I just don't know where some of these comments come from.
Especially from customers who have been coming to us for awhile now.
9:15 this morning:
Us: "Hello, Ms. P-----?....Hi. I was checking to see if you were on your way with W-----, for her 9 am appointment."
Ms. P: "Oh, I didn't realize that the appointment time was firm and that I had to be there right at nine."
Since she is there all day, I didn't think she had to be there right at nine. I'll be there soon."
This customer showed up at 10am. The dog stays all day because she (the owner) does not pick her up till after work.
How am I supposed to control my day without appointment times?
I want so badly to ask customers, who ignore our appointment times and come in 30 minutes to an hour late (or more), if they do this with there Doctor, Dentist, and their own Hair appointments.
"I didn't realize that the appointment time was firm."
REALLY!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Grooming, MFF
Wow. Just wow.
ReplyDeleteSome days dealing with the dogs is the EASY part...
...OK, MOST days.
;-)
Delete100% agree!!
I get this every single day at my shop, and from clients who have been coming to me for years. My shop looks like a house, so clearly people think I live there and will take in dogs any time of the day. I've come in and checked my caller I.D. and people have called at 10 p.m. Like you said, they would never get away with this at their doctors' office. It's frustrating...Karen in Nj
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
DeleteMy shop is in a strip mall and I still see those 10 an 11pm calls on our caller ID. I do truly believe that some of my customers think that I live at my shop. :/
Where is your shop Karen? I pass a really pretty grooming salon that is in a house on our way to Wildwood every year, but for the life of me I can not remember the name of it.
Lisa, MFF
Hi Lisa...sorry for the delay in response. We've been working on repairing my moms shore house since the hurricane, and it takes up all our free time! My shop is in Andover, NJ which is in northern NJ about 20 miles from the Delaware Water Gap in PA. I've been there for 8 years now, and for 15 years before that, I worked at a boarding kennel doing all their grooming. So like you, I've been at it for a very long time. I'm 50 now, so I'm trying to slow down a little, but demand is very high and there are very few decent groomers in my area. It keeps me very busy year round. I love your blog because I can identify with every scenario you write about, and our grooming philosophy and style are just about identical. I don't know where you find the time!! Keep on bloggin' Karen in NJ
DeleteHi Karen,
DeleteI am sorry about your Mothers house. I just turned 50 myself. I had a dream when I opened my shop 26 years ago...by now I would have 4 or 5 groomers working for me and I would be able to groom only my favorite dogs and take my time....of course that was back when I believed that every groomer groomed for the same reason that I did, and groomed the same way I did. Hahahahahaha. It sure was a dream!
It really feels good when I find groomers that think and groom the same way that I do. :)
Lisa, MFF
Poor you :( i can imagine that look on your face ! Exasperation .
ReplyDeleteIm afraid our profession seems to be the only one that people are so nonchalant about time keeping this applies to my staff too lol.
I was given a sign for christmas to pop on my groom room gate which i was worried that might offend but as you mentioned after a few crazies and no shows before christmas , i did not hesitate to place it up .
It reads " dogs welcome but people tolerated " the looks on faces :) keep up the great blog . . Was up until 3 am reading your threads with a smile on my face .
Thanks for keeping us groomers sane , even here in England.
Lakhi.
Hi,
DeleteI have that same sign, but I have not put it yet. Can't tell you how much I want to!!
Thanks for reading my blog....sorry o keep you up so late. lol
Lisa, MFF
We used to have a couple who would bring in their (always very matted!) Cockers in several hours late. We eventually started telling them over the phone that if they came in more than 20 minutes late we would not groom their dogs. We started doing this after they showed up at 4pm for a 12noon appointment and threw a huge fit because we couldn't fit them in. I mean really? We would always get stressed when they made an appointment.
ReplyDelete(They were those every 5-month clients who never brushed their dogs but always showed us a picture of a show dog "this is how I want them to look." And were always mad when we told them if they won't brush their dogs, they had to be shaved. (Could you imagine their condition if they were actually kept long!)
They eventually stopped coming to us. Frankly we're happy they found a different salon to terrorize!!
Good grief!!!
DeleteSeveral hours late!!!!
I have to say that I have not ever had to deal with that before. I do know that I would have turned them away if they were more than an hour late.
As for wanting a full style clip on a 5 month schedule. NO WAY!
I am so glad that these people no longer come to you. Who needs customers like that?!
4pm for a noon appointment....I am still shaking my head....I just have no words for that.
Bye, Bye to that customer, AND GOOD RESIDENCE! lol
Lisa,MFF
At our shop, if the customer is more than 15 minutes late we groomers are not obligated to take the customer. We do reminder calls the night before. People can't get away with that behavior! If I am late to a doctor or dentist appointment then I can't just walk in later and still get seen. Plus I get charged!
ReplyDeleteHi Marge,
DeleteWe also give reminder calls the day before. It still does not stop customers from showing up late. If they have not shown up by 15 minutes after their appointed time, we call them to see why they are late, and then we decide whether to let them still come or reschedule them.
There are some days when it seems that half of them are late. I can't lose a half of my day of dogs just to teach them a lesson, but you better believe that I wish that I could!
Lisa, MFF
I just stumbled onto your blog today looking for coloring tips, (which are awesome by the way!) then started combing through other entries. I must say, I had a complete meltdown over this very thing just yesterday with a "repeat offender" client. It was at home with the hubs, but a meltdown all the same. lol! My co-worker and I have finally put a sign on the door that reads "Please call ahead if you believe you will be more than ten minutes late. We can not give the furry friends in our care the proper time and attention they deserve if we are unable to stay on schedule." Of course, that only works for those who act like they know how to read, and though we inform new people of this guideline when they make the appointment, they tend to have selective hearing. I've turned people away and/or offered to rebook when they show up 30 minutes late. I try my hardest to call and see if clients are still coming or not, and unfortunately it's sometimes 8 o'clock at night by the time I'm done grooming, and I can't bring myself to do reminder calls that late, it just seems way too rude. I work in a salon literally run by me and my friend. That's it. We have no bather, no receptionist, just the pair of us. We can't afford to be behind! Granted, we've been very lucky where our shop is located to have a pretty responsible well-to-do demographic, so it's very rare that I've had to turn someone away for lateness. And if a normally punctual regular happens to be late, it's hard for me to be bothered... someone like that will generally NOT be behind unless there's a good reason, and they never rush me because they were the ones to arrive late.
ReplyDeleteI totally just wrote you a novel, and I apologize. Great blog, I'll be a regular reader!
-Erin
Hi Erin,
DeleteSorry for the late reply.
I hear you. I have been where you are.....and still am. I have been grooming for 30 years and still have not found a way to get all of my customers to show up on time, or some of them at all! I think that it is one of the most frustrating parts grooming. The customers just do not get it.
I'll be honest, before I became a groomer, I tended to miss my hair appointments once in a while. Not on purpose, I would just forget. I would think 'oh well, I'll just reschedule.' I honestly did not realize that it hurt my hairdresser when I missed. I think that it is the same with our customers.
A lot of the time, when I nicely explain what missing an appointment does to me, most customers understand and don't give me a problem. Then there are the ones that just don't give a crap. For those customers, well, they tend to have to wait a long time to get another appointment with me, because I just can't seem to find another appointment open anytime soon. :)
Are both you and your co-workers groomers? You are going to burn out working till 8 at night. Have you thought about hiring a part time bather. You sound like you are pretty busy. The bather could bath 8am till noon. While the bather is bathing your first dog of the day you could quickly make reminder calls for the next day. Hiring a bather at $10 an hour to start, $40 a day, would be worth it to help take some of the pressure off. Just a suggestion. I don't know your situation.
Hang in there. Try not to let them get to you.
Lisa, MFF