customer no-show

[huggytree]

i had a bid yesterday and the customer was a no show.

i prequalified her by giving a rough estimate over the phone because i felt she couldnt afford a real plumber.

i did my night before reminder call
she called that morning to ask 'do you charge for estimates?'-bad sign
i show up and no answer- car was in driveway


how do you handle these situations?...i just ignore them

does anyone call them back or charge them a service fee?

ive had service calls where i was planning on doing work where they werent home...since i was planning on working i felt i should charge them for a no show....but i didnt...

this has happened 5x to me in 2 years....so its not a major thing...its sooo annoying....i have just put it down as part of doing business....

what do you do? how do you handle it?....im urged to write them a letter this time.

[thx4yrtym]

huggy,

Sorry about the no--show. I know you wanted to bang on the door, send her a bill for your time, mail her a nasty note in an attempt to make her realize your time is important too, all that stuff. You did about all you can do. 5 times in 2 years is about normal I'd guess. Sounds like you did everything possible to qualify her. I'm sure you've played that phone conversation in your mind a couple of times.

Frankly I don't know which is worse, getting stood up like that or having the person where you are about done with your quote and they inform you that they've already got 6 quotes and have 3 more to go. Have had that happen too many times selling HVAC years ago.

Unfortunately this woman was so afraid you were going to sell her something that she couldn't answer the door.

Kind of hard to see that coming isn't it? no matter who you are.

Better luck on the next call

[Spider]

Simply a cost of doing business - some people are just inconsiderate.

You already wasted an hour - why waste another hour writing a letter, sending a bill, telephoning? Nothng you can do will move your business forward, and wasting one hour is better than wasting two hours.

On future calls like this, makes sure you have a few fliers in your truck and spend a few minutes putting a flier on the front door of a dozen neighboring houses. Then you wouldn't have wasted any time at all!

Don't lose sight of your main purpose.

[Steve B]

Just part of doing business with the public.

I would call and tell her you were there at the appointed time and wanted to know if she needed to reschedule. It may put them on the spot a bit if they were blowing you off. Or, you still might end up getting some work out of it if something out of her control happened (of course she should be calling you in this case).

At least this way, you have a chance to confirm that YOU did the right thing. I'm always thinking of getting a referral - so maybe she'll tell someone else that will actually follow through with the appointment.

[billbenson]

did you try calling them from your cell while you were there. If you were talking from home on a line other than your cell, they might have picked up. If they do, say I'm outside. It would put them on the spot and also confirm that she was hiding from you.

There is always the outside chance she had some emergency and wasn't there. Not likely, but possible.

[huggytree]

i only had the home phone #...i called it...no machine even to pickup....she's always answered right away on previous calls to setup the appointment..

I may call on Monday to ask if she wants to reschedule...it atleast makes her come up with an excuse and puts some pressure on her. i left a flier in her door and feel if it was an emergency they would have called me that night...

[cocoy]

What's wrong with asking if you charge for an estimate?

If someone's coming to my house to do an estimate I'd want to know if I'm going to get charged for it or not. Plus, I'd want to know how much in advance.

Asking someone to come to your house to do something, even if just an estimate, without asking for a price IMO is just asking for trouble. I don't assume in situations like these.

[cocoy]

I think leaving a flier is fine. Just to let them know you were there on shedule...in case they did have some emergency or were running late.

[KristineS]

I would have just left a business card or something to let her know you were there, and then just move on. Unfortunately you will encounter people like this occasionally. There is also the possibility that she might have had an emergency. This way, you let her know you were there and left the door open so she could contact you again. I wouldn't pursue her though.

[huggytree]

Ive got a good lesson for us all!...mostly ME!.....

she had a stroke......i called today and she's back at home....i told her it was my best excuse ever and not to worry about my spent time. I went right over and did the estimate

I was right about them as far as reading all the 'cheap' signs....i have their bid in the mail and its in the range i told them it would be.....

ive never had anyone ask me 'is the estimate free' before....i definately think its a bad sign...any mention of something having to do with price is a bad sign unless your the cheapest plumber in town...im not....

From now on my policy is to call all no shows the next day...who knows maybe the rest of them had emergencys too...lesson learned!