A new trend?

[Chris G]

Have had 4 people say they are definitely interested in booking over the last 6 weeks, all well and good until it comes to paying the deposit, which is quite low.
I then chase these people up after a week to remind them that deposit needs to be paid to be able to confirm the booking and in the worst cases do not tend to get a reply, or get 'oh, my partner has booked a Disco' or other variants of this. I think the problem is that people are finding a cheaper quote in the meantime and just covering their bases in case they don't find one.
I wonder if anyone else is encountering the same thing and if so what would be a good way to minimise these let-downs.

[hammy]

Have encountered this for years but the way I look at it is, They were not jobs for me anyway.

[Shaun]

I wonder if anyone else is encountering the same thing and if so what would be a good way to minimise these let-downs.

Since I moved almost exclusively to taking payments online, and confirming bookings digitally, I rarely experience this. Occasionally I'll have an enquirer ask if I can provisionally hold the date for them. I politely explain that unfortunately bookings cannot be held without a deposit. If they are keen to book they usually make payment quickly.