How would you handle?

I had a client book in two back to back appointments for herself and her mom. The treatment for her mom she had previously purchased on a gift cert special.

They show up, mom goes in first for her treatment. The daughter (a previous client of ours off and on) says that maybe they should cancel her appointment so she and her mom (who is elderly) can go and get lunch instead.

I have a 24 hour cancellation policy. My employee esty is the one doing the treatments.

Would you charge a late cancellation fee to this client?

I politely informed her of our cancellation policy in a leading way so she'd understand without outright saying that she'd be charged, but she's sitting in my waiting room seeming like she might still cancel 'when she sees how her mom is feeling after the treatment' (ie, she thinks her mom needs lunch right away.

I offered that there were places she could bring in some food from right in the area...

What would you do?

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Permalink Reply by Relax & Rejuvenate on September 20, 2013 at 1:55pm

Depends. First off, none of this matters to the client. Its not their business what your economics are or opportunity costs are, your policy is your policy.

The way I think about things is...

Do you pay employees for cancellations?

Did you actually turn anything down because she was booked?

What I would probably offer the guest --

You can reschedule your appointment, but THAT appointment cannot be cancelled

You can pay for your mom's massage and forfeit the GC

You can pay the GC promo rate for your mom's massage and forfeit the GC

kind of all depending on the likelihood of this person ever being a good customer...

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Permalink Reply by NBSkinCare on September 20, 2013 at 2:10pm

thanks for the opinion.

Yes, I'd pay the employee IF I received payment for no show/cancellation (which is spelled out in their employee agreement)

Yes, we did turn down appointments because this client booked out the whole available morning.

No, she'll likely not be a 'good' customer- she's an every once in a while customer and doesn't purchase retail products either.