Did I Handel this right?

[Chazz88]

Hi I run a small beauty salon that is a hairdresser I rent the space off the hair salon owner Today I had a client booked in at 10.45 for a pedicure and wax this treatment takes about an hour and 15 mins to do my client showed up at 11.05 so 20mins late so I explained that unfortunately because she is so late that I will only be able to do some of the treatment myself and my qualified junior therapist will have to do the rest as I have someone booked in at 12 so I don't have enough time to do the treatment before they are due in.

She said she wanted only me to do it and that its not her fault she's late and as she is a regular client I should make an exception, I then explained that although it is not her fault it is not fair for me to make my next client wait 20mins longer for her treatment evan tho she arrived on time and that she is also a loyal regular client.

She then said she would only have the leg wax done then if I couldn't do the pedicure myself I said I'm very sorry but if you refuse to have the pedicure treatment done by the other therapist I will still have to charge the whole amount as I had waisted time waiting for her to come when I could of had other clients booked in earning money instead of just standing their waiting for her. A pedicure costs £35 so evan tho I had been waiting around to do the treatment and given my time up I would have been down £35 for the day

Well she blow her top that I suggested she pay for a treatment she had not had so I explained that she was paying for my time that she had still taken up evan tho she was not their for the treatment and that she had been offered to still have the treatment by the other therapist just not me. Anyways I could not please her so in the end I did the treatment and my other lady's treatment was started by my junior then i took over (tho I don't think it was fair she had a less qualified member of staff as she was on time for her treatment.)

After the lady left she then rang the salon to speak to the owner saying I was rude, DO YOU THINK I WAS WRONG DO YOU THINK I SHOULD HAVE JUST LET IT GO AND LOST OUT ON THE £35. She said she would not be back to use any services hair or beauty so of course the hair side of thinks think iv lost them a client to, which I feel really band about. My lady also blamed my pregnancy and said it must be the baby as I not normally like this but shes not normally late so I haven't had to deal with this before.

I think as she was late she should of expected my kind offer to have it done by my other therapist as it was after all her fault

[Wuldric]

OP you said Handel (a composer) instead of handle in your thread title.

Which spawned a lot of jokes about composers. They were not ill-natured jokes. Just jokes.

I would imagine that most of us work. I certainly do.

Chin up! Don't sweat. And have that Bellini

[Chazz88]

No I'm sure that nobody had died if there nails are not pretty buy if you don't show up for a doctors appointment the doctored still get payed,

My next lady had to pick up her little girl from school she does half day so if I had been 20min late for her appointment she would have been late picking her lo up from school. Also it not that lady who was late so why should she have to sit an wait.

[Amazinggg]

Yes you were at work, but the contract between you and she was not clear. She wasn't paying you for that hour, she was paying you to do a thing, which you didn't in the end do.

Seriously look at other salons' terms and conditions - it's really rare for clients just not to turn up, it's far better for you in the long run to be nice and forgive them.

You won't earn future business by acting like this, you really won't. Someone wise once said to me that you can't change other people's behaviour but you can change your own reaction to it. I know you're pregnant and are feeling financial pressure, but that's a) no need to run your business poorly, which is what it is if you piss off regular clients who make one mistake, and b) have a go at random MNers who may or may not be claiming benefits. Though I'm still struggling to see the relevance of that... Lots of specialists in all sorts of things here on MN, this thread has attracted the musical types due to your unfortunate typo in the title

[lougle]

Well I addressed that in my post. You had the option to offer the other lady your colleague (junior) to allow her to leave on time.

The doctor still gets paid because although they are self employed, the practice is contracted to supply a service over a period of a year, which is not based on individual consultations.

You are self-employed - it is the risk you take. If you don't want to take that risk, find a job in a salon where you simply get a wage for your time.

[Oswin]

It's just the nature of the business you work in. You need to keep the customers sweet, because I'm guessing she will have plenty of friends to tell this tale to. That's potential customers lost.

[Amazinggg]

I'm a freelance type in a musical thingy and someone cancelled last minute literally last week, as it goes, and despite our verbal agreement saying she should have paid, she brought me flowers today. Twas lovely and I didn't remind her that actually she owed me. I have just learnt to be clearer about my T+C in future.

[Kneedeepindaisies]

What do you do is somebody doesn't turn up or cancels at short notice?

[Chazz88]

My I pad changed the spelling an unfortunately I don't know much about composing so mostly I'm confused reading all your posts,

[Chazz88]

Normally if someone doesn't show up I leave a massage asking them to rebook if they don't I let it do, if someone cancels short notice again I let them off but 3 strikes and I won't allow you to book anymore. But in this case I felt I was right to enforce paymenet as she was standing their 20mins late demanding I still do the full treatment telling me to be late for the next person and wouldn't allow another therapist to do some of the treatment. So as I had tried to fit her in evan tho she was late I didn't see why I should get a pay cut if anything I should of charged more for inconvenience

[notapizzaeater]

I think you handled it badly. If I was running late then I would have been very apologetic and would have accepted u only doing one thing, but if you tried to charge me for both I would have walked out. Yes I was in the wrong being late, yes you where waiting and not earning but sometimes life just gets in the way. The business lost now could be huge because you could bet your house on it she has old some friends who now won't come to you. It's the old adage - the customer is always right - even when they are not !

[Amazinggg]

I think that, OP, sometimes it's not about being right. She was wrong to be late. You needed the money. But actually, if you think about it properly, it makes more sense for you to smile through gritted teeth and say 'no worries, if you don't want her to do it, let's rearrange'. As a freelancer I'm constantly being let down by people, and when you're having to arrange childcare based on assuming you're working, it's even harder. But my clients would never know I'm spitting feathers because I'm sweetness and light to them - they may be unreliable and often late or whatever, but at the end of the day they are my boss, collectively, and so I need to be respectful. Or get a new job. Do you see what I mean? It's your choice to do this, if has pros and cons.

[lougle]

Wait a minute...rewind that. Take the record back to the beginning.

If she hadn't turned up at all, you would have let her off, but because she did turn up you want her to pay? How does that work????

That is the most barmy thing I've heard in a long time. You are giving the message that if you're going to be late, just don't turn up at all, because you will get a better deal.

[MirandaWest]

Am enjoying this thread :)

[Wuldric]

Well OP, let's get you into the spirit

After all, when the Wolf's at the door, the only thing I can Berlioz is curling up on the Satie with a nice bit of Glinka :)

[Chazz88]

Its not that i wouldn't want then to pay but I can't drag them in and make them pay. If I asked them to come In And pay they wouldn't do it, I though what this lady did was worse as she showed up late, made a seen, expected me to still do all her treatment, didn't care it would make me late for the next client, wouldn't take my solution of me doing half and other therapist doing the rest.

I didn't want to charge her for not having the treatment I told her that she had to have the other therapist not me as I no longer had time, she didn't want the other person so I said we'll I will do what I can in the time i have but will still have to charge the original treatment price evan if I can't do it all before my next client came in but other therapist could do the rest if she would let them. She didn't want the other therapist to Finnish and also didn't want to pay the full amount. So I had to loose out evan tho it was her that was late and her that then wouldn't compromise onTherapists

[DramaAlpaca]

I'm trying very hard to think of a Sibelius pun

[notapizzaeater]

Are you actually reading any of the serious replies ? Everyone agrees she was wrong but you have now blown it out of proportion - sometimes you smile through gritted teeth and mutter when they have gone.

[lougle]

Yes because you are self-employed and that is the risk you take.

You would have been much better to accommodate her lateness and let the other therapist deal with your next client.

You lost sight of your business and got embroiled in the detail of this one transaction.

In fact, you sound like you were actually just cross that she didn't view your time as importantly as you did.

[Wuldric]

Sibelius is on the thread in spirit - he was evoked when the OP stated she wanted to 'Finnish off' something.

[DramaAlpaca]

Exactly, I think there have been two references to "Finnish".

Good old Sibelius.

[AgnesBligg]

Aww OP have a good Sibelius tonight; tomorrow is another Amadeus.

[ZacharyQuack]

The late client turned up at 11:05 and your next client was scheduled at 12:00, so you had 55 minutes. One treatment takes 40 minutes and the other 15/20 minutes, so you could have got them both done in the available 55 minutes, at worst you may have been 5 minutes late. You had a junior therapist available to help with the treatment, or to get the next room set up for the 12:00 client.

Why didn't you just get a move on and do both treatments as you actually had time available, instead of wasting so much time arguing with the client?

[Chazz88]

Omg read all posts or don't bother replying I'm fed up of repeating myself it takes in hour and 15 mins to do the treatment she wanted I could shorten the time down to 40 min 15 mi s if she was prepared to have bits missed out like the magnate in the pedi she did not want this and there was not enough time to do all of it she also didn't want the other therapist to take over from me.

[ZacharyQuack]

It sounds like you run a really relaxing salon.

[Chazz88]

I think my point has been completely missed I didn't charge her because I needed the money as such I charged her because she was rude and because she demanded I still do the full treatment and be late for the next person.

If someone came in late said I'm sorry i fully u u understand if you can't do it all Ill rebook my other treatment later in the week I would have been fine yes lateness happens sometimes,

But all my offers to resolve the problem were turned down so seeing as I had given her many options to still have her treatment but she would not budge I felt I should still be payed tbh I
She wasn't coming back anyway as she said if I didn't do all the treatments she would not come back so weather she payed or not she wasn't returning.

I did end up doing the whole full treatment and being late for my next lady who was not best pleased as she was in the salon 5 mins early. I then ran 10 mins late for everyone else for the rest of the day making the hairdressers also run late as some people had appointments with them too. I think I will just start taking payment of longer treatments over the phone when booking.