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No show policy
I am a new massage therapist and have had a few no shows. It probably hasn't been many but since I'm just starting, it is hard when you get them.
My question is how do you handle them? Do you have a no show charge? If so, how do you enforce it? I do have in my policies that I have the right to charge for no shows.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by rudy m smith on
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I have a written policy that ALL my clients agree to when they fill out their paper work before becoming a client. Basicaly if they are a no show without notice they pay the full amount, if they cancel with less than 12 hours notice they pay 1/2 the amount. If a true emergency occurs, there is obviously no charge. Now here is the kicker. I take all money recieved from no shows and put it in a blessing box which I then use to provide free or reduced fee services to people who need my services but can not afford it - 10% of my 40 client/week work load.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cohen on
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Sounds like a good way to work it.
rudy m smith said:I have a written policy that ALL my clients agree to when they fill out their paper work before becoming a client. Basicaly if they are a no show without notice they pay the full amount, if they cancel with less than 12 hours notice they pay 1/2 the amount. If a true emergency occurs, there is obviously no charge. Now here is the kicker. I take all money recieved from no shows and put it in a blessing box which I then use to provide free or reduced fee services to people who need my services but can not afford it - 10% of my 40 client/week work load.
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Permalink Reply by Jody C. Hutchinson on
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After many years of dealing with clients who no show, I have a written agreement, three signs in direct view, and I tell new clients about the policy during their phone intake. I've still had several people try to dodge the fee, not return calls, etc. I have a firm policy- I tell them that work is not considered an emergency and I absolutely will charge them. If people fail to plan for their scheduled massage then they plan to fail. I refuse to be codependent and let people slide. I can be the "massage Nazi" and it keeps no shows to a minimum.
Good luck,
Jody
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Permalink Reply by Dawn on
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I have put on my brochures, that no shows will result in not being booked. I've only had it happen once. I hate no-shows since it just throws your day out of whack.
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Permalink Reply by Michele Ellis on
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Thank you for the advice. It's great. I do have it written in my intake that I have the right to charge for a no show. I think the signs in direct view is a good idea Jody. I also like your idea about charging 1/2 price if they give me less than 12 hours notice and then putting it in the blessing box Rudy.
When do you guys charge them for it? Is it on their next appointment you just add it on? And what if they don't want to pay? How do you deal with that?
Thanks again.
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Permalink Reply by Tammy Wilson on
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Rudy m smith- yes there is a form filling that is a membership card procedure for them, that they have to complete it and on the basis of that they can be the client and with that there is some amount that they have to pay that the half amount and with that they too get some, hampers that are necessary for them.
Thanks
massage equipment
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Permalink Reply by Melanie Amyot on
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Depends how you work. If you take credit card payment, ask the credit card number and if they don't show up, charge them. You can also ask for a deposit of half the price of the treatment when they book. Or add up the sum to the next massage. Unfortunately sometimes you will have to deal with clients who won't pay. Don't book them until they pay. I'm thinking of doing just like my doctor do: after 2 no-show, you're out! For one client who doesn't get the value of your work, you will have ten that do.
Michele Ellis said:Thank you for the advice. It's great. I do have it written in my intake that I have the right to charge for a no show. I think the signs in direct view is a good idea Jody. I also like your idea about charging 1/2 price if they give me less than 12 hours notice and then putting it in the blessing box Rudy.
When do you guys charge them for it? Is it on their next appointment you just add it on? And what if they don't want to pay? How do you deal with that?
Thanks again.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa on
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I hear ya, I am fairly new to the profession myself. I have no-show policy that says the client may be charged it they don't call to cancell within 24 hours. I don't get many no-shows, probably around 3-5 since I started a year ago, but I don't have the steady clientele built up yet to be able to afford losing the client if they don't want to pay for the no-show. So here is what I do: if they don't show within 20-30 minutes of their scheduled time (if they did show late I would offer them atleast the remaining half hour of their scheduled time or if my book was still open I would do the whole session, I need the money) I call them and casually say something like "I had you scheduled for this time on this day and I just wanted to give you a call to make sure I didn't make a mistake" of course I didn't make a mistake but I don't want to accuse them and risk losing them altogether. It gets the conversation going and usually they just "forgot" and I offer to make them a new appointment. The next time they are much more conscientious of calling beforehand if they need to cancell and nobody is left offended. Hopefully someday I will have a comfortable amount of clients that I can be more strict but for now this is how I get by. Hope I could help a little;)
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Permalink Reply by The shop on
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I just had my first horrible experience with a client and it took all I had to keep from being very angry with her. She made an appointment for a Hot Stone massage ( on a Sunday ) because she is a nurse and has a busy life. I always work with people who would like to get a massage, that's what it's about after all. She was a no call no show so I billed her for it. During a call with the doctor out of the same office as the nurse, she ( the nurse ) got on the phone and set up another appointment. I scheduled her and when she came in I asked for the payment for the NCNS and she blew up. She gave me about a hundred reasons why she should not have to pay for the missed appointment. I explained that not only was this more involved than the usual massage she gets, she asked for a Sunday appointment. She then turned to me and said that "this was what the ladies in town were talking about with me". I asked her what she was talking about and told her that it was not very nice for her to try to hurt me but if she was trying to it worked and that she was welcome not to pay the bill, but could not come to me for massage again. She insisted on the massage so we proceeded. I did my job with professionalism and she started talking about it again. I told her that it was over with and all I wanted was for her to leave feeling relaxed and glad that she came to get a massage from me like she always has. She started crying and apologizing and I told her to forget it because I had- and turned the conversation to her. She was off the hook for being just plain mean. My time is valuable also. The last two times she did this I could have filled those spots with customers who live within a few minutes of me.
This was not the first time she has been a no call no show, and I have always worked with her and never charged a dime. I try to be understanding with people and their problems, but she was being vindictive and angry that she was going to have to pay me for this time. She was screaming about the NCNS policy and said she had never signed anything, (she has but doesn't remember it). I pointed to the posting by my head and of course she acted surprised to see it (it's been there for 4 years) but that didn't seem to matter to her. She is also on contract with me for massages at a discounted rate, so she attacked that also.
What I really wanted to do was scream at her the same way she was screaming at me. I wanted to remind her that I have worked very late nights because of her whim and that she is no more important than any of the other customers who have paid bills for time they have missed so they can come back to my shop. I wanted to tell her that I work hard to make sure she is happy and will come back to my business even though I don't like her as a person- I hope she will be a better person someday soon. I am exhausted after this session and it's crazy, but I knew at some point something like this would happen with her and I wasn't prepared except that I stayed calm and professional.
I know she will go to work tomorrow and say bad things about me to the other gals who come see me and I am prepared not to say a word about what happened with her to them because it's a professional relationship and we are not in high school. I came home and talked with my husband ( he's a wonderful support system ) who assured me I did the right thing, but hopes the same thing that I do, ....maybe I'll get lucky and she won't pay the bill and I can just turn her down for non-payment from now on.
Before I come home tomorrow, I will be on a credit card plan and will be verbally explaining my NCNS policy.
I hope my spewing here is okay. It's nice to be able to put this where others who are in the same trade as me can give me some tips, some suggestions, some yes I did it right or no I didn't handle it right and most important, it's nice to throw it out there so that I can move on to other things. Talking about it does help. I don't know if credit cards will help, but I hope it will.
What do you think?
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Permalink Reply by Alexei Levine on
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People who no-show will do it again and again without a shred of guilt. Don't worry about offending these clients with a strict no-show policy, it's best if they never rebook with you. The real purpose of my no show policy is to get rid of these people forever. Sounds harsh, but it happened to me once too often.
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You really did what was the best. The more you try to accommodate that type of client, the more they ask of you. Always be professional and you will have good clients that knows your limit. Just like Alexei said, the policy is to get rid of those persons.
Mary Meyer said:
I just had my first horrible experience with a client and it took all I had to keep from being very angry with her. She made an appointment for a Hot Stone massage ( on a Sunday ) because she is a nurse and has a busy life. I always work with people who would like to get a massage, that's what it's about after all. She was a no call no show so I billed her for it. During a call with the doctor out of the same office as the nurse, she ( the nurse ) got on the phone and set up another appointment. I scheduled her and when she came in I asked for the payment for the NCNS and she blew up. She gave me about a hundred reasons why she should not have to pay for the missed appointment. I explained that not only was this more involved than the usual massage she gets, she asked for a Sunday appointment. She then turned to me and said that "this was what the ladies in town were talking about with me". I asked her what she was talking about and told her that it was not very nice for her to try to hurt me but if she was trying to it worked and that she was welcome not to pay the bill, but could not come to me for massage again. She insisted on the massage so we proceeded. I did my job with professionalism and she started talking about it again. I told her that it was over with and all I wanted was for her to leave feeling relaxed and glad that she came to get a massage from me like she always has. She started crying and apologizing and I told her to forget it because I had- and turned the conversation to her. She was off the hook for being just plain mean. My time is valuable also. The last two times she did this I could have filled those spots with customers who live within a few minutes of me.
This was not the first time she has been a no call no show, and I have always worked with her and never charged a dime. I try to be understanding with people and their problems, but she was being vindictive and angry that she was going to have to pay me for this time. She was screaming about the NCNS policy and said she had never signed anything, (she has but doesn't remember it). I pointed to the posting by my head and of course she acted surprised to see it (it's been there for 4 years) but that didn't seem to matter to her. She is also on contract with me for massages at a discounted rate, so she attacked that also.
What I really wanted to do was scream at her the same way she was screaming at me. I wanted to remind her that I have worked very late nights because of her whim and that she is no more important than any of the other customers who have paid bills for time they have missed so they can come back to my shop. I wanted to tell her that I work hard to make sure she is happy and will come back to my business even though I don't like her as a person- I hope she will be a better person someday soon. I am exhausted after this session and it's crazy, but I knew at some point something like this would happen with her and I wasn't prepared except that I stayed calm and professional.
I know she will go to work tomorrow and say bad things about me to the other gals who come see me and I am prepared not to say a word about what happened with her to them because it's a professional relationship and we are not in high school. I came home and talked with my husband ( he's a wonderful support system ) who assured me I did the right thing, but hopes the same thing that I do, ....maybe I'll get lucky and she won't pay the bill and I can just turn her down for non-payment from now on.
Before I come home tomorrow, I will be on a credit card plan and will be verbally explaining my NCNS policy.
I hope my spewing here is okay. It's nice to be able to put this where others who are in the same trade as me can give me some tips, some suggestions, some yes I did it right or no I didn't handle it right and most important, it's nice to throw it out there so that I can move on to other things. Talking about it does help. I don't know if credit cards will help, but I hope it will.
What do you think?
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It is sad to read some of the stories of MTs being abused by their clients who no-show or don't pay. After 24 years in the business I have gotten very clear about this problem and have zero tolerance for clients who act out/up.
I have everyone read and sign a contract that spells out the 24 hour policy and payment for missed-no shows. I have had several clients try to manipulate this policy and I have terminated them. Clients have tried to claim they never signed the paper, haven't seen the four signs in my office, waiting area and treatment room. Claim they need to be reminded-we are adults here, right?
I have worked hard to maintain my boundaries with many entitled clients and those who refuse to be accountable. My experience is that if someone no shows, doesn't call, etc. they won't pay for the visit. If they try to get back in, they must pay. This is usually enough to stop most of them. I have decided that I'm running a business and not to be a people pleaser. What changed this for me was one experience at my SO's doctor's office. There was a patient who wouldn't leave after his visit- an older, European man. He kept talking and talking, then the doctor came out and politely asked him to leave, saying that they had other patients to attend to and this man was interfering with their practice. After this I decided to speak up and tell people that their behavior is out of line.
Remember, it's up to you to set up your practice framework, not the clients. Train them early and respect yourself.
Cheers,
Jh
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