Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

[New Labour Voter]

This Saturday I was completely booked. I had to turn down 3 of my regulars because I already had 6 appointments scheduled, which is 2 more than I regularly take. Well, my first appointment no-showed. It was a first-time client, and the receptionist didn't tell her of my cancellation policy. Of course when I answered, they didn't pick up the phone. Why would they?No biggie, I still had 5 more coming in. The second appt on my books was a regular, and they showed up right on time. Took care of them, and quickly got over my no-show.When my next appointment was coming up, I had a walk-in referral from one of my friends. I told her that I had an appointment supposed to come in, but if they didn't show up I could take her, and to leave her number. She did, and sure enough, my next appointment no-showed. I shrugged it off, a little permassageplanet.neted, and called the walk-in. Cool deal, at least she made up for it. I thought to myself, "Well, I've got 3 more coming in, I should be right as rain."So like an idiot, I sat there all day at the salon, waiting for no-show after no-show. 3 MORE NO-SHOWS IN A ROW!!! That's 5 in one day! I always make a call the day before to verify the appointments, but 2 of those had scheduled the day before, so no need to confirm. The others didn't pick up the phone when I called, so I left messages for them.So I had 5 no-shows in one day, and had to turn down 3 of my regular clients. I lost all that money, and my time, by just sitting there like a useless duck. I've decided to strengthen my cancellation policy. From now on, on Saturdays, I will require the appointment to be pre-paid via credit card. If they ask on the phone why they have to do this, I will inform them that due to no-shows, and to be fair to my regular clients who DO show up, I am having to do this to insure that the client comes in.I'm just tired of being taken advaneforum.xxxe of on Saturdays. It seems this is the only day I have a problem with. Weekdays, people show up. Saturdays, they don't seem to care. So does anyone have any other options that I could try without having the client pre-pay?

 

[mallos731]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

Brotha I feel your pain,Friday's seem to be my disaster day. I don't ussually take appointments on Fridays because I play beach Volleyball on Friday nights, but if it's a late night I can squeeze one in after I work my regular job from 6 am to 4 pm. I had 2 no shows 2 weeks in a row right after working all day on friday. The first was scheduled 4 weeks in advance and the second called me begging Thursday afternoon, so I gave in. I actually took over half my luch setting up my room so I could leave work and take care of her at 4:15 so that I could leave for my game (that started at 6:30) no later than 5:30. I sat around for 45 minutes and I was like maybe she had an issue with her kids. Come to find out she had a horrible day at work and was in tears when I called her. She told me she was sorry, but sorry doesn't pay the bills.I need a stern cancellation policy as well. I don't have to many regulars yet, but it hurts if you get 1 or 5 cancellations. It makes you feel like you weren't important enough to at least call. I feel your frustration Seforum.xxxgnant,By the way, wonderful website.Brent

 

[CBear6]

When I worked reception at a spa we ALWAYS took a credit card when making the reservation.  That way we had it on hand if there was a no-show.  Some people didn't like it and questioned it and we said that it was just to confirm the reservation and explained the cancellation policy.  Since most people don't INTEND to no-show, most people gave up the number willingly.  We rarely had to use it.  So, Seforum.xxxg, maybe you can take the credit card number to hold the reservation and then go ahead and use it if they no-show.  I have heard of people running into problems when the client challenges the charge though.

 

[Awesome Kevin- 47 (AK-47)]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

Thanks Brent! Glad you enjoy the site.Kneaded, I'm not too concerned with people challenging the charge. By taking the credit card info, I guess it would be more of a security measure to make sure they come in to their appointment if they schedule. It may be some sort of game to them, but to us it's how we pay our bills, it's not just some hobby. I think by stating the cancellation policy and then getting the CC info, how would they really challenge the charge?

 

[Sweet]

Because they did not actually receive the service.I can definitely see them complaining to a Credit card company that they didn't actually get a service or product for the $__ they paid.I wanted the salon where I used to work to take CC info when they made the reservation. *shrugs* They never did other than one time, it was valentine's weekend and they'd already turned away a few clients who called last minute, and wanted massage.  (And surprisingly the person whose CC # they got... no showed.)  And they did charge her... and I did get paid. But that was only once in All the times in nearly 5 years of working with them that I had no-shows. All the other times I had no shows... I got Nothing for my trouble.

 

[Healthy Environment]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

I am all in favor of applying a strict cancellation policy.Problem is, if you do not have documentation that the policy was communicated, they will often win a CC dispute.

 

[[email protected]]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

Ouch! You have to draw the line between worrying about offending a client and CYA. I agree with your decisions, Seforum.xxxg. A recurring wouldn't be offended (or be in a position to cause you any concern) and for a new client, it's just another company policy. After all, you are running a company.

 

[Ming]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

if you take their credit card info for the appointment-Put you no show/cancellation policy on your site and any brochures that you have. tell all new booking clients to go to your site (and tell them when booking, or have the receptionist)and give them a brochure when they come in, that way when you charge thier credit card (and if they dispute it) you can reference the policy and they can see that it was a lagitamate charge.

 

[askMeSomething]

For repeat clients, if you have your cancellation policy on your intake form and they sign it, that would certainly cover you legally for any charge you may make to their cc if they no-show.  As for new clients, I'm wondering if just them giving you their credit card number would be considered consent to charge it if they no-show.  After all, we don't just go handing out our credit card numbers for no reason.  When we give it to a hotel, it's for the same reason.  I'm sure that there would be somebody who would challenge the whole thing.  But, that would be a small price to pay for having the policy in place because I think it would discourage far many more people from cancelling.

 

[tommy]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

I don't think I would even take it as far as going to court over the CC charge, I'd probably chalk it up as a no-show, no money. However, I think that if the client sees that I am taking their CC info, then I am serious about them coming in, and if they provide the info, they are serious about coming in. Has anyone here had people challenge the charge? Did you pursue getting paid, fighting the challenge?R&R, I think I'd be stuck without documentation that they ever heard the cancellation policy, unless they had already visited before. In Texas, we cannot record anyone on the phone unless they know they're being recorded, and that even makes ME weary at times, as if preparing me for possible trouble.I told our receptionist what I will be doing, she said that was fine, and the other MT that works there said she would like to do the same thing to keep things straight and to avoid no-shows. I personally will no longer accept gift certificates that they sold on Saturdays as they do not allow me to enforce my cancellation policy on them, and I will not take GCs after normal business hours. They sold the GCs for $25 for a one-hour massage (this was before I got there, and told them it was sorta insulting for a licensed MT to charge the same amount a student does), and it just doesn't seem worth my time to come in on Saturdays for $25/hr. Let's see how it goes!

 

[Lightgreen]

I've had the same experience as you, Seforum.xxxg, many times.  It seems like people wake up on Saturday and say "I'll just go to the mall today," or something.    2 things that helped me reduce Saturday no-shows:When clients request Saturday appt. I always say "I reserve Saturday sessions for those who just cannot see me during regular weekday hours."  If a person makes a Saturday appt. I ALWAYS look them directly in the eye and say "If you make a Saturday appointment, do not cancel."  Of course, I say it pleasantly and with a smile, but they know I mean business.  In the event of a Saturday no show, the next time they request a Sat. appt. I tell them "Fine, but I'll need to collect payment for the session at the time you book the appt."  Maybe I seem like a hard taskmaster, but I do have a life after massage.  I only work every other Saturday now.

 

[Have Compassion]

I dont know if it is just me, but I am seeing more of a trend this year when it comes to "no shows".  I recently aquired a cc machine and I will consider asking for cc info on new clients who want to schedule in advance or schedule an appt for another person.  Another option, and probably the one I will employ, is to suggest a g/c for new clients booking in advance.  It can be charged, the serial number of the g/c is given to the customer and suggests a paper trail, the policy is explained, the g/c mailed and then it is up to them to show up.  Hopefully, this will cover all the bases.

 

[flubaphone]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

Being a student, I can still feel ya, Seforum.xxx. When I work clinic, I'm there for 3 massages. Every no show I have (which haven't been many) means that's one less person I've had a chance to work on and one less person who didn't get worked on because someone else didn't call in to cancel in the first frigging place.

 

[angel lovs wrestling!]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

You don't have to waste you time in court. The CC processor will decide who is right.

 

[try to no avail]

Even better!  ;D

 

[CB#32]

Seforum.xxxg & Gaspen - and all others struggling with no-shows:While I can certainly see the arguments for taking the CC # (assuring, of course, that your policy is clearly posted in your establishment - and I really like the idea of having it on the intake form as well!), here's another little trick you may find handy in the meantime and/or in addition to taking the CC #.Back when I was in school and had to work in the student clinic, we had so many students that we could only schedule ourselves for two-hour time slots - once a week!  And considering we had to have so many massages done in a fairly limited amount of time, no-shows could be a HUGE problem!  If you don't have someone there to work on, that's one more massage you'd have to make up later...Gaspen, are you running into this??So to keep myself busy when I had to be there, I kept a small phone/address book with me that included the names of family and friends who were basically willing to be "on-call" to RECEIVE massage!  ;D That way, if I DID have a no-show (and I had several), I could automatically start calling these folks and ask them to "sacrifice" an hour to get a massage.  It worked out great for everyone!  Of course, our clinic had a policy that if your client no-showed, any friend/family member you called to come in to fill that time slot would NOT HAVE TO PAY for their massage.  Another bonus!  In your case, Seforum.xxxg, on the Saturday you had the five no-shows, you could have made a note of the "regulars" who wanted to come in for massage and simply let them know if you got a cancellation or had a no-show, you'd call to let them know you could get them in.  Granted, you might have to give them a little more time to get there, and you might still end up not doing the entire number of massages you had originally had scheduled...but it beats sitting there twiddling your thumbs and fuming over the no-shows.I've talked with several other MTs who have also implemented this with success.  Hope it works for you, too!  Good luck!  

 

[Captain Sav-A-Hooooo]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

No, fortunately, my school has built into the hours we need for graduation a perceneforum.xxxe of no-shows so that our requirements are still met.

 

[Joanne A. W]

Hmmmm, I would check with your receptionist, maybe even listen to how she handles your appointments.  If the clients feels that they are one of many, and something comes up, they may justify ditching the appt without a call.   Maybe she said something off-putting and they just decided to "fix" her by not coming in.I do all of my own appointments, never even mention a cancellation policy, yet I rarely ever have a no-show.  I only do confirmations when they've booked it two weeks or more ahead of time.  However my online appointment book does mention my no-show and cancellation policy - http://www.appointmentquest.com.  My clients love it.Yet, when I worked a spa with a 20 year old receptionist handling my appointments, no-shows were VERY common.   In fact, we got one recep who decided she didn't like me and was messing up a lot of my appointments.  Due to this I am PARANOID about anyone else handling my appointments.Even though I've never ditched an appoint, I would be very offput by someone asking for a credit card upfront.  Once you billed them, they would never come back anyway.  

 

[flutterby]

I can help all of you... for $250 a month I will do all your appointment reminders.  If you are interested go to http://www.gustmarketing.com

 

[new001]

Saturday no-shows. FURIOUS!

I can help all of you... for $250 a month I will do all your appointment reminders.  If you are interested go to http://www.gustmarketing.com

LMAO! Sure. Instead, how about I put your email address on a public forum like so:

[email protected]

so that YOU can receive a ton of spam in your company's inbox! Isn't spamming fun?! Here's ANOTHER idea. I'm going to email you a few times advertising my website! Aren't we having such a good time?! Let me forward a few of my daily web spam, since buying cheap viagra is about as important as paying $250/month for reminder calls. Thanks though!

(Mark, guest posting leads to more spam, could we PLEASE disable guest posting again?...)