24 Hour Cancellation Policy

[SpeckledlyHen]

Just wondered what others thoughts were on this. I had a hair appointment booked for this evening. It was for cut/colour/blowdry.
My husband had an emergency and had to take my car this morning (his is in the garage getting repaired) so I rang the hairdressers first thing this morning to rearrange my appointment to either tomorrow or Monday/Tuesday. This is a small village salon, everyone knows everyone and my husband also goes there.

I left a message on the ansaphone and no-one answered. Someone rang me back and said that it was company policy to charge 50% of the cost. I said I would try and see if I could get there. For context, we live rurally so no public transport (well there is a bus about 4 times a day) and I have rarely been able to get a taxi here even when booking a week in advance! Anyhow, I realised it would be really tricky and awkward to get there so I rang them back and told them I really could not make it due to not having transport. They charged me 50%.

My issue is that I have been going to this salon since it opened - approx 5 years or so. I go every 6-7 weeks and pay about £130-£150 - I buy their products and when they opened up after covid gave them large tips each time to try and make up the shortfall they had lost due to not working. The only other time I cancelled was in a dire emergency (was hospitalised).

Whilst I know what the policy is I do think sometimes these things should be discretionary. I know the receptionist did go and check with the stylist and still decided to charge me. Granted it may not have been her choice to use discretion.

I dunno, I just feel really aggrieved by it and now thinking of going elsewhere, I think it is a bit short sighted of them - I would have gone in within a day or two so they still would have got my money. Now I really don't feel like going back at all to be honest.

@JLQ1020

I think its fair especially in the current climate

And in the current climate I paid a huge amount in tips to try and help them with the shortfall of their loss of earnings. One visit I gave them £40 in tips.

@MMAMPWGHAP

You go every 6-7 weeks. Just leave smaller (or no) tips until the money is recouped. You’ve paid them over £4k over the last 5 years.

You are probably right, and this is what I should do. But rightly or wrongly I am smarting a bit about it today. I have recommended them to so many people who were not using them before. I don't really want the products most of the time but I buy them to try and help out. This is in no way a drip feed and completely irrelevant to the original post but this salon started in difficulty due to some local "issues" and I have tried to support them in so many ways other than just getting my hair cut.

If the policy is 24 hours notice why do you think you are so special that it doesn't apply to you. You could have got a taxi.

I don't know why you are getting such a hard time OP.

I think 50% for cancellation is a piss take and the fact they have been so keen to cut off their nose to spite their face is baffling. You spend a lot of money there, and they clearly don't value that so don't go back. Plenty of salons and plenty of stylists about!

The main point is you have booked a slot at a certain cost, they now only get 50% of the payment for that slot. Rebooking wont make up for lost income on your original booking.

It's a classic AIBU? MN- yes! OP- no I'm
Not 😂😂😂

It doesn't sound like op even tried to catch a bus or taxi, maybe she was hoping the hairdresser would go and pick her up😂😂😂

It's very common for businesses to have a cancellation policy, I imagine we will get more of it, restaurants really get screwed with no shows

I agree with you - as you're such a regular customer, they should have cut you some slack, in the interests of customer relations. I'd probably go elsewhere for a few months and if you go back to them no more very generous tips

I operate a business in which I see clients and I wouldn’t have charged you the cancellation fee because of your previous loyalty, even though you rescheduling would have lost me money.

My reputation and repeat business is worth more to me than a small bird in the hand now. While it’s technically ok for the salon to charge, it feels mean and short-sighted on their part. I suspect that even if you go back now, you will cut down your spend on tips and products and stop recommending them, so they will lose out more in the long run than if they’d sucked up the appointment reschedule.

Rather silly on their part.

I also can’t believe these replies! Discretion includes taking into account things like previous loyalty and reliability.

You are not being unreasonable, and I would go elsewhere.

@PheasantsNest

If the policy is 24 hours notice why do you think you are so special that it doesn't apply to you. You could have got a taxi.

I really don't think I am special. If you read my OP you would have realised it would have been highly unlikely for me to get a taxi - admittedly I could have rang, but after 12 years of living here and trying to get taxi's to realise that they are only interested in airport runs that you have to pre book a week in advance I don't even bother phoning for one now. A 5 mile trip into the village is not what our one man band taxi is looking for here.

@FredaFox

It's a classic AIBU? MN- yes! OP- no I'm Not 😂😂😂

It doesn't sound like op even tried to catch a bus or taxi, maybe she was hoping the hairdresser would go and pick her up😂😂😂

It's very common for businesses to have a cancellation policy, I imagine we will get more of it, restaurants really get screwed with no shows

I haven't posted in AIBU though? So not really sure about your reply to be honest..

I agree with the OP, given her track record the approach of the hairdressers feels overly penal.

I would be inclined to send an email asking them to cross reference your name against countless prior bookings and asking as an exceptional circumstance whether what you’ve paid can be used against credit on your next cut.

Yes, you're a loyal customer but they have lots of loyal customers - they can't afford to never charge any of them for late cancellations.

If you're not sure what the receptionist told the stylist, call back and speak to her and see what she says.

Didn't the receptionist rebook you?

@How2Help

I also can’t believe these replies! Discretion includes taking into account things like previous loyalty and reliability.

You are not being unreasonable, and I would go elsewhere.

This.

@BlackTee40

If you're not sure what the receptionist told the stylist, call back and speak to her and see what she says.

Didn't the receptionist rebook you?

Nope, she seemed so keen to get my card details she didn't bother about the rebooking despite me saying I wanted to rebook, leaving a message to say I wanted to rebook. To be honest after the exchange I didn't fancy pressing the matter.

@BlackTee40

If you're not sure what the receptionist told the stylist, call back and speak to her and see what she says.

Didn't the receptionist rebook you?

To be honest when she went off to speak to the stylist I fully expected her to come back and say, its ok, we won't charge you on this occasion and we will rebook it. When she came back and said we need to charge you and seemed very eager to take my card details the thought of checking with the stylist or querying the rebooking was the last thing I wanted to do.

I think it's unfortunate given your history but it is understandable.

I'm wondering though why your DH got to have your car. Yes he got called to an emergency at short notice, but what if you'd been out? What would he have done then?

@Totallydefeated

I operate a business in which I see clients and I wouldn’t have charged you the cancellation fee because of your previous loyalty, even though you rescheduling would have lost me money.

My reputation and repeat business is worth more to me than a small bird in the hand now. While it’s technically ok for the salon to charge, it feels mean and short-sighted on their part. I suspect that even if you go back now, you will cut down your spend on tips and products and stop recommending them, so they will lose out more in the long run than if they’d sucked up the appointment reschedule.

Rather silly on their part.

This is my point. I have spent so much there. After this I feel as if my business does not mean anything to them so I might as well take it somewhere else. It was a genuine problem. I am in my 50's, I take things like appointments seriously. I had to rebook the Dr the other day and phoned in advance and they were amazed I phoned. Apparently legions of people just don't bother turning up. I did not cancel this appointment lightly. I have grey roots and need it sorting. It would have been so difficult to get there, I was not just winging it out of a "slight" inconvenience. But hey ho, it seems like I am in the minority. The silly thing is because I had cancelled this appointment on them I probably would have given them a good tip, maybe had an extra treatment to make up for it, purchased more products than I needed, but the way it was handled is making me smart a bit. Ok, its making me smart a lot.

@MaggieFS

I think it's unfortunate given your history but it is understandable.

I'm wondering though why your DH got to have your car. Yes he got called to an emergency at short notice, but what if you'd been out? What would he have done then?

Well Maggie, its just one of those things. His was in the garage, mine wasn't, he got called out and we went for the easiest option of taking mine. Neither of us questioned it. It wasn't that type of scenario to be honest.

Whilst I get what you mean I want to explain things from another perspective

I am a hairdresser also and during lockdown - the hair and beauty industry (aside from travel and hospitality) was one of the industries that was hit the hardest. A lot of hairdressers are also self employed so when lockdown happened a lot of us (including myself) was unable to get furlough or much help to keep ourselves and our business’s afloat. Yes there’s was the self employment grant but not everyone was eligible for it - and the ones who were; it was probably not enough to manage through lockdown anyway.

Since lockdown has ended and since this virus has appeared there has been a drastic change to the industry. Our diary for the day isn’t as full as it used to be. Our collumns aren’t as busy as they once were. Products have almost tripled in price. (Ex; The gloves we were buying before lockdown literally quadrupled in price when lockdown ended. Even hair toner that I had been buying for years had tripled in price - but we want our clients to be happy and want to deliver, so we continue to buy it). With people getting sick and being pinged to isolate because they have covid or have been in contact with covid also means that a lot of clients have now started to cancel bookings short notice because of this. Now at first it was agreed in the industry that we wouldn’t charge clients who of course have come into contact with covid or were sick with it - but that started to become the excuse for every cancellation. I’m not saying clients are lying however I am saying that because of how frequent it has become - we have now decided to implement a strict booking fee and strict cancellation charge.

I don’t know your hairdresser but I can definitely assure you that you being charged 50% is not personal and was not done to aggrieviate you - but it was done because we have decided that for us to continue to do the job we love and please our lovely clients - there has to be boundaries.

I find a lot of people question value when it comes to hair and beauty treatments but won’t bat an eyelid when they spend the same or more money on a night out or a holiday.

I don’t mean to upset you at all but I felt I needed to say something as me being in the industry myself I know what it’s like. We can’t please everybody and I know a lot of hairdressers I know personally decided to change career when lockdown happened because they felt hard done by in some way and felt undervalued. Now we are working on changing that and whilst I can see your upset to why you have been charged - please understand that that 50% you paid was to keep your hairdresser in work and a roof over her head.

@CtrlU

Whilst I get what you mean I want to explain things from another perspective

I am a hairdresser also and during lockdown - the hair and beauty industry (aside from travel and hospitality) was one of the industries that was hit the hardest. A lot of hairdressers are also self employed so when lockdown happened a lot of us (including myself) was unable to get furlough or much help to keep ourselves and our business’s afloat. Yes there’s was the self employment grant but not everyone was eligible for it - and the ones who were; it was probably not enough to manage through lockdown anyway.

Since lockdown has ended and since this virus has appeared there has been a drastic change to the industry. Our diary for the day isn’t as full as it used to be. Our collumns aren’t as busy as they once were. Products have almost tripled in price. (Ex; The gloves we were buying before lockdown literally quadrupled in price when lockdown ended. Even hair toner that I had been buying for years had tripled in price - but we want our clients to be happy and want to deliver, so we continue to buy it). With people getting sick and being pinged to isolate because they have covid or have been in contact with covid also means that a lot of clients have now started to cancel bookings short notice because of this. Now at first it was agreed in the industry that we wouldn’t charge clients who of course have come into contact with covid or were sick with it - but that started to become the excuse for every cancellation. I’m not saying clients are lying however I am saying that because of how frequent it has become - we have now decided to implement a strict booking fee and strict cancellation charge.

I don’t know your hairdresser but I can definitely assure you that you being charged 50% is not personal and was not done to aggrieviate you - but it was done because we have decided that for us to continue to do the job we love and please our lovely clients - there has to be boundaries.

I find a lot of people question value when it comes to hair and beauty treatments but won’t bat an eyelid when they spend the same or more money on a night out or a holiday.

I don’t mean to upset you at all but I felt I needed to say something as me being in the industry myself I know what it’s like. We can’t please everybody and I know a lot of hairdressers I know personally decided to change career when lockdown happened because they felt hard done by in some way and felt undervalued. Now we are working on changing that and whilst I can see your upset to why you have been charged - please understand that that 50% you paid was to keep your hairdresser in work and a roof over her head.

Thank you for your perspective. My point (as has been through the whole thread) is I do not question value through hair and beauty treatments. We regularly have threads on MN where people gleefully tell others about their £6 haircut (ok it was a one off but you get the idea). I am the opposite and as I have mentioned, due to the shortfall that I felt my hairdresser might be experiencing, I paid a massive tip. Actually, I will rephrase that, the salon staff were on furlough so got paid. The salon owner was not and was paid dividends. She was like you and did not get paid during lockdown. I once went in for a haircut (no colour) and gave her a £20 tip although she had not touched my hair. A stylist did it that day and I tipped her. This is on top of very expensive surrey salon prices. The 50% I paid to keep the roof over their heads is far less than the 100% they could have charged me 1 day later - and admittedly for the next god knows how many years. I have never once cited "covid" as an excuse to get out of any appointment. The bizarreness of it was my nail tech was here today doing my nails and overheard the conversation and said I was stupid for being honest and I should have said I had covid. Go figure?

@CtrlU

Whilst I get what you mean I want to explain things from another perspective

I am a hairdresser also and during lockdown - the hair and beauty industry (aside from travel and hospitality) was one of the industries that was hit the hardest. A lot of hairdressers are also self employed so when lockdown happened a lot of us (including myself) was unable to get furlough or much help to keep ourselves and our business’s afloat. Yes there’s was the self employment grant but not everyone was eligible for it - and the ones who were; it was probably not enough to manage through lockdown anyway.

Since lockdown has ended and since this virus has appeared there has been a drastic change to the industry. Our diary for the day isn’t as full as it used to be. Our collumns aren’t as busy as they once were. Products have almost tripled in price. (Ex; The gloves we were buying before lockdown literally quadrupled in price when lockdown ended. Even hair toner that I had been buying for years had tripled in price - but we want our clients to be happy and want to deliver, so we continue to buy it). With people getting sick and being pinged to isolate because they have covid or have been in contact with covid also means that a lot of clients have now started to cancel bookings short notice because of this. Now at first it was agreed in the industry that we wouldn’t charge clients who of course have come into contact with covid or were sick with it - but that started to become the excuse for every cancellation. I’m not saying clients are lying however I am saying that because of how frequent it has become - we have now decided to implement a strict booking fee and strict cancellation charge.

I don’t know your hairdresser but I can definitely assure you that you being charged 50% is not personal and was not done to aggrieviate you - but it was done because we have decided that for us to continue to do the job we love and please our lovely clients - there has to be boundaries.

I find a lot of people question value when it comes to hair and beauty treatments but won’t bat an eyelid when they spend the same or more money on a night out or a holiday.

I don’t mean to upset you at all but I felt I needed to say something as me being in the industry myself I know what it’s like. We can’t please everybody and I know a lot of hairdressers I know personally decided to change career when lockdown happened because they felt hard done by in some way and felt undervalued. Now we are working on changing that and whilst I can see your upset to why you have been charged - please understand that that 50% you paid was to keep your hairdresser in work and a roof over her head.

And also, i want to thank you for your explanation, it has made me realise you see us as just ££££ rather maybe clients with genuine problems every now and again. In that regard we are totally interchangeable so hopefully my hairdresser will find a new me!

Are you sure your hairdresser is employed ?

Is she is employed as you say then the decision to charge the 50% would be totally out of her hands. It’s down to the manager/ owner of the business. So therefor your hairdresser would have had no say. Regardless of your loyalty and regardless of tips

If she’s self employed and the decision was hers - then I think you get the point.

Hope this helps x

I presume the 50% is so they don't lose money. Which of course they will if you decide not to return. I would have expected some leeway as a loyal customer