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March 4, 2006

How Do You Handle A "No Show?"

It's been an emotional week for me. I have an elderly neighbor who isn't doing so well. TV Land keeps running a eulogy clip for Don Knotts. And two of my dear clients have marriages that are ending.

On Friday I goofed up by showing up a half hour late for my massage appointment, ran into a lady that I knew and don't care much for. Finally, the name of a client who stood me up over a year ago showed up on my caller ID. I felt a sense of dread and asked my coworker, who is also my mentor, how to handle this when I'm feeling so emotional about everything.

Generally, when I get a "no show," I call my clients to see what is happening and make a judgement call about whether or not to charge them for the missed appointment. This client neither called to cancel, nor called after my inquiry. So, I sent a bill for the missed appointment. It came back with no forwarding address, so I figured I saw the last of them.

I decided I would see them again only if they agreed to pay me for the missed appointment. My coworker suggested I take their credit card number (even though I'm not set up to collect payments that way), but I was concerned they would also try to pay that way. I figured if they agreed to pay me, I could get payment when they came in for the massage, but what is to stop them from booking an appointment and standing me up again? If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate the input.

The ball is in the client's court. I returned the call and got their machine, so I'm awaiting a call back on Monday. The only good thing is that they are infrequent enough of a client that if I'm forced to refer them away to another therapist, it's no great loss. Besides, who wants a client who treats them that way anyway?

Posted by linda at March 4, 2006 10:00 AM