So yesterday I had a very interesting interaction with one of my long time clients. I have been doing this women's hair for probably 13 years now.......we get along really well, I actually really look forward to seeing her!
Yesterday afternoon she had an appt........now this women is on time probably 80% of the time, the other 20% she slides in usually 7 or 8 mins late..........on these occasions, I am usually very frustrated.....I don't think she realizes that being few minutes late ends up putting me behind about 15 to 25 mins at the end of the day.....it just backs everything up. Now I know that in many salons people have to sit and wait for about 15 mins until there stylist is ready, but I pride myself in the fact that my salon stays on schedule ALWAYS.....it is something that is very important to me, it would be very unusual for someone to have to wait longer that 10 mins for us....usually I am in perfect sync with my appt book.....soooooooooooooooo long time clients are very aware of this and always comment on how great it is.........they never have to wait.........
So yesterday....the usual 8 mins had passed, my receptionist asked me if I would like her to call...*** sidebar**** we give every client a reminder call the day before there appt, we call with the time and day. This has cut down on our no shows tremendously...so NO excuses for not knowing your appt time.....so I said, did you talk to so and so yesterday...."yes I talked directly to her" okay so there really is no excuse. then......by now it is about 15 mins after her appt time and at this point looking at the rest of my day...I can not get that far behind it would just not be fair to the rest of my valued clients.........I really was thinking that this women was not going to show up, I actually got a bit worried...but thought well we all have cell phones if it is just that she is running behind she would have called......
Well 18 mins after her scheduled time she walks in.........I could tell that she was agitated, she was well aware that she was late you could just see that look in her eyes..........but NO APOLOGY....it isn't like she came running in the door saying "I am so sorry, this and this happened"etc...........nope she just looked at me like well I'm here.....and then it hit me...........you know what........yes you are a very good client but I think you are taking advantage of me....my time is important and you are forgetting that..........I have a cancellation list of 15 people that would have loved that appt and been here on time....not to mention if I start you now the rest of my clients of the day are going to have to wait a half of an hour for me.........that is just not okay.........
So I said "I am so sorry but I won't be able to take you today, it is just too late...I have a crazy afternoon and it just wouldn't be fair to the rest of my clients as well to you, I would not be giving you my best if I rushed through it".
AHHHH she was so RUDE......I couldn't believe it...she was so B*TC**.....I offered her a spot to come on Fri or one of my other stylists could do it right then.....she reluctantly took the Fri appt but was just a total crab about it..........now I am assuming that she will be better when she does get her on Fri.....and I have made a pact with myself that I will NOT apologize for this....this was not my fault....I was ready for her when her appt started...I lost $$ because she was not there......it really bothered me that she was not concerned about that at all and was actually upset because I was not accomodating her.....
So who knows how tomorrow will go......I hope that she will have cooled down by then...I do feel much better though, for once I stood up for myself and didn't let someone take advantage of me....the girls at work were so PROUD of me.....lol
Wish me luck!
m
8 comments:
Good for you! I've come across similar issues while working as a nanny this year--many people feel that since they are paying me, they can do whatever they want. But, if you say you are going to come home at midnight, don't waltz in at 1am with no apologies! At least give me a call. I have a life, too, and sometimes that one extra hour (+ the holier-than-thou attitude) is really not worth the few extra $$!
good for u michelle!!!
Way to go! If it had been a Dr.'s appt. not only would she have to reschedule, but she would have been charged a fifty dollar fee for missing a scheduled appt. So there. Some people just get attitude to people providing the service because they get that "you're in servitude...serve me" notion. Maybe you should get a "Late appointments will be resccheduled for another day" sign!
congrats! :)
my husband is self employed too - he had one client call him 4 times in the course of 30 minutes while we were on our honeymoon. then sent him a snarky email asking why he wasn't answering his phone. (and yes she knew we were on our honeymoon).
i am constantly impressed by his (and apparently your) ability to deal with such demanding people!
Me and my hairdresser are very fine together...we both late :-) I always have to wait for her and she always has to wait for me, :-) "Right on time" hairdressers has to find the "right on time clients" :-)So I guess you did the right thing...I wouldn't be mad if you would cancel me because I late. That's just life. We all running somewhere...God knows where...World would be a better place if everybody would slow down a little bit.
You go, Girl!!
I work as a receptionist at a beauty salon, so I know how one person's being late to her appointment screws everything up after her... They have no clue. They think it's just 5 minutes. But no, your time as well as other clients' time is valuable.
This happened last week, one of my boss's client canceled 2 1/2 hr appointment 1 hr before her appointment. She lost a lot of money. The client did it again and rescheduled - totally four times she canceled last minute. Now my boss told her one more time, she will no longer take her appointment. She did show up yesterday. She was sick, but if that's the case, she shouldn't have made those appointments.
You stick to your decision, if your client doesn't want you and think highly of herself as she pays no regards to others, it's best you don't have her as your client. 15 years is long time to invest in one client, but in the end, she has no respect towards your request..
Gosh, sorry this is so long - got carried away!
xoxo
Good job! It's so hard to be strong and stand up for yourself but you did great! Don't apologize!
I wonder if she had apologized if you would have done her hair?
A simple please and thank you goes a long way w/ me!
I wish more people were like you! I have had to walk out on so many appts because they left me waiting and I basically said the same thing ("I have other appts today and if I stay any longer I'll be late for them. I can't do that, so I'll have to reschedule at a later time.) After two times, I didn't go back. I can totally understand and hopefully she got the point. I agree with the previous point, you should get a a sign and either put it up at the receptionist desk or let each person put it at their chair. People just don't think about the fact that they are costing you money and time.
Post a Comment