Wives making appts. for husbands.

[Pompal 09.]

Today I have instituted a new policy in my practice. Everyone must call and schedule their own appointment. I have found that when the wife makes the appointment for her husband, he rarely shows. I don't know if it is a matter of miscommunication, or a power struggle, but 3 out of 4 times it ends up in a no-show.-Melody

 

[Bad Radio]

Yesterday I had a no show....a husband scheduled for his wife (this is after he had scheduled for her a couple of days ago and cancelled at the last minute)...they simply aren't getting an appointment with me anymore.  But I think you're right....it sounds like a good policy.

 

[Wackoz]

I've had this problem before myself.  I have several couples that I see and many times the spouse makes appointments and the other shows up on time.  Yesterday a man who cancelled at the last minute sent in his wife. I do tell people that I prefer to speak to the client personally all the time and remind them of my cancellation policy. I've had the most problems historically with couples who don't communicate well or are just flakey with appointments in general.  I can usually tell right away what's going on.  BTW, you might try calling the  spouse to confirm the appointment.Rubmyster

 

[quitemetalrebel]

i am very leary of 3rd party bookings. in my case, (i'm mobile) these are generally a 'surprise' massage for the client for a birthday or anniversary.  the 1st time i did one of these 'surprises', i arrived at the location only to find out that the client refused the service. she was overwhelmed and not mentally ready to receive. i come to find out she had never had a massage; and probably was not thrilled at this stranger in her home wanting her to remove her clothing. the fear was palpable in the room.i graciously told them that it was okay and they could rebook at the time that was most convenient for her. i made them pay me for the service, sort of as a GC, and also a $20 fee for travel.she ended up rebooking and completely enjoying the experience. and to boot, felt silly she turned me down the 1st time.oh well. she found the road the way she needed to, i guess.if you call us now for a surpise booking, we ask if the party has received massage previously. we inform them of the procedure for refusing the service. (buy it as a GC, plus a travel fee)

 

[Barragan L]

I have had thoughts about this, but never had a problem with the appointments.I have only had a few clients that book the appointment for the husband (sometimes the only way they DO get a massage) but, they have all been on time.I would just bill them for a missed massage or for late cancellation.  But if it started to become a regular occurance, I can see setting up a policy for it.    

 

[leelou]

Wives making appts. for husbands.

I have this situation occur from time to time, sometimes the spouse is shy or just not good at communication on the phone or does not speak english. Sometimes the spouse is not around during business hours and will ask his wife to make arrangements. Missed appontments are about the same as other situations.Jeff

 

[Maddy P]

Wives making appts. for husbands.

I have had the same problem with spouses making the appointment and the other not showing up. I too have thought of making the policy of you have to make your own appointments. But not sure of how to word it. ???

 

[miyokiyo2000]

I haven't have a problem with spouse booked appointments - I can't remember a single one that hasn't turned up, touch wood (and I have a had quite a few). Spouse purchased gift certificates seem to not be redeemed that often, but no problem with the spouse booked appointments  (purchased by friend/child gift certificates are much more often used, employer purchased gift certificates seem to go either way)

 

[Pompal 09.]

Wives making appts. for husbands.

My problem with this is when a wife calls and tells me what kind of massage her husband 'needs'! I can remember on one occasion, a wife had come by the spa I worked at, and wanted to book a massage. She spoke with the owner about my credentials and experience, then she wanted to see the room, then she wanted to see me, THEN she asked ME about my credentials and schooling.She filled out her husband's intake form, making notes to where HE needed the massage, and writing down that he needed deep, deep pressure. I give the appearance of being 'petite' (I'm not), so she asked me time and time again could I give good, deep pressure. She called me on the phone to confirm her husband's deep tissue massage. And, oh yeah, this was a surprise!Long story short, I did an interview with him, told him to let me know if I gave too much pressure, and when I got ahold of his shoulder, guess what...it was too much pressure.That was the first time it happened, but not the last, so I've learned to just take 'spousal reccomendations' with a grain of salt... I've figured out that people don't realize we can actually FEEL where tension is, and where deeper work is needed, and are almost always surprised when I can find the spots that hurt...

 

[KU_doc]

I also have husbands who don't make their own appts either and want their wives to do so for them...and yes, I have had a few "no-shows" due to miscommunications between them regarding appt. times.  *sigh* Drives me nutz!What I find to work the best is the confirmation phone call to the person with the appt.  When I book these types of 3rd party appts I now require a phone number for the person who is to receive the treatment.  Several people have tried to refuse giving me the number, "Oh, you can just call me and I'll blah blah blah..." to which I reply, "Well, it is necessary for me to be able to reach this person directly in case my schedule changes and I need to reschedule them."  Usually this gets me the phone number.Then I call that person at some point that day and confirm the appt, review my cancellation/no show policy with them specifically.  I think taking cc info for a 3rd party booking is a good idea -- complete with a full explanation that if the person doesn't show up they get billed for the full session amount.I'm very wary of setting up "surprise" appts unless they are existing clients.  I generally flip these types of things to GC sales and explain that most people want to schedule their own appts.

 

[misa]

I personally have not had a problem with the spouse not showing. I book up so far in advance that if the spouse isn't going to make it, the other comes and is happy to do it. In fact I think one wife books her husbands appointments when she knows something will be going on so she can take his appointments! I guess there is a problem with the spouse no showing, but I am never out an appt!   The thing that irritates me as a manager where I work are the people who try and prepay over the phone and then their party no shows and they want their money back! Even if we have explained that they will not be refunded if the person cannot show up. Drives me nuts and is such a pain. Anyway all in all I like it when my couples get each other to come in to get massage it doubles your buisness as long as they are not flakey  

 

[loveslolafoevergirl]

*G* I had some awesome regulars, who I decided to bless with an outcall comp for the spouse every 5. This promised a paying massage with the regular when I came out. I never had a problem booking the spouses for paying visits in between.

 

[xpander]

Wives making appts. for husbands.

We usually don't have a problem with third party bookings. We do not call to confirm appts. We offer reminder cards and if a client specifically asks for a confirmation call, we'll do that. If they don't show we wait for 15 minutes and then consider it a no call, no show. Each therapist is then free to charge for 60% of the massage fee or not. I tend to let first-timers go but after that they get charged unless there was some sort of emergency.

In the last 2 weeks I've had 3 no calls, no shows and I don't think I'm gonna be all that forgiving about it. I didn't charge these clients but I made a note of it in their files. If it happens again I will most definately charge them. I know it's the holidays but I have stuff I need to get done too! Seems people are a bit more absentminded this time of year.

She filled out her husband's intake form, making notes to where HE needed the massage, and writing down that he needed deep, deep pressure.

Wow, that surprises me that she was allowed to fill out the husband's intake form. Our intake form not only has to be filled out by the client (with the usual health history),it also must be initialed (by the client and me) stating that they understand that packages are non-transferable and non-refundable and that no shows will be charged 60% of the total massage fee. Then at the bottom the client must sign their name and date it. That works out well to cover our costs from previous clients but we don't have anything in place to charge new clients since we have no info on file. Hmmmm, need to talk to the boss about this. How do y'all handle this?

Steph!

*edit* 12/2 I had to charge a client yesterday for a no show. I had 2 appts in the morning (last one ending at noon) and because of snow had to stay at work (husband dropped me off) to wait for my last appt which started at 3. No show and I had waited for 3 hours, uhg. Although, I did get a lot done on my newest knitting project t045