I've made a mistake, any advice please?

[Severnrose]

Hi all,

On thurs 6th Nov I has a full evening booked up with spray tans. One particular customer text me about an hour before her appointment saying she was going to have to cancel her tan as she now wasn't getting her money until the next day and that would be too late for her tan. At this point in the evening it was too late to rearrange other appointments and as I am mobile it meant I would have had to hang around in my car for 45 mins. So.....I replied saying that I am happy to still tan her that evening and would pop back the following day for the payment.

You know what come next....... Yep I haven't received the payment! Stupid me.

I have text her numerous times and she has replied saying that the person who owes her the money hasn't given it yet etc etc. She was due to give it to me Thursday just gone so I text her to find out what time is best for me to go round....no reply. I text again this morning....no reply.

I do not want to let this go, I have taken it as a lesson and will never offer this again but I refuse to let her not pay me!

Any ideas on how to proceed with this? I hate confrontation! Thanks

 

[nailtekireland]

Maybe send her a written invoice with options to pay ie. Cash,PayPal or postal order? Photocopy and keep a copy yourself. Maybe a "bill" is the only way she will hear you?

Good luck, a tough lesson but a lesson all the same!


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[Julie-Liz]

Part of me would want to send my husband around with his badge as a debt collector! I would NEVER do this really but it makes me mad that clients can't just see what u did in good faith and pay up.
Excuse the rant, I would try invoicing her as has been suggested but sadly this might need writing off in the long run and the client binned. Chalked up as experience. I had it happen to me, worst part was she was my closest friend but the excuses kept on coming!

 

[libbylou]

How about tagging her on f/b with something like, sorry to name and shame but can you please contact me regarding payment for your treatments, i was kind enough to give you credit , but you now seem to be avoiding me. Probably not a good idea, but it is very tempting.

 

[adamlea87]

How about tagging her on f/b with something like, sorry to name and shame but can you please contact me regarding payment for your treatments, i was kind enough to give you credit , but you now seem to be avoiding me. Probably not a good idea, but it is very tempting.

That's sounds quite unprofessional to name and shame. Unless it was a regular client I would have not proceeded with the service unless she could pay. But it is nonsense that people think it is OK to do this.

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[ColourGirly]

Mobile or salon I still think everyone should have a professional standard.

Could you imagine a salon Naming and shaming a client on facebook!?

 

[libbylou]

It was said tongue in cheek.

 

[ColourGirly]

Sorry it's hard to see that tongue in your cheek over the world wide webs.

 

[Kate1982]

Personally I would put it down as a lesson learnt.
Perhaps telling you she had no money was her way of saying she didn't want it.
It one of the really hard things to deal with in our industry but unfortunately it does happen.
You just make sure it doesn't happen again. X

 

[aimeelouise93]

How about tagging her on f/b with something like, sorry to name and shame but can you please contact me regarding payment for your treatments, i was kind enough to give you credit , but you now seem to be avoiding me. Probably not a good idea, but it is very tempting.

Im sure we have all had a situation with a client where its very hard to remain professional!

You dont necessarily have to tag, just say something along the lines of 'I would like to make clients aware that payment can be made by cash, cheque, card etc for their appointments. All payments are required at the end of your appointment.'

If shes on Facebook, might realise its her your on at. But i do think chances are the payments been lost unfortunately.

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[jacquelineanna]

This is a complete reverse of the normal stories we hear about clients not paying their bills.

I think you need to ease up a little bit and wait for your money.

She didn't try to scam you, she tried to cancel by telling you she didn't have the money.

It seems that you had your eye on the money and didn't want to lose the sale - nothing wrong with that!

But as it's a situation of your making I would step back a little bit, stop hassling her every five minutes, and take a different approach.

Maybe put a note or card through her door saying you appreciate her situation, that you have extended the payment period to 14 days, and you hope she was happy with the tan. Advise that if she has problems paying you she should give you a call and you will work out a mini payment plan with her.

Be nice in this instance not mean if you want your money.

Good luck.

 

[Airey fairy]

This is a complete reverse of the normal stories we hear about clients not paying their bills.

I think you need to ease up a little bit and wait for your money.

She didn't try to scam you, she tried to cancel by telling you she didn't have the money.

It seems that you had your eye on the money and didn't want to lose the sale - nothing wrong with that!

But as it's a situation of your making I would step back a little bit, stop hassling her every five minutes, and take a different approach.

Maybe put a note or card through her door saying you appreciate her situation, that you have extended the payment period to 14 days, and you hope she was happy with the tan. Advise that if she has problems paying you she should give you a call and you will work out a mini payment plan with her.

Be nice in this instance not mean if you want your money.

Good luck.

Good ideas !! when money comes into a situation, we can all get a bit too focused on actually getting it and forgetting customer service x

 

[Paige@TheClinik]

Move on and learn! You've lost your £20 that's what happens when you give a non regular credit like that, she tried to cancel because she couldn't afford it you took the risk.
We had a client walk out last week after "losing her purse", with £280 worth of treatment in her face lol we knew she weren't coming back!
Xx

 

[KrisKross]

Write it off as a very cheap lesson learned.

In fairness to the client she did try to cancel her appointment, albeit at very short notice.

At least it was only a spray tan so realistically you haven't lost a fortune.

 

[GetGlam]

I've learnt the hard way too lesson learnt & write it off. I just let my other local beautician friends know so she may find it hard to get a tan in the future!

 

[Miss Sylk]

a professional letter stating you are a business and operate structures like a proper business, eg:no payment = legal action. This may be enough to make her pay. The problem is many people see us as not a real business, just point out you are. If this doesnt work, id leave it and ban her.

 

[kel79]

I used to have a lady who always said that her husband won't give her any money and I'm a softie and felt sorry for her so would do her hair anyway! She always paid up in the end though, until once I done her hair as usual without pay and saw pics of her partying on fb! I waited for her to pay me then politely told her I won't be able to do her hair again 😄

 

[Severnrose]

Thank you so much everyone for your comments. I am undecided at the moment whether to put an invoice / letter through her door or whether to just let it go and of course never book her in again (unless she wants to pay me upfront for both bookings). It's tricky because I know it was my idea to tan her then collect the money the next day, and this was truly because I didn't want to sit in my car in the dark for 45 minutes! I thought I'd much rather help this person out (I knew she was excited to get a tan for her brothers wedding) and help me out too. Now though my mind is completely on the money because I think it's so wrong of her not to pay me, or at least reply to me! I'm not comfortable with tagging on Facebook but I think I will definitely make some sort of politely worded point on one of my status updates and hope that she sees it.
A lesson learnt I think.......

 

[hazelb]

yep lesson learned......don't stress, chalk it up to experience and move on.
Net time you have a gap in treatments, go for a coffee!

 

[Severnrose]

yep lesson learned......don't stress, chalk it up to experience and move on.

Net time you have a gap in treatments, go for a coffee!

Ha ha may be a little tricky at 9 at night but yeh I'll just have to hang around in future. It doesn't happen very often luckily x