Late/cancellation fees

[actonman]

I don't charge a late/cancellation fee right now. I have been in practice for over 2 years and have always been very lenient when it comes to clients having to cancel or reschedule. However, I have one client who has been seeing me for just over a year now, pretty much every month. Well, the past 4 months or so, she ALWAYS calls either the day before or day of the appointment and has to reschedule. Most of the time it's because of a "conflict" (i.e., she has a lunch to make for a party or something). Last month, it was because her daughter had a snow day from school (okay, her daughter is 17 years old...you can't leave her for 2 hours?) and this morning she called me at 8am (had a 10:45am scheduled) saying that her daughter was sick last night so she's staying home from school (again, the 17 year old).

This is just getting really old, and I wonder if enforcing a late cancellation policy might get the point across, even if it's $20. I really don't want to but she thinks that she is my only client and can come in whenever she wants. I have the time later in the week to get her in, but what about the potential client I could have scheduled in her time slot today?

 

[Joey]

I answered no because we don't currently have a cancellation policy but it is one that I think we should add.

Angie

 

[vaye]

Can you talk to the client and let them know how this is affecting your schedule?

You know, Blisss is always great with wording, but I'll start - and maybe someone will build on it.

I have noticed that you are currently having a lot of conflicts with your scheduled massage sessions. When you cancel at the last minute it causes another client who may have needed the appointment, to be left without service. I am trying to help as many people as possible and it seems our schedules are no longer compatible. Would you like me to give you the names of a few therapists who would be better able to work with these conflicts, or do you think we'll be able to resolve this?


Dunno - just talking off the top of my head.

 

[mech]

I have a cancellation policy which I don't always enforce, but my clients do understand that if they cancel with less than 24 hours notice (or no show) for reasons such as "too tired," "schedule conflict," etc, they will pay the $25 fee at the next session or I will invoice them within 30 days.

If they are sick, get stuck on the Banfield (HWY notorious for jamming at very odd times of day,) have a child or family emergency, etc, I usually waive cancellation as long as they call me. I had a client this week who got stuck at Les Schwab for a tire fix. They went to remove his tire and one of the bolts broke. What should have been a 20 minute stop turned into 2 hours and he called me a few minutes before... blah blah blah. I won't charge him for that, what could he do? Drive on 3 tires? :

OTOH, if a client no-shows/no-calls, I usually don't bother with cancellation, I just become "unavailable" for the reschedule. If you can't be bothered to even call me when you decide not to show, I can't be bothered to be your massage therapist thank-you-very-much. t019

 

[White Al Sharpton]

i really dislike confrontation and so choose to take the 'unavailable' route.. but that's hard when someone has a standing. and by not wanting to confront the situation, it leaves me open for being walked on.

i'm making a change though, and trying to get better at it. in fact, i have one woman who only has one appointment left with me - and then the relationship will be dissolved. whew!

a

 

[Cole]

This is a great example of why cancellation policies need to be set up & enforced from the beginning. Otherwise, people will take advaneforum.xxxe! The reason this client thinks her behavior is acceptable, is because you have accepted it for years. It will be a re-education process, to change expectations now. However, you can change it, and I think it's awesome you're ready to do so! t041 It's all about you respecting yourself enough to require others to respect you & your time.

I recommend coming up with a policy you feel is fair, and you're willing to consistently enforce. A lot of people choose a $25 cancellation fee if people cancel with less than 24 hours notice (emergencies excepted). Many therapists use the first occurrance as a warning. They remind the client of the policy & tell them the next time they will be charged. Then, if it happens again, they do charge the fee. This is really important! You need to be willing to follow through on your policy. Otherwise, there's no point having one.

Once you decide on a policy, I would tell her (and all your clients) that when you were first starting your massage practice, you had enough flexibility in your schedule to work around late cancellations. Now, your schedule is busier, and late cancellations have become too much of an imposition. For that reason, you now will be requiring 24 hours notice when cancelling appointments. If people cancel with less notice, they will be asked to pay a fee. Tell them what the fee will be. If a client objects and says they can't predict their schedule changes, then suggest they stop booking ahead, and instead, call the day before they want a massage to see if you have an opening.

You may lose some clients with this change, but honestly, they aren't good clients. And they will quickly be replaced with clients who are reliable in keeping their appointments.

Good luck! Keep us posted on what you decide, and how the first conversation goes!

 

[MJ forever <3]

Thanks Bliss and everyone else! I am a very non-confrontational person so having to talk with her about her scheduling habits, well I'd rather just avoid that and post a sign in my office and have my clients sign a copy for themselves just so they are aware of the changes. And that is part of the reason, my schedule is getting tighter and when people cancel at the last minute, it causes a disruption in my entire day and it's frustrating. I'm going to work on it using everyones suggestions.

Thanks all!

 

[Deckard]

I am a very non-confrontational person so having to talk with her about her scheduling habits, well I'd rather just avoid that and post a sign in my office and have my clients sign a copy for themselves just so they are aware of the changes.

If you dislike confrontation, you're going to have a really hard time enforcing your policy. Believe me when I say that posting your policy and having your clients sign it won't be enough. They will test you. (I haven't met an MT yet that wasn't tested on their cancellation policy.) If you dread the idea of such conversations, then I recommend skipping the work of coming up with a policy altogether.

Instead, you can lie. I know plenty of MT's who do this. If someone cancels at the last minute and wants to reschedule, the MT says, "I'm so sorry you need to cancel. My schedule has gotten very busy and the first opening I have is in 4 weeks." Stay firm. Don't give them an appointment sooner. Many will get the message, if you do this every time they cancel.

 

[Char]

I agree with everything everyone has been saying. I've been down the same road. Had a cancellation policy printed on my intake form and I did not enforce it. People began taking advaneforum.xxxe. I was beginning to resent them and this was not good. The only way to change their behavior was to change mine and to let them know my expectations and enforce the consequences.

I began reminding people of my cancellation policy when they booked their appointment.

I became more diligent about making reminder phone calls 48 hours prior to their appointment. I would remind them of the cancellation policy at this time. Because I was making the call 48 hours prior to their appointment, they still had plenty of time to change/cancel with a 24 hour notice.

When people did cancel within 24 hours (which was now happening quite infrequently), I reminded them of the policy and said that I would "forgive" it this time, but next time there would be a charge.

And then, the important part was when they DID do it again, I DID charge them. I felt very bad when I did this to two of my fairly regular clients, but they were also 2 who had gotten away with it many times before I began getting strict. They also had much warning about the policy and an additional "free pass", so that by the time I had to charge them, they had definitely violated it and realized it and were happy to pay.

If I have a new client who no-shows and either doesn't call or doesn't seem at all apologetic that they no-showed without even a call, then I will tell them right off the bat that there is a charge for the appointment. I don't want these people as clients! I haven't gotten paid from these people of course, but the point was to NOT have them as clients.

I have lost a couple of clients since I got more strict with my policy, but that just leaves room in my practice for people who are going to be more respectful of my time.

Do you have a newsletter? I do and when I started to get more strict with my cancellation policy, I stated the policy in my newsletter. From time to time I will have a very small "reminder" at the bottom of the newsletter that states the policy. Sometimes people need a reminder.

I don't like being confrontational either, so getting tough was not an easy thing for me to do. I realized that it all eventually came down to my feelings about myself and what I deserve. In the past, I have worked for several employers who required me to be the "bad guy" and deliver bad news or tell a customer/client that something could not be done or they needed to be charged or whatever. I never dreamed of saying to my employer "I'm not a confrontational person, so I can't do that." I just did it because it was part of my job. So, I began thinking about this If I had employees, I would require them to tell people about the cancellation policy. Why is it that I am not requiring it of my one employee.....me! I decided I needed to be a tougher boss and require my employee (me) to enforce this cancellation policy.

I think one of the biggest conflicts with massage therapists running their own business is that most of us are not really and truly business people. We operate our business too much with our heart and feelings. This is not always in the best interest of our business. It's important to be a business person when it is necessary.

 

[Rodina]

I have been very lenient with cancellations...I guess it doesn't bother me too much..maybe it should..I do have a very nice lady who has no showed me more times than I know...but I don't say anything to her because she has a husband batteling cancer, is taking care of a bunch of grand children, and she herself seems to be batteling "dementia" of some sort I have noticed ...she loves her massages and would NEVE deliberatly no show me..in fact she has referred me to many people...so i decided I would call her the night before to remind her of her appointments and sometimes it helps, sometimes not...I just let this go...