Missed appointments

[Charles Ball]

Dear Ted,

Especially since most of my appointments are scheduled at least 3 or 4 weeks
in advance, I find it a good policy to call in advance to confirm,
preferably the day before.  You might consider doing this as a general policy.

Also, I have noticed that many professionals, especially doctors and
dentists, tell me at the time of scheduling the appointment that there is a
charge for missed appointments.  If your problem becomes chronic, you might
consider advising your clients similarly.

I recommend carrying a cellular phone for several reasons; but when you are
waiting for a client to show up, you can be calling ahead checking your
voice mail, confirming upcoming appointments, or scheduling new ones to make
the best of a bad situation.

Charles

At 03:05 PM 9/16/96 -0400, you wrote:
>Dear List:
>   You have all been helpful to me in the past and I know most of you are
>University Techs and maybe don't do house-to-house tunings.  Anyhow, I'd
>like to pose this problem with you:  How do you handle no-shows?  I arrive
>at the appointed time and the customer is not home.  I leave my card in the
>door and leave after waiting 10 minutes.  Later that evening I get an
>apologetic call from the customer who wants to re-schedule.  I've lost the
>price of a tuning that day because of the customer's forgetfulness.  Do I
>passively comply and give the customer a new date or do I tell him there
>will be an extra charge? I'm talking mostly about first time customers. I
>readily comply for customers whom I have tuned for for years and this is
>their first violation.  Any comments?
>
>   Ted Simmons
>   Merritt Island, FL
>
>
>
Charles Ball
School of Music
University of Texas at Austin