Cancellation fee? Or am I just being tight....

[Joanne1989]

A client booked in for a spray tan for 6:30 this evening..... 6:15 I was getting ready having some tea etc and thought I'd pop onto Facebook quickly to find me message from her at 8:30am cancelling. What do you all do in these situations? If I contact her saying she's been charged a cancellation fee I may never see her again which means a client lost, she won't come to me just to give me the money for her cancellation. Right?
Or am I just being tight?

Help!!!

 

[sammysammsam]

She gave you plenty of time, just let it slide, however annoying it is, but let your clients know to call or at least text you Facebook is not your main point of contact.

Cancellations drive me insane but sometimes it better to let it slide in the view of repeat custom

 

[eternalscot]

I know it's annoying but sometimes you just have to suck it ip, to be fair she did let you know first thing. I have had clients not turn up for 2-3 hours appointments and I certainly would not dream of doing them again, but if it's a quickie and a one off you have to come and go a bit.

 

[Lady Murasaki]

IMHO you shouldn't except or let clients cancel via Facebook, text or email as they should call you to cancel thus giving you an opportunity to reminder them of you booking terms etc and to rebook them there then if required.

Had she had the balls to call you rather than Facebook you, you would of found out at 8.30am rather that 6.15pm that she wanted to cancel.

In my terms of business clients MUST call to cancel if cancelling 24 hrs or less prior to their apt as text/email messages can get delayed, email servers can go down!

I work mobile & even though I have an iPhone there are times depending where I'm working I can not get a strong enough signal for email to receive messages, yet I can get in coming/coming calls.

Also I don't have chance to check all my emails/texts due to being in apt clients or driving to/from apt during the day however I do check my voicemail at the end each apt.

Cancelation fees are hard to enforce, so maybe you could ask for a non refundable deposit next time she books?

 

[Joanne1989]

Thanks for your advice everyone! I was thinking of taking a deposit from her but I'm sure she won't want to make her way to me just to give me her deposit, and I'm too busy to go to her to collect it.
I guess these things happen. People are such a pain in the bum sometimes!

 

[Lady Murasaki]

Thanks for your advice everyone! I was thinking of taking a deposit from her but I'm sure she won't want to make her way to me just to give me her deposit, and I'm too busy to go to her to collect it.
I guess these things happen. People are such a pain in the bum sometimes!

Ask her to send it via BACS into your business account or post you a cheque.
That how I receive my deposits!

 

[Rinn]

just reading your post it doesnt say if she has cancelled on you before. if she's not a serial offender i think asking for a deposit would be coming on a bit strong and in all fairness she did give you plenty of notice even if it was via F\B which by the way i think if you are using to promote/advertise your business you have to accept clients may use it as a contact medium, if is up to you to keep checking it as not only could you miss a cancellation like that lady but you could also miss an appointment.
the only way around that is to put a contact number on the page indicating all appointments /cancellations must be by phone . HTH.:biggrin:

 

[essentia]

I do not think she has given you sufficient notice. If it were 8.30am that morning then that is still less than 24hrs notice. Would you have been able to fill that slot? A clear cancellation policy is a must. I know for some it feels really difficult to enforce but it does make everything clear for both concerned and what to expect.....

 

[Lush-Lash]

last night I had a client at 7pm, she came had her spray tan no problem.

I had 2 booked in for 7.30pm, after my 7pm appointment I had a few minutes to clean my tent, have a quick drink & fill my gun up with new solution ect.. got to 7.45pm they still hadn't turned up, checked facebook & the girl had messaged me at 7.20pm! to say both were poorly & couldn't attend! I mean seriously?!

I'm more annoyed as someone messaged me to see if I could fit her & her sister in after 6pm & I said I could at 8.30pm because I was fully booked, but she couldn't do that late, so in effect her & her sister could of taken the 7.30pm appointment had I been given suitable notice.

annoys me when I loose money & have my time wasted x

 

[Joanne1989]

Oh my god I'd be really angry if I was you! What have you said to them?

The woman that cancelled her tan sent me a message on Facebook asking to re book same time next week and now she's not even replying! There's always one that has to be a pain in the backside isn't there :-/ x

 

[Mooey]

I ask my clients to give at least 48 hours notice if they wish to cancel. It states clearly in my text reminders too. Most of them are great with this but occasionally one slips through the net! Last week I had a lady booked in for a shellac manicure & shellac pedicure (totalling over £70) I had everything set up, waited, and she cancelled! Worst thing is I never filled the 2 hour slot!

Sometimes I find it really frustrating but it is only ever once in a while so I just let it slide

 

[taggyboy]

Firstly, do have t&c's anywhere on your website, price lists, fb etc?

If not may I suggest getting some. At least clients will have access to them so you could, if you wanted to, point them to these if you experience these problems again.

It will be up to you whether to enforce them or not. I think It's good for persistent offenders but don't slam these on clients at the first opportunity. They may have genuine reasons sometimes.


from Debbie's HTC Sense