How do you handle late arrivals for appointments

[steve bode]

Lately, I've been having a few kids arriving late for appointments.... late enough to throw off the schedule for the rest of the day. Do you rush through their sitting or do you tell them they have to reschedule? The type of kid who tends to be late will probably be late for any rescheduled appointment so I hesitant to do that.

[Jack L. Vaught]

If I can still manager their appointment, I will do it, but let them know because they were late, we might have to skip some of what they wanted to do because we don't have the time.

I have two dressing rooms so I might also let them know that I have another session coming in and they may have to wait between clothing changes until I finish with an outfit on the other senior.

Usually if they are more than 15 minutes late, I will call and most of the time hear, "I forgot all about my appointment."

[Jen Eagan]

Our doctor's offices have a sign up in plain view- more than 10 minutes late will cause you to have to reschedule. And they mean it. You're 11 minutes late you don't get in. I would maybe try something like that- and add something to the sign about a rescheduling fee. Like- "Late arrival of more than 10 minutes will require rescheduling your appointment and a $XX rescheduling fee". And maybe put it in plain view where they can see it in your studio as well as in the literature you send out. And add something to the literature like "plan on arriving 15 minutes before your scheduled time".

[Jack L. Vaught]

And add something to the literature like "plan on arriving 15 minutes before your scheduled time".

I have that on my stuff, but 75% of the time, they arrive right on time for their session.

[Steve Winslow]

If they are 15 minutes or more late, I have them reschedule if it is for a senior session. If it is a quick business session, I'll do it. But if I need to be more creative and energetic and fun, then I will reschedule the session because I am usually a little irritated with them for being late and cutting me short. For me, it's not so much about the amount of time, but I don't want to go into a session feeling rushed and in a bad mood. Me? Bad mood? Hard to imagine, but yes, I do get into bad moods in certain situations and late clients is one of them. When someone is late, I have already moved on to my next project and I am focusing on that. To switch gears again drives me nuts. If they have come from out of town, I will do what I can and they can reschedule to do more if they want. I'm really pretty easy going actually. I try not to get my shorts in a knot, but I don't like it when people are late.

[Dave Ashby]

Reschedule and sometimes charge them another sitting fee if they are really late because it is like a no show.

Dave

[Guest]

I have trouble with mine being a hour or so early lol.

They always say they thought it would take longer to get here... keep in mind my seniors travel from quite a way's to get here.

[Lucius A. Fontenot]

Reschedule them, even if you don't have another appointment. Especially if it is a senior. They need to learn that the world will not cater to them. I wish so adults would have learned this when they where 18.

[Michael J. Plumeyer]

Lately, I've been having a few kids arriving late for appointments.... late enough to throw off the schedule for the rest of the day. Do you rush through their sitting or do you tell them they have to reschedule? The type of kid who tends to be late will probably be late for any rescheduled appointment so I hesitant to do that.

Steve,

No rush here, I just do less poses or less images. That's all. If they, or a parent, complains, we'll just reply that "it wasn't our fault that your senior was EXTREMELY LATE" for his/her senior portrait appointment.

Michael

[Larry Lee Letzer Sr.]

We go with the 15 minute rule as well. As we schedule our appointments 15 minutes early, it gives us a bit of wiggle room. Most of the people that are late could not find us as we are in the country. I now have directions to the studio on my website so we suggest they download and print out the directions.

[Jordon Flexer]

If they are a few minutes late we can usually recover. However I will NOT extend into another session. We also politely let them know this and ask them to spend as little time in the dressing room as possible.

We also have a sign about being on time or it will cut into the amount of poses or clothing changes regardless of the reason they are late.

Most customers could care less about your time.

They still pay for the original session booked.

Many people are always late and they think that by calling you on the cell phone its OK.

What I have done is send out a coupon for a free poof if they arive 5 minutes early and are ready in their first outfit. This coupon must be signed prior to the session. We purchased one of those atomic clocks and have it right by the reception desk for verification. We also state that the 5 minutes is by our clock.

[stacey snyder]

I have Misti's problem of the early arrivals, which is still better than the late ones. It screws up my day when I'm trying to load the previous appointments into the computer and work on those, or trying to grab some lunch and the door bell goes off. I've considered putting a sign on the door during lunch so that when the 1:00 arrives early I can still finish my lunch without feeling guilty.

If they're late, I just tell them that the next appt. is at XXX time and we have to finish by then.