Last Minute Cancel

[Nick Ostrowski]

Nothing like having an inspection postponed 1.5 hours away from it's start time.

Sigh.....

[Rick Cantrell]

"Nothing like having an inspection postponed 1.5 hours away from it's start time."

Except no shows

[Nick Ostrowski]

Yep, had them too.

[Gunnar Alquist]

I see a cancellation as a great excuse to take a half day off.

[Marc M]

--Nothing like having the utilities off when you get there and they were supposed to have been verified to be on.
--Nothing like having the buyer book two inspection companies for the same time..:eek: Oops, forgot to cancel one when I was pricing around...

[Nick Ostrowski]

It was a bit annoying getting a cancel so close to the inspection time but I wasn't real broken up about it. It's been a good month and knowing that I don't have to get up at daybreak to do a report before heading out is a nice thought.

[Rick Hurst]

How about an appointment that calls and cancels right when you pull up in front of the home after you've driven an hour and half to it. :(

rick

[Matt Fellman]

This one eats at me.... I just have to remember to chalk it up to the cost of doing business. I get badly burned probably 3X a year.... as in already in the driveway or turned away a job for the same slot that gets cancelled. It stings but it happens.... no way to avoid it and we can't charge for it ( must be the 7 years of med school that I didn't attend :) )

This is why it's CRUCIAL to keep your golf clubs in the truck at all times. As a related note, I've found it takes approximately the same time to play 9 holes of golf as it does to perform a home inspection :)

[Matt Bartels]

I had enough of these last second cancellations or showing up to the home and finding that the utilities are off so last year I started charging a $75.00 cancellation fee. My cancellations dropped by at least 75% since then. People now think twice and don't cancel for petty reasons. I also state in my post-scheduling email that it is the clients and their agents responsibility to make sure the utilities are on. If the utilities are not on when we get there, THE INSPECTION FEE IS DUE IN FULL AND THE INSPECTION WILL STILL TAKE PLACE. If they would like me to come back again to test the gas, plumbing, etc, I can come back when they are on. For this re-inspect I will charge an hourly fee.

I waffled back and forth for 7 years before deciding to implement the cancellation fee. The recent rise in short sales and bank owned properties tipped me over the edge. These places can never get their utilities on in the time stated. I was sick to death of rescheduling these. I only do one inspection a day so a cancellation at the last second hurts.

I have had no negative push back from this. It is standard practice for most businesses. Why should inspectors who generally do one or two inspections per day not charge when a doctor who see's 30 patients a day does? It is a huge percentage of our weekly gross when this happens. Even if you can never collect, it acts as a huge deterrent. Trust me, it has worked wonders!

[John Ghent]

I had enough of these last second cancellations or showing up to the home and finding that the utilities are off so last year I started charging a $75.00 cancellation fee. My cancellations dropped by at least 75% since then.

Smart move. It eliminates the guy that is cheaper than you because the client now has to pay the cheaper inspector and your cancellation fee.

[Wayne Falcone]

Bad made good. Had a Saturday afternoon inspection (12:00) I drove 50 minutes, showed up at 11:45 & knocked on the door. Introduced myself to the buyer & told her what I was going to do. She stated she understood the process. Neither my client nor realtor were there so I started on the outside. After finishing the outside I called my client & realtor, no answer. So I went inside and started in the crawl space. As I was coming out of the crawl space the real estate agent met me & informed me that the clients did not want me to do the inspection because they heard from neighbors that the crawl space sometimes got water. They did not want to buy a house that had the possibility of getting water in the crawl space. I said OK, said goodby to the agent and seller and left. Chalked it up as part of the business.
Monday afternoon the agent calls my office & stated that the buyers want me to do the inspection now. I returned his call when & got back to the office at 6:00 PM. It seems that they could not be released from the signed agreement without an inspection report. As Tuesday was the last day for their agreement, they needed the inspection right away. I informed the agent that I do not work for people that treat me like they did on Saturday and that they will have to find someone else.

Sorry to be so long winded, but thought this was getting somewhat even with ignorant people.

Wayne J. Falcone

Live the journey, not the destination.
This is not a dress rehearsal.

[Marc M]

Bad made good. Had a Saturday afternoon inspection (12:00) I drove 50 minutes, showed up at 11:45 & knocked on the door. Introduced myself to the buyer & told her what I was going to do. She stated she understood the process. Neither my client nor realtor were there so I started on the outside. After finishing the outside I called my client & realtor, no answer. So I went inside and started in the crawl space. As I was coming out of the crawl space the real estate agent met me & informed me that the clients did not want me to do the inspection because they heard from neighbors that the crawl space sometimes got water. They did not want to buy a house that had the possibility of getting water in the crawl space. I said OK, said goodby to the agent and seller and left. Chalked it up as part of the business.
Monday afternoon the agent calls my office & stated that the buyers want me to do the inspection now. I returned his call when & got back to the office at 6:00 PM. It seems that they could not be released from the signed agreement without an inspection report. As Tuesday was the last day for their agreement, they needed the inspection right away. I informed the agent that I do not work for people that treat me like they did on Saturday and that they will have to find someone else.

Sorry to be so long winded, but thought this was getting somewhat even with ignorant people.

Wayne J. Falcone

Live the journey, not the destination.
This is not a dress rehearsal.
That's what I'm talking about...Good for you brother.

[Dana Bostick]

I charge (and have gotten) a $125 cancellation or re-inspect fee. You need to be a bit choosy about charging it. If this Realtor is one that uses you a lot, you might be able to just mention it but give them a pass, it really depends on the situation.

I've got them all trained to go personally to check the utilities and not just take the word of the listing agent by stressing that I WILL charge for a re-inspection if the utilities are not on. I've even gotten them to pass the extra fee along to the listing agent when that agent did not verify the utilities.:rolleyes:
Far too often, they just say "The Gas company said they would be on today" so I just ASSUMED they were on. The $125 fee usually gets their attention.:eek: