I always think I'm going out of my way to overexplain to each client when I say to not arrive 10, 15, 20 minutes early, sometimes not even 5 minutes early, but on time.  Yet this morning I was in the process of getting ready for a very early AM appointment and got a call asking if we were "still on" for the appointment.  Nothing that I had done or said had indicated anything else, and I said of course.  Then he asked for my room number, ready to go ahead and come on in.  

Twenty minutes before the first appointment of the morning I am very likely still makeup-free, cleaning my room, making phone calls before my schedule starts, etc.  Unlike a large day spa, an FBSM provider does not have a receptionist for the client who arrives 20 minutes early to sit in the lobby with cucumber water and magazines.  

The really maddening part about this type of  situation from today is that when I called the client back fully ready and looking great AT the actual appointment time, he said that he had left the premises and was sorry but that it wasn't "going to work out" for today.  When I stated that it was now the time for our appointment at the time he chose to schedule with me, not 20 minutes previous (or 10 minutes previous, when he had rang again while I was running around trying to prepare), he began to describe how much trouble he had gone to to drive over - very odd considering all that trouble was certainly not wasted unless well after our appointment time I proved to be a no show, not when I was ready on time and all he had to do was walk in to go ahead as we had planned.  

I sit here now looking great but having skipped breakfast, gotten up an hour or more before when I could have slept in, and certainly having missed the opportunity to start the rest of my day on a much more positive note.  Please, do not be early for incall appointments.  I personally do not have a "two call system" that has anything to do with screening.  Having my clients call on time for their appointment to get my room number merely prevents people who show up routinely this far ahead from suddenly knocking on the door while I am with another client, or with a toothbrush in my mouth and a towel around my hair.

I can understand the need for a blanket statemnt on the board about men making sure they have good hygene etc as a reminder but maybe you are better off informing your clients when your appts are made that you prefer they not show up early.  I guess better than 20 minutes late.