To think the dentist shouldn't charge me for cancelling?

[SneakyGremlins]

Have a dentist appointment at 2PM today, but emailed this morning to cancel as I have been vomiting off and on overnight and thing I'm coming down with something. Dentist acknowledged email but said they would "probably" still have to charge for a late cancellation.

AIBU to think this isn't fair? Do they want me to go in and throw up?

If your boss emailed you in the morning to say they were sick so dont bother coming in because they weren't paying you, then you would be very pissed. Same with dentist, your sick so why should they not be paid?

Luckily they got the spot filled. But you could have still gone to the appointment even though you were sick just to avoid the charge.

No please don’t come to us with d+v
We don’t want it. Nor do any of the other patients that day

That's really unfair given the op is on esa

I'm a scheduler for a dentist. You wouldn't believe the amount of bullshit stories we get from people cancelling last minute. It gets to the point where you doubt everyone's excuse. And unfortunately while I'm sure you really are sick, vomiting is the most used excuse as nobody wants someone being sick in their office.

Is it fair that you'll be charged when you're genuinely sick? No, not really. But I understand why they did it.

If the OP gets free treatment it's obviously an NHS dentist. It seems insane that someone who would get the appointment free if they turned up should have to pay for not doing so.
The dentist is paid by the NHS for treating you. If you cancel he doesn't get paid for that appointment. Just the same as a paid or private appointment.
Nothing insane about that.

Oh fuck off if you think the OP Is "lucky" to get free treatment. She's on ESA so already has some form of long term condition. Being on esa is shit.

Anyone who gets free dental treatment is lucky. Lots of people have long term conditions and still have to work and can’t afford to see a dentist. Like a PP highlighted, it’s a real problem. It seems a bit off to be complaining at being charged for a short notice DNA when you’re actually receiving free treatment already.

ambostraw I won’t spoon feed you my subsequent responses but your reading comprehension really needs some work

so where should she have magicked the cancellation fee from lolly? It’s income related which means she is on a low income and has long term conditions.

That’s not luck.

They are not allowed to charge late cancellation or no-show fees for an NHS appointment.

I suggest anyone that has paid one gets writing a letter to get it back.

I could pay the cancellation fee. I mean the electric would shut off and I'd have no food for a week, but "lucky" me, eh?

If it's that much of an issue for you, you should have taken out insurance

It doesn't exist. Whereas there IS insurance for self-employed people to insure against loss of income.

They're a business. It's a risk of doing business. It happens. Also they often run behind, so a missed appointment gives them a chance to catch up as long as they know it's been cancelled.

As I said, they wouldn't pay you if they cancelled on the day because they were ill. Even though that might inconvenience you eg you may have paid for childcare or missed a day of work and had to use annual leave or indeed be self-employed yourself and lose out financially.

For the future - as PP NHS dentist can't charge you for missed appointments but it may have other consequences - from NHS website:

Missed appointments
If you know you will not be able to attend an appointment then please give as much notice as possible to the dental practice so they can cancel your appointment and offer your slot to another patient. Your dentist can terminate your treatment if you miss your appointment without letting the dental practice know. You may then need to pay again for a new course of treatment.
While surgeries can't charge you for not turning up, NHS England has the right to ask you to find another dental practice if you continue to miss appointments.

www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/dentists/what-happens-when-you-visit-the-dentist/

They’re a business!!! You know you’re ill but they don’t. They need to ensure they have an effective deterrent for piss takers as they could have filled the slot with another paying customer. I’m sure they won’t charge you anyway

Why would anyone expect a dentist or any other service to bear the costs of your illness? Is it unfortunate you are ill? Yes. Is it someone else's burden to bear the costs? No. It's unfortunate that you are unwell and you now need to cover the costs of your missed appointment. Your life, your responsibility.

Ah never mind sneaky, you may struggle to pay for groceries and wonder how the hell you're going to pay the leccy bill, but at least you have good teeth, free dental an' all innit.

Hope you feel better soon.

It really annoyed me the one time my dental surgery charged me for a no-show. I'd been with the same practice for 12 years at the time and religiously went every six months. Something unavoidable came up and when I called first thing to cancel they told me they'd charge. Fair enough. People obviously do lie but it rankled given my history as a good patient and the fact that the news was delivered very unpleasantly - as if it was a punishment for being a bad, bad girl. I get that the receptionists have to play bad cop with many people but my lot are are particularly charmless. The upshot was that the morning I woke with a raging hangover and still drunk I dragged my sorry arse into the surgery for my check up. It wasn't pleasant for me or for the hygienist or dentist but I guess they are used to dealing with worse smells than stale alcohol fumes in their line of work.

In my experience, those who get any treatment for free are much more likely to miss appointments. The same way that those who don't pay prescription charges are much more likely to continually request automatic refills of prescriptions they no longer take. Sadly, for some people if it "free at the point of delivery" then they will just take take take.
I say this after 16 years in the frontline NHS.
I hope you feel better soon OPI hope you can understand

Sorry, posted too soon:

I hope you feel better soon OP
I'm sure you can imagine that some will lie about being sick to miss an inconvenient appt

I don’t see how that’s relevant that you would struggle to pay the cancellation fee? Lots of people would struggle to pay it, people who are in work or out of work. That doesn’t mean cancellation fees shouldn’t exist. They’re a necessary deterrent sometimes for people who are time wasters. You only have to look at the amount wasted in NHS trusts with primary care services by people not showing up to their appointments to realise the impact it has if people don’t show without cancelling, or cancel at such short notice the slot can’t be used for anything else.

Your ‘I guess I won’t be able to afford electricity if I pay the fee’ is only something you’ve brought up now someone has actually said yes, you’re being unreasonable anyway, pop it in your opening post if the issue of whether you can pay it or not is relevant to whether the fee should exist.

Yabu. Its 24 hours notice to cancel appt. standard charge. Wish the nhs charged for missed appts.