Clients pushing appt out

[Starshan]

So what would you do when a client with 2 goldendoodles book for 7wks but a few days before their appt push it out to 11wks? They started doing this in July when hubby decided to go on vacation & we had to push her out the one time. The owners do try to keep up on the brushing but this last time they did it the female was matted more then normal & the owners did a little trimming of the legs to hide mats from me lol. They did this in November which really made Nov suck big time, made my Dec not too bad though. I'm thinking i need to set rules about this specially for around the holidays. So its January now this lady is scheduled for Wed & today I get an email they want to move it out again. So frustrating. The other hard part is she is a friend, was our realitor before she got a doodle & needed a groomer. She fallowed me to my mobile business, then got another doodle.

I keep the male in 3 3/4 as he is wavey to curly coat & the female in a SS #A because she had a little more matting, normally I do an SS #E on her. The female is a pretty straight coat.

Should I start charging a $5 reschedule fee or something?

Shannon
The Soapy Puppy

[VIPgroomer]

I don't think you should charge any money for pushing appointments out. At least she is calling to let you know that she needs to push out, and still keeping the appointment. If the dogs take longer to groom then you should charge more money.

[lyttleravyn]

Instead of a rescheduling fee, I would probably just let her know that the price for the next groom went up because they were in a much worse state the last time the groom got pushed back.

[Debbiedogs]

Charge more, and cut shorter

First, you can charge a bit more because the dogs are messier. A month of extra growth, eye gook, ear hair, hair in pads that may be matted, longer nails, etc. is worth more money. You can just tell her that the price you gave her before, and the trim length, applied to the 7-week scheduling.

Second, take them shorter. I would cut that hair short before the bath so that the drying time is much quicker AND easier. That's just my preference usually. Same explanation to owner (see first paragraph), so now the cut is shorter. In fact, if you sometimes could just start by bathing the dogs without precutting, now you can tell her that you have to do a precut and charge extra because of that. Extra time, extra work, extra $$.

Friend or no friend, it makes sense AND as long as the extra you charge does not cancel out what she is saving by waiting an extra month, everybody wins.

[Beanermom]

I have the same problem

It happened to me just the other day with a lady who has two smaller dogs. I don't so much have a problem with having them come in two weeks later and being potentially harder to groom- charge more if you have to...my problem is the giant hole in my day because she called on a saturday to rebook a monday appointment, and I had no time to refill it. Lost income, ya know? I don't know what to do when it becomes a habit, but I'd love to hear any suggestions, too!

[DogChic]

I will no longer accept any sort of "doodle" that is not on a 6 week or less schedule. period.

[Gracy Rose]

Unless you have a set "cancellation, reschedulez" policy (meaning atleast # number of hours before appt.) then it is kind of hard and ******.

But, I would charge extra for extra work.

The other thing I have done is not to reschedule her, just tell her the truth. "It seems like you are having to change their appointment frequently. Instead of scheduling the babies, just call me when they are about 3 weeks away from needing a groom and I will try to fit them in".

[Starshan]

Thanks everyone. I do have a 24hr cancelation policy & will charge a few $ if that isn't done but its rare that I do. I do have an online way of scheduling through genbook & she likes using that one. She did email me to see if this was possible to change. I'm just getting frustrated with this everytime. I only book 3 dogs on days with her so come Wed I now only have 1 dog. I guess it is time to up the price. I haven't officially raised her in the 3 yrs I've been mobile, I have charge alittle extra for d-mat but always came back down when they were in good shape.

Shannon
The Soapy Puppy

[SwissNChow]

I have charge alittle extra for d-mat but always came back down when they were in good shape.

So, she already expects it to cost a little more, so no problem. Just make sure you are charging a fair price. Fair to both of you and you should not have any problem.

[Starshan]

Well since she was my very first client as she fallowed me from the kennel to mobile I ended up keeping the kennel price & just adding in the fuel fee. So for mobile she is low but higher end for shop price around here.

Shannon
The Soapy Puppy

[Sasha's Mom]

Well since she was my very first client as she fallowed me from the kennel to mobile I ended up keeping the kennel price & just adding in the fuel fee. So for mobile she is low but higher end for shop price around here.

Shannon
The Soapy Puppy

In addition to the other comments, I would buy a 3/4 and a 5/8 blade to get through those thick coats and still leave length. I find they save me prep time and I can go back and get a comb through much easier once everything is cut shorter...JMO

[Starshan]

In addition to the other comments, I would buy a 3/4 and a 5/8 blade to get through those thick coats and still leave length. I find they save me prep time and I can go back and get a comb through much easier once everything is cut shorter...JMO

I do have the 3 3/4 (3 of them) & the 5/8 blade (2 of these). I've been grooming for 11.5yrs professionally. My mobile business is only 3yrs old. Before all that I grew up in dog 4-H with herding dogs so I knew the basics before learning to groom at a cocker breeders kennel.

Shannon
The Soapy Puppy

[Mamabearwith2]

I only book 3 dogs on days with her so come Wed I now only have 1 dog.

If there's enough time, maybe you can move that 1 dog to a fuller day and take Wed off. I like to take an un-expected day off sometimes.

[julimills]

I think it's a pretty simple formula. More time between groomings = more hair+ more mats=
more time brushing, dematting, & drying! Therefore more money!

Don't let the customer that just wants to save money by extending thier grooming appointments make you pay the difference!

Figure out your hourly wage and add that to the grooming price.
Maybe next time they will decide that extending the appointments is not in thier best interests after all.
Juli

[cuddlebug]

Not cost effective.

If you're not charging enough, its just not cost effective to do the dog. Charge what your worth. If she doesnt like it, well theres always other dogs to fill the slot. .