24 Hour Cancellation Policy

[SpeckledlyHen]

Just wondered what others thoughts were on this. I had a hair appointment booked for this evening. It was for cut/colour/blowdry.
My husband had an emergency and had to take my car this morning (his is in the garage getting repaired) so I rang the hairdressers first thing this morning to rearrange my appointment to either tomorrow or Monday/Tuesday. This is a small village salon, everyone knows everyone and my husband also goes there.

I left a message on the ansaphone and no-one answered. Someone rang me back and said that it was company policy to charge 50% of the cost. I said I would try and see if I could get there. For context, we live rurally so no public transport (well there is a bus about 4 times a day) and I have rarely been able to get a taxi here even when booking a week in advance! Anyhow, I realised it would be really tricky and awkward to get there so I rang them back and told them I really could not make it due to not having transport. They charged me 50%.

My issue is that I have been going to this salon since it opened - approx 5 years or so. I go every 6-7 weeks and pay about £130-£150 - I buy their products and when they opened up after covid gave them large tips each time to try and make up the shortfall they had lost due to not working. The only other time I cancelled was in a dire emergency (was hospitalised).

Whilst I know what the policy is I do think sometimes these things should be discretionary. I know the receptionist did go and check with the stylist and still decided to charge me. Granted it may not have been her choice to use discretion.

I dunno, I just feel really aggrieved by it and now thinking of going elsewhere, I think it is a bit short sighted of them - I would have gone in within a day or two so they still would have got my money. Now I really don't feel like going back at all to be honest.

@icedcoffees

One free cancellation for me has cost this business about £4k over the next 4 years. Do you not realise we talk to each during my appointment, I have built up a rapport with the whole staff, I am there a lot, they know my kids, my dogs, my husband, friends and my life! I know about them too.. It is a small village salon. Cant you honestly not see the difference here?? If I was a flaky kind of individual that pissed them off repeatedly then yes welcome the charge. But I am not a fly in, no show or in any way previously been flaky. I simply was in a difficult situation and genuinely thought I was giving them enough notice to rearrange my appointment.

But what you're failing to see, is you're not unique in that respect. They have loads of customers just like you. Even if they only offer one "free cancellation" per person, that's thousands of pounds they could be losing.

If you support them and value them so much, you should appreciate what an inconvenience it is to them when you cancel on the day of your appointment and you should want to support them by at least making up some of the money you've caused them to lose.

Re. the tips - again, you won't be the only one who is generous with tips and who has supported them through COVID. But none of that changes the fact that you cancelling on them has lost them money...

Threads like this really make realise how little people appreciate the hit self-employed people take when they're cancelled on last minute. Why should they just have to suck it up?

Responses like yours makes me realise that as a loyal customer I’m ten a Penny and there’s loads like me waiting in the wings. Good luck with your ongoing success.

@SpeckledlyHen, I think you’re wasting your breath with some posters, the likes of JBEM4 and icedcoffees just don’t understand that overall this salon has lost more in the long run.

If you’re a small village business with a limited pool of customers, you should want to retain your loyal customers as they are a finite resource.

Hardly akin to a large city centre salon with plenty of passing trade, and more likely to have to deal with flakey customers with no brand loyalty.

OP, I think you’re right to feel aggrieved and in your shoes, I wouldn’t return.
They’ve shown you are just £££ to them and nothing more.

Short sighted by the business. Regular customer of 5 years. Spends well. One off emergency I would have waived the 50%. The reality is if they had done that you’d have been really grateful (probably carried on leaving generous tips). It is always difficult when you run/business/self-employed, but I think they exercised their discretion poorly on this occasion.

I am speechless ......

I had no idea that there seems to be so many people who think this stylist should not only lose a huge chunk of income but be grateful for it.

I'm sure if OP had paid a deposit and had the stylist cancel on the day they wouldn't be willing to take the hit.

As for feeling nothing more than £££ to a person who simply takes payment for a service you've actively chosen to have , the fact that in an earlier post you believed you had more of a friendship and had formed a relationship rather than having nothing more than a business transaction is evidence of how valued you were to her.

Salons are nothing without their clients but that doesn't give anyone the right to feel entitled to "goodwill" when the choice to cancel the appointment by the client on the same day can mean the difference between having a wage or not.

Not a single one of you would go to work unsure if you'll be paid or unsure of how much. Should waitresses/waiters have a reduced wage if a table of 6 fails to turn up? Would you be understanding if your 4 weeks paid leave became 2 weeks paid and 2 weeks unpaid?

The inability to even try to understand how your therapists/stylists are impacted financially makes me grateful to be skint and respectful than outraged and entitled.

Not a single one of you would go to work unsure if you'll be paid or unsure of how much

You’re ignoring the responses from me and others on this thread who run similar businesses, but take a longer-term view of their businesses than you appear to.

As a self-employed business owner who sells a service to private individuals much like OP, I can tell you that Covid has cost me tens of thousands of pounds in lost revenue and my finances are currently very very tight. We’ve had to put off a house move and seriously tighten our belts. Our future is looking less rosy than it did before.

Every time a client asks me to cancel or reschedule an appointment it costs me money, just like it does you and also the OP’s salon.

It’s painful, especially in current circumstances.

But I also know that for long term financial success I have to be mindful of customer loyalty and my reputation. If a client asks to cancel and reschedule within the cancellation period, I usually do unless the client has already been flaky, despite it impacting my bottom line in the short-term. Obviously, I don’t allow piss-takers to get away with repeated flaking, but a one-off from a loyal customer who otherwise ‘gets it’ would absolutely be accommodated.

This is because I understand the value of having higher revenue over the medium to long-term, rather than a smaller bird in the hand today. The ability to say no to jam today, so that I have more jam tomorrow, if you will.

I would far rather lose £130 today if it means making £4K over the next three years, than insist on taking £130 today, but making no more money in the future. That’s good business sense. Anything else is dumb short-sightedness.

You ask if people would work for free, without seeming to realise that this is the mindset of an employee and that as a business owner/entrepreneur/sole trader you need a totally different mindset to succeed. A short-term employee’s attitude of wanting a weekly pay slip for clocking on won’t serve you well for the future.

You need to invest time and money in a business and that might occasionally mean writing off a payment or working for free. Nothing wrong with that if it ultimately grows, rather than stunts, your business.

I would far rather lose £130 today if it means making £4K over the next three years, than insist on taking £130 today, but making no more money in the future. That’s good business sense. Anything else is dumb short-sightedness

But not enforcing your cancellation policy still doesn't guarantee the client will stick with you for the next three years.

As with everything business related it's a risk. Luckily my clients pay my cancellation fees and don't argue or get in a strop about it - because they value my time and what I do and know that I can't fill their space if they choose to cancel just hours before their appointment.

But the OP was going to rebook. The argument that they had 'budgeted' to receive that income is bollocks. There is no guarantee of income. Ok maybe they would have filled that slot with a cut and blowdry or a dry trim, rather rather than a colour.. If someone usually has their roots done every 6 weeks you can't guarantee they won't do it on the 7th or 8th week.
I don't think you are being unreasonable OP and in fairness neither is the salon to an extent but they should have looked at the bigger picture. I'd find a new salon if possible and familiarise yourself with their cancellation policy, or stop with all the extras if you return.

@SpeckledlyHen loyalty and good custom should count for something. You may have given them a big tip for waiving the charge when you do go. Now they will lose your custom permanently. I understand why they have the policy but sometimes it's good not to cut off your nose to spite your face (or whatever the saying is)

But the OP was going to rebook. The argument that they had 'budgeted' to receive that income is bollocks.

It's not bollocks at all. They will most likely have turned other people away because OP had booked that time slot. But cancelling on the morning of the appointment means they don't have enough time to fill it again. So they've missed out on £150 - why should they not be compensated for that? It's not their fault OP didn't have transport.

I reward my loyal clients in many ways, but not by waiving cancellation fees. I'm a dog walker so a slightly different business, but my loyal clients get more of my time. I also go out of my way to squeeze them last-minute on busy days where I would turn new or ad-hoc clients away. I help them out on weekends or in the evenings where I would turn others away etc etc.

They are 100% rewarded for their loyalty but if they cancel an appointment on me last-minute (unless it's an emergency) then they do have to pay for that.

But they appreciate me and have never once queried it.

Unless it's the stylist him/herself that owns the business and sets the cancellation policy, the amount that anyone tips is completely irrelevant to the situation.

You say ‘You do not have lots of money, But spend £150 every 6 weeks on your hair

That IS lots of money!!!!!

@SpeckledlyHen I fully agree with you. I would make sure that was the last time that business saw anything of my credit card. I might ring just to clarify that you did not cancel on a whim, but that you genuinely could not get to the appointment.
As a matter of interest, do they do the work for half the price if they are the ones who cancel... I'm guessing not.

@SpeckledlyHen

See, I can't see why lack of transport is not a valid reason. How else do I get there?

You could have got one of the 4 buses, you could have tried getting a taxi or asking a friend if they could drop you off. Depending how far the salon is you could have even walked

[quote HirplesWithHaggis]@JBEM4, it's not that her time is less valuable. It's that she is running a client-focused business, and has pissed off a good, reliable client who will not now return, and so has cost herself thousands of pounds in future revenue. Do that often enough and you don't have a business.[/quote]
Ok, so what if she had say 6 clients booked, all regulars who come every 2 months and tip well. All six cancelled on the day for variety of reasons. Should she not charge cancellation for all six? Of course she should, she still turned up to work, she still needs paying, the chair they rent will still need paying etc

Just take your custom elsewhere.

I’d been a regular at a local salon, always on time (cos I hate being late for anything), gave decent tips. One day I was delayed due to a serious road accident so rang ahead (hands free before anyone says anything) to explain I might be 10 minutes late. I was very rudely told that if I was going to be ‘that late’ they wouldn’t be able to complete all of the booked for services in the remaining time but I’d still be charged full price as a no show. And he meant it. I arrived in the nick of time, got my hair sorted and never went back again.

If you know your client base well enough, you will know the ones who are the piss takers and the ones who aren’t. If you want to risk losing regular, well-paying and tipping clients like the OP because customers like her are ten-a-penny and she’s just one of hundreds, go right ahead and watch that client and her money disappear and never come back.

Fortunately I now go to a lovely local salon who I was very happy to help support by partly paying for future services upfront when they were completely locked down. Because they always offer a really great service and I didn’t want to see them go out of business. I wasn’t the only client who did this either. It works both ways.

@HalzTangz Oh please, how likely is that, short of Hurricane Whateves taking out all the roads and the electricity? Let's stick with reality, eh?

Which in this case is, regular, supportive, high-tipping-because-covid customer is pissed off and will never return, because shortsighted receptionist/stylist wanted short term gain.

Not haircut but other appointments. Less than 24 hours notice you're charged half. Less than an hour /no show it's full price. This really annoys me as the policy is no attendance if ill & if DS wakes not feeling well I've no choice but to cancel.

I understand the policy though, after knowing someone else who attends & cancels last minute (or no show) more than 50% of the time. Most clients have funding so aren't out of pocket personally so can be apathetic. Fees would be much higher if they didn't & I don't fancy begging for more funding to cover the no show brigade costs.

Yet another example of someone who hasn’t read the thread and just waded in..

That relates to halztangz

Well I wouldn't have charged you. From what you describe you are a loyal customer, who tips generously and isn't flakey so the salon will lose more in the long run.

I've had people cancel on me short notice and it can be annoying but if I know the client and they aren't usually like that, no way would I have charged. If possible i would find somewhere else OP.

As a self-employed person, my whole life is run on my work diary and what customers I have booked in. If I've booked a customer into a diary slot then I've then had to turn other customers away who also wanted that slot. If customers then cancel that slot at short notice, I've lost income and cannot get that slot re-booked in such a short space of time. I have a cancellation policy for this exact reason as ultimately I'm keen to keep a roof over my head and food on my table.

I have a lot of loyal customers who have used me for years and recommend me to others, however, I have no hesitation in implementing my cancellation policy if one of them phones up on the day to cancel. It's nothing personal but if I let it go then I'd be down hundreds of pounds a month.

Your hairdresser is being more than reasonable to have a cancellation policy and use it. Hypothetically, if she had all of her bookings that day cancel on her then she'd be down a day's wages and still have all her overheads to cover. Her landlord and utilities companies will still expect payment regardless of how many cancellations she's had that month.

I'm sure it's nothing personal to you, OP. She's just having to protect her business and livelihood which is more than fair of her.

Well done for taking a stand to terrible, short sighted business practice op. 👏

@SpeckledlyHen I’m team great customer service and look after your well paying loyal clients!

Now more than ever small businesses need to learn about a customers lifetime value and what that means for their business! Motor salons would kill to have a customer like you!!

They should have a plan in place for last min cancellations and be able to send out info by text/email/social media to sell cancelled or last minute appointments.

I’m in the hospitality sector and on my own business. My long-term clients kept us going through Covid and I massively looked after them - We took a financial hit as they were paying us around 60% of the pre-Covid price - But had already been a customer for two years and are potentially with us for at least another two years. I could be more grateful and they appreciate everything we did for them

Swings and roundabouts!

@mofro - exactly and exactly the reason I am miffed (still am really). Despite those calling me a CF, or being incredulous that I couldn't just suck it up, or that I could walk the 5 miles there and 5 miles back (did I mention I lived rurally so that walk in the dark is on a road with a 60mph limit and no pavements, not even a verge really, just very thick undergrowth) I am a loyal customer and did everything I could to help during covid etc. Not once did I pull the "I've got covid" card. I was honest about the predicament and the salon will know where I live and how difficult public transport is here and the lack of taxi's.

Incidentally, during covid the lady that does my nails could not work, I gave her an advance to help her through it. She still says how much she needed the money and that it really helped her.

Oh well, it's certainly opened my eyes as to what is deemed as a loyal customer.

@chitchatchatter

Just take your custom elsewhere.

I’d been a regular at a local salon, always on time (cos I hate being late for anything), gave decent tips. One day I was delayed due to a serious road accident so rang ahead (hands free before anyone says anything) to explain I might be 10 minutes late. I was very rudely told that if I was going to be ‘that late’ they wouldn’t be able to complete all of the booked for services in the remaining time but I’d still be charged full price as a no show. And he meant it. I arrived in the nick of time, got my hair sorted and never went back again.

If you know your client base well enough, you will know the ones who are the piss takers and the ones who aren’t. If you want to risk losing regular, well-paying and tipping clients like the OP because customers like her are ten-a-penny and she’s just one of hundreds, go right ahead and watch that client and her money disappear and never come back.

Fortunately I now go to a lovely local salon who I was very happy to help support by partly paying for future services upfront when they were completely locked down. Because they always offer a really great service and I didn’t want to see them go out of business. I wasn’t the only client who did this either. It works both ways.

Blimey, I do wander if the people who treat customers like the bloke above then sit back a few weeks or months later and think "hmm, funny, we haven't seen chitchat for a while, I wonder if that was due to me being a total arse?"