A question for 1-1 Trainers

This is a question for anyone who works doing private 1-1 training/behaviour work....

Have you ever had a client not pay? if so how did you deal with this and what was the outcome?

A trainer friend of mine recently had a client who after just one session then cancelled the rest of their bookings at short notice due to "other committments" The trainer has a cancellation policy and has advised the client of the balance owing (about £30) but so far has not heard anything?

A letter has now been sent but is this worth pursuing?

Very interested to hear your experiences and advice...

Thanks

Is it worth pursuing? In a word, no.

If a client is determined not to pay, there's little you can do about it as it would cost far more than it's worth to legally pursue the matter.

One to chalk up to experience for your friend I'm afraid

If i was a 1-1 trainer i would charge fees in advance to ensure the commitment to the training then if they drop out and not have reasonable reason then they would lose their fees, maybe its a learning curve for the trainer to do it differently in future?

I'm afraid you wouldn't get many clients. Nice idea in theory, in practice you just wouldn't get owners to pay up front - much in the same way you wouldn't pay a plumber until he'd actually done the work

thinking about it your right i wouldnt pay a plumber before hes done the job, its a shame there are ppl that start things and dont carry them on, maybe there was a reason the client didnt want to go back to the trainer for whatever reason but they should cough up the fees they owe?

I'm in the US and I've always paid trainers upfront for all sessions. If one was missed, I usually could reschedule.

What normally happens in this case is tht the individual finds that other 1:1 trainers have no vacancies..........

Works for dog walkers too

Had one client who paid for four one-to-one sessions with a post dated cheque.

I fell for the patter and lost out big time when the cheque bounced. I'm always way too trusting but you do live and learn.

I very rarely had a problem though with non-payers. After the post dated cheque incident, I would only let clients book one session at a time and arranged the next one at the end of each session they had. Saved a lot of crossing out in the diary