Repeated Calls

G

godswillservices

New member
[sup]rant[/sup]

Is anyone else getting these out of control pet parents? I had a lady call six times in 45-minutes yesterday, I’ve had someone else (and his wife) call fifteen times one Saturday a couple weeks ago and three times the next day. I have people calling back-to-back consistently lately or multiple times a day. Today, the phone rang five times in a six-minute span between two people. It’s getting so annoying and frustrating. Without fail, I’m either fighting with a dog or in the middle of a bath when it rings and I’ll be damned if you think I’m gonna answer when you call multiple times.

We have a voicemail for a reason, we are the busiest salon in the area because we are the best… we are always busy! There’s only three of us and all three of us only work together twice a week. I’m by myself on Sundays, another girl is “by herself” on Thursdays (she has a bather, but he doesn’t answer the phone). We are in a booth rental situation, so I’m technically not required to answer, but I still have to listen to it ring.

I’ve been brainstorming a p.c. way to put on the voicemail that calling repeatedly won’t get us to get back to you any sooner, but I can’t come up with anything. One of these days my intrusive thoughts might win.
 
@godswillservices Add to the greeting "if you've reached this voicemail, we are busy with a pet. Calling repeatedly will stress the pet and make it take longer. To ensure the fastest callback, please leave a message and wait for us to finish our current pet" I'm all about the guilt trip 😂
 
@ghassen I mean to be fair I highly doubt they are patiently listening to the recording, they've already hung up and redialed by the time the first word has played lol.
 
@godswillservices My work cut our land line and tell all our clients that the easiest way to reach us is texting the work cellphone, for the exact reasons you mentioned. Prevents the voicemail getting overloaded, as 90% of the clients get it. The other 10% get ignored unless they leave a voicemail or we are actually able to answer the phone.
 
@lettinggo5 This is how we operate as well, almost 100% through text. Between the noise of the shop and having your hands full, answering the phone is just not it. Not to mention texting allows us to handle the inquiries when we have time to do so, rather than at the pet parents' demand.
 
@godswillservices My voicemail states that they can leave a message or text and I’ll get back to them within 72 hours. If they can’t be bothered to leave a message, I have no shame in not answering
 
@godswillservices I'm in a booth rental situation as well, and each groomer has their own phone and deals with their own customers personally. I pay for a cheapie cell phone with a low cost plan and I think it's pretty worth it so I'm not using my own personal phone. Most of my customers are good with texting and it makes things so nice and easy, I can send texts quickly between grooms. I HATE answering the phone and I definitely can't when I'm slammed grooming.

I would be so frustrated dealing with calls like that too!
 
@louiesmith28 Yeah, I use a google number and make it clear to all my clients that it’s the most efficient way to get a hold of me. Most of them get it.

The shop phone, though, continuously rings and there’s no way to turn the ringer off.
 
@godswillservices What gets me is seeing the multiple missed calls on Christmas frickin' day. Y'all though we were here on actual Christmas?

Or the people who call at exactly the time we open. We are definitely busy checking in the first round of clients and are not answering that phone. Give a bitch 5 damn minutes!
 
@godswillservices Don’t even get me STARTED on the clients who call 45minutes after they’ve dropped their dogs off. Like, they’re seriously going to drop off two 75pound doodle mixes who haven’t been groomed in 6 MONTH and missed prior appointments at least 2 times and then their mom is gonna call and wonder why they aren’t done in less than an hour. And on top of that the audacity of some of these people to be SHOCKED and FURIOUS when they can’t get an appointment within the week that they’re calling, even though they KNOW we’re the only pet salon within a 50 mile radius of a massive neighborhood and we only have 3 people on staff is appalling. It’s not my fault they got a dog that needs consistent grooming and that they don’t take the time to schedule appointments until the last minute. I FEEL YOUR PAIN OP
 
@4606 The guy and his wife aren’t my clients and as far as I know their groomer ghosted them and they haven’t called back since. The lady yesterday, I called back and had a very passive aggressive intro with her and after a 30-minute conversation realized she has crippling anxiety (it was bad, bad).

I guess my biggest frustration is that my clients wouldn’t dare and the other two girls just let their people do whatever they want and get away with it. It’s infuriating when it happens on weekends and I’m going to stop being nice about it.

So in summary, I can block these people, but none of them are my clients so I wouldn’t feel right doing so.
 
@godswillservices If it helps i only do it while im busy, so im not constantly disrupted. Not forever. I only forever block clients if i have fired them thoroughly and have let it be known to them that they no longer have access to me. It’s just a way to not be interrupted constantly.
 
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