AIBU to charge a cancellation fee

[NeedToChangeMyLightBulb]

I tutor a child for maths.
He is almost 2 school years behind where he should be, really shy and I feel like I am needed.
Family moved (they rent), out of the blue in August. Gave me a weeks notice. New house takes me over an hour to drive to but they begged me to keep on tutoring the child as we have a good rapport and responds well to me. Compromised with extra 30 mins on the lesson to make it worthwhile but fortnightly not weekly- family also offered me petrol money as I am driving for 2.5 hrs usually.

Now the problems:
-no petrol money has ever materialised
-they cancel me the night before (less than 12hrs in advance) or a few hours the same day before the lesson allllllll the time

Interested to find out if other people who pay for similar lessons usually would pay a cancellation fee of say, 50% if less than 24hrs warning??
Would I BU??

They cancelled a bit before they moved, but this month they’ve cancelled 4 times!! I had earmarked the money, but worse than that, I feel taken advantage of.

Would I BU or are they BU?

You know that even if they are totally lovely they aren’t valuing your time appropriately

In what other service could a client just randomly cancel at short notice and not pay? Once yes you may go with it but repeatedly shows they think they can get away with it

Email politely and say the current arrangement is leaving you out of pocket and you have a waiting list of clients locally. If they wish to continue then you will need paying in advance and also costs to include travel.

I think you’re massively undervaluing your time, and it seems from your past posts that you need this money from tutoring? Have you got QTS? What age are you tutoring? Just to put it into perspective for you, the last time I tutored (I have QTS and it was GCSE) I charged £30ph and they came to my house. I have colleagues who charge £40ph + for A level maths. You’re missing out on 4 hours of work for approx £120.
I’ve stopped tutoring now and I’m constantly turning people away, you should find more local students no problem!

Also, the work I do now I charge a month in advance. If kids don’t attend, I still get paid. I’ve never had a complaint about that, and the reason it’s there is because they are booking and paying for a regular session, which I save for them and otherwise can’t earn an income on that session if they cancel.

Op you need to be charging mileage- not petrol, your time out of the house is worth more than 0. If they want the service they can pay for it. I don’t agree with sacking them off. I would email & politely say as you’ve earmarked the time for them, in future if they cancel with less then 24 hours notice they should have to pay for the lesson regardless. & as the travelling does not only cost you in petrol, but also time & vehicle depreciation, they’ll have to pay mileage. Sign it off with please let me know if you are willing to agree to the above so we can continue our work relationship.
Then send them invoices every (whatever day you go there/due to go there).
All of this is standard procedure but I do think they should be given the chance to pay for the service.

You should do what my DD piano teacher does. All fees are paid in advance and she will not refund if you cancel less than 48hrs before. This is her job and she ensures that all the people she teaches sign a contract. She didnt used to do this but she got fed up with short notice cancellations and people not paying. You need to toughen up....

You need to take payment in advance for booked sessions inclusive of travel. So if they book two sessions then they pay that and the travel upfront. Then charge them a cancellation fee on a sliding scale depending on notice given: ie one day full charge, 2 days 87.5%,3 days 75% or whatever you think reasonable.

You are being taken for a real mug

All those hours travelling could be PAID hours for someone else

You need to get business-like and replace them with other clients

If they can't come to you, that's not your problem if you can get other clients
If you can't find other clients ... you're doing something wrong

I have music lessons, as does dd. If either of us has to cancel an appointment with under 24 hours notice then i pay for the lesson. My teacher hasn't asked for this actually, but it is what i would have to do with my chiropractor etc, so i always do it with my music teacher too. I know that if i messed her around too often then she probably wouldn't want to teach me. Nor would it be very respectful of her professionalism, if i were to treat her like that. I love my lessons and she is an excellent teacher, i do not want to repay all her hard work by not treating her properly.
I think that they are treating you terribly ! The distance alone is surely not tenable? I understand that you want to help this little boy, but i really think that this distance is unworkable, you are working an extra two hours unpaid, and paying for petrol on top, and they still dont have the decency to pay if they cancel at short notice ? Bad, very bad. I would end the relationship.

100% fees in advance for all clients: essential, otherwise people will piss you around

and your time travelling is never as well paid as tutoring time, so only accept clients who visit you

Ask them to come to you? See what happens.
It isn't fair to you to have some many cancellations without any payment.

Use Skype or webcam to do the lesson, google remote tutoring

They sound like the type of people who aren’t deliberately awkward but rather they’re wrapped up in their own lives and don’t stop to consider others. We all know the type - they’re usually very friendly which makes it harder to take a stand with them but they won’t change until you do.

Your plan sounds a good one - you can do it - remember you are more valuable to them than they are to you! Good luck!

My DD has singing lessons so similar kind of structure we pay a block of six lessons in advance. Cancellation under 48 hours is loss of lesson, before 48 hours you need to reschedule lesson.
The singing teacher is over subscribed partly because she is excellent, but partly because she is very business like. She issues an invoice for 6 lessons that needs to be paid 48 hours before the first lesson.

I charge monthly or termly in advance only. No refunds for cancelled sessions but I will reschedule by mutual arrangemen during school holidays if notice is given. The furthest I travel to tutor is just over 2 miles and for that I charge £35 ph. I also offer tuition in my own home for £32 ph. I am always full with a waiting list. You are running a business and should value yourself.

What is it with all these tutoring aibus at the moment?