It ticks me off

A

Abram86

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Nothing ticks me unless its like a customer that makes an appointment but doesnt keep it.
The dumb idiots makes the appointments and they dont take the time to contact me to let me know they are cancelling the appointment. Instead they just dont show up at all. I've had this trouble for 2 weeks now!
Even a wrecker company who said they would use me to clean their cars that are repo'ed. The owner had me give him an estimate on some semi's and we scheduled a date but still 9 days later the trucks never showed up or they never called to let me know thet cancelled.

Xtreme Auto
 
Are you calling these people? Make contact. Get numbers. Call them a day before as a reminder.

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My wife works at a dental office cleaning teeth and very rarely does she have all the patients that schedule appointments come in. Though her office usually charges $50 per no show (I'm not sure you could do something similar) but it sounds like people in general are flaky. Maybe try giving them a call to remind them, as suggested before. Anything to help you get business in the door shouldn't necessarily be considered time wasted. Hope it starts working out better for you
Bill
 
VP Mark said:
Are you calling these people? Make contact. Get numbers. Call them a day before as a reminder.

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Yes Mark I usually contact them a day ahead to confirm and they confirm they'll be here but never show up or make effort to contact me.

Xtreme Auto
 
Abram86 said:
Yes Mark I usually contact them a day ahead to confirm and they confirm they'll be here but never show up or make effort to contact me.

Xtreme Auto
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When I'm not mobile I do pick up and delivery. When they know you will be there they stick with the program. Get some commercial unowned auto insurance and start getting them!

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Get a copy of Mike P's VIF form and customize it to fit your business. Also start taking deposits. It will weed out the BS people and if for whatever reason someone no call/no show's, at least you got a little money.
 
You should of ask for a deposit just in case this keeps happening you get at least some profit. Where I use to rent my aircraft they required at least 2 hours of cancellation advisement or else they will charge you as if you rented the aircraft for the time you asked for.
 
VP Mark said:
Are you calling these people? Make contact. Get numbers. Call them a day before as a reminder.

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Click to expand...

:iagree:1000% I always call a couple days ahead to make sure their coming if not I have people waiting to get in sooner. If their not coming I start call my customer who are 3-4 weeks out to offer then the spot and 90% of the time I fill it right up. I would never charge anyone a $25 for not showing up. Just be proactive.Every customer that makes an appointment get first,last name and number.
 
I take deposits on all jobs unless they are a good client and I do work for them all the time. They never cancel on me because we have a relationship and they understand my business. They come to drop off the car and my wife offers a cup of coffee while we are going over what needs to be done. They pet the dog, know my daughter by name.

I detail part time so I am juggling clients, family and a full time job. I usually book two weeks in advance. I only take one client at a time and I have one waiting on deck. I don't always have someone waiting who can give me the car a week or two weeks early.
I clear out a weekend to work on a car or take a vacation day because the job is more then a couple of days of work.
I always call to confirm. They give me a yes then don't show up, don't call, then don't return calls when I call that they missed the appointment. Sorry your deposit is mine. If I make an appointment to use someone's time for a service I keep it. If I can't I call well in advance to cancel it. I understand things happen. I don't waste other peoples time I don't expect mine to be wasted.
 
Take a small, non-refundable deposit. The amount would be your decision, but if they cancel on you once, give them the opportunity to reschedule. If they don't show up again, I would require a full payment up front before you will put them on your schedule for the future. If someone is holding my cash "hostage", you bet your tail I'll be there.
 
^that reminds me. earlier this week I was at my dermatologist's office. someone called to make a botox appt., but they had in their system the person was a constant no-show and to not schedule any more appts for them. So the receptionist put her on hold and talked it over with some staff, and then very nicely and politely said OK we will allow you to schedule but you haven't showed up in the past, so be sure you show up to this one.

So its not just you, OP, it happens everywhere! :xyxthumbs:
 
It happens to me all the time. I would say on an average day, about 10% of patients don't show up. They have various reasons, but there are also repeat offenders. I give people the benefit of the doubt. Despite the fact that we have a call reminder system, people's VM inboxes get full, phone numbers are wrong or people just plainly forget. We don't take deposits; it hasn't been shown to deter patients from flaking out.

In your business, you should take a deposit. Your income is directly tied to the work you do; I get paid whether I see 1 patient or 30 patients per day. I would also get in the habit of calling customers ahead of time.
 
This happened to me today. The appointment was setup yesterday for 11am today.

So I called at 9am. He was still hungover, sounded all groggy lol. It was just a consultation so I didn't mind it to much. Plus it was for a Harley Davidson and given the fact that I have very minimal experience with motorcycles I didn't mind it to much lol.

I did explain to him about my experience with motorcycles and he said it was fine, I told him I blossom on cars and he said "I know" plus he has a 2014 black Caddillac, he said he wants to get it color sanded to make it smooth and shiny again. I asked him if it has been repainted and he said no. I told him not to and I'll explain more in person. As for the Harley he just wanted it cleaned up and the paint polished up.

I have cleaned up motorcycles and polishing paint I do professionally.

What I don't know yet is about the chain, and the seating.

I was going to do a waterless wash and clay, then polish.

Clean up the wheels and tires with diluted APC and maybe wax the wheels.

Was going use UWW+ for the seating for a wipedown.

He's a friend from HS so we grew up together. So I wasn't to concerned.
 
So far I have a guy and his wife who are repeat no shows. First time they scheduled and showed up but then took off because they got called for something. Then the husband schedules an appointment for the interior and doesnt show up then messages me and says he's late then never shows up at all.

The wrecker company who I do alot of work for is the one that pissed me off and concerns me because I was doing constant work on their repos. After this last appointment they never showed up. I asked what happened and never got a response at all. Im thinking they thought I was charging too much but didn't want to tell me. I just remembered the owner saying he bought a power washer and it just dawned on me lol. I guess our relationship is over. :(

Xtreme Auto
 
The longer I'm in business, the less frustrated I get about this problem. It's really annoying at first, when you are trying to get a start and really need the money.

As your business matures, you'll have less no shows because you'll develop a better relationship with your clients and will have better quality clients in general.

Like Todd said, a quick email, text or call the day before or even a few days in advance makes a huge difference.

You have to understand people's lives happen and sometimes they can't make it. I always make it very clear to my clients that I am very flexible, but to just let me know if their plans change. I've almost always got somebody on deck that would love to take their spot. I generally stay a few weeks to a month booked out, so if a client doesn't show and wants to reschedule, they've got a long time to wait to get back in.

When all else fails, I just enjoy the day off and relax or work on my site or do some research. You could also be proactive and get out and talk to people, go to shows, make friends.
 
It's very frustrating to have no shows and lose commercial accounts when you first start up... ask me how I know. Just be comforted that with time you will get better and better clients and better accounts that will treat you right.

If I could have $10 for every time a dealer has begged me to work for them, promised 5+ cars a week then dropped off the radar completely two weeks later because some other guy will do it $5 cheaper...

Actually I'd only have about $40. Nevermind. It will get better just keep treating people the way you want to be treated.

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Most dealers barely register as human beings. I don't know why that is. Don't get me wrong, I've dealt with a few great dealers, but I must stress a few.

I haven't done any dealer work for a couple years. I've had high end car dealerships call me wanting $100 details on exotics. I just say sorry, I'm not your guy.

And yeah, they will drop you like it's hot. I had a dealer no show and drop me once. He said he found a husband and wife team that would do a full detail for $50.
 
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