not too late, or early the next morning) to apologize for missing the appointment and not giving prior notice. If the person does not even acknowledge the faux pas (or waits until calling for another appointment) I would be very hesitant to go to all the effort of accommodating this person again. In this scenario, perhaps (and this is since you already have the materials purchased) you go ahead and do her nails (if she asks to reschedule), but if you don't feel there was appropriate resolution (by the end of the appointment), you simply decline her in the future.

how annoying, I would perfectly understand if you were angry, actually... customer is king, but this is really taking advantage of your good nature.

I would very clearly tell her, in a professional manner, that her behaviour has caused you an economic loss and that you - in case you wish to give her a second chance - will not be accepting this a second time.

maybe she didn't realise how busy you are, although I know this doesn't exactly count as an excuse...

Ask each client to call an hour, or half hour before their scheduled appointment time to confirm; and politely explain that if you haven't received their call, and another client presents herself, then this new client will take priority.

I'm sure if you explain the reason for asking this, then people will be understanding - especially regulars.

It's just part of running a business. Stuff happens and sometimes people can't make their appointments, she probably sent an sms instead of calling you because she was embarrassed about it and didn't want to have to speak to you.

No point getting upset about it, which you haven't.

Maybe send an sms back saying no problem about the missed appointment, and say she should get in touch if she wants to rebook.

If she misses another appointment then still be friendly and polite about it but it is then up to you to decide how many missed appointments before you don't take her bookings any more...

You can always call her sometime before her next appointment to check she is coming.

mm, this wouldn't work for me, I would certainly forget to call and still break my neck to get there on time only to find that my appointment has been cancelled. it doesn't sound realistic

make it more business like, that is all i would say. people respect you more when you demand it. If you charge a bit for your services, make it clear that whilst you do this for fun it is still a business to you and you expect people to respect that.

many professionals have a if you dont cancel before 24 hours your are billed anyway and it is often respected!

Re-book the appointment and write obscenities on her nails relating to her disgraceful behavior....

Send her the bill.

I agree, do a small admin charge next time when she books and make it clear to everyone that if they don't turn up and not cancel like 2 hours before, they will still have to pay for it. I know stuff happen but also fair is fair to you.

A hairdresser at Kreuzplatz calls on the day of the appointment to remind the person that they are booked. Perhaps you could do this.

As mentioned, this will happen, either intentionally or not - I haven't found a perfect way to deal with it either. I just live with the no-shows and put the goods back into the shop for sale. But it is a pain - I can sympathise.

I agree with "Up the hatters" - even if you are doing this "as a hobby" and not as a business, it is very inconvenient if people do not cancel in time, and you effectively have lost not only the time but also the material (in effect, you are losing money whilst trying to help someone).

There is no way out except to say that if appointments not cancelled, say 12 or 24 hours in advance, they will be CHARGED for.

People accept this.

Essentially, your client was 'too busy' to cancel, so was running the risk of incurring a penalty.

(All of this was implied in "up the hatters" comment, he was just more succinct).

This wouldn't work. It leaves the situation wide open for people to not bother to ring if they want to cancel, which is leaving Coco only the half hour or less to wonder if the person is going to turn up - and she is not likely to be able to book other clients at such short notice.

Dont worry Venice, I wouldnt make you do that.


I could never do that, but +1 for making me laugh out loud!

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As Venice said is not convenient and/or fair for my regular clients to make them call just because the odd occasion someone didn't show up.

The service I like to provide, I used to and will in a near future here is a very exclusive one, personal, my clients get to be my friends, to have an appointment with me is for them a good day in their agenda instead of a must do.
All my clients are very formal and i have had last minute cancel and re booking with no problem, but they were kind enough to let me know at least a couple of hours prior the appointment.

It is not new to me as i had a business before and what I used to do its not to take them anymore I was somehow popular for the nail decoration and for me to give them an appointment was like getting invited to a VIP event so denying my service was enough, but I'd like to think I've grown and could try to handle in a different manner.

I have a way to justify a fee, but, no means to collect it so there is no point on trying.

I thank you all for your time on reading and the advise you gave me is very much appreciated, if my client of today gets to read this post, hope knows I didn't meant to rant about her, but ask for advise about the situation in specific, I'm sure she didn't meant it on purpose and was out of her hands to call, but I needed to ask for advise in case i have this situation in the future, which I know I will.

And the award for the best advise goes to "Call them a couple hours prior the appointment to confirm"

Thanks again!

CoCo

Part and parcel of running a business, even if you are not actually running it as a business. Look on it as an unexpected bit of free time and crack open a bottle of Cava or watch a DVD you haven't had time to watch so far.

Send the client an email in the morning saying you're sorry she couldn't make it due to work commitments and would she like to re-book as you still have the materials you ordered for her.

No need to lose a client by being angry at her. And in future, charge at least something above cost!

fixed that for you!

Im not angry at my client but needed to find a solution about the situation, was the actual topic. Thanks for your advise I appreciate it.

There is nothing we/you can do and this is not your job to teach her manners... and sometimes people simply forget. I really don't think she did this on purpose.


I totally understand how upsetting it can be sometimes. I had worse situations with clients.

If it happend only once, no worries. With sugar on your lips tell her it's not a problem at all and encourage her to book with you again - especially if she was your regular client. Every client is a blessing if you work for yourself but if she decides to ditch you again that's the end of it. I'm curious if she will show up again as she already feels embarassed.



It happened to me twice that the client said: "Oh sorry, I left my wallet in the car, back in 5 min" and they would never come back as they thought it will be 'different type of massage'. Or they would call from private numbers to book and never show up for the treatments. I came across weirdoes and older 'gentlemen' (white hair, barely walking and still got enough nerve up to ask if I can "make them happy") or young guys who have nothing better to do but messing and wasting your time. It's unbelievable.


I like my work so giving up was not an option. I simply couldn't believe there is not enough respectful, genuine clients in Dublin city to make one decent salary for hard-working massage therapist and I was right but now when I think of it, I see it wrecked my brain. I could write a book about it... just not sure if anyone would like to read it


By the way, do you do nail extensions? I would like to get gel or acrylic in French sometime soon. Is that possible?

coconut, I agree with cran - thats the downside of running your own business.

I recently got a full blast of that

I'll recommend for new potential clients, state that you'd have to purchase the materials in advance and they are only being charged for them and not your services. Explain that if they are a no-show, that you will have to bill them for the materials. Unfortunately, if they are below a certain amount which is too small for a claim via betreibung, you are left holding the baby and its so much hassle too. Sucky situation.

I dont think everyone is like that - most people have the common decency to call and cancel in advance. Simply blacklist those who didnt bother calling you in advance to let you know that they cant make it. No matter how important a meeting is, surely its possible to excuse yourself to make a 3 minutes call. Its common courtesy. Alternatively, if you want to give another chance for those who've backed out on you before, ask them in advance for payment of the materials to confirm their slot. Explain what I've written about (that you buy the materials specially for them) - if they arent willing, chances are that they arent that reliable anyway.

PS: I've seen your work - you should really think about starting to charge people for your time

For future clients, if you're thinking of putting a brochure or website together with what you offer, costs etc, you could also include your policy for cancellation, materials etc.

I find that being able to hand people a hard copy of my policy as well as being able to direct them to it on the web makes a big difference to their understanding of the whole thing. It's also been very useful to be able to point people to relevant passages when they've had queries down the track.

I also make it very clear at our initial meeting what my policy is and give potential new students (and their parents) the opportunity to ask questions.

You are clearly running a business, ask for payment upfront, issue a receipt / proof of service and file your business tax returns! You then have rights in the market place and can charge for missed appointments.

If you attempt to charge the person for a missed appointment or take them to court for loss of revenue, expect a counter claim from the tax man... can you afford the IRS looking into your 'just for fun' full time undeclared income? One suspects not.