Re: venting about frustrating clients....long and tangentially henna
Posted by susan on August 26, 2003 at 15:22:50:
In reply to: venting about frustrating clients....long and tangentially henna posted by Natasha on August 25, 2003 at 23:55:21:
: Grrr. Just got off the phone with a bride who changed the time of: her henna party. The original time was supposed to be 3-6 on
: Saturday... this was set in June before I went on vacation. And b/c
: I'm a sucker for brides and she's just relocated from NYC to San
: Diego I decided to charge her half my usual price.
:
: Terrific I thought. Done by 6. I then got another offer for a
high-
: paying corporate gig for the same evening that starts at 8pm. No
: problem. Although it is an hour's drive from the bride's house,
I'll
: have 2 hours so even if the party spills over a half hour (which
they
: usually do), I'll still get to the gig on time.
:
: Then I got a call last week that the bride changed the time of her
: party and the party will START at 6:30pm. Being a doormat, I told
: her that at most I could henna for a half hour....but then I looked
: at the map today and the corporate gig is very far away -- I'll be
: lucky if it only takes an hour. So I called and told her that I
had
: to leave at 6:30, so I couldn't do her party. And she pitched a
fit,
: and said that all her guests were coming in from out of town and
: they're all expecting mehndi...couldn't I call my other gig and
tell
: them that I'll be 15 minutes late or something.
:
: No. I can't do that. And she starts to cry b/c she's so
overwhelmed
: with everything and she just wants her wedding to be perfect....
:
: And I feel guilty. I offer to find another henna artist. She
: doesn't want another henna artist whose work is unknown.
:
: I told her I'd call her back tomorrow.
:
: But I can't do her party at 6:30 b/c I don't want to miss my other
: gig which is paying full rate (for 4 hours) and might lead to other
: gigs. I'm furious that the bride switched the time of her party
w/o
: consulting my plans, but I feel some weird sense of obligation b/c
I
: promised her I'd do the party.
:
: Please help me be strong!!!
:
: My other frustration of the summer has been getting payment from
the
: resort where I've been doing henna every week-end since June. I
: haven't been paid, yet. And as a result, I have no money int he
bank
: and can't register for school b/c I can't pay for my classes (the
: University doesn't accept VISA cards...). Part of the problem is
: bureaucratic -- the accounting dept. sat on my invoice through July
: and then rejected it b/c it didn't have a special invoice number.
So
: I had to rebill. Then they lost the invoices and I had to rebill
: again....but the fact remains that they owe me more than $1000 for
: services rendered and I'm totally broke and have to take a leave of
: absence for this semester.
:
: Grrr. And I met the owner of a salon who had said she wanted a
henna
: artist and when I spoke with her she tried to get me to go to
: cosmetology school to be a manicurist! She said she would
definitely
: hire me to do manicures and pedicures....but I don't WANT to do
: manicures. I want to do henna; that's why I've been doing henna
for
: the past 5 years instead of pursuing a cosmetology license...
:
: OK. Gotta go give my diabetic kitty his shot. Thanks for
listening
: to my whining. The spouse tries to be helpful (which doesn't
help),
: but doesn't really understand.
I feel for you. I think you should just go along and henna the bride,
and see how it goes for time, you may be able to do more than you
think in that short space of time? Then the ones that don't get done,
will have to come down and have another gathering another time, good
excuse for a party again. Good luck and hope everything works out.
Follow Ups