Cancellation problems - need help

[Deb Doyle]

Hi to you all!
Need some help, I have a salon and I am getting fed up :sad: with poeple not turning up for appointments. We take telephone numbers and ring them if they are late, but generally they dont answer the phone anyway if they aren't coming. Does anyone out there take a booking fee over the phone or if poeple come in to make appointments? If so how much and does it work??

Thanks

 

[Bagpuss]

I once booked an appointment with a salon and she took 5 pound as a deposit and said if i cancelled i loose the fiver, fair enough. I did cancel ( i gave 24 hours notice) she was really nice and said she would hold for fiver for me and if i wanted to make a booking another day she would take it off my bill. I thought it was more than fair. xxx

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Hi to you all!
Need some help, I have a salon and I am getting fed up :sad: with poeple not turning up for appointments. We take telephone numbers and ring them if they are late, but generally they dont answer the phone anyway if they aren't coming. Does anyone out there take a booking fee over the phone or if poeple come in to make appointments? If so how much and does it work??

Thanks

Like Angie said you can take a deposit, you can charge a cancellation fee, but make sure that the client is aware of this...... put it on your leaflets...... You can also ring them the day before to confirm their appointment..........
HTH

 

[mooredianne]

I will be watching this thread as i have the same problem. I have thought of putting a sign up (like the one in my dentist's reception) that states if appointments are not cancelled with 24 hours, a charge will be levied. I know this may sound a bit harsh, but as a one-man band, if someone books and doesn't pitch, i may have turned away another potential customer, thinking i was already busy!!

 

[nuttyaboutnails]

i also have this problem sometimes and it is really annoying!

i do advertise a cancellation charge if there is less than 24 hours notice, which i charge them for when they have their next app or take a deposit for there next app. thankfully it doesnt happen often but you need to be firm, you are trying to earn a living!

 

[kizzycat]

The dentist would think nothing about charging me £30 for any missed appointment without 24 hours notice.

people who are serious about wanting to have their nails done by you will not be offended or put off to pay that. If your regular hairdresser Or dentist for that matter started wanting a £5 deposit you would have no hesitation about paying it and you probably wouldnt even question it. Do it with all your new customers. As you know time is precious and if you are doing it in the evening when the full timers finish work then you can only fit one maybe pushing it to two clients in that evening and it is unfair if this time is being booked out to time wasters.

Kizz

i also have this problem sometimes and it is really annoying!

i do advertise a cancellation charge if there is less than 24 hours notice, which i charge them for when they have their next app or take a deposit for there next app. thankfully it doesnt happen often but you need to be firm, you are trying to earn a living!

 

[Mrs Gadget]

In my salon I take a 50% deposit for bookings off full sets if appt cancelled within 24 hours then the deposit is carried forward if less than 24 hours notice is given then the deposit is kept by the technician.

This also applies to our rebalance appts too, a 50% charge is made, if less than 24 hours notice is given.

This information is printed on my price lists and there are posters up in the salon that state this.

There are occasions when this happens but mainly on full set appointments that is why I ask for a 50% deposit, if when clients book in either by walk-in or by phone the deposit is requested and if it is not received within 48 hours of booking the appt will be cancelled.

This may seem harsh but I have been there with the no shows and got very frustrated at loosing money especially when I do run a cancellation list so am annoyed when I could have slotted in another client in the appt where they dont bother to turn up.

Jue xx

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Sadly it seems that no matter what trade you are in people fail to show up, even doctor's surgeries are thinking of charging a fee because people phone up in the morning and miss their appointment for the afternoon. It is a fact of life that we seem to have to tolerate. However we have been able to keep it to a minimum by doing the following:

1. New clients and unreliable clients we phone the day before to confirm, quite often it is not that they don't want the appointment it's just that they plain forget!

2. whenever someone books we always ask if for any reason they can't make it please let us know so that we can offer the slot to someone on our waiting list.

3.Keep a waiting list so that if you do get last minute cancellations you have an opportunity to try and fil them.

4. We have a sign in the salon saying something like " whilst we realise that last minute distasters happen (ie children sick, car breaks down) we would appreciate at least 24 hours notice of a cancellation, however 15 minutes is better than none!! Please remember that at the end of the day we are running a business and I have a mortgage, 2 teenage girls, 2 dogs and a cat to support!" It makes its point and people do get the message most ot the time.

Don't get me wrong we still get no-shows, but you do develop a kind of sixth sense about who will be reliable and who won't!! Regards a cancellation fee, I don't have a good enough business head to enforce one, I just say "never mind" to the client, and rant away inside my head!! I'm too soft for my own good!

 

[Deb Doyle]

Thanks everyone for that advice.

Right thats it I am going to get tough, think i will take a deposit off all new clients of a least £10 for all full sets and facials as they are the longest appointments, and put a sign up in the salon about cancelling appointments. I have a mortgage, two kids and fish to feed!!!!! oh & a husband (nearly forgot about him):biggrin:

Thanks again