Nightmare customers

[nightmarecustomers]

I do dog home boarding. I'm allowed 4 dogs a night. I took a booking 20 months ago, for a lady who has 3 dogs. She's just cancelled, 10 days before they are due to check in. She ended her text telling with :
"I'll definitely like to use your services again in the future. Take care xx"
As if I would EVER take a booking from her again.
Do people not see how unreasonable they are?

Anyone have similar tales?

YABU OP

The fact she booked so long ago makes it more likely she may cancel, not less, in my view.
Maybe 10 days isn't enough. But if so you should either take a deposit (non refundable if cancel) or say they must give x days notice.
It is frustrating but you need to set the rules to avoid this putting you put of pocket.
I guess it's good it's not come up much before, but take it as an indication to include t&cs relating to cancellation.
I think the message she sent was polite and she doesn't necessarily know she's put you out that much. She no longer needs the service and hasn't broken the rules. But by all means refuse her next time if you feel strongly.

Im in totally different business but same principle applies. You need to filter out the Not Serious Customers. If you ask for a 50% non refundable deposit at time of booking and the balance payable 28 days before arrival.... that should do it. Serious customers who mean to use your services will not be offended. Piss takers will not use you. Bank transfer is easiest and cheapest imo.

Most people would feel bad about it, but they are not going to change plans to accommodate the provider of a service they were paying for. Most people would also expect to forfeit some or all of the fee.

Are you really saying her thought processes should be “oh, how nice - it looks as if I can take the dogs on holiday after all! .. oh .. wait a minute .. I’ve booked them in at a boarding house, and I mustn’t cancel that, so they can’t come with me after all”

The OP has left the door wide open to this sort of thing by not having a cancellation policy. But, for all those saying that 10 days is long enough notice - no it's not, as a PP has pointed out this is not a long notice period for this type of service.

Pet boarding enquiries at less than a week's notice are going to be very unusual. Less than a fortnight notice would be an urgent enquiry for pet boarding.

IMO the OP could quite reasonably charge a 40% deposit non-refundable with less than 28 days notice for this type of service.

Ye YABU and pretty rude too.

10 minutes before she was due? I could understand. But 10 days isn't that bad.

Stick on FB you have some last minute spaces for 10 days time - perhaps someone going into hospital needs care or a last minute rush to a relative's side across country or the other boarder they were using has had to cancel or they just realised they'd forgotten, someone out there might be thankful of a last minute space.

Charge a deposit - the entire point of a deposit is to cover if last minute cancellations happen and also cover your time - so you've spent time contacting her, blocked space out, planned for her so have provided a service

Saying you won't take her booking in the future when she was polite and would like to is just cutting your nose off to spite your face. Ignore her calls, refuse her booking and she won't recommend you to friends and family or when the local FB page is asking. She might even advice people against using you.

If I was leaving my dogs with you I would want to pay a deposit so that I know that you are committed to looking after them & vice versa. It would also prove to me good business sense. I just paid a registered boarder the equivalent of a 2 night stay as a deposit with the balance due no later than the drop off day.

Do deposits.
I pay my wonderful minder a 1/3 deposit on booking and book her for months in advance.
Just 2 weeks before my last holiday, my oldest dog died, so she only had one to care for. I was expecting to lose half of my deposit, thought that would have been fair, but she chose to only charge for one dog in full which was wonderful - but she had the option, and that is the important thing here.

Anyone getting snotty about paying a deposit up front I likely to cancel at short notice anyway. If she tries to rebook, why not tell her Ts and Cs have changed and a deposit is now required?

Just take deposits. You learned the hard way. In her mind she wasn’t being cheeky saying she’ll use your services in the future. I think she was just trying to reassure you it’s nothing to do with you.

What about all the people who have emergencies (example: dad had a sudden heart attack and is very ill in hospital and they need to rush to the other end of the country) or like OP cancellations (their booked dog sitter got sick or their dad had a heart attack etc...).

Also not everyone books holidays 6 months in advance, there is a booming 'last minute' holiday market. I think in my whole life I have only ever once booked a holiday 6 months in advance and thats because I was looking for a sooner one but 7 months out was by far cheaper.

Me too. I had a venue booked for a party and it stressed me out a little that there was no deposit due as didn’t seem serious. I felt they could just cancel so easily. Deposits can be good for both sides.

The OP has left the door wide open to this sort of thing by not having a cancellation policy. But, for all those saying that 10 days is long enough notice - no it's not, as a PP has pointed out this is not a long notice period for this type of service.

But at no point has the OP communicated this to her clients! In fact she still hasn't even said it to the client that has pissed her off, because she has said that she's just not going to reply to her email. If she's not happy with 10 days notice then she needs to include it in her terms and conditions. Or mention it when taking bookings. Or require a deposit at some point during the booking process. Not silently seethe about it and refuse to change her system.

I don't know, I've seen plenty of FB posts on my local group when someone needs pet care at short notice- maybe their cat sitter has become ill, or they need to go somewhere urgently. Recently we had a long weekend moved back a week through no fault of my own and my neighbour was not able to cover the new dates, so I was scrabbling for a bit for cat care!

OP, I appreciate it's annoying for you but it's your responsibility to cover yourself by having strong T&Cs and a cancellation policy. This woman is in NO WAY a nightmare customer unless there's a massive drip feed coming.

I take the point about deposits, thank you. I will incorporate this with new customers, although at the moment I'm actually too busy to take on new customers. I am thankfully fully booked for most of the time.

When someone has 4 spaces, and you have booked out 3 of those spaces, for the past 20 months, to casually drop a cancellation text 10 days before IS bad form, in my book. And then to think that I would take another booking in the future? Erm, nope.

You can of course disagree with me, as many of you do, but I'm never going to think that this was reasonable.

Thankfully, I have plenty of customers who don't do this, and business is booming.

If you're basing your pet sitting business on last minute bookings and the Pet Owners' Father Mortality Rate you'd be charging a lot more for the service.

Pet sitting probably sits very nicely in the bath tub pricing model. People that book a very long way ahead are prepared to pay more for the peace of mind that early booking brings, people that book at the last minute will pay a lot more because they are desperate. The majority are average and book a middling period ahead.

Knowing how you behave as a customer doesn't mean you have a sound understanding of running a business providing the services you buy.

I doubt your existing customers will have an issue with a booking deposit. As long as you explain it clearly when you introduce the policy. Rather than applying to new customers from 1st January, it should apply to all new bookings received after 1st January. It will make it a lot easier to admin rather than remembering who's on deposit terms and who's not. It will also mean you keep it to just one set of terms and conditions.

Ok
so I was self employed . Shit things happen .. you just have to learn from them yes to deposits .

you at this point have 2 positive options

A- put out an advert local s.media sites last minute availability due to cancellation .

or
B- take the extra time you have to relax catch up on life admin - take a break .

you don’t need to bin this lady off however to demand a 50% deposit going forward is an option .

I would be pissed off too , your financial planning I assume is based on a minimum occupancy..

This is exactly the sort of thing that cancellation policies are for. Even if in your experience it happens rarely then at least you’re covered.

This is on you OP not her.

10 days is plenty notice.

Yes op this is a great advice- just take this as a learned lesson.

You sound utterly unprofessional.
We are not the "weird" ones here. I've run a business for over 15 years very comfortably and well with great customer relationships.

Either take a deposit with firm T&C's or take the occasional hit. Don't moan about it when YOU'VE not protected and valued your time properly.

It's up to you.

Majority of us are saying in comments YABU, the vote is moving that way. But OP thinks they're right
Typical

What would be your minimum cancellation period, out of interest?

You're right OP, 10 days notice is nowhere near enough warning of a cancellation in this line of work. I've no idea why other posters think it is adequate in this circumstance because anyone with an ounce of common sense will have arranged for their pet care way before 10 days before departure. The chances of you getting another booking that fits nicely into that slot is very remote. This is why holiday companies expect the full balance to be paid 8-12 weeks beforehand, not just a deposit!
I completely get the reluctance to charge deposits (COVID demonstrated how difficult it can be to retain a deposit) but not taking them exposes you to these losses unfortunately.

Realistically, you're unlikely to hear from her again anyway. She made this booking 20 months ago with nothing else during that period? Sounds to me like you was just a backup plan in the first instance and she's finally decided to save the money at the last minute. I agree though that there would be no way I'd accept any booking from her in future.

I think you are being a bit unreasonable, either change your t's & c's or accept it happens. I've always pay a non refundable deposit for kennels, though the owner will let you postpone if it's an emergency type situation.