Missed appointments

[FirTree@aol.com]

<< 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 >>

I remember hearing someone say that 20 minutes is the definition of late for
most people, so I wait about 20 minutes. The way I have my appointments set
up, I would still have time to tune the piano and get to my next appointment
just a few minutes late. If I will be more than ten minutes late, I call
ahead. In 14 plus years, there has only been a couple of customers who didn't
make the second appointment, so I haven't felt the need to charge for a
missed appointment.

I *am* ready to clamp down on a certain school district. A couple of schools
have secretaries who do not seem able to keep room, alone, quiet, one and a
half hours, and a particular date in mind at the same time while looking at a
calendar. They look at me stupidly when I tell them I cannot tune on the
stage next to the basketball tournament in the gym. So they will now be
charged full price for double booking a confirmed appointment, or for
creating an impossible situation.

Dave Stocker, RPT
firtree@aol.com
Tumwater, WA