AIBU to cancel appt after she moved premises at short notice and ask for my deposit back?

If it's inconvenient for op, it's inconvenient.
I would sack off the majority of my service providers if they moved six miles further away, as convenience is king to me because my time is short and there are plenty of other hairdressers/opticians etc nearby

Bit even if she had checked the email it's still very short notice and OP isn't unreasonable to want her deposit back.
I have my email on my phone so can see what is coming in but I don't check through it often as most of it is promotional stuff.

She changed the terms by changing premises so you are not liable to pay her. I'm glad you got your money back.
She doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant person and you are probably better giving your business to someone else anyway

So that disproves her argument of "I told you at the last appointment"

Yanbu. She should have refunded all.

Yeah, this happened with our NHS Dental Practice. They moved (after acquiring a shiny new building on a small industrial park, that was twice the size of the one they had.) They needed the extra room as 3 new dentists were starting. They were a mile further away, but there is parking there, and it's quite easy to get to (even for people who couldn't drive, as it's pretty much only an extra 10 or 15 minutes walk, and it's worth it to have an NHS dentist!) They told everyone by text, email, or in person, several months before the move. And posted it on facebook a few times.

Also, the local vets moved 2 years ago, but it was from the little market town to a slightly bigger market town (10 miles south) which was not great for most. Fortunately, a new vets opened 6 months later, (on the same little industrial park - 2 minutes walk from the dentist) started up by 4 people from that old vets who weren't happy that they had not only moved, but also been taken over by a big conglomerate, and they were charging twice as much as they should. (The takeover happened about 4 months before the move.)

But even they warned people 3 months before the move. Pretty much everyone got a text, or a letter in the mail, and it was posted on Facebook at least 4 times.

.

Are you there dog groomer? 🤣 Most people do not check their emails every day, thats a huge generalisation.
If a business I am using moves premises I expect way more notice than this lady gave. Utterly ridiculous to make such a move and inform your customers in good time.

You’re completely in the right but I’d have forfeit the deposit if she pushed that and didn’t invoice. Any time a clinic I’ve worked at changed location we lost customers, had people show up at the wrong place and didn’t charge. It’s a cost of moving. We’d also verbally tell them starting 3 months out and have confirmations mention the new address, email a month out, email apt notice with it in the subject and call/text as normal.

Pretty sure ‘no parking’ and ‘too far for me to drive home and back within the hour’ are just facts. Maybe you don’t go out very often but it’s not always easy to park at industrial estates because, y’know, industry is going on. OP knows her dog and what they’d be comfortable with.

Yes, and those reasons would make sense as to why she no longer wants to go there anymore, she's free to choose where she goes, but those reasons are ridiculous to use as an excuse for one appointment, one time (which will be her last one), which she could have EASILY attended.

The groomer told her in person about an upcoming move and gave her notice of the move in writing 4-5 days before the appointment.

OP has cancelled the appointment less than 72 hours before it was due.. not because she would have trouble getting there.. because she is unhappy about the move and doesn't want to put herself out in even the smallest way ONE time.

Very grey area. If I was OP I'd have kept this appointment then never gone again if it was that inconvenient, and if I was the dog groomer I would have given her the £20 back due to closeness of when I emailed.

I still think OP is being ridiculous though to have cancelled the appointment.

I would assume op tbh that as it’s unusual for a business to give such short notice on moving premise, the groomer has done this deliberately to try and keep deposits, knowing she is likely to lose some clients with the new location.

Ok lol.

Take your last point as an example. Perfectly valid reason and also reasonable for 6 miles to be a way away. It’s 4 miles to my nearest shopping centre and takes me 15 mins to drive there. Some people don’t have a spare 30 mins or more in their day.

i think it’s good you fought for what you felt was fair for you, but I would encourage you to stop giving out your email address to businesses in case this happens again.

It’s not about whether op checks her emails or how often. The groomer only emailed with 24 hours before cancellation period. It is perfectly acceptable and normal not to respond to some emails immediately.

The groomer clearly know she was moving premises earlier, so should have sent this email much earlier, and should have also made op aware once again at time of booking, and should have provided the new address in writing.

I deal with a company who moved premises a while ago and it was all over their social media for months that they were moving.

no, preconceived notions, like:

New premises are about 6 miles further away, in a slightly dodgy part of a town, no parking directly outside. I’d have find somewhere to park somewhere else a way a way, in a very busy residential and industrial area and walk my nervous dog there. No chance of popping home either... I’d have to sit in the car for an hour waiting.

OP has never even visited these premises, so it is ridiculous to cancel for these reasons IMO.

No chance of 'popping home' from 6 miles away?

Busy residential/industrial area but no parking?

Dog too nervous to walk down a street?

Whatever.

Our family hairdresser/salon owner relocated to new premises about 8 miles away - largely because of the increasing rent for the premises.

She mentioned it very clearly for months and months in advance. She was of the opinion that she would be delighted if a lot of her regulars did decide to move with her, but she didn't expect them to, as she had moved away.

Every appointment made, she would say e.g. "So this will be your last/last but one appointment here before we move premises"; or for those who had decided to follow her, "So this will be at our new premises in X-town - is that OK? Do you know how to find it?"

That's how an honourable, well-run business does this. And yes, we have all moved with her. It's less convenient to get to the new place, but she's a great hairdresser, lovely person and charges very fair rates, so it was a no-brainer for us (I appreciate it's different for those who don't drive).

But according to the groomer she knew she was moving at the OP's previous appointment because she claims to have told the OP about it then so it wasn't a last minute decision to move at all.

She should have phoned and offered you the opportunity to cancel. Quite possibly you might not have read the email at all and turned up at the old place.

"preconceived notions" 😂

What, like expecting the appointment to be at the place you booked it to be at?? 🤔😂

She was in the wrong but I'd still just write off the £5 and forget about it.

I would state to her you are not paying for the entire appointment, that if she doesn't deposit your deposit back into your account/send you a cheque, you will contact Small Claims. See what she says then. I bet she backs down.

Professionally, I always err on the side of caution, that not all emails are read. If it's important, you pick up the phone.

You cannot possibly claim with absolute certainty that ‘Most people check their (personal) email every day or actually multiple times a day’.

You may do, a lot of other may do as well. But many don’t.

i for one don’t, im on work email all day. There is nothing in my personal email that is at that level of communication need.
also if a customer says that their preferred channel is phone, then the business has a duty to use that as the primary contact for updates or changes. They do not have a leg to stand on if they don’t follow customer instructions.

She broke the t&Cs by changing the venue. Say you will go to trading standards I'd she doesn't refund in full