Hairdressers: handling late clients in your booking diary

A client fifteen minutes late for a colour can push your whole afternoon back. Decide your rule before it happens and show it where clients book: up to ten minutes late, the service goes ahead as planned; beyond that, it's shortened or moved to the next free slot. Build small buffers into your booking diary, size each slot to the real length of the job, and apply the rule the same way for everyone. The rest of the day stays on time, and nobody waiting is penalised for someone else's delay.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. Add one line to the descriptions of long services: "Arriving more than 10 minutes late may mean a shorter service or a new appointment." Clients read it before they choose a time, so the rule is never a surprise at the chair.

Lateness hurts most when slots are already tight. Each slot belongs to one service with its own length, so give each service the time it really takes, including the consultation and the blow-dry.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own.

You set where each slot starts and ends, so nothing forces your bookings back to back. Leave ten minutes after long colour services, or keep one short gap mid-morning and mid-afternoon. A late client then eats into the buffer rather than into the next client's time.

Rescheduling works across services, so a late colour client can be moved to a later colour slot or switched to a shorter service the same day.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note. With a phone number in every booking, you can call a client who hasn't arrived five minutes after their time and decide quickly whether to wait or start the next one.

Book doesn't send reminders. Clients who give their email receive a confirmation with a calendar file, which puts the appointment in their own calendar; a short message the day before helps for long colour bookings.

Apply the rule to everyone, including regulars. If a client is late more than once, book their next appointment at a time with a buffer after it. Clients can't move or cancel online: they contact you, and you move the booking from your list. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.