Do you charge no-show fees?

[mim]

I saw that post about rush fees and that reminded me of this question..

Do any of you fine people charge for no shows?
We seem to be having a problem with vehicles not showing up for their appointments. They also seem to get mad they have to wait another month before we can fit them in again.

 

[Boudica]

We don't that I know of, but we should! It's happened to us a few times. And, like you said, then they get all bent wondering why their install is getting pushed back.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

If they don't show up, how are you going to collect the no show fee? Stuff comes up that is life. If someone tried to charge me for that, I would tell them to go fuck themselves and would never go back.
Honestly, if you have people that don't show up on a regular basis then you shouldn't have any trouble filling the slots without waiting a month. What do you do when they dont show? Just sit around? Think about what you are saying.
We get no shows all of the time which is why we will not commit to specific times, once it is here then it gets on the schedule. I will get things ready ahead of time but not hold time slots.

 

[Gino]

Normally we have 2 or 3 vehicles in a week. Sometimes 5 or 6. We generally e-mail them just like the dentist does, the doctor and other professional businesses dealing with scheduling people/vehicles. When giving quotes, it spells out they will be charged if we are not notified the day before of a no-show. Never hadda charge anyone, though. It also should say..... and I think I'll add this..... that rescheduling will come at the soonest opening space. In all these years, I think I've only had a handful of no shows. Most people know, if they don't get in, they will hafta wait. The only ones who will go to the head of the line are police and fire rescue stuff. Besides, who's gonna pay for nothing being done, even if they did inconvenience you a little bit. Just jockey some jobs around and fill in the space.

 

[Boudica]

What do you do when they dont show? Just sit around? Think about what you are saying.

No we move on to the next thing that needs to be done. BUT, they will get bumped from the schedule. I guess that's their penance for the the no show.

We get no shows all of the time which is why we will not commit to specific times, once it is here then it gets on the schedule. I will get things ready ahead of time but not hold time slots.

That's pretty much what we do. But many of our customers need the vehicle in the field, so they can't let it sit here for a week until we have time available. Sometimes they can, but most of the time they can't. Their problem though.

 

[mim]

If they don't show up, how are you going to collect the no show fee? Stuff comes up that is life. If someone tried to charge me for that, I would tell them to go **** themselves and would never go back.
Honestly, if you have people that don't show up on a regular basis then you shouldn't have any trouble filling the slots without waiting a month. What do you do when they dont show? Just sit around? Think about what you are saying.
We get no shows all of the time which is why we will not commit to specific times, once it is here then it gets on the schedule. I will get things ready ahead of time but not hold time slots.

I like the idea of not committing to specific times but that also seems like it could backfire if we have a lot of vehicles show up at once.

I'm not the one usually doing vehicles, I do the sign portion most of the time. When a vehicle doesn't show up the vehicle person comes in and works on sign jobs which then leads to me having no work to do during the week because I'm waiting for more jobs to come down the line. Obviously we find things to do and stay productive but it's just happening more and more often. It has given me the opportunity to nag my boss to teach me more stuff around the shop though!

Normally we have 2 or 3 vehicles in a week. Sometimes 5 or 6. We generally e-mail them just like the dentist does, the doctor and other professional businesses dealing with scheduling people/vehicles. When giving quotes, it spells out they will be charged if we are not notified the day before of a no-show. Never hadda charge anyone, though. It also should say..... and I think I'll add this..... that rescheduling will come at the soonest opening space. In all these years, I think I've only had a handful of no shows. Most people know, if they don't get in, they will hafta wait. The only ones who will go to the head of the line are police and fire rescue stuff. Besides, who's gonna pay for nothing being done, even if they did inconvenience you a little bit. Just jockey some jobs around and fill in the space.

This sounds like what I was thinking we should do, just like the dentist. Currently we just schedule them a time, confirm with them, then they don't show up anyway lol. We have a similar amount of vehicles per week, often fleet vehicles, so bigger jobs can be hard to schedule. And yeah overall my boss doesn't want to charge fees but we were discussing it so I figured I'd ask around.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

That's pretty much what we do. But many of our customers need the vehicle in the field, so they can't let it sit here for a week until we have time available. Sometimes they can, but most of the time they can't. Their problem though.

Everyone needs everything fast. The thing is, if they just got the vehicle, what was the employee tooling around in before? Why don't they just keep them in that until the new one is ready? If they added to their fleet then they shouldn't have the new guy start the day they buy their new vehicle.
Now it's a bunch of we have been waiting 6 months and the new truck finally came in, I need it tomorrow. Ummmm you have been waiting 6 months, why is it on me to turn it out in a day now?

 

[Gino]

We can fit 5 vehicles in our shop at one time and still maneuver around them all, unless we have some extra long box trucks or whatever. When we do fleet work, we'll dedicate one end to them and the other end to incidentals. More of our stuff is onesies and twosies, but like in two weeks, we have four trucks coming in at once, so I'll only schedule a truck a day at the other end. Usually, there's no more than 2 trucks in at a time.
If your customers are serious about having their work done, they're not apt to forget scheduled appointments. I'd let it slip once, but remind them, next time, it'll cost them. We have the same problem with people washing their vehicles. They say they do it, but 1/2 the time, they're not. A few weeks ago, I said to the guy, do you consider this washed ?? I took a wet rag and it was like night & day. He said well, I washed it about a week ago. Cripes, I said bring them in washed and cleaned, not rinsed off. I'm giving them an alcohol bath. We're not a car wash.

 

[Boudica]

Everyone needs everything fast. The thing is, if they just got the vehicle, what was the employee tooling around in before? Why don't they just keep them in that until the new one is ready? If they added to their fleet then they shouldn't have the new guy start the day they buy their new vehicle.
Now it's a bunch of we have been waiting 6 months and the new truck finally came in, I need it tomorrow. Ummmm you have been waiting 6 months, why is it on me to turn it out in a day now?

I guess the ones I'm thinking about have just the one vehicle in their "fleet" - "oh but they are going to expand...". They are turning their personal vehicle into a work vehicle. And trying to look more legit with some branded graphics.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

We can fit 5 vehicles in our shop at one time and still maneuver around them all, unless we have some extra long box trucks or whatever. When we do fleet work, we'll dedicate one end to them and the other end to incidentals. More of our stuff is onesies and twosies, but like in two weeks, we have four trucks coming in at once, so I'll only schedule a truck a day at the other end. Usually, there's no more than 2 trucks in at a time.
If your customers are serious about having their work done, they're not apt to forget scheduled appointments. I'd let it slip once, but remind them, next time, it'll cost them. We have the same problem with people washing their vehicles. They say they do it, but 1/2 the time, they're not. A few weeks ago, I said to the guy, do you consider this washed ?? I took a wet rag and it was like night & day. He said well, I washed it about a week ago. Cripes, I said bring them in washed and cleaned, not rinsed off. I'm giving them an alcohol bath. We're not a car wash.

I wipe off the spots where the decals go with some acetone and call it a day. Nice bright white circle with fresh decals on a dirty truck.

 

[Gino]

Been there, done that, too. It's funny to see some of these trucks go out two-tone.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Been there, done that, too. It's funny to see some of these trucks go out two-tone.

I think of you when I do it and as I'm wiping swirl marks into their paint with my cheap paper towels I say to myself, I'm not a goddam car wash you mofos!

 

[Scotchbrite]

We have one customer that "hides" their new trucks at our shop. They have a problem with their people putting the trucks in the field before they should because they want to play with the new shiny toy. So she has the dealer bring the trucks here first. Kinda nice because then we have time to get the graphics done and fit them in when it's convenient.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

We have one customer that "hides" their new trucks at our shop. They have a problem with their people putting the trucks in the field before they should because they want to play with the new shiny toy. So she has the dealer bring the trucks here first. Kinda nice because then we have time to get the graphics done and fit them in when it's convenient.

we have one doing the same thing here. If it goes to their place, some idiot is going to jump in it and start using it.
On another note, I have been noticing fit and finish issues on these new trucks, mainly doors out of alignment. I opened the door on a new F250 saturday and there was a big section inside that had no paint on it, just a little white overspray. Special order military truck straight from the factory.

 

[Stacey K]

Many years being a landlord has taught me that if I don't want to waste my time waiting for a no show at an apartment that I call or text 1-2 hours before. Same goes for vehicles except I call/text/email the day/night before.

To some people's point - no, none of us stand around if there's a no-show but it does create an inconvenience for me (or your shop) so for that reason I always confirm the appointment ahead. Most no-shows are regular people, not businesses IMO. One dopey broad stood me up twice to install some stupid windshield banner after she confirmed she would be there. I was mad and she knew it. Never heard from her again. Rarely has a business not shown up after they confirm they will be there.

I have a very good customer who both of my sons worked for. He's a scatterbrain, and if I don't text him the night before and the morning of, he won't remember. I know, it seems like babysitting but these are always good paying jobs and I want to get them in and out so a bit of extra effort is worth it.

 

[Gino]

You're right, it is like babysitting, but ya pay a babysitter...... right ?? This teeny tiny service of making a two minute call or 30 second e-mail reminder is.... or should be already calculated into your costs.... hidden costs that is. How can a few minutes of time be wasted, if it gets a customer there, that is busy, scatter-brained, forgetful, out sick or vacation or whatever reason to your place on time ??

 

[jfiscus]

We are developing new software for our business and this problem is definitely going to be included in the build.
No shows create a real problem in a busy shop.
We will be sending confirmation emails on their install appointments, and if they don't confirm the install it'll get moved back.

 

[2B]

we have a timeframe window for drop off and if it is dropped off within this timeframe it will be completed by X time.

Outside of this timeframe, they can leave it and will get worked on as available or reschedule a new timeframe

 

[Stacey K]

One thing that I find helps is I have the customer drop the vehicle off the night before. I have a mailbox slot on my building for keys. I tell them either have it to the shop by 7am or drop it off the night before. 90% of people drop it off the night before, that way, I can get started right at 7am or whenever I'm ready. When I'm done I text them the invoice and they can pick it up at night and leave the check in the drop box. I never even see many customers.

 

[Gino]

For insurance reasons, we cannot leave ANY customers' vehicles outside. They can't even park it on the street, unless someone is here in the shop.