Client forgot Appointment - would you charge??

[lisa21]

I am a mobile therapist and have a note on my website and literature that 24 hours notice is required. I had a two hour booking last night. When I turned up there was no-one home so I waited a while - phoned the house and left a message and also put a note through the door.
She phoned later and left a message in a total state saying she had completely forgotten and had not written in her diary and that she would reimburse me for my time and make another booking. Would you charge anything for the time lost or would you just put it down to experience?

 

[adelekeegan1]

I am a mobile therapist and have a note on my website and literature that 24 hours notice is required. I had a two hour booking last night. When I turned up there was no-one home so I waited a while - phoned the house and left a message and also put a note through the door.
She phoned later and left a message in a total state saying she had completely forgotten and had not written in her diary and that she would reimburse me for my time and make another booking. Would you charge anything for the time lost or would you just put it down to experience?

I would give anyone the benefit of the doubt - once.

We are all human, it does sound as if she is genuine and you may well find that your reasonable approach would ensure a loyal client. HTH

 

[fanella]

if she re-books and keeps that appointment I would just put it down to experience and make a note to contact her before every appointment to remind/confirm

 

[wowbb]

I agree that its best to leave it at that if she is a regular customer and also rebooks with you, however especially if you are mobile it is difficult and quite annoying if that happens as its not only your time wasted but also petrol money for driving around.

If its a new customer it might even be worth thinking about getting the treatment paid in advance or at least get a deposit paid for your time. I know it sounds odd and the danger is that it could put people off but things happen and it is so frustrating when you have invested your time and money and others dont appreciate it.

we have had a case where a trainer travelled 1.5 hours to train a few member of staff and after the training the salon owner turned around and said that the training was fantastic but she is not going to pay as someone had told her it was free......

it got sorted in that case but just imagine you travel to someones house and after the treatment the client has not got the money with her.....what do you do? You cant really take her nails back off or the tan or whatever treatment you did and its a quite tricky situation.......so it might be worth thinking about taking some sort of a deposit - at least till you know the client is reliable?

 

[fanella]

surely a person is more likely to turn up at a salon without money than be in their own home. You can't really ask every new client for a deposit it would not look very professional and some what money grabbing! only my opinion for what it is worth! I think a confirmation call should do it with a reminder that you only accept cheque or cash.

 

[wowbb]

i agree its not the best but driving to someones home with no one there and not having been paid and maybe having turned other clients away for that time is not what you want either?

I would think you as the therapist would know which of your clients to trust, if they are existing ones you know that you are safe but with new clients?

 

[Lil Ash]

i wouldnt charge, some clients might go eles square!!!

i would just leave it and say dont worry about it!!! that way they know, u are more understanding!!! but if they do it everytime, just say i cant afford to keep running late, or booking appoiments which could be taken by other clients!!

 

[nailzoo]

If I read your post correctly ....
didn't she say "she would reimburse you" ?
what more do you want?

If she said she would reimburse you, what's the point of the thread?

Let her reimburse you, make another appointment and move on, otherwise you could lose a genuinely sorry client who made a mistake.

 

[Ruth Mills]

If she's a regular client and this was the first time she'd forgot an appointment, then I'd be inclined to let her off or just get her to pay enough to cover petrol expenses rather than the entire cost of the treatment. But it's a really nice gesture that she's apologised and offered to reimburse you.

 

[thg]

yes I agree. the lady forgot the appointment and phone and apologised, that's enough for me, give her the benefit of the doubt, I like to treat people how i would like to be treated, and if I had forgotton an appointment, and the person charged me for that, I would certainly not rebook.
everybody makes mistakes,
anyway if she's really sorry she will reflect it in the tip she gives you..:lol:thg

 

[Lynne Baker]

I wonder if a preventative approach might be one option? Telephoning your client the day before, say, just to confirm the appointment?

 

[Bagpuss]

I think if she has offered to compensate you then then accept....if she hadn't then i would have given her a chance. The fact that she got your message and rang you back proves that it was genuine. If she just couldn't be bothered then she wouldn't have returned your call.

 

[Blue Rose]

If a client offered to still pay I would accept it.

After many no-shows, we are now quite strict with our cancellation policy. The 1st time they forget, they get let off but are reminded of our policy. Further missed appointments are charged. Clients know this & if they don't like it, tough. We don't want unreliable clients anyway.

Having a tougher approach has definately reduced our no-shows. So as not to sound like a hard hearted so & so, we do also use our discretion on missed appointments.

 

[thg]

I wish i could be so confident , to charge somebody for a forgotten appointment, and for them to rebook with me again,
there's plenty of nail techs out there to fill your boots,
if it was happening on a regular basis with certain clients, then i would phone them the day b4. like suggested,
but in this business you can't afford to rub the clients up the wrong way, after all they pay your wages, like they say the client is alway right, to a degree. thg

 

[Blue Rose]

I wish i could be so confident , to charge somebody for a forgotten appointment, and for them to rebook with me again,
there's plenty of nail techs out there to fill your boots,
if it was happening on a regular basis with certain clients, then i would phone them the day b4. like suggested,
but in this business you can't afford to rub the clients up the wrong way, after all they pay your wages, like they say the client is alway right, to a degree. thg

I think the confidence things comes with age & experience. I've been doing this a long time but it's only been in more recent years that I've toughened up. Some weeks I'd have well over £100 in missed appointments . When that starts happening on a regular basis you find that confidence to enforce your cancellation policy.

We have some regulars who often miss appointments, we do phone them the day before, and sometimes they still miss their slots.

I totally agree that you can't rub clients up the wrong way, but I think it's all about how you deal with the no-shows. 1st time let them off but just remind them of your policy. Write it down on their record card so you know they know.

One client in particular has now been charged 2 or 3 times for late cancellation/no show. She knows our terms & is more than happy with everything else we do to still keep coming to us. (plus she travels from out of town, about a 20 min journey)

If they are persistent offenders though do you really want them as clients? Not knowing whether they are going to turn up or not? Inwardly groan when you see their name in the book? We used to have clients like that but fortunately we weeded them out ( or they still pay) & now generally have the reliable clients that we want.

There is lots of competition out there, but there's also lots of potential clients.

 

[Lynne Baker]

There is lots of competition out there, but there's also lots of potential clients.

How true!

 

[Bombalurina]

I would also agree with what's been said...I would let her off the first appointment, especially as she's called you, it seems genuine to me. If you feel so inclined to accept her offer of some monetary compensation then I would take it, even if it's just an extra £5 to cover your petrol.

I would always let a client off the first missed appointment, and just take the opportunity to politely remind them about your cancellation policy...then make sure you follow it through!! It's always difficult to ask someone to pay for a treatment you haven't done, but as someone said already, it's your time and petrol they've wasted, not to mention the fact that you could have booked someone else in that timeslot.

Personally, I don't charge for cancelled appointments (At least they've let me know, and I've not wasted time and petrol), only if I turn up and they're not there for their appointment. And I always judge each situation on it's own merit...I turned up for an appointment to find a lady wasn't there recently...but when she called me to apologise (a week later), turns out she'd gone into labour early, and was in hospital!! So I was hardly going to charge her for that!!!

Just be flexible enough so that clients feel you're understanding of their situations, but strong enough to charge when you really feel the need to.

 

[weezie]

Charge her for the missed appointment. She has said she will reimburse you, after all you are out of pocket. She is expecting to pay so will be happy to. It is suggesting that your time and business is not worth anything if you do not. Tell her you will sort out the charge at her next appointment, rebook her and add it to the bill at the next appointment, even if you only charge her 50%.:hug:

 

[aquariushoney]

Set down what your cancellation policy is.

My policy is that if less than 24hrs notice is given to cancel, then the client will be charged 50% of the original treatment. I have this on my pricelists, and in my newsletters. I also tell new clients when they phone to make a booking.

(However, if someone calls first thing in the morning to say they are sick, kids are sick etc, then that can't be helped and I don not charge.)

I also send a text message to clients the day before their appointment to remind them.

If they forget to turn up to their appointment, I post them a cancelation letter reminding them of my policy. It explains that at times I have to turn clients away because I am fully booked, that I have set that time aside specially for them, have made my own childcare arrangements etc etc. But, I tell them as they may not have been aware of my policy, that I will waver the cancellation fee this time. I have never had to charge the fee, because a client never forgets again.

I have had the odd lady that will get their nose out of joint about receiving the letter but most are very good about it.

Sometimes, there are ladies around, that just don't think about other people's time, and these people are always unreliable, or cancel at short notice and they actually ending up costing you money. You don't need these sort of customers!

 

[Kim Lawless]

I think that offering to pay you is an empty gesture. If you actually take the payment for the missed appointment, I bet she won't book again. xxx