Cancelations

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Stephanie Morris

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Hi all

I had a really horrid day yesterday, I had 3 cancelations in a row, 2 with less than 24 hours notice and one cancelation for next week!!! These were all new clients. in fact one of them was only 1 hour before the appointment..

I am mobile (and do a couple of days in salon) I have only be doing this for full time for 4 weeks so am new to this, prior to this I was running my mobile nail business around my full time office job.

I just wanted to get some advice here.. Do any of you mobile techs have a cancelation charge or deposit system??

I know this was just a run of bad luck, but just wanted to know if I am able to charge a percentage for a new client if they cancel with less than 24 hours notice??

Thanx u
Stephxx
 
Hi Steph,

I know it is really horrible to get cancellations - one good(ish) thing is that they let you know - better than them just not turning up or not being in when you have driven to them.

I know lots of people on here will talk about cancellation charges etc. but how do you enforce them - a new customer books and cancels - how do you actually get them to pay.

It is really annoying but I dont know how you enforce this situation. Looking at it from the other point of view - if you have to cancel them at short notice - do you do their nails for nothing - surely it has to work both ways.

It is a really difficult one.
 
hi ya, well ive had cancellations too, some with no notice, last sat was a nitemare, from being fully booked 1 min and turning away clients i was then left with nothing to do coz 2 clients didnt turn up...i didnt ring, 1 rung 5 mins after she was due...well now ive decided to ask these clients to pay a deposit next time they book...
yesterday my daughter was ill, and after running around and going to work feeling terribly guilty for leaving her with my mother in law, i gets to work and the lady doesnt turn in, so i phones her to be told shes forgot (she only made the appointment 6 pm the nite before) she says ile call in later for it, i says no i work on an appointment basis and in future id be grateful if u could let me know as ive come in for your appointment...
later in the day another lady apparantly forgets her appointment, however she rebooked for today, and i was glad to go home early last nite as daughter is ill, however it is sooooooooooooo annoying...now i get my sister to overbook me for weekends...
but cleints that fail to turn up i make a note of there name and if they book again then ile get them to fetch in a holding deposit to secure there booking...
vicky
 
SUNsation'NAILS said:
..... however it is sooooooooooooo annoying...now i get my sister to overbook me for weekends...
vicky

But what will you do if they all turn up. Sorry if this sounds harsh but I would certainly not be pleased if I made an appointment and arrived on time to be told you had double booked.

I appreciate it is very annoying when people dont turn up but when you are starting a business and trying to build a happy clientele - maybe you have to wear the no shows rather than risking upsetting those who do turn up.

Just my tuppence worth.
 
hi sorry i shouldve explained more, i mean i book up and dont allow any breaks for myself or extra time for things...
i didnt mean i literally double booked...
my sister takes the appointments for spray tans etc...today for instance i was fully booked all day for nails however we had phone calls for spray tans so my sis did them...

sorry i didnt clarify myself properly... vicky
 
I have a cancelation list...........
The clients that I can't fit in go on this list and are asked if they can turn up at short notice....15min notice.............
As we are working in the business centre of the city of London, this is usualy not a problem.............

But unforseen business meetings are and I can't expect ,that they are able to call me, all of the time, as some meetings are just sprung on them at the last minute.....

So I tell all my clients when they book, that I appreciate a call if they can't make their appointment , as we don't have a cancelation fee as such...........

I also tell them, that any appointment 15 minutes late is classed as cancelled and they have to rebook.........It's in their and my interest.......So no rushing for me to get the work done in half the time and no rushing for them and then to find out their seat has been filled by someone else.....................

So if say Lady XYZ doesn't turn up, I give her 15 minutes and then ring a client from my cancelation list and tell her I can fit her in and would she like this appointment.................Well I might lose some money, but hey Lady ABC is happy that I managed to fit her in...........

Any client booking a service that takes 1 hr or more, is asked to leave a deposit of £10.00, I either take the money there and then if they book in person or their credit card details if it's a telephone booking............if they call me early enough say 3 hours before they are due in....I will honour the deposit and carry it over, but no call no refund and they have lost their slot and their £10.00 depost..................

Just make sure that what ever you decide, to tell the clients before hand and then they can't rant and rave and turn up late or not at all and expect their money back...................
Work for me lol and since we have started doing this, hardly any no shows...................

just a thought .....
love Ruth xxxxxx
 
Because I'm usually heavily booked, I confirm most of my appointments at the start of my day. Like Ruth, I also have a waiting list which consists of several clients who are able to come in at short notice, so any cancellations that arise are usually not a major problem.
 
Hi,

Ive asked this question before, and Im told that you can hire a credit card swipe machine from the bank. I think they are quite expensive to hire, but definitely worthwhile if you have a lot of cancellations, and are working full time. Most genuine clients wont have a problem with you asking for a £10 deposit, and it sorts the time wasters from the serious clients.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi

I have a card swipe machine via Nat West Bank - it is called Streamline and it costs me 14.95 + VAT per month plus charges for everything that goes through it - at 1.85% - this is reduced from original amount slightly because I belong to National Federation of Small Businesses.

All banks do them - ring round and see what you can get :D

Good luck
Lesleyx
 
This is one of the things that annoys me the most! :evil: I have loyal customers who ring to cancel, and usually rebook, which I am very grateful for. :D But then I have had a few new customers who just never showed up! :x

One Lady failed to show up 3 times, and kept re-booking for evenings. I would wait behind for her and then she'd never show! :twisted: :evil:

Then one evening she showed up when I was leaving claiming that she had an appointment but she never did! She argued with me, but I had something else to do and basically it was tough!

I know it's a bit of a bad attitude to have but she had really taken the pee-pee! :x

Now if a new Customer cancels and fails to show up, then comes in to re-book we ask them to leave a deposit. We have only needed to do this once so far (because usually when they fail to show up, you never see them again!) but the lady volunteered to pay the full amount upfront.
 
I like Fiona have no way of enforcing a cancellation fee, and generally there is no point phoning after the appointment has been missed as they don't answer your call - although in fairness you do get the odd genuine clients who have REALLY forgotten :shock: (I would phone a regular in this instance)

I now phone a new client the day before to make sure there is no problem for the following day. A) they are not expecting this; and B) if they don't want or can't make the appointment, they can tell you then.

This means my time's not wasted and I can fit someone else in if necessary.

Also, on the back of my leaflet I've put:
'If you are unable to keep an appointment please telephone me as I may have somebody who can'

In the meantime, be grateful when somebody actually phones up and cancels, there is nothing worse (and more rude!) than when somebody doesn't even have the decency to ring!!

Adele
 
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