Is my DS’s tutor being unreasonable

Wow! This stinks of someone who has never been self-employed. What would happen to her business if multiple people did this!

You seem to think she should give you special treatment because you've recommended her to other people, like she owes you commission or something.

I assume you'll be happy if your boss or your DH's boss rings up tomorrow morning and says don't bother coming in to work, I'm closing the office today and I'm not going to pay you?

There's no point in reminding the tutor that she roled over a lesson that the tutor cancelled at short notice as the tutor was legally required to refund or role over the lesson as the tutor was unable to meet her contractual obligations. There is no such requirement or legal obligation to do the same when the client cancels at short notice.
These are completely different circumstances @PWPmum owes the money and is just too cheap and entitled to accept this fact

YABU.

You would have a point if you gave more notice so she could rebook. I realise you couldn't, but it still means she ca't very easily rebook the slot. The risk of inconvenience for an ill child lies with the parent of that child - especially where she has offered an alternative slot.

You're beyond unreasonable but you seem genuinely puzzled as to why!

This is her business. She relies on the money. You’re unreasonable.

YABVU. She offered you an alternative, which she didn't have to do, but it's not convenient for you. That's unfortunate but it's life.
And your son is so ill he can't go to a tutor session but is still planning to attend a sports club on the weekend instead of taking the alternative lesson!
You have a contract for the tutor and it says you can't cancel on the day. So you can't cancel on the day, that simple.
The other stuff is irrelevant. I assume you recommended her because she's good and thus presumably busy. That doesn't mean she owes you money and it certainly doesn't negate the agreement you have with her.

So when several students are ill in one month and she doesn't make rent, do you think her landlord will just let her off? She has bills to pay and she can't just forfeit the fee every time someone is ill, or goes on holiday, or no-shows.

Why do you need a tutor for SATS

SATS are a reflection on the teaching he receives at school. If it is so bad that tutors need to be used to skew the results then it is giving people who look at the school false hope that the schools teaching is good

She did the right thing OP, I have a 24 hour cancellation policy too. Plus didn't she offer the weekend instead?!

In reality it becomes a complete nightmare if you don't enforce this as you end up with different appts all over the place. She wasn't being mean, she just needs to logistically organised.

When my DS had SATs it was solely to assess the school's teaching and had no bearing on his educational progression

Are the results used for something else in other parts of the UK??

I am a tutor and I've been very reasonable in the past, like many others on here have commented, offering alternative slots if possible. I often tutor for children of friends or ex work colleagues, and they have always given me as much notice as possible if they need to cancel.
If I am unwell or have to change the day due to an emergency cropping up, there is no charge.
However, if a parent cancels on the day, of course they shouldn't be refunded or not have to pay. Even if the tutor has a waiting list, there is no way they'd be able to arrange that slot to be filled that evening.

I've had some very entitled parents, if their child is late, they want the time knocking off the payment, or the time extended.

Last year I was due to start an online lesson at a certain time, no sign of the student. I called the mum who told me they'd gone shopping and were still on the car park. I no longer tutor for that family.

As a tutor it can be so awkward to ask for missed payments or reinforce T&Cs as it's just you.
I hate using Tutorful as they take a huge amount of money, but it takes out the awkwardness of paying as they take care of the payment and you still get paid if cancelled within 24 hours or if the student doesn't turn up.
The cost of my lesson is prep, teaching for one hour, setting homework and marking the homework and providing feedback.

Is this a reverse or are you just not intelligent enough to realise that you are being very unreasonable ?

You need to just pay the tutor.
When my mum died, I had a hair appointment that day. I cancelled and still had to pay. Its in the policy, it was less than 24 hours and she couldn’t fill my slot. She did give me a reduced price that covered the rent on her chair but I paid what she was owed. People have mortgages and bills. You can’t say because you have sent business her way that she should credit you. Thats how businesses work? Word of mouth? 😂 This is not the first batshit tutor thread I have seen on here tbf.

If your employer had no work for you one day @PWPmum would you be happy to not be paid? It's absolutely standard to charge and I'm sure she has been bitten in the past by people taking the piss.....

She cancelled, it costs her.

You cancel, it costs you.

It's really as simple as that.

It's the same with the vast majority of children's activities.

If you are sure the tutor is being so unreasonable, maybe the sports club will be generous enough to refund you if you choose to miss a session so you can attend the alternative tuition session?

As for the recommendations, I'm assuming you did this to help other parents and because you were happy with her work. Or did you feel she owes you money/loss of income for this? That is basically what you're suggesting.

99% of respondents tell the OP she's being unreasonable.

OP: "But it just feels a bit off."

No it doesn't OP. It's common sense and good business practice. It doesn't matter how many people you've recommended her to, or how much of a favour you feel you've done her by these recommendations. It's not 'a bit off', it's just standard.

It's hardly uncommon to have to pay for an appointment cancelled (or not required due to illness) at short notice. No refunds, no credits rolled forward.

Accept you are in the wrong OP and pay your tutor.

I always offered an alternative time when I could but being fully booked it wasn't always possible.

Unfortunately, I think some people consider tutors to be at the bottom of the pile when it comes to education.

There's a lot more to it than parents often think.

I spent hundreds of pounds on equipment and books, there's wear and tear on your home if the come to you, the cost of professional fees and insurance.

AND the time before the lesson when you're preparing.
The fee you pay covers maybe 30 mins of prep for a child - planning, photocopying material (costs incurred there), keeping records, etc.

No tutor ( a good one!) just opens a book or provides a worksheet the minute your child arrives at the door.

This is why, if you cancel with no notice, the tutor could have already spent 30 mins preparing your child's lesson.

My fees were half a term paid in advance.

Very occasionally, I'd 'let off' a reliable parent if there was some bad family emergency and take the hit. But usually they insisted I was paid.

Of course you should pay, very unreasonable of you to consider not doing so.

She rolled the credit over because she was breaking her arrangement with you, she won’t roll it over when you break your agreement with her. It’s not hard to understand.

She will have planned her working week, and her finances, based on x number of pupils paying x amount of money. If she rolled credit forward for every child she wouldn’t be able to plan her finances. If you want people to be in business to provide services like tutoring it has to be financially possible to predict income.

It's her job OP - what she does to pay bills and buy food. If you were given tomorrow off work unasked for but told you wouldn't be paid, would you be ok with it?

What is her cancellation policy.
If she is unwell and can’t do the lesson that is a different matter?
I do regular language and exercise lessons. If I’m unwell and cancel and it’s within the cancellation penalty period - usually 24 hours then that’s on my and I lose the lesson.

because it was her fault that time.........

People like you are probably the reason she asks for payment in advance, she's probably been stiffed in the past .........