Do I have the right to turn away a client?

[honeycure]

It's kind of a dumb question, but I'm concerned as to whether I'm really allowed to just say "no more" to a client.

I had this client last week for the second time, and I just can't take it anymore. I keep my smile and stay professional and polite, but it's been 3 days and I still can't shake her off my mind. It was like this last time too!! She's not a normal annoying client or anything like that. I can tell she's probably not liked anywhere she goes just by hearing her talk about her life. She's not only abusive towards me, but she takes double the time I normally spend on a client.

One issue is, her hyponichium grows out past her finger tips, so she's afraid that she'll get cut and refuses to let me use clippers. It doesn't matter how much I assure her I'll be careful. She only comes back like once a month, so her nails are always very long and she insists that I file it down to the edge of her hyponichium. That process takes 30 minutes to do. Then she requests detailed nail art and asks for a price estimate of each and every single process I do and tries to haggle her way through making it cheaper which takes another 30 minutes. Then she examines each and every single nail to the tiniest detail, and instead of telling me to fix it, she says "Now don't you think this would look better if it was more straight?" The way she talks to me absolutely drives me insane! And no matter how many times I tell her, she points out a flaw AFTER she puts it into the light and the product has cured. She also has trouble keeping her hand under the light properly, so I always find that some of her nails haven't cured..... I've never met a client who has so much trouble simply keeping her hand flat under the light!!!

And this time when it came around to paying me, I asked her if she had cash because i used my own product and wanted to deduct my cost from the amount (otherwise the company takes a month to pay me back which I really hate). Since she didn't have cash on her, I told her I could give her a discount if she went to the other side of the building to the ATM machine to get it. I usually do that for my clients, and they all usually do it because who doesn't like a discount, right?

Anyways, then this woman comes back and asks me to write her a receipt. I told her I don't have receipts, but I could write her out the price. Then she told me to write it out in detail so she could see the breakdown of the price, which just added onto her already too long appointment.

I shouldn't have bothered with the discount. That was a bad move... I have a feeling she's gonna come back and demand a discount every time she comes in, and try to calculate my prices on her own (which doesn't work because I calculate labor too). Then at last, this is just kind of a last kick in my rib but she her tip was very insulting. I know tipping isn't required and it's a choice, but after 2.5 hours of gritting my teeth behind my grin, her few dollars just..... AAAAHHH!! Zero would have been less insulting.

Wow this is a really long post. Basically, I just wanna know if I can actually turn away a client. She's a nightmare to have, and I just have a bad feeling about her in general. I can tell she's a trouble maker. What do I say to her without making her angry? Should I just tell her I'm booked until she gives up? I only work 2 days a week and have very limited spots available. I don't want to deal with a picky, penny pinching, time hog

 

[Beautific]

If you are self employed then yes you can.
I would become fully booked this way you aren't in a situation where she could become aggressive and maybe she will go to another tech on different days.
Sometimes we have to do what is best for our business and your client seems not to realise how precious your time is (we will all have had clients like her, I definitely have!).
Good luck in whatever you decide :hug:

 

[Bev Rose]

If you are self employed then yes you can.
I would become fully booked this way you aren't in a situation where she could become aggressive and maybe she will go to another tech on different days.
Sometimes we have to do what is best for our business and your client seems not to realise how precious your time is (we will all have had clients like her, I definitely have!).
Good luck in whatever you decide :hug:

I have to say I agree with this.

If you are only there 2 days per week then it would be understanding that you are fully booked.
xxxxx

 

[honeycure]

Yes I'm self employed
I'm also worried that if she can't come to me, she'll go to the other girl who works on my off days. I'd feel really bad since I already told her how awful she is XD

The client actually had the nerve to tell me that her first choice was the girl across the street that does them, but she's always booked to the point where she does appointment auctions on her facebook. She said she didn't like the rush. Ugh...

Thanks for the advise!

 

[Unique Nails09]

Gosh I feel for you dear I've had a few nightmare clients like this and they make you feel nervous when they question your work with their picky rude comments.

Maybe just explain that you're very busy and she is taking up too much appointment time with her demands? Maybe say you get the impression she's not 100% happy with your service due to her comments/complaints and suggest she goes elsewhere for her nails to make a comparison?

At the end of the day you don't need a client who is making you feel stressed for no reason, just be firm and stick to your guns, she's probably like this with her hairdresser/dentist/doctor - I doubt its just you

Good luck :hug:

 

[julesgems]

The way I see it, you have 2 options.

1) Be busy and unable to service her or
2) charge her for your time

Either way, you don't need the stress!:hug:

 

[Snails]

I agree!
She is certainly not worth the aggravation.
I had a similar client who, when I told her I didn't work on Mondays said things like "That is very unhelpful that you don't work when I need to come in" !!!
To top it all, she was a hairdresser so I thought she would know the importance of having a day off!!
She too questioned how the end bill had been calculated etc etc so I became very assertive with my client and told her upfront what it would be, what it would involve and asked her if she was happy to proceed.
You didn't drag her in to your salon. She came in of her own free will.
So if she doesn't want to play by your rules I too would become fully booked.
People like this don't deserve you!

 

[ellewopter]

In a word yes!!! Why should you have to put up with a rude and unappreciative client!!

BUT, have you ever tried to talk to her about it? I have a client who was much the same and I always left feeling like she was unhappy and picked at everything, was rude ignorant and kept telling me to do it how her last discount salon did it!

One day after dreading her for years I decided to ask her if she did in fact like my work and was happy with it as I always worried that she didn't.
Her response was that yes she loved it why else would I come back?
So now I just get her started on a topic i know she will rant on about for hours while I get on with it and tell her to tell me then and there if she doesn't like anything otherwise i cant fix it as I have done it correctly and if she wants it different and tells me after then I will have to charge her. I ALWAYS check what she wants thoroughly before we start.

Also be firm that your prices are your prices end of - no negociating and tell her how much it will cost, If you are firm she will get the message.

But the fact that she keeps coming back speaks volumes. It is up to you whether she is worth your time and effort as at the end of the day it is business and you can't afford to mess about.

If it were me, i would put my prices up.................................... :twisted:

 

[weezie]

She sounds like a right pain. You could be brave and just say to her next time you do her nails at the end when she pays look at the clock or your watch and say "My normal appointments are "x" hours long and I have been doing your nails for "x" hours. I understand you have a particular way like your nails to be done which is taking longer, unfortunately after doing my accounts it has become apparent that I am loosing money as it takes double the time so I want to give you the option that either I am going to have to increase the price of your treatment to £"x" or if that is too much you are welcome to try another tech. Obviously I would like you to stay with me but I will understand if the increase is too much"

This way if she is paying more it would make it easier to grin and bear it or she may decide she doesn't want to pay more!- make sure the increase is sizeable e.g double!

If she looks stunned just say "I will give you some time to think about it."

I wouldn't personally say I was fully booked as you may get caught out.:hug:

 

[Pooh8bear]

Yes I have a hairdressing client who''s a pain in the arse.

She let it slip that she went on a Self Assertiveness course. Personally I think "Manners" would have been the better choice.

She asks you a question & half way through your answer she will come out with something like
"Now your not scalping me are you" or
" I hope you are concentrating" etc.

She really gets your back up, so I called her to say I was having to cut my work load down so apart from the next appointment she had booked, she would need to find another hairdresser from then on.

She called a few weeks later begging me to carry on with her hair, so I told her that I had cut my client base down & doubled my price on the clients I had kept.
She said she was fine with that.
So now I think the pain in the arse is worth the money!!!!!!!

 

[smooth]

You can decide who you treat but go about it nicely, being fully booked is often the best way. you can also increase your prices or say that because of the amount of time her appointments are taking the price will be charged accordingly (say £** per hour rather than £** per treatment). She'll soon stop fussing!

 

[kylieb]

Wow sounds like you have your work cut out there!! Of course you have the right to turn her away but I think you have to do it in the right way. You don't want her bad mouthing you to potential clients. I think you will have to use the 'fully booked' trick here.

 

[Divine Beauty Newcastle]

I would probably say I was fully booked, although I would also be tempted to say that actually, I do have a slot, but since your appointments seem to take longer than average, I couldn't possibly fit you in.

Maybe that would make her think about not taking up all your time, then again, maybe not.

 

[Pooh8bear]

I would probably say I was fully booked, although I would also be tempted to say that actually, I do have a slot, but since your appointments seem to take longer than average, I couldn't possibly fit you in.

Maybe that would make her think about not taking up all your time, then again, maybe not.

Divine Beauty Newcastle, I like this, :lol: I think I shall use this one if future. x

 

[HairSquared]

I give my staff the option of turning down a service if they have reasonable grounds to do so. Being made to feel bad about their work or less than respected is grounds enough for me! Our time is too precious to waste on clients like these, and it has been my experience that they NEVER change, and seem to get worse the harder you aim to please. Cut the ties quickly.

 

[Lorrainelola]

I would probably say I was fully booked, although I would also be tempted to say that actually, I do have a slot, but since your appointments seem to take longer than average, I couldn't possibly fit you in.

Maybe that would make her think about not taking up all your time, then again, maybe not.

Well said

 

[exquisitebeauty]

well you're not the first and defiantly not the last to have a bad client. I own a beauty salon, which wasnt always a beauty salon before it was a solarium, which we kept some of the beds as we had a large amount of clients use them and still to this day i still get the odd old client asking me what offers are on the sun bed course when they already have discount on them. I completely hate the old owner as they did the course but added even more discount on top. I also have banned a male client who has been shall we say makes you uncomfortable treating and he rings up an i don't book him in. so if the client makes you uncomfortable don't treat xx