Mobile guys ... how do you cancel/reschedule appointments due to rain?

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imported_NHBFAN

New member
How do you go about cancelling/rescheduling appointments due to rain?



If rain is predicted on the day of the appointment do you wait until the scheduled time to allow the customer to back out?
 
I` call the customer the night before and let them know it is going to rain, and give them the option of doing it under my tent, inside the garage, or just rescheduling.
 
This is one of the biggest problems with being mobile. If you live in a climate that has alot of inclemint weather you will never be able to make a living. Myself being from the northeast, we face many days where the weather sucks but we are still busy. If a customer has an appointment to come to your shop verses you coming to him {and the weather is iffy} the chances are 90% greater that you will be able to perform your services.
 
Well I can speak first hand on this as I live in south Texas and we have gotten TONS of rain here this year.....it is just nuts:nixweiss



Friday some places got 6 inches of rain!



I was in the middle of 3 details and had already done 2 wash and waxes. The people whos cars I was doing came out and I just told them I would catch up to them the following week. The two I had waxed I will give them a rain check wash.



This past Saturday I had a new client to do a full detail on but I spoke with him on Friday afternoon and told him if it looked like rain we would cancel and re-schedule.



So if it looks like rain I will just call my clients and offer them the option of a re-schedule or going ahead and detailing it. They almost always decide to re-schedule. They are understanding and if you have a client that isn't understanding or gets upset about the rain then dump them and pass them on to another detailer:D



Anthony
 
Anthony Orosco said:
So if it looks like rain I will just call my clients and offer them the option of a re-schedule or going ahead and detailing it. They almost always decide to re-schedule. They are understanding and if you have a client that isn't understanding or gets upset about the rain then dump them and pass them on to another detailer:D



Anthony [/B]
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That's the way I do it in Charlotte too. I haven't had a problem yet. :wavey
 
I do the same as the others. I call my customer if the weather looks like it will be bad (or already is) and offer them the option of having the vehicle done at their home in their garage or to reschedule. I've thought about a tent, but if the person is at an office and it rains all day, very few people would get their car detailed since they would have to drive home in the rain and get it dirty immediately. I try to reschedule them into the next available slot. I only had one person upset, she thought I should reschedule her the very next day....which I could not do since I had standing appointments that day. Like I explained to her, those customers have had that day for several years now and I owe it to them to be there.
 
Terry said:
That's the way I do it in Charlotte too. I haven't had a problem yet. :wavey
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Charlotte, NC? I have a customer moving there. PM me your contact information and if she e-mails me after moving like she said she would, I will pass along your info.
 
Well the problems arise when you have a week of rain........then everything gets pushed back and I find I need a solid 2 weeks of no rain to get things back in order. Only to have it rain the third week.......ARGH! Can't win, lol



It looks as if I will be rained out this entire work week, raining right now as a fatter or mact, so I take this down time to wash towels, fill bottles, look at new products, collect payments, cruise the forums and play games on my comp.!!



I do though have a Harley Davidson to detail for the American Heart Association at the local Harley dealer I may go and do later.



Anthony
 
NHBFAN,



I forgot to mention that I usually only offer these rain checks to clients that dropped some good cash down for a detail. If I were to give rain checks to all my clients that I just washed one day and then it rained the next........well I would always be playing catch up. So give out those "rain checks" wisely :)



Anthony
 
I'm with you on the rain checks, Anthony. Real tough when you are mobile and scheduled very tightly as it is. My rain guarantee is "If it rains on your car after I wash it, I guarantee it will get wet." :up
 
Anthony Orosco said:
Well the problems arise when you have a week of rain........then everything gets pushed back and I find I need a solid 2 weeks of no rain to get things back in order. Only to have it rain the third week.......ARGH! Can't win, lol



It looks as if I will be rained out this entire work week, raining right now as a fatter or mact, so I take this down time to wash towels, fill bottles, look at new products, collect payments, cruise the forums and play games on my comp.!!



I do though have a Harley Davidson to detail for the American Heart Association at the local Harley dealer I may go and do later.



Anthony
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I trying to get a mini mobile part time mini business going in NYC. It rained every single weekend pretty much for the past month. It already in May (winter starting to look very close now) and I barely did couple of cars.
 
Having a fixed shop presents occasional problems, too. My shop is small, with ample room for two large vehicles (maybe three Miatas!)



As I write this, I have 2 completed cars waiting pickup this morning. I have 2 new cars due to arrive.



It is raining. Alot.



(One of the completed vehicles is a black 01 MB CLK55 AMG that I've spent THREE full days on! Full concourse.)



I'm too busy, and I guess that's a good thing...



Jim
 
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