No, Devi has a good idea. Send a text the day before or a few hours ahead with a simple, polite reminder, or a request to "Please confirm..." or "Please text back 'cancel' if you find you cannot keep our appointment", or "...if you wish to reschedule..."
I'm always either early or on time for any appointments that are important to me, like doctors appts, etc. Even a casual appointment I will keep, but that's just me. A lot of folks only take important appointments seriously.
I mark any appointments on my wall calendar, like you I'll arrive early to make sure I don't get caught in traffic and end up being late. I was like that throughout my working years.I don't miss appointments. In fact I arrive at appointments very early not to be late which really bugs my wife when we have appointments together.
I use sticky notes and stickies on the computer to remind me of appointments. I guess it's just the military in me to hurry up and wait.
When my nephew married a few years ago he and his bride asked that all wedding gifts be Anonymous. They said it was so all gifts would be equally appreciated no matter what people paid for them (or some stupid thing like that), but I suspect it was so they wouldn't have to bother with thank you cards or emails.
I don't look at sending a text/email reminder as anything but simply a courtesy for the customers...one I personally appreciate and I'm sure they would too. That's probably why there are so many not showing up. It simply slips their minds.
That’s how I deal with an appointment. If I’m early, I read the news or something else on my phone.
Oh, I didn't realize we were talking about selling items from home. That's different than an office appointment. It wouldn't be typical to send a text/email reminder for that.
Deja vu! I have an old steamer trunk for sale on Marketplace for $20 (it would be a bargain at twice the price) and someone PMed me asking if I'd take $5. I said, "The price is $20." At least she replied, "Then I'll pass." Another person asked for more photos of the dressing mirror. It's a plain, frameless mirror, How may photos do you need? I asked her to specify of what did she need more photos, but have not heard back yet.I buy and sell through Facebook Marketplace, and various local Facebook groups. It continues to annoy me the way folks are so cavalier about keeping appointments/doing what they say they're going to do when I'm the one selling. They say they'll come look/buy and then don't show up. The make demands about what I'm selling, for more pictures, different angles, take it outside for a pic, can I deliver etc. I don't make my listings haphazard. I cover every angle, the description is complete, the photos are clear and not blurry (unlike many listings I browse for things I'm looking for!) and I make a specific note if the color is off in the photos, a closeup if there's a ding, stain, flaw of any kind. I could understand all these demands if I were selling an expensive item, but most of what I offer for sale are clothes, household items etc., no furniture or other higher ticket items...most things, with a few exceptions, for under $20.
They offer less, even when I specifically say in a post that the price is firm and I won't go lower which I do with some items. They've asked if they can come get the item now and give me the money for it when they get paid at the end of the week/in a few days/next paycheck. Riiiiiiiight.
I've learned, the hard way, not to hold an item for someone, because most of the time they just don't show up. The only way I'll hold something is if the person gives me the money up front. If I don't see the dollars in my Venmo or PayPal, I won't hold it. Until the item is paid for and gone, I have extremely low expectations that anyone will actually show up when they said no matter how sincere they sound.
