AIBU to not pay for lesson

[Tunsey]

My DS goes to music lessons each week. He really enjoys it and he likes his tutor. The tutor runs a private business and asks for notice if we’re unable to attend (fair enough). So, when we’ve had school trips or holidays we’ve always given him at leat two weeks notice that DS won’t be attending.

However on two separate occasions we missed the lesson because of a traffic accident and bad traffic. So I called to let him know, apologising but obviously letting the tutor know that circumstances are out of our control. On both occasions he’s been rather rude saying we don’t value his time. On the second occasion he said that we’d need to pay for the lesson we’ve missed.

I don’t think that right because a) he’s never stated this before; b) my DS has been having lessons for over 18 months; and c) we can’t control traffic.

Am I being unreasonable- should I pay for the missed lesson?

I work in a similar type of service role. Within 48 hours I expect to be paid in full, it's my livelihood and I have bills to pay. He can't fill the slot at such short notice so of course you should pay. I'm actually pretty shocked that you think this is unreasonable.

Although I do always provide my T&Cs after being stung by CFs.

Would you expect to be paid if you were at work but your boss didn't make it in because they got stuck in traffic?

You should pay.

He is unreasonable to be ratty with with because you can’t get there on time due to bad traffic, it is out of your control. You should nonetheless pay him for the lesson.

The traffic isn't the teacher's problem, it's yours. You made the commitment to the teacher so you pay.

It doesn't look like OP is coming back.

I pay a half term in advance for my DC's music lessons. The teacher will refund a lesson or try to fit it in another time if she is away but she's not obliged to if we are away or kids are ill etc. Sometimes she can fit them in another day and sometimes she can't.