OK Maggie, I am coming out of lurk mode for you :) You are letting this client disrespect you and you've been sending that message for a long time. Simple as that. Why is this worth it to you? What kind of payoff (to quote Dr. Phil) are you getting from her? Does she refer any business to you? Is it because you've known each other so long you don't know how to stop it? It seems to me you want to keep her as a client but you want her to stop this behavior, am I right? There is no easy way to do it. Obviously it is causing you grief because you wrote such a detailed message about it.
You will have to bite the bullet and tell her from now on, her services must be paid for in cash. You can even go one step further and ask for the cash before you start. I see that as the only option. If she agrees, she will have a newfound respect for you and your business. If not, you will lose the headache. The way I see it, she is lucky to have her nails done by you, and she needs to appreciate and value it. Sometimes we need things to be taken from us before we truly understand the value. Laura Merzetti Scratch My Back Nail Studio Ajax, Ontario Canada -----Original Message----- From: NailTech@googlegroups.com [mailto:nailt...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Maggie in Visalia Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 4:49 PM To: 1Nail Tech list Subject: NailTech:: What the he!! is wrong with me? I admit, at this point most of what I'm about to rant about is rhetorical, but by all means! If anyone has input that help me gain new perspective I sure would like to hear it! So, I have THIS ONE CLIENT, right? Here's the skinny: This gal has been off and on my books since 2000 or 2001. I'm talking, she and I go way back. She is more on than off-- only taking her nails off for a few weeks or months at a time for major events like having a baby, moving, losing her job, etc. She LOVES her nails and she takes very good care of them. So she OUGHT to be a great client, right? Except that whenever I get a notice from my bank that someone's check has been returned, I know it's hers. I don't get many returned checks at all, and I haven't had one I couldn't collect on since the 1900s. Even this client always manages to take care of the problem plus the fees-- it's just that she bounces a check at least once a year. Or she used to. She has been really good for the last year. But that's because she writes me the check and then texts me the next day saying, "don't deposit that check, I'll bring cash after work." Or, "don't deposit that check, I'll pay you on Pay Pal." Which is irritating in it's "OMG, you are 33 years old, when will you grow up and figure out how to balance your checkbook?!" way-- but wouldn't be TOOOOOO inconvenient on me IF she actually came by after work the very next day and actually dropped off the cash. But instead, it usually takes her several days. If I call her on it, she says "blah blah blah...have to wait till I get paid." Like I said... I have received several bank notices from her checks in the past-- I'd just as soon wait for the cash. OR, she comes in as scheduled, gets her nails done, writes out her check, hands it to me and says, "Can you hold that until....?" I know I know! You are thinking, "Maggie! Stop taking checks from this girl!" DUH, huh? Something in my brain says I can't refuse to take checks from just one client. Discrimination issues and such. Maybe that's not true? But wait! There's more! ASIDE from her fiduciary immaturity, there is the constant rescheduling. It is not unusual for her to reschedule 2 to 3 times in a row! Sometimes she's, "cough cough...sick" sometimes "the baby is sick" sometimes "it's too foggy to drive" (she lives in a neighboring town and it does get foggy around here) sometimes *...@!ifiknow-- she just reschedules. I have always had a relaxed policy on how much notice I require for cancels and reschedules. I have always said, "At least 2 hours" because that is the bare minimum for managing to call someone else and get them in on short notice. Recently I've changed everything to "24 hours greatly appreciated" but I know that there are days when you went to bed feeling fine and wake up with a fever, puking your guts up-- I just don't understand why you wouldn't call and cancel ALL your day's appointments at the same time you call your boss to let them know you won't be in that day? Nevertheless, it's not unusual for THIS ONE CLIENT to call me up barely 2 hours before she's supposed to be in my chair with her best little girl "I'm sick" voice to tell me she can't make her appointment. THEN she proceeds to validate her claim by letting me know that she was so sick all day that she didn't even go to work! Ummmmm-- why didn't you call me earlier than? Oh! Trust me, the list goes on and on! And YES! I HAVE fired her before! LOL! And everytime she has stopped coming in I have noted in her file that I DO NOT WANT HER BACK! But eventually she comes crawling back. Literally BEGGING me to take her back. She has even bribed me with gift cards! Seriously, if she were a boyfriend I was trying to break up with, I'd change my phone number! Usually what happens is that she'll eventually come begging at a time when I'm slow and looking to fill spots and I give in. It starts out ok, then goes right back to the old crap. But for the most part-- she walks that thin line between crappy-but-acceptable and past-the-point-of-my-patience. Truth is, I have had WAY worse clients over the years. And I have some unwritten set of conditions in my head where I draw my lines. This client is always dancing right at that edge and just when she's about to put her other foot over the line, she jumps back instead. So I don't like her. I don't miss her when she's gone. But I just don't feel like she's done anything to warrant a flat out refusal of service. Her latest drama: Last week I did her fill. She wrote me a check for $50 (BTW: She has NEVER tipped me. Not once. She does not bring me presents-- she even went through a phase where she was constantly late to her appointments and arrived with Starbucks in hand-- for HER, never brought me one! she only bribes me when she can't get an appointment.) She was my last client and she left. Mom was at the salon with me and as I locked up, I looked at the check and noticed which bank it was written on. It's the same bank my grandmother banks with and since Mom has recently been tasked with doing g'ma's banking, I asked if that bank was one of the ones that charges non-customers to cash a check? Mom said, "no." So I had EVERY intention of cashing the check at the bank in the a.m. EXCEPT! First thing the next morning I got a text from the client to tell me to "hold on to that check" because over night her car had been broken into and her purse had been stolen. Nevermind why the heck was her purse in the car overnight?! So began a week long saga of me shaking my head thinking it's always something with this one. The BF said I should have run to my bank and deposited the check pronto. Then demanded a copy of the police report. Mind you: I was not really comprehending his grand plan at the time. He was thinking it was a line of BS and she was making up the story because she didn't have the funds. (For the record, I don't think so. I think her purse really got stolen. She's just not that creative and she's never had a problem just plain telling me to hold a check before.) I was thinking that it wasn't really worth the bank fees just to call B.S. I wasn't really thinking that if I did produce a police report that the bank would reverse any charges associated with the check not clearing. But whatever. So now I have had this check sitting around for over a week. The day after I got her message, I left her a message asking about the check. I did not receive a reply for a week. One week after her appointment she informed me that her checking account was wiped out by the woman who stole her purse. And that the bank will not "replace" the money in her account until the 15th, so she can't pay anyone till then. The thing is: if it were anyone else, I'd be sympathetic. But it's not anyone else, it's this one. And even though I don't think she's making it up, I don't care. But I just don't understand why I haven't plain and simple cut her off? I've never had any trouble firing clients who deserved it before. Everyone around me has heard this story. Everyone around me says I should just stop doing her nails. But there's got to be some reason in my head that makes me feel like my line hasn't been truly crossed. Something must not be as clear as the telling of the story makes it seem, right? I honestly can't think of anyone else in the history of my clientelle who has been allowed to skate this close to the line for so long before. I need therapy. Maggie Franklin: Attitudes Salon; Visalia, CA "Visionary rebel dreamer; obviously way ahead of my time." http://www.nailsbymaggie.biz http://blogs.nailsmag.com/maggie/ http://myspace.com/nailsbymaggie http://twitter.com/Artofnailz --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to NailTech@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to nailtech+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/NailTech?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
