I'm so annoyed - Nail Party

[skippy87]

Hi Geeks

Just need to vent.

I had a childrens nail art party to do yesterday afternoon for a girls birthday.
The mum booked the party back in October.

I emailed her a week before and asked if everything was still ok for the party and she said yes.

Well yesterday i travelled 15miles to the party and when i got there the mum told me the party had finished i felt so bad and thought maybe i had the times wrong.

I said but you told me the party started at 4pm till 6pm, she said no it was 2 till 4.
I still have the emails to show she said 4 till 6.
She said in the end she painted and decorated the kids nails for them, i was a bit confused as all the kids had nail art and gems all over their nails.

Im starting to think she found someone else to do it and just didnt want to tell me and wait till i got all the way there to make an excuse
She said she had been trying to get hold of me all afternoon, but she couldnt find our emails, or my number or remember my company name to get my no to ring me.

Im so angry and upset as i drove all that way for nothing, it still cost me my time and money in petrol.

Has this happend to anyone else? do you take a small deposit for group bookings/ partys if they are booked in advance?

Sorry bout the rant just needed to get it off my chest xx

 

[wendynailedit]

I'm not suprised you're ranting! I'd have been really upset too. I think maybe the answer is to take a small deposit - it'll stop time wasters. xx

 

[jurate]

Hi Geeks

Just need to vent.

I had a childrens nail art party to do yesterday afternoon for a girls birthday.
The mum booked the party back in October.

I emailed her a week before and asked if everything was still ok for the party and she said yes.

Well yesterday i travelled 15miles to the party and when i got there the mum told me the party had finished i felt so bad and thought maybe i had the times wrong.

I said but you told me the party started at 4pm till 6pm, she said no it was 2 till 4.
I still have the emails to show she said 4 till 6.
She said in the end she painted and decorated the kids nails for them, i was a bit confused as all the kids had nail art and gems all over their nails.

Im starting to think she found someone else to do it and just didnt want to tell me and wait till i got all the way there to make an excuse
She said she had been trying to get hold of me all afternoon, but she couldnt find our emails, or my number or remember my company name to get my no to ring me.

Im so angry and upset as i drove all that way for nothing, it still cost me my time and money in petrol.

Has this happend to anyone else? do you take a small deposit for group bookings/ partys if they are booked in advance?

Sorry bout the rant just needed to get it off my chest xx

Hm... smells fishy to me! Maybe she is nail tech herself? :-/ id probably have called her up day before myself, but then you can never be sure yourself.

Somehow its not believable to me that she could not find your details :-/

Sent from my HTC Desire using SalonGeek

 

[VHunter]

sounds fishy to me.

When I offered princess parties, 50% deposit was required upfront to secure the date and time. No deposit = no reservation of time & services.
I would provide a 'contract' that outlined my services, and the terms and as a receipt for the 50%. Client had to sign it.
It stated on it that any cancellation within less than 2wks forfeited the deposit.

You might want to do that yourself.

 

[Ambur30]

You have every right to be upset! That was a rotten thing to do to someone. I would definitely print those emails and either take them to her, or mail them to her, and insert a letter politely stating something like,

My apologies for the misunderstanding. Here are copies of our emails, stating the party started at 4pm. Maybe in the future we can get together on the correct time, as I was so looking forward to pampering the girls today!

It may look like you're taking the blame for it. But, any normal human being will read those emails and realize she is at fault. If she offers you compensation, that's great. If not, chalk it up to a learning experience and from now on, on parties, charge a non-refundable deposit in the beginning. Any 'party place' around my area charges a deposit! You could even charge a deposit that you return to them after the party, or take the cost of the deposit off the cost of the party.

 

[VHunter]

Here's a sample you could use, if you like

Date of Party:
Hostesses:
Location:
Time:

Services for the Princess Party that will be provided by Ongles Chez Victoria:
Ø Relocation of Salon to the residence of the Hostess, and set-up and clean-up of the manicure station
Ø Approximate time of services is ___(dependant upon no# of children and how well they sit for services)
Ø Princess Basket of nail care products for the “Princess” and sundry, an approximate retail value of ___
Ø Gift Bag for each of the 6 guests (containing: _____etc. , approximate Retail value= ___ch)
Ø Basic Manicure for each of the children
Ø Polish and Nail Art applied to each of the children
Ø Door banner & wall banner hung up announcing a Princess Party (which remain property of Ongles Chez Victoria)
Ø CD of pictures of the event

Basic rate for 6 children, including the Princess:
Two additional children @ $___/ch
Travelling fee: N/A
Assistant’s Wages:
Sub total: $____ Tax incl.
Optional: Gift bags for 6 children, $___each: $___
Grand Total: $___Tax incl.

Payable upon booking of the date for the event is a non-refundable deposit of 50% of the cost, a sum $___. This is due no later than the Friday, the "date". This non-refundable deposit is to secure the date.
The balance is due the day of the event, prior to commencement of services.
Signature of this Proposal is to be considered as a reservation of the services of Ongles Chez Victoria at the specified date and time, and as an agreement to the terms as outlined.

 

[Andrea85]

That's terrible. I would forward the email to her showing the original booking arrangements, I'd be tempted to charge her for your petrol too!

In future you should definitely take a deposit for something like this.

 

[Crystal colleen]

U poor thing I would take her the emails So she can see the misunderstanding ask politely for petrol money and half of what you would have made as you could have had other clients instead xx

 

[gr8nailz]

Sounds to me as if she changed the times on you to save herself a little money.

I like Victoria's contract she's shown us here. If she's offering it up, I'd adopt it for future use.

 

[scrumpyjo44]

I send out a covering letter and booking form for them to sign when they book/enquire about the party - this asks for a £20 non refundable deposit to be returned with the signed form.

Haven't had any problems as yet and at least it covers your time for writing the letter etc if they cancel and maybe would cover the cost of petrol if this happened again!

No one has minded paying the deposit and I just deduct this from the cost of the party which is payable on the day.

 

[Melanie86]

Hi Geeks

Just need to vent.

I had a childrens nail art party to do yesterday afternoon for a girls birthday.
The mum booked the party back in October.

I emailed her a week before and asked if everything was still ok for the party and she said yes.

Well yesterday i travelled 15miles to the party and when i got there the mum told me the party had finished i felt so bad and thought maybe i had the times wrong.

I said but you told me the party started at 4pm till 6pm, she said no it was 2 till 4.
I still have the emails to show she said 4 till 6.
She said in the end she painted and decorated the kids nails for them, i was a bit confused as all the kids had nail art and gems all over their nails.

Im starting to think she found someone else to do it and just didnt want to tell me and wait till i got all the way there to make an excuse
She said she had been trying to get hold of me all afternoon, but she couldnt find our emails, or my number or remember my company name to get my no to ring me.

Im so angry and upset as i drove all that way for nothing, it still cost me my time and money in petrol.

Has this happend to anyone else? do you take a small deposit for group bookings/ partys if they are booked in advance?

Sorry bout the rant just needed to get it off my chest xx

Why was she (supposedly) trying to get hold of you all afternoon if everything was as she said it was and it was you that got the time wrong? Definitely something fishy and I think a contract and deposit is a good idea for the future.

 

[Mrs-c]

Why was she (supposedly) trying to get hold of you all afternoon if everything was as she said it was and it was you that got the time wrong? Definitely something fishy and I think a contract and deposit is a good idea for the future.

Good point!!!

To original poster - I'm sorry what happened, that's just cruel for someone to do that to you, what makes people think we like wasting our time & money?

Definitely ask for a non refundable deposit when booking (maybe £3 or £5 per head - I don't think that's unreasonable) x

 

[VHunter]

U poor thing I would take her the emails So she can see the misunderstanding ask politely for petrol money and half of what you would have made as you could have had other clients instead xx

Definately. Send her a bill.

Sounds to me as if she changed the times on you to save herself a little money.

I like Victoria's contract she's shown us here. If she's offering it up, I'd adopt it for future use.

help yourselves, that's why I posted it.

Once the client signs & pays deposit, scan it and email them a copy as their 'receipt' for the deposit.
Their deposit is a good faith gesture that they aren't screwing you around.
Anyone that doesn't want to pay the deposit likely hasn't made their mind up and a risk that they might back out.
If they pay it, it's 99% a sure deal
Their signature is proof that they are well aware of the time & day.
Attach a 'read receipt' to all emails. and KEEP the read-receipt until the event has passed.
Call the morning of.

hth's

:hug:

 

[Karenpeters85]

That is terrible hun id be very tempted to send her the printed emails a covering letter and a bill for ure petrol mrs x

 

[skippy87]

Thank you so much for your replies girls. Im going to do everything you have said for the future now :lol: at least i will know they are serious if they do pay a deposit.

If I send her a letter with the emails, what shall i say? I dont feel right writing to her and asking for her to cover the costs. :Scared:

Im worried she might leave a bad review or something about me and i dont want that to happen even though none of it was my fault.

 

[Feline]

This is such a horrible thing to happen I feel a bit sick for you on this :hug:

I take a £20 fee for all bookings, otherwise they can consider I am not coming. The booking fee is non refundable - no booking fee payment, no booking

Hope you get plenty of nice happy bookings in future xx

 

[VHunter]

Bad reviews happen. It's the way of things. Can't please 100% of people 100% of the time.

Simply send a letter with invoice. Invoice her for travel charges & your wasted time (how many hours did you book? ex: 3 x your hourly wage + travel time at your hourly wage).

You could write something as follows

Please find attached an invoice with regards to the Princess Party Event that wasn't cancelled.
As per emails (see copies attached), you reserved my services for said date and time, and failed to cancel the party with sufficient notice.
I'm sure that you understand that since you reserved me for your Princess Party, I was unavailable to meet the needs of other clients.
As such, I have included an Invoice for the travel charges and time spent availing myself to you.
Please send payment to.......

And finish your letter in your usual way.
hth's

 

[SamIam]

I would be mad too!! You take someone for their word and they don't have the decency to be honest. My advice would be to let it go. What would really be accomplished by expecting her to pay you at this point? Accept it as a lesson learned and move on. Now you know what to do in the future. :hug:

 

[Blue Rose]

I can understand your frustration at being messed around by her but in all honesty, will you get yourself in more of a tizz writing the letter, then waiting for her to respond, if at all?

What if she does reply but gets stroppy? Or refuses to pay? More angst for you.

Tbh, I'd be inclined to let this one go & focus on future bookings. At the very least, you will have learnt a valuable lesson from this & that is to make sure making sure that deposits are paid.

This has reminded me of a booking I had a few weeks ago. I'd got in my diary a 3.00 o'clock start as they usually are. The mum phones & leaves a message a couple of days previous to double check everything was ok for 12 o'clock on Sunday. I'm like 12 o'clock??? I don't remember saying that.

I NEVER start parties at that time cos it's doesn't fit in with food time as 2.00 is too late for the girls to eat & I don't want them to stop while I'm there.. Messy hands & all that...)

Anyway, my colleague & I go which is at a venue which funnily enough closes at 4.00 so she must have back tracked but this was one of the few telephone bookings which wasn't confirmed by email.

Lesson learned by me - always follow up with an email! If she hadn't have phoned, we'd have turned up after the party finished, lol

 

[VHunter]

I can understand your frustration at being messed around by her but in all honesty, will you get yourself in more of a tizz writing the letter, then waiting for her to respond, if at all?

What if she does reply but gets stroppy? Or refuses to pay? More angst for you.

True enough. :hug: