Imagine a shop calling during a typhoon: “Are you still okay for your appointment?”
The customer thinks cancelling might cause trouble. The worker wonders whether losing that last booking could mean going home early, but is unsure about suggesting a change. Management sees a booking and keeps the shop open.
Customer: another day is fine. Worker: not coming today might be fine too. Result: everyone meets in the storm. Nobody strongly wanted today; politeness kept the appointment moving.
The shop is not one person
Management may want the revenue while the worker worries about getting home. If the booking adds little to the worker’s pay and removing it permits an early finish, rescheduling might help them.
That depends on the circumstances: commission, practice or a rule against leaving early can change the picture. It does not mean fixed-wage workers dislike customers.
Meanwhile, the customer thinks the shop wants them there. The worker sees the booking and assumes the customer wants today. Courtesy becomes evidence of somebody else’s preference.
This resembles the Abilene paradox: people collectively do something they privately do not want because they believe the others want it. [Reference]
Ask which option helps
“If today or another day both work for me, which is easier for the shop?”
Only say both work if that is true. “May I still come?” can invite a polite “of course.” Making rescheduling a real option leaves room for an honest answer.
If travel is unsafe, do not force yourself to go; discuss changing the booking. Check cancellation fees and conditions too. Do not assume next week gives the shop identical revenue: it may already be full or preparations may be complete.
In a separate example, someone receiving a free practice haircut late at night found that the shop had given the wrong location. The model offered to move to another nearby branch; the shop chose to provide the haircut at the original one. Once an alternative has been offered and the shop chooses, the model need not take unlimited responsibility for staff staying late.
Consideration can mean offering choices, rather than calculating everybody’s hidden wishes.
Customers should not have to decode the weather message
Clear bad-weather rescheduling rules, including whether staff can suggest a change, would reduce the guessing.
The customer wants to avoid causing trouble. The worker wants to avoid rejecting them. Management wants to honor the booking. Sensible motives can still summon everyone into a typhoon.
“Which option would help?”
Ask before adding another layer of politeness.
Reference
Jerry B. Harvey, “The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement” (1974). https://doi.org/10.1016/0090-2616(74)90005-9
