Rescheduling lessons, a nuisance or a dealbreaker?

mindputtee

mindputtee

Forum Master
I had a teacher that rescheduled a lesson 4 times in a week with less than 24 hours notice. He had a habit of doing this, and while a few times he did promise a free lesson, he didn't always. It eventually became too much of a hassle to bother with and I stopped taking lessons from him.

I've been working in a dance studio and have noticed that a lot of lessons get rescheduled on very short notice, and sometimes get moved multiple times, even back and forth between times- generally as the result of poor planning/double booking on the part of the teacher. The teachers do not seem terribly concerned about this though.

Is this just a nuisance for you or a deal breaker?
 
For me, it can be a dealbreaker if its a perpetual habit AND always happens at the last minute. Very annoying and difficult to deal with, especially if you have to travel some distance. I suppose if the instruction is super amazing, I might be willing to deal with more logistical difficulties.
 
It'd depend on how often it happens for me. A couple, three times a year, it'd be something to tease the instructor about. If I had one that was doing it regularly, it'd likely become a deal breaker pretty quickly.
 
Also for me me it would depend on the frequency. I understand that things happen, but if it's happening regularly it most probably is not a random one-off event. And if that's true, constantly moving, rescheduling or canceling lessons is a sign of disrespect for your clients.
 
Frequency would definitely affect it a lot. I have a pretty informal relationship with my current coach (i.e. We set up most of my lessons via texting), so if he asked about moving a lesson the day before it usually wouldn't be a huge deal to me. But if it was *every* lesson I booked getting rescheduled, I'd probably get annoyed pretty quickly.
 
My coach has rescheduled a few lessons on me a few times. Hasnt been that much of a hassle because hes let me know long enough ahead of time before I made the 3 hour trek to see him. Slash I tend to be pretty flexible when taking coachings because I know my coach will always make the time for me.

The studio I work in, we are under no circumstances allowed to reschedule a lesson, unless it was the student who had canceled it. We make sure our booking is clear and no one is ever double booked. There's a lot of organization that foes into being a teacher, part of it is because you are technically your own business owner. You work for yourself if you aee independent, so you need to have thst level of organization. thats why, it seems, people who became independent after leaving franchises are generally more successful because they were taught that business aspect in their training.
 
One of my old coaches would reschedule probably about 80% of our lessons, many times with less than 24 hours notice. He had some health issues (main reason for rescheduling), and frankly, the lessons were basically free, so we didn't complain. Plus, DP and I were in college, so our schedules were flexible enough that it was never a problem to find another time.

However, now that I don't have the flexibility of a student's schedule anymore and I am paying for lessons, if having to reschedule lessons was as regular a thing like it was with my old coach, I would definitely find another coach.
 
Deal Breaker.

I have yet to have an Indy teacher reschedule on me. I am sure it will happen but the franchised place used to do it almost weekly… Sucked!
 
Frequently, and on short notice? Deal breaker. I have a lot to juggle between working full-time at a demanding job and dance, and the only way I am able to make it work is through some fairly intense schedule management.

Occasional short notice cancellations are fine, but I also expect some flexibility when I need to do the same
 
in my current scenario, it never happens...in a previous life, it happened often and bespoke a generalized lack of interest/organization/motivation which does not work for me

you didn't ask but;

other deal breakers would be; lack of interest in my learning, absence of basic social skills/compassion/gratitude, not dancing one's best at comps
 
I feel absolutely horrible when i have to make the phone call or send the text to cancel(some clients prefer to only be contacted via text). I feel like i have let my students down and i hate that. Things happen that is out of our control and its warranted but it still isnt a good feeling.
 
A lot depends on the reason as well as the frequency. If it's due to a lack of consideration for the student or poor planning, etc., it might not be such a deal-breaker if it was a rare occurrence. If the reason was due to serious health issues or major personal problems beyond the control of the teacher, then I'd be more inclined to put up with it, even if a frequent occurrence, until the situation was resolved.
 
Since I've been with my current teacher, he has cancelled/rescheduled 2 times in 2 years due to being sinck/unavoidable personal circumstance. I had to cancel once due to weather. Luckily for me, it's not an issue.
 
Once in a while, sure, it happens to all of us. On a regular basis, just because of poor time management? Deal-breaker.
 
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