Massagegirl said:
I think you miss the point Ilovethemall! And GBM too.
I too have had someone recently book ahead to insure I was holding the spot for them then cancel an hour before by email, (even though I requested a phone call in the event something came up) when he realized he couldn't make it. In the meantime, having had no cancellation call I turned down a regular thinking I was already booked, who would have been a sure thing! That means I lost $110 because someone else couldn't plan their day and keep their appointments. If you wonder why girls sometimes cancel on new clients, it may be that a regular called who will show up 100% of the time, which beats a 75% chance. I never do cancel like that, but I lose money because of it! Would you be happy in the same situation? Are you losing $110 (for example)when we cancel on you?? No you are not, yet I see many many many complaints about how the girl wasn't answering her phone or didn't show when you don't even have money on the line! It sounds pretty hypocritical to me!
VV is saying that if you don't know you can make it, don't book it!! Or book it when you KNOW you can make it, not because you want the option of an appointment. In the past, I used to NEVER take appointments a day in advance because of that! I didn't want/need to hold things for someone elses conveinience and screw myself in the ass in the process. Now that I have an established clientelle I can afford to take potential no show/cancellations and indeed I look forward to the occassional impromptu time off, but if I turned down the lake or a regular I would feel differently. FYI, there are prank callers who book an hour ahead, then call 40 min later to say that "an emergency came up".
Maybe you should walk a mile in our shoes before you judge us, and btw, we have the money too, should we renege (sp?) on chiropractic or dentists appointments because we have the money? FYI if you cancel the chiropractor an hour beforehand you get charged for it! So therfore it's a double standard to say we are "complaining". Give dentists a review board and they would do the exact same thing and nobody would ever accuse them of being on the rag!
It is mysogenistic to say the least to apply such a double standard to working girls only.
Sorry, you missed my point, not the other way around. Sure, it is terrible when a client is inconsiderate and does not give adequate warning on a cancel. Sure, it is terrible to lose $200+ when that happens.
My point is that when you run your own business, you will always have shitty clients, and you should view it as the cost of doing business. You can not have 100% profit on all deals, that's just a fact in business. You will have losses. I did never say that the client was right, in fact, I did say that such clients are not worth making bookings for again. There is no double standard in what I say. The mysogyny is not on my part, and such claim is only male-mysanthropy on your part because you have an unbalanced view of the situation that only blames the male client.
As for SPs publicly complaining about clients, and clients publicly complaining about SPs, each have their own right to do so, but not without consequence. Unfortunately, the balance of rights tips towards the client in these circumstances, and here's why:
1. SPs that publicly make complaints about clients in the long term end up shooting themselves in the foot. If you have a bad client, just never see them again - that is a better strategy rather than bad mouthing one publicly. A public complaint about a customer will affect the attainment of new customers and sooner or later affect the desire of your regulars to engage in new transactions. Think about it were it you were the provider of health care. The dynamic is very similar.
2. Clients that publicly make complaints about an SP have nothing to lose except ever seeing that SP again. A client who does so surely knows that is the consequence, so a rational customer is unlikely to do so unless the consequence is already intended and they were already going to move on to someone else who provides a similar service.
3. The SP is offering the service and taking the money. The client is engaging the service and giving the money. You have to assume that the service is being provided voluntarily or otherwise the SP is not actually "in business". But the key point in this transaction is whether or not the client voluntarily gives the money. Without that, there is no transaction.
The last point especially is the reason that the balance of rights leans towards the client as opposed to the provider of service. If you decide you want to engage in providing a service (whatever that may be) as a means of earning income, then you must own up to the balance of rights that exists before the transaction begins, when it begins, as it continues, when it ends, and after it ends. Your reward is the money, and you do so by taking the transaction under the full knowledge of the rewards and consequences at each phase of it. You may want more fairness, but it doesn't exist. The unfairness to you is compensated by money, and that's why you are in business.
