Grrrr clients who cancel at a moments notice!!!

stardust09

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

NHS dentists are not allowed to charge for missed appointments. And that is a serious failing in their contract. However, they know who you are, and you may find it difficult to get an appointment in future.

My dentists get around this by making you pay in advance. You can't book an appointment without paying first!

pitkin2020

redned wrote: »

I think personally I would enforce the late cancellation/no show fee, at the end of the day you are running a business not a charity and loyal customers should not behave like this anyway - imo.
You still have to give people the benefit of the doubt and be fair, if it was a person doing it all the time I would say yes enforce it. If something had happened with your child and you forgot about the appointment and were charged I am sure you would not be impressed (harsh example I know but shows the point), you don't know why people are cancelling and if its the first time telling them will have to pay for it could do you a lot more harm than the cost of that one appointment

If you state it in in your t&cs then I think you are entitled to ask for it.
yep thats fine if they have seen your T&C's, if its a telephone booking how can you prove you have read the T&C's o them or they have seen it for themselves!! Again it comes down to your word against theirs.

It really annoys me that people think this is acceptable, you wouldn't be able to tell an employee that they're not getting paid because someone didnt show up.

Unfortunately I think its a sign of the times. We have never had a year like this for people messing us around and it is horrible!
I couldn't agree with you more, we have had it a lot this year in the family business, they are told though that 50% is payable still if they don't provide enough notice for cancelling

It really is a sign of the times and a lot of people now don't appreciate that they aren't your businesses only customer. Who ever said the customer is always right is clearly wrong (and never worked with the general public lol)

bordercars

similar thread here, taxi related but plumbers and vets have commented as well. may find an answer if you read through.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2932596

Polly

You all appear to be in the beauty business so I'd like to take the opportunity to pick your brains on a related issue. I'm a loyal customer of my local salon and have been for many years. However, it badly needs upgraded and as a result, it's no pleasure to visit. The treatment rooms are shabby and my most recent manicure/pedicure was done with the beautician sitting on the floor as there were no chairs available. I was really embarrassed about this, though the girl said she didn't mind. The salon seems to be doing really well (thus no spare seats) and it just feels like they need to put some of the profits back into the business, but are putting off doing so. I've asked as subtly as I can about the surroundings and it appears there are no plans to improve things. The beauty business, as you all know, is so competitive that I have no shortage of other options nearby. However, I would hate to take my business away but I just don't like visiting these premises any more. Any suggestions of how I could raise this in a kind/respectful way or should I just vote with my feet?

marywooyeah

I'd ask if they have any feedback sheets, and they will inevitably ask what feedback you wanted to give them. I'd then say ah well I really like coming here but last time (explain the chair situation) and say you felt bad for the girl so didnt fully enjoy your beauty treatment and it would put you off going again, might spur them on to do something about it.

pitkin2020

Polly wrote: »

You all appear to be in the beauty business so I'd like to take the opportunity to pick your brains on a related issue. I'm a loyal customer of my local salon and have been for many years. However, it badly needs upgraded and as a result, it's no pleasure to visit. The treatment rooms are shabby and my most recent manicure/pedicure was done with the beautician sitting on the floor as there were no chairs available. I was really embarrassed about this, though the girl said she didn't mind. The salon seems to be doing really well (thus no spare seats) and it just feels like they need to put some of the profits back into the business, but are putting off doing so. I've asked as subtly as I can about the surroundings and it appears there are no plans to improve things. The beauty business, as you all know, is so competitive that I have no shortage of other options nearby. However, I would hate to take my business away but I just don't like visiting these premises any more. Any suggestions of how I could raise this in a kind/respectful way or should I just vote with my feet?

Well i'm not in the beauty business, no where near in fact lol.

Whilst they maybe busy it doesn't mean they are turning a profit and that might be why they aren't re-investing in the shop. Their break even point might be very high that could be because of staffing costs, rent, advertising etc etc.

Alternatively they could be making a tidy profit but as time has gone by you don't tend to notice how rough things start to get because its a gradual change. Your noticing it more and more because the change from last time is more dramatic, if you see what I mean.

Maybe make your opinion not so subtle next time obviously without being overly rude lol, certainly don't say "change this s**t hole or i'm never coming again" lol. If they aren't interested in and you don't feel comfortable in there then maybe its time to use another shop.

Polly

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Maybe make your opinion not so subtle next time obviously without being overly rude lol, certainly don't say "change this s**t hole or i'm never coming again" lol. If they aren't interested in and you don't feel comfortable in there then maybe its time to use another shop.

I'd throw myself off a cliff before making a comment like this :eek: but seriously, I hadn't thought that they may not be making a decent profit. When I see the premises really busy I've just assumed that money is rolling in but perhaps it's not. I know business is tough and I'm currently researching starting my own business. The reason I'm so interested in what's going on in this business is that I'm interested in perhaps investing in an existing business rather than starting my own so I'm observing every business I visit at the moment. Wouldn't know how welcome a proposed investment would be so I'm treading carefully.

pitkin2020

Polly wrote: »

I'd throw myself off a cliff before making a comment like this :eek: but seriously, I hadn't thought that they may not be making a decent profit. When I see the premises really busy I've just assumed that money is rolling in but perhaps it's not. I know business is tough and I'm currently researching starting my own business. The reason I'm so interested in what's going on in this business is that I'm interested in perhaps investing in an existing business rather than starting my own so I'm observing every business I visit at the moment. Wouldn't know how welcome a proposed investment would be so I'm treading carefully.

This is the problem, lots of customers doesn't mean huge profits, yes they may have a great turnover but if the profit margin is low or the overheads are high that will eat into the profit margin. As the say turnover is vanity profit is sanity!!

Of course this business could be making a huge profit but the owners are just not reinvesting, which could be for a number of reasons. You can never really tell. By the sounds of it though they are on the slippery slope if they aren't making enough profit. Without the profit to reinvest people will stop coming, they will try and lower prices to tempt people back reducing the profit even further or worse still raise the price to cover the shortfall putting even more people off!!

It is a very fine line in a business where your commodity is a service and one that can be very hard to manage. I would still polielty give them some feedback, if they can't take the negative feedback and aren't prepared to make some changes then vote with your feet. TBH it doesn't sound like it needs a total overhaul a lick of paint and some chairs would make the world of difference and may even tempt new clients in!!

Acc72

It is interesting that most people look at a business that appears to be busy, and naturally assume that it is profitable.

As a long stading customer, has the treatment cost you pay increased over the last few years ?

In the same period the costs - eg. utilities, rent, staff (wages and NIC), materials etc. - will almost certainly have increased, and this additional cost may have been absorbed as the salon owners try to remain competitive with their prices.

Also, the new phenominon of Groupon type schemes are having an effect.

For a treatment that would normally cost £30 when the discount has been applied and Groupon have taken their percentage, the salon will end up with around a third of the usual price (in this example just £10).

Therefore the staff will have to be 3 times as busy in order to achieve their usual level of income.

The business may look busy, but they are seeing a significant drop in their income without a drop in any of their costs (unless they can buy their supplies on Groupon !! ).

Polly

Their prices have hardly risen for years and when I've commented on this, the owner has told me it's because there's so much competition in the area. It's quite a small town and yet there are maybe 12 or so other salons, as well as quite a few who work from home or will come to your home. It must be tough and I have a lot of sympathy for anyone trying to make a living in such a competitive business. They haven't offered Groupon vouchers yet but myself (and I suspect many other) customers would have used Groupon to visit other salons in the last few months, thus taking away business from our local places.