Big mistake today

[tmenne]

Me Hello blah blah
Him um are you at your shop
Me No but I can be.
Me did we have an appointment
Him Yes my wife is there now
Me Im so so sorry, I didn’t have anything written down I must have forgotten I’m so sorry
Him You should be. How long until you can be there
Me fifteen minutes again I’m so sorry
So I get to the shop and hes waiting. He says my wife had to get to work so I had to come in. At least hes smiling. So I tell him I will groom the dogs for free for the inconvenience. He leaves and I call him at lunch. He comes and picks the dogs up and starts to write a check. I say no charge I feel really bad and I don’t want anything. He says no I need to give you something. He pays and leaves. I feel so guilty I have never done this before and I feel terrible. I plan on writing them an apology note also. I really don’t know if they will comeback though. What an idiot.

[Gracy Rose]

**** happens, in life most people will understand. Send them a nice letter and give them a small gift certificate off of their next groom. This way they will absolutely return and you have the chance to show them your professionalism.

[Cat Crazy]

Schtuff happens. You handled it very well. Your offer of free grooms was very generous. I`m sure your sincerity impressed them. Just don`t do that to them EVER again. :-) Maybe you could give them an add-on (or something) at their next groom, for no charge.

[RudyRoo]

Stuff happens,, don't beat yourself up about it. They waited, they didn't scream at you about being a terrible person, they didn't threaten to tell everyone in town you forgot their appt,,, you got off easy,,,lol

[borzoimom]

You did all you could do, the rest is up to the client. I lost a client after grooming their dog monthly for 4 years. I apologilized and offered to groom the dog for free, they never came back to even do that. Then I have another client that started coming to me after their old groomer forgot an appt. with them. They got a free groom from her and then started coming to me after she forgot the appt. We are human and can forget things sometimes, we just can't win 'em all. Good Luck and I hope they return.

[doggydivas]

I have done that before....it is the worst feeling ever! I offered half off the groom for the inconvenience and the client accepted.....I followed up with a letter of apology and they returned....with appreciation for the efforts I made to fix my screw up. As others have said, stuff happens. I am sure they understand but I would send a letter and a coupon or something. You may want to check your book and make sure you didn't write them down on a different day

[wet noze]

We all make mistakes so don't beat yourself up! When I first started I gave an appointment to a customer and didn't write it in my book so I never showed up. I felt AWFUL!!! I only charged the customer half the groom fee when I returned and I kept grooming the dog until they moved. The only thing you can do is try to be more careful next time.

[odette]

Lady calls the other day, makes an appointment for today, then calls back changes it to friday, so who shows up with 2 dogs? 30 minutes before opening time! We and they are only human with to much going on. You covered it, send a discount, or apology and forgive your self. Try having set hours, then you will always be there.

[Debbiedogs]

I'm getting worse

I'm doing that more often than I used to, and it's more noticeable because I no longer work 5-6 days a week, 8 am - 6 pm like I did 20 years ago. LOL Most people are understanding, PLUS I make sure to be understanding when THEY screw up!! (Well, as long as they mean it - not like the new client the other day who I called 20 minutes after his appointment time and he said, "Oh, I'm running late, can I still come?" I said no, we'll have to make it another time. Figure I might as well train him right from the start, haha.)

[Yappiness]

It was Thursday, I booked a dog in a Saturday spot, telling her it was a saturday. In closing I said. Saturday at.....see you tomorrow, me thinking it was Friday. So Friday she shows up and I am grooming a dog. I felt stupid. I offered her a later time that day but she said she would come Saturday. I fretted and felt like an idiot. She did come back and I gave it to her for free. She was very understanding. We all make mistakes but when you are a perfectionist like a lot of us, its hard to let it go, but you have to or drive yourself crazy.

[lorie]

I had 2 "Pipers" that pre-book. i turned the page in appt. book for this week and saw Piper was booked and crossed it off cause I got the phone call that he was PTS.
Wrong Piper! The female Piper showed up just as I was turning off shop lights. OOPs! I even said to her, nicely thank God, do you have the right day? Then, I look down at my book and clear as day I had crossed the appt. off.. so turned the lights back on and groomed baby cocker, Piper, then they made me wait a half hour extra for pick up cause they were eating dinner..
Glad my shop is in my house.

[suzy6469]

Oh cut yourself some slack it happens to all of us. I'm so carefully when it comes to my appointments but I must have been half asleep but I totally forgot an appointment same thing owner called "hey are you open?" Me " Not yet I'll be in at 12:00 today" Him I have an appointment right now" Me " OH NO I'm so sorry I'll be there in 15min do you have time to wait." Luckily he did and was so great about the whole thing, Dog got the works and when I tried to discount to free he refused and paid full price and still tipped.
Thing like this happen no one is perfect, Just chalk it up to sniffing to much dog hair and learn from it and move on.

[tmenne]

Thanks guys you made me feel better knowing that I wasn't the only one who screws up. I'll follow up and hopefully they will accept its all I can do.

[baddog]

Free....no way ! I would have offered a 10% discount, that's it. I do not work for free and neither should you !

[squawbonds]

Free???

Really? U made a mistake. I won't touch a dog for free unless it's mine or my families. Ur so nice to do that. God bless ya that u have that gene in u. So many people don't. U WILL be blessed.