Wasting the time of an Indy

[BlackC55]

Text messages are notoriously unreliable. Just call & speak to the punter or leave a message.

It's a very modern way of communication. Quite a few of my customers prefer text communication to a voice call.

 

[IanA2]

It's a very modern way of communication. Quite a few of my customers prefer text communication to a voice call.

I for one would prefer text to voice call.

 

[BlackC55]

I for one would prefer text to voice call.

Quite often people are in meetings or can't talk for what ever reason.

 

[V12]

+1 for reminder text. Very helpful.

 

[E270 Owner]

Another moan.....

This week we have had four cancellations and two no-shows. The cancellations have been all on the day of the booking.

I am very tempted to use a text system online to remind people.

Anyone have any experience of one of these?

Deposits are taken with the customers details and texts sent 2 days before and on the morning of the appointment to confirm attendance.

If a customer refuses to leave a deposit and walks off then I dont want his business anyway
as they are the ones that never turn up and don't even bother to cancel, waste of space and time.

Usually when a deposits taken for parts they call to confirm were able to do the work

Most deposits are @ 30% of the estimated bill if parts are ad hoc.











.

 

[Auto-mobile]

Text messages are notoriously unreliable.

Just call & speak to the punter or leave a message.

There are not enough hours in the day to go calling every booking to remind them, while still trying to run a business.

 

[Sp!ke]

Couldnt you simply email them a calendar appointment at the time of booking with a reminder for the day before? This way their computer and or phone would remind them automatically.

 

[219]

I had three. ....
They are all auto. We still have some customers that refuse to drive auto's and want a manual. I have customers that refuse manuals and want auto's. You can never win.

I have given driving lessons to quite a few people on how to drive an auto.

Well , you can't go wrong there as anyone can legally drive an auto , but someone with an auto only licence can't drive a manual - good justification for your choice if anyone challenges it . Mind , if they do , you can point out that the loan car is a COURTESY

 

[219]

Another moan.....

This week we have had four cancellations and two no-shows. The cancellations have been all on the day of the booking.

I am very tempted to use a text system online to remind people.

Anyone have any experience of one of these?

Perhaps you might need to start taking a non-refundable upfront deposit of , say , 1 hours labour , which will be counted towards the bill but will be forfeited if they fail to show or cancel at the last minute without a genuine reason - ie too late for you to fill the lost time with another customer . Alternatively , taking credit card details on booking , explaining there will be a charge in the event that they don't show and you lose revenue as a result .

Obviously , for known good customers , you can waive this , but for unknown first timers it may be a regrettable neccessity .

Once 'everyone' starts doing this it will be easily justified - just as 'pay before you fuel' is in some countries .

 

[developer]

Cancellations on the day can be disrupting, but no shows (without a subsequent reason) are just pure ignorance, especially in these days of mobile comms.

I keep the phone numbers of no shows in my phone, and never answer them again when they try to rent off me in the future (which has happened a few times).

 

[WG M-B]

Cancellations on the day can be disrupting, but no shows (without a subsequent reason) are just pure ignorance, especially in these days of mobile comms.

I keep the phone numbers of no shows in my phone, and never answer them again when they try to rent off me in the future (which has happened a few times).

We get them all the time! It's a real pita
Sometimes folk have a genuine reason, but usually they are just messers.

 

[kth286]

We get them all the time! It's a real pita
Sometimes folk have a genuine reason, but usually they are just messers.

Would it be possible to set up a system of a deposit in advance (credit card).

It would be used to offset against the final bill OR it would be used to pay for lost time in event of a no-show.

Similar to what hotels do I guess. Customers seem happy with that.

 

[Egbert Nobacon]

Another moan..... This week we have had four cancellations and two no-shows. The cancellations have been all on the day of the booking. I am very tempted to use a text system online to remind people. Anyone have any experience of one of these?

A friend of mine is a busy BMW / MB independent and was having similar issues with cancellations & no shows.

His receptionist now texts everyone 2 days before booking asking for text confirmation of attendance and if doesn't get one they chase with a phone call - it has cut this problem substantially & weeds out the messers.

As for courtesy cars, he had a few Smart cars he used to loan out but it just became expensive hassle so he stopped offering the service. Had one or two grumbles but business levels haven't been affected. If someone wants a car they organise a hire car for them. They will drop at station or into town if required.

Obviously the offering of/ lack of courtesy car impact on business levels will be different for those independents based away from large conurbations so it's a bit of a judgement call really

 

[IanA2]

Olly,

Thought you might be interested to know, I just booked to have some exhaust work done.

After all the details had been sorted out I was asked for a £50 deposit which I thought was fair enough. It's a five hour job and if I don't turn up it's five hours lost to them.

In this situation there are no parts to be ordered as all the work is done using his stock. Had there been special order parts I would have been happy to pay for them. I can't really imagine many folks would.