My PT is annoyed I haven't given notice...

I tutor and people have to pay if they cancel as you have done. However, short notice cancellations are annoying, especially if they happen a lot. Sometimes I'm already on the way to the lesson when people cancel which means hanging around in a car park somewhere until it's time to go to the next lesson. Yes, I'm getting paid to sit in my car in the car park but it's annoying.

But you couldn’t have done anything else with that hour anyway. You were being paid for your time; it was never free time. You’d have been tutoring!

I've never expected to have someone cancel, keep their money and fill the slot with someone else to get more money and I doubt that's what his problem is. It's more likely to be logistics.

The logistics don’t change though. Had the session gone ahead, you’d have still had to factor in time to get there and then to your next one afterwards.

And even if they don’t want free time - tough tits, frankly! OP has followed the cancellations policy; she’s his client, not his entertainment.

It must be a difficult business to make money in, but that’s not a problem for the clients. Poor business skills from PTs showing irritation with clients who are not in breach of contract.

I had this with a PT. She got very uppity when I gave 2 weeks notice, despite zero contract. She’d counted on me continuing but her service had started to decline…put your goals into AI and it’ll give you a fitness plan 🫣

Why does it matter if she's cancelled a session she has already paid for?

From his perspective, though:

• you could have just been clear that a regular slot wouldn't work for you
• if he gives you a slot say once a month or once a quarter, that makes it harder for him to use that slot at other times because most of his clients will want a regular weekly slot at least
• he wants his clients to come regularly and often so that he can see progression in them which is good for them and good for his business
• it's a bit crap if he's coming in especially to see you or has arranged things around your appointment and then you cancel at the last minute; cancelling at the last minute also sends a clear message about where his sessions are in your priorities, which isn't a very nice message to receive regardless of what service you're offering
• I think most PTs would expect you to tell them that you don't want the slot anymore regardless of how you pay.

All this could easily be solved by him running this service AS a paid service, rather than acting like he’s doing a favour for a mate.

Other clients wanting weekly slots making it inconvenient to accommodate the OP? “Sorry, I can’t take you on on a semi-regular basis.” He wants the client’s progression to be free advertising for his business? I’m sure he does; it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

As for “It’s not a very nice message to receive”, it’s a paid service! She isn’t cancelling on a friend who wants to go for a drink after a bad breakup. If you’re going to take offence at a client cancelling, you haven’t really got what it takes to run a business.

Well I see my Pilates instructor regularly because his classes are just a bit of fun. It’s not proper training.

I have absolutely no need to see a proper personal trainer infinitely for years on end. Like I already have abs and a good level of fitness. I’m currently training to build my glutes. Once I build my confidence and build larger glutes, why would I continue with a PT? At the point that I have met my desired goal, I just need to maintain that and I would have built the competence to not need ongoing training sessions.

I think it’s far more common for casual fitness clients, to not require ongoing PT sessions. Only professional athletes (ie not OP) may need an infinitely ongoing coach. And even then, they may switch instructors or take breaks.

As opposed to what? A lovely friendship where he pops over for a chat over tea and cake (or a protein bar)?

All this seems to come from the point of view of this being a reciprocal relationship of some kind. It isn’t. The OP pays for a service; she no longer requires it, so that’s that.

1. That’s life when you’re self-employed. Don’t take it out on the client - especially not when you’re offering a service where recommendations are really useful.

2. Again, it’s the risk you take in business. There was nothing stopping him from checking with the OP whether she wanted that slot. Until it’s booked, it’s not guaranteed.

3 and 4) Cancellation policies are designed to deal with this.

5. He doesn’t have to be a mind reader. Until OP books, he can’t assume she’s coming.

I see both sides, OP, because I have also been a hassled mum who wanted to see a PT from time to time and now I am someone who goes like clockwork twice a week.

From your side:

• you were clear with him that you didn't want to go regularly, you felt a bit pushed into a regular slot
• you paid him for sessions that you cancelled late notice so what's the problem?
• the block was over and you thought that was the end of the contract

From his perspective, though:

• you could have just been clear that a regular slot wouldn't work for you
• if he gives you a slot say once a month or once a quarter, that makes it harder for him to use that slot at other times because most of his clients will want a regular weekly slot at least
• he wants his clients to come regularly and often so that he can see progression in them which is good for them and good for his business
• it's a bit crap if he's coming in especially to see you or has arranged things around your appointment and then you cancel at the last minute; cancelling at the last minute also sends a clear message about where his sessions are in your priorities, which isn't a very nice message to receive regardless of what service you're offering
• I think most PTs would expect you to tell them that you don't want the slot anymore regardless of how you pay.

I mean, I'd be pretty annoyed if my block with my PT came to an end and he told me he'd given my slot to someone else because we were at the end of the block and he considered himself released from our contract for that reason.

I ended up ditching PT until my kid was a bit older and I had more time.

I’m finding this thread confusing. OP, you did nothing wrong. However, neither did he. He said ‘okay, but I’d have liked a bit more notice’, or words to that effect. That’s not exactly horrible. Fair enough.

You then start a thread about this non-event. But, it’s unclear why, as you’re not accepting any criticism or countenancing any commenters who think you were in the wrong (of whom I’m not one, by the way).

Sooo, what’s the point?

@MyHouseInThePrairie your own experiences are clouding your perception of the op’s (or more specifically her PT’s)

Op hasn’t acted unreasonably. Her block came to an end and she chose not to renew. She is not under contract, she does not need to give notice. Her PT has a choice with his business model, he can offer blocks without contract, he can offer regular sessions under contract, with notice, he can offer bookable slots on a first come first serve basis: but he he gets pissed off because of the consequences of his business model that is on him.

Yes absolutely do this if you like pointless drama

Surely though, if he knew you were having the summer off anyway, he DOES have notice. It’s June. You’re saying he knew you were off until September (but assumed you’d then book another block). I’m not seeing a lack of notice/lack of time for him to find someone else. He’s got between now and September?

Am I missing something?

If this is all he said then YABU
If you have been a regular client for a while and then planning to take a break it would of been better to let him know when you paid for this last block that you will be taking a break until September. Gives him plenty of time to get another client in

I think you are absolutely in the right, but that is absolutely nothing to be gained from replying to his message. It doesn't sound like it needs a reply. Just leave the conversation there and maintain your own inner moral high ground.

Ok you thought it was. It wasn’t to me. I came back to retract what I’d said, that’s all. Going off thread now.

Just, sorry if you're not happy but there is no requitement for me to give notice.

I'd be flipping it back on him. Tell him you are furious that he is accusing you of being unreasonable. That the only reason you were willing to work with someone on trust and pay them up front despite no contract was because you liked and trusted him, now he's attacking you because you won't abide by the non-existent contract that you never agreed to and he never wrote.

I hope he's had the sense to revise his terms and conditions and put a reasonable notice period in place.

OK, it wasn’t clear initially that you were still paying for the sessions you cancelled at short notice. So I take back my comments on that front. I can still understand him being a bit upset, on the basis that it’s hard to get results for a client who isn’t able to put the time in, but it is what it is.

That said, I’d still have given him a bit of a heads up as soon as I knew I wasn’t going to buy another block, to give him a chance to fill the slot.

Sounds like chalk it down to experience and move on.

I agree with your last point.

But I dont think for OPs sake it needs to be a situation where she tells him off. By the sounds of things hell get defensive and sge should just keep her side of the road clean. Just make your point and move on with life. Also im assuming she may get another PT at the same gym with the possibility of bumping into this guy.

If you haven't already I would reply factually that you didn't consider you needed to give notice since you'd reached the end of a block and you don't have an ongoing contract. Then block him.
He's a twit because what does he think he's going to gain by getting arsey about it!

Slowest horse seems like a very apt name…