Friends taking advantage ....

[Lorrainelola]

Is it just me or do some of your friends take the mick, like mine do. I mean I try and accommodate people best I can what with only being up and running in my room for 6 weeks. But I think they are having a laugh, messages and phonecalls backwards and forwards with them wanting to change their appointment times. I am diabetic and refuse to see anyone between 6pm & 7pm while I have my tea and I have told them this but still they ask for 6.30pm appointments. It makes me laugh when I get a call like an hour before they would like to come. Do they think I'm sitting here waiting for calls?...........

Oh yeah, I suppose I am really lol.

 

[kimi1101]

When i was training,i did a friends colour. i said id just charge her for product. so id finished her hair, n asked her for £5. she gave me £3.50 and said it was all she could afford. and i didnt say anything. iv since learnt. one day your pals will call and expect u to be available. and youll be booked out! as with the 6-7 thing, just say oh did i not tell you before? i cant because my body may go into shock etc. i can get u at 7 though?people take the p out of people who are easy targets. not being harsh but ul learn to deal with it. as long as they are paying you!
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[karenrose]

Iv had this too! When I just done my glam lash training my friend asked me to do hers and a spray tan and that she would of course pay me. Got there, done the treatments, asked for the money and she says "oh I thought it was a freebie, I'm totally skint". So I know now next time she asks I will tell her how much it will be and before I start treatment I will ask for the money

 

[lucyboo]

i do a small discount for friends, the only friend who doesn't pay is my friend who is a hair dresser, we trade services!!

 

[katiebbaby]

My best friend, my sister pays me full price, as she said she wouldnt let me do them other wise, and my mum and auntie,,, I do little bits as extras like toes and tans etc, but they book in advance as paying customers.

My step daughter howerver does not pay and she gets her nails done as and when I am available, and lately it's not often or when I am available she is busy!!!! so I am expected to be available when she is not busy I guess!!!!

 

[Aphrodites]

when i did my training i was told never give anything away for free even when practicing and always charge my friends AND family but at a discount. They are taking the mickey thinking you will pull strings for them. Just tell them you're booked and they will have to arrange another appointment time. At the end of the day, if they are your friends they should understand x

 

[tonitigercharli]

Is it just me or do some of your friends take the mick, like mine do. I mean I try and accommodate people best I can what with only being up and running in my room for 6 weeks. But I think they are having a laugh, messages and phonecalls backwards and forwards with them wanting to change their appointment times. I am diabetic and refuse to see anyone between 6pm & 7pm while I have my tea and I have told them this but still they ask for 6.30pm appointments. It makes me laugh when I get a call like an hour before they would like to come. Do they think I'm sitting here waiting for calls?...........

Oh yeah, I suppose I am really lol.

Yep, learnt that lesson the hard (and expensive) way! When Ive had to travel to the wholesalers to get a few bits ended up spending £20 and when Ive done a perfect set she expects it for bugger all. Id be too embarrassed to do this I may as well have given her the £20 and told her to go treat herself! I never made that mistake again, any friends now get told a price BEFORE I agree to anything and although Im happy to give a discount, freebies are OUT. In fact only last week I had to tell a p***taking friend of mine that Im running a business, not a charity. I get so sick and tired of people expecting freebies when you are spending YOUR product, giving YOUR time - you will learn your own way and if you don't wanna be straight and tell em no you can always pretend you're fully booked and just can't fit em in...... good luck xxx

 

[katiebbaby]

The thing I look at now is I charge more for my time than anything,,, if I was to work for an employer I would get paid £8+ or what ever is minimum wage so how do people expect you to sit there for 2 hrs ( unpack pack pack etc, ) and pay you less than £20? plus your products cost is minimum of 2-3 pounds depending on brands and how much you buy or if you tip and overlay or freeform sculpt.

I have just had to put my prices up as I am now wise to this, for the last two weeks I have done lots of shellacing and minxing aswell as my regular clients for rebalancing and I am now more aware of the fact that even at £25 I think is cheap.,,,,,,I feel my passion is in L&P and love it but get frustrated at the fact that I am good at what I do and have invested in my education (doing my masters with CND) yet I sit there for 1hr 30 mins or more depending, giving the client the best service, ie, best pink to suit skin tone, slightley extending nail beds, offering opaque powders, etc and clients still pay me what I first charged, and I don't know how to approach the subject to them of my new prices?? my old clients pay prices I charged before doing my masters etc,,, but all my other clients pay dif price,,,, I really wanna loose these old clients as I feel they think their doing me a favour by me doing their nails, when really its the other way around,,,,,

sorry for hi jacking the thread xxx

 

[tonitigercharli]

When I increased my prices I gave people a months notice. I told em (as it was true) that my stock costs had increased since my last increase in (however long it was) OR as you have nvr increased prices you've had to review them.

This worked for me as it gave any people who didnt want to pay my new prices ample time & opportunity to find someone else if they wished.
I worried some would leave but I lost none. If they are happy with you & you do a decent job they will pay it. Don't be scared to earn what you are worth. A big mistake I've made lots of times!! x

The thing I look at now is I charge more for my time than anything,,, if I was to work for an employer I would get paid £8+ or what ever is minimum wage so how do people expect you to sit there for 2 hrs ( unpack pack pack etc, ) and pay you less than £20? plus your products cost is minimum of 2-3 pounds depending on brands and how much you buy or if you tip and overlay or freeform sculpt.

I have just had to put my prices up as I am now wise to this, for the last two weeks I have done lots of shellacing and minxing aswell as my regular clients for rebalancing and I am now more aware of the fact that even at £25 I think is cheap.,,,,,,I feel my passion is in L&P and love it but get frustrated at the fact that I am good at what I do and have invested in my education (doing my masters with CND) yet I sit there for 1hr 30 mins or more depending, giving the client the best service, ie, best pink to suit skin tone, slightley extending nail beds, offering opaque powders, etc and clients still pay me what I first charged, and I don't know how to approach the subject to them of my new prices?? my old clients pay prices I charged before doing my masters etc,,, but all my other clients pay dif price,,,, I really wanna loose these old clients as I feel they think their doing me a favour by me doing their nails, when really its the other way around,,,,,

sorry for hi jacking the thread xxx

 

[BobSweden]

My experience after more than 20+ years is to avoid doing business with friend like the plague. It complicates everything and what was a nice relationship often becomes soured because they start to take advantage.

Imagine you were a painter and they expected you to decorate their room for cost price "because it's easy". It just doesn't work.

Iryna used to do this because she is a big softy, and I used to tell her it would end in tears. Guess what? Every time I was right. It didn't make me feel good just sorry for wifey that her good heart was betrayed.

Keep business professional and keep a distance to your clients. Be nice, talk, but always be professional and careful. And most of all, value your expertise and time ;-)

 

[olabecee]

BobSweden, can you please enlighten me on how to keep a distance from my clients. Though I am very professional at all times and I always get this comments from my clients but I'm getting a bit worried now as I've recently started to treat some of the mums at my daughters school. I see most of them almost everyday and I say hello and chat but I don't really want to do that all the time. I now sometimes don't want to drop my lil girl at school just to avoid them at the school gate. I'm sure they are all very nice people but I don't really want to get too close. Thanks for any suggestion and sorry to but in.

 

[katiebbaby]

Bob it is oh so true, as my sister is a paying customer and she reserves the right to book her appt 4 weeks in advance, yet my step daughter does not pay,,,, soooo when she needs nails rebalancing she EXPECTS me to do them, and if im busy or if I need to re arrange appointment than I get frowned upon,,,I have put my foot down and now said very politly that if she wants to book in than she can otherwise she will get done as and when I can be bothered,,,which lately is not often as I am working some days 10-10, and dont even get to see my children of a night going to bed.

My partner is an accountant and he charges brothers, sisters, etc, no exceptions in business he says and wont talk business when socilising (strange for an accounant lol) yet I do his daughters nails for NATTER,,,:O

xxx

 

[honeycure]

Ugh I know what you mean.
That's why I stopped talking about my services with friends. The other day, my friend insisted on a 9am appointment even though I dont start working till 10, so I showed up an hour early and called to see where she was. She was SLEEPING!!! She told me she'll just call back later....

I also get friends who expect me to hand out freebies. I always tell my friends that since my products cost a lot of money and time, I can't do it for free. The most I can do is take out the glitter fees, but the actual product fee stays!

 

[heatherp]

Please don't take this the wrong way guys but I'm so glad its not just me!!

I was only saying last week that I'm getting very peed off with some of my friends and family. My sis in law who apart from when they were bought as presents for her had never set foot in a salon now wants waxing, nails, microdermabrasion, eyelash tinting and perming, tanning.

She said to me " I think I must be having a mid life crisis because these days I just want everything done"......NO LADY YOU JUST WANT IT BECAUSE ITS EITHER PEANUTS OR COMPLETELY FREE!!!!
She was here for three and half hours last Tuesday for the grand sum of £12.
Why I hear you shout....because I don't know how to stop it now its started plus she sometimes picks up my son from school (her daughter is in the same class so she doesnt have to go out of her way and I also return the favour when needed also) but I still dont know how to change it.

One of my sisters is just as bad, trashes her nails and just expects me to drop everything to fix them for her.

Sorry to jump on the bandwagon ladies xx

 

[katiebbaby]

My partner told me if you feel uncomfortable and they dont pay for trearments then basically dont book them in,, which he told me not to do for HIS daughter he told me she should still pay. He said they should never ever ever take preference over paying costumers if they expect it for nothing they will always expect more.

Would anyone sit there for 1 and half hours +(mobile) plus products and do it for free,,,,,,, I worked last friday from 10 am untill 8pm and my step daughter rang and sid she was going out last min, on the saturday and could I do her that eve,,,,so silly me said wellll ermmmmm yes but not untll 9pm,,,yes great was her reply,,,,,,,,,,,,more fool me didint get home untill 11.30 from 9.30 am and was out at 9 am, now that does not bother me love my work I am passionate, although If I feel im being abused I get annoyed

 

[heatherp]

katiebbaby - its exactly the same for me, my husband says to me not to do it, his dad owns a taxi and my husband pays when he books it and says thats the way they were bought up so sis in law is clearly taking the pee but I still do it.

 

[katiebbaby]

ha ha how funny is that,,my partners son works on the cabs of an evening, 20 mins yes 20 mins,,,,,,, we paid over £25 in his cab,,,,,,,,,,,makes me mad, I get picked up from 10 mind doen road once month and will always pay £10,, as its his living,,, so why do I sit there for 2 hrs for nothing plus last time i minxed her and this time i shellaced her,,,,, 11pm ermmm,m,,,, im mad now sitting here xx

 

[LOU LOU]

I've got a friend who lives in Dubai. She emailed me about five weeks ago and copied her step-father in on the email and asked me if I would do her mom's nails as she had completely forgotten about Mother's Day and she wanted to do something nice for her mom.

I emailed back and asked what she wanted and she said to do her mom a manicure. I then emailed back and said "Will your mom being paying me on the day hun" ............. I've not heard a word since!!! She's on my friend list on FB and i've noticed she hasn't spoken to me since! She obviously expected me to do them for FREE! The cheeky cow! But excuse me, she's NOT my Mom, so why the hell should I be paying for someone else's Mom!

Some people expect everything for nothing. They don't realise, we have to pay for products, electric, heating and most importantly is our time, knowledge and skills really that worthless!!

 

[SunSpray]

I can remember a thread similar to this a while ago and I took two pieces of advice which I've been following and they're proving very successful. Sorry I can't remember exactly who advised which one but thank you very much for your great advice!

Firstly, if you've got so many friends and family wanting your service, you should create a "Mates Rates Price List" - personalise it for each friend/family member, post it to them (or email) along with your days, hours and methods of payment available. This should (in theory!) make it crystal clear to them that you expect to be paid £xxx for each and every treatment but at the same time they should feel special that you're being generous giving them a bit of discount. It's really worked with me - although I only do spray tanning - and it saves any pre-appointment worry and awkwardness asking for payment afterwards.

Secondly - and this was even more significant to me - we should decide once and for all who we're happy to give free treatments to (whether just on special occasions, every now and then or all the time) and give them just as a gift, expecting nothing in return. This has really helped me because to be honest, I always felt that in return, a couple of friends and family members who I did the odd freebie spray tan for should've been doing more to promote me. Following that last thread it really made me re-think and now I happily do the odd freebie, just from me to them because I love them!

Not sure if any of that helps, but it sure did help me

xx

 

[kimi1101]

Ii have two friends who get special mates rates.

Both have always been there for me, never let me down and are both short of cash a bit. They some times get a discount, occasionally heavily discounted, but the point is they appreciate it soooo much.

I do all the girls I used to do as homers at a reduced rate, they pay the same for their cut and blow dries but if its a colour and cut I take between £5 and £10 off. I'm reasonably priced and I think they are getting a bargain anyway. One of them has since gone elsewhere to get her hair done (funnily enough it was the £3.50 girl) and if she ever books back in here again, shes back on full rate. I don't mean that threatening, I just reward my homers for their loyalty and she hasn't been loyal. And in the grand scheme of things, I maybe see one or two of them every week, not a massive loss of money for me.

xxx