Late appointments/No shows

Well, I've just had the weirdest week ever. Of course, I had every day filled. My first appointment on Monday showed up 15 minutes late. A later appointment in the day, the owner tells me she is staying for the groom! My second app. on Tues. showed up 15 minutes late, then tells me she only wants the nails done, not a full groom. On Wed., my second appointment shows up 20 minutes late, I have another dog coming in half a hour. This dog was a finish-up groom from Friday. She was a huge Golden that hadn't been groomed since early summer. I had only scheduled 4 hours for her and her sister. I had to finish brushing her out and had lost 20 minutes! My fourth app. on Wed. canceled 15 minutes before the app. On Thursday my first customer short-changed me, promised to be back with the rest of the money - haven't seen him yet. My second app. that day was 20 minutes late. On Friday, I was scheduled to do two dogs from one family, they only brought one. If I hadn't phoned my next double app., I doubt she would have showed up - it was just a gut feeling I had that I should call. As it turned out, she was 30 minutes late. Today, Sat., my first double app. was schedule for 9:30 a.m., no show, at 9:50 I called and canceled the appointment. I wouldn't have time to get the dogs done before my next app. The wife told me that "my husband can't find your place", yet she had been here before and surely gave him directions. When the hubby got here he said "there was a road block and I couldn't get through". These same people canceled a half hour before on a previous Sat. app. I gave them. I could tell the wife was ticked with me, because I asked if she could call her husband on his cell phone and tell him not to come. She said he doesn't have one, you'll just have to tell him yourself, yet she knew that he couldn't find my place???

I just find it odd that people would be willing to lose an appointment at this time of year. In the future, I'm going to tell customers to come 5 minutes before the appointment time, and if they are more than 15 minutes late without calling me, we will have to reschedule the appointment. I work out of my home and only do one dog at a time, or two if from the same family. I am not a large shop that can afford to lose one or two appointments, that may be all I have for the day.

That is a weird week! I hate when people don't show or come in late or early even. It just makes me feel like they don't have any respect for our work. Would you show up at your Doctors appt. an hour ahead of time and expect them to just take you because a) you were in the neighborhood b)you have a lunch date c) fill in whatever silly excuse you want here! Can't wait for the holidays to be over!!!

Twice in one week a lady with two dogs canceled either the day before or the morning before I opened shop. When she called this Monday (right before christmas) I said "You canceled twice in one week last week" and that was all I said! she said "well I am on call and my work is very important"... (yea and my work isn't)
I just told her we were all booked before Christmas and "maybe I'll see you in the new year"

I can live with losing her as a customer cause that just bugs me all day.