Clients lateness

[nails2nails]

I'm wondering how to go about dealing with lateness.
I have one lady which I have gone out my way to deal with her nails, she came to me with MMA and one finger was bleeding under the enhancement as the nail didn't break it just ripped her nail! Now she is all sorted, but she only want's to book her rebalances every 4 weeks, which I don't mind normally as some people can go this long but her nails grow very fast and they are awful when I get there and takes ages to get them rebalanced she seems to be messing me about, once she didn't turn up for infill then called me 10 minutes after the appointment time to say she couldn't make it, the next time she was 15 minutes late and said she was out for a meal and time ran over:irked:
Now I'm mobile so on both times I had used my petrol to go there and put me behind for next appts.
she never seems bothered about her lateness and tries to make a joke of it, but I'm not laughing here
How would you guys go about dealing with this? It's so furstrating.
:hug:

 

[shedunlop]

You will just have to talk to her seriously about this and explain to her that it is hard enough with traffic to keep to your appointment times without clients being late. That or sack her. I have sacked a few clients in my time and never regretted it, unfortunately you will get the odd one that is more stress than they are worth.

 

[del3]

Since this is a habit for her I'd sugest letting her know that you have a new policy in place, that there will be an additional charge for any appointments she keeps you waiting in future. I have done this with one client who thought it would be ok to arrive 15 mins late every time, she has only been charged the once and not been late since.
:hug:

 

[nails2nails]

Thank-you

How would you go about her leaving it so long to have her nails rebalance, would you insist that she comes in sooner? Because I don't know what she does with her nails but they always look such a mess and like I said her nails seem to grow so fast.
x

 

[Rebecca J]

Hi

I read on one of the threads the some people charge so much for a 2wk rebalanced and then a little extra for a 3wk etc etc within there price list as this gives clients more incentive to return sooner for a rebalance.

Hope this helps?
x

 

[Exquisite Touch]

I had a client yesterday who turned up an hour and half late and expected me to drop everything she wasnt impressed when she was told I had a schedule to keep and she now needed to come back..... she protested but I have an appointment yes an hour and a half ago

 

[shedunlop]

A sliding scale for the infills. So much at 2 weeks then more at 3 and more at 4 weeks. I personally charge a flat fee at 2 weeks, this will include any nails that are damaged or broken, there are so few that this works out really well for everyone. At 3 weeks I charge more and still include breakages but at 4 weeks I charge more for the infill and I also charge for each breakage. This discourages any of them from leaving it too long as it is just too expensive for them. The regrowth looks rubbish at the 4 week stage with the exception of the odd client so I don't encourage them to leave it any longer than 3 weeks. My clients book in every 2 weeks apart from holidays, sickness etc. Some try to go longer sometimes but come back to the 2 week infill as they like the look of the fresh nails.

 

[geeg]

Funny how things are so different in different areas.

Here in Spain I have a flat rebalance price but every breakage or new nail is charged a 5.00 extra on top of that price no matter when or how they break it. Anything after 4 weeks is charged as a full set, whether it is a rebalance or not.

To the poster ... this woman is already costing you a fortune in money, time and aggravation. I would tell her you are not prepared to put up with her casual attitude/lack of respect towards you and your time and that you can no longer provide her with services. Once is one thing .. habitual lack of respect is another.

 

[Emily9]

People like this make me laugh, if you kept her waiting i'm sure she'd have something to say about it, as they value their own time but don't value others.

I would have a word with her about it as time is money and she is wasting yours! for instances where you've turned up and she hasn't i would charge a call out fee say £20 for your time and petrol.

As for leaving it 4 weeks for an infill, i would charge for a new set, all my clients are 2/3 weekers but i charge so much for a 2 week rebalance & so much for a 3 week rebalance with breakages on top of that at an additional cost.

 

[hippy-chick]

Educate your client.
The signals you are giving out are telling her that "ha ha ha, yes its really funny" and "wipe your feet on the way out".

I get messed around by new clients only, once they have become my client they quickly learn that they don't have the RIGHT to mess me about.

I have had one particular client for 14 years, she messes me around, I won't treat her, she comes back 6 months later and behaves then slips into bad habits and I won't treat her. She now texts me 2 days before if she needs to postpone her appointment NOT the night before.

I have clients that offer to pay for the full treatment if they forget/miss it for some reason.

How do I achieve this? I tell them via body language and verbal that their behaviour is not acceptable to a professional working therapist.

If they are late, they get whats left of their appointment time. If they dare to question it, I tell them like it is - you are late, I have a client after you, I am not going to keep them waiting, end of.

If you mobile this is even more frustrating. I would insist on a deposit off her. tell her that because of an increase in missed/lateness by a few clients you are implementing this, so at her her next appointment (if you decide to work with her), tell her this and take £5. tell her if that if she then cancels or doesn't turn up because she is in a restaurant, that money will cover your petrol. Make your client take responsibility.

I hope this helps, I have learn't the hard way and made all matter of mistakes along the way. I've caught buses and organised childcare to attend appointments when i was mobile, so if they didn't then turn up to let me in, or where late, I would almost burst into tears.

if you are not happy about telling her this, print out a handout, give it to her, ask her to read it and say that this is "ha ha ha a client/customer contract ha ha ha" and see if she continues to laugh.

 

[VHunter]

Be firm with clients. You have a schedule to keep AND other clients waiting. I'm sure they're not pleased if you're late.

I had a client that was habitually late, one time as late as 30min. All sorts of hairbrained excuses. I explained her to a couple of times that others are waiting. This is especially inconsiderate for my evening appointments since I can wind up finishing as late as 11pm due to her tardiness. 10pm is late enough. I do NOT want to work until 11.

Finally... one day, she showed up late and I said "I'm sorry, it's too late to start now. It'll put me behind for my next client and she won't appreciate being off schedule since she has to get up early in the morning. We'll have to book another day"

She hasn't been late since.

 

[An*Gel]

I take my clients one after the other and allow an hour and a half for each client.

When a client is late, however this knocks everyone out.

My clients are busy and taking an hour and a half out of their day is long enough without further delays, so if one of my clients is late by 10 or 15 minutes, then the next client arrives while the late client is still there.

I used to panic about this, but now I take it all in my stride.

I apologise to my client that has arrived on time, as she has to wait on the couch and I explain that I have fallen behind by 15 minutes and usually the client that was late has to apologise to the other client and admit that it was her fault for being late.

This is usually the first and last time that the client will be late as she's so embarrassed:o

 

[shedunlop]

Yes Gigi I forgot to mention that my 4 week infill charge is the same as a new set without the breakages, this always attracts attention to the fact that a new set is easier at this point!

It is a lack of respect and it is up to us to train our clients to respect us and, especially when we either work from home or mobile, that we are serious and professional and that this isn't just something to pass the time with.

 

[geeg]

I take my clients one after the other and allow an hour and a half for each client.

When a client is late, however this knocks everyone out.

My clients are busy and taking an hour and a half out of their day is long enough without further delays, so if one of my clients is late by 10 or 15 minutes, then the next client arrives while the late client is still there.

I used to panic about this, but now I take it all in my stride.

I apologise to my client that has arrived on time, as she has to wait on the couch and I explain that I have fallen behind by 15 minutes and usually the client that was late has to apologise to the other client and admit that it was her fault for being late.

This is usually the first and last time that the client will be late as she's so embarrassed:o

I never ever make a client that is on time sit and wait because the client in front of her was late. That is a terrible way to treat a client who is on time in my opinion.

A client who is late is only entitled to get what I can do in the time left of her original appointment time. To reward such a client with a full service is like giving candy to a naughty child and it does not teach them better manners. Plus I think it is downright rude to the client who arrived on time.

Of course there are different ways of dealing with this problem when it arises but in my salon if a client was late she only had the time left of her appointment with me and would be finished off by someone else who was usually the 'junior'.If you don't have the luxury of extra colleagues then you have to take other measures.

 

[VHunter]

I never ever make a client that is on time sit and wait because the client in front of her was late. That is a terrible way to treat a client who is on time in my opinion.

A client who is late is only entitled to get what I can do in the time left of her original appointment time. To reward such a client with a full service is like giving candy to a naughty child and it does not teach them better manners. Plus I think it is downright rude to the client who arrived on time.

Exactly!
Sometimes it happens.... and life gets in the way of living.
Now, with our regs that we know are good girls and on time... if they slip up on a rare occasion.. alright.
But for the most part, it's simply rude to make another client wait.

Another thing I have done to those that are late is said "yes, we can do your refill/rebalance BUT due to the shortage of time, there is no time for xyz (art or whatever) and you'll have to do with a straight polish".
My clients HATE that :lol: and want their funky french's sealed in uv gel gloss. So, this usually straightens them up too.

hth's

 

[An*Gel]

I DO think it's very unfair for my client that is on time to be "punished" and with lateness it's a no win situation for the nail tech.

If someone is booked for a rebalance or a full set and they're late you can't rush through it or half do the job. I work for myself and don't have any staff that can help out.

I used to turn the late client away or try to reschedule her,or even offer her a different service, but then it's ME who suffers.

Lucky for me it doesn't happen too often (clients being late)..... I've often been at the hairdressers waiting on the couch with a magazine for 10 or 15 minutes

What does everyone else do?...

 

[NoLimitNails]

I have a sign up (I also tell them if they book by phone and on my website) that states that I work on tight schedule and if clients arrive too late for me to carry out an appointment, it's considered as if they have rescheduled to late, and I charge accordingly ("no-show's" have to pay full treatment booked in and "rescheduled to late's" have to pay 50 % of the treatment price with a 20 gbp minimum)

They are more than welcome for me to do another treatment that I can do in the remaining time, and they will have to pay for that, with the minimum of the before mentioned 20 gbp (if they choose so, ofcourse I don't charge the reschedule rate too)

I haven't met a single one who doesn't understand, but they are told even before they make the appointment so theres no confuses....

HTH:hug:

 

[nails2nails]

Thank-you for all your input

It's been very helpful with learning the way you do things, so I will take this all on board and give it some good thought in the way I run things.

Some late charges etc and straight talking are needed by the sounds of it

So thanks again :hug:

 

[nailzoo]

When a client turns up late and apologises, I kindly ask them to apologise to the next client, I'd like to think this has a little more "shame" attached to it, rather than a throw away comment to me.