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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

About being charged for missed appointment?

449 replies

Buttercupdaisies · 27/05/2023 09:57

For several months I’ve had a weekly appointment somewhere. This week, I had to go into hospital as am 33 weeks pregnant and had an injury (all was fine.) I rang up and explained and apologised.

They have just charged my card the full amount. I suspect a lot or people will say I am BU but I don’t feel great about it, tbh. Just wondered what the consensus was.

OP posts:
ChairFloorWall · 27/05/2023 12:54

Oh and you’ll have agreed to having the card on file and the cancellation fee T&C. Read what your signing up for instead of being all woe is me.

Hankunamatata · 27/05/2023 12:54

3 hours before appointment! Sorry op of course you have to pay, no matter the emergency.

continentallentil · 27/05/2023 13:02

I did give notice but given it was a bit of a last minute emergency by nature it was only three hours before. I do understand that they are a business and maybe they will have no problem filling my spot, I don’t know. All I know is it doesn’t feel great.

This is cracked - you have them 3 hours notice and you think they can fill your slot?!

No you don’t understand it’s a business - how would you like it if 30 quid was docked from your days pay.

As for ‘all you know is it doesn’t feel good’ - your feelings aren’t going to help the business pay their bills.

You aren’t a child OP. Grow up.

7eleven · 27/05/2023 13:02

Irridescantshimmmer · 27/05/2023 10:28

It seems like pregnancy discrimination to fine you for a missed appointment, after all you would have had to be seen at the hospital as an emergency and for the safety of your unborn child.

To fine you because of this seems unethical, so I suggest you speak either to your local councillor or contact citizens advice bureau who can help you with this.

Don’t be silly

7eleven · 27/05/2023 13:03

I hope you’re ok OP, but frankly, why should the business bear the cost of your medical issue and not you?

Ellicent · 27/05/2023 13:05

Lack of discretion is the issue here - not whether something is officially in Ts and Cs. And it's a tricky one. I see equally from both sides, but tbh more on the side of the practitioner in this case. They should, however, have 100% told you they would still be charging when you cancelled and not just put through an authorised payment on your card.

I saw a therapist for a few years. A couple of times I was rubbish and missed the appointment - they charged, fair enough. One time I had a family medical emergency - stroke, very little notice (an hour if that), and they didn't charge. I would have been okay with them charging as clearly they couldn't ever fill the slot, but I appreciated the discretion at a difficult time.

But from the practitioners side - when it's something one on one, the practitioner has a direct loss of income. It's more than 'not charging' -it's effectively giving money away not to charge for it, their time in that day when they would have got that money is gone.

Would you, when you have a right to take home £150 in a day from 5 clients, but choose to only take home £120 despite being at the work venue all day? In pressured times as these, it's much harder to do this.

TeaYarn · 27/05/2023 13:06

So many people grudging the OP getting a refund 😂😂😂

ShandaLear · 27/05/2023 13:08

TeaYarn · 27/05/2023 10:33

Just tell them you’re vulnerable and this payment has put you in financial difficulty. I stand refund.

Why would you lie to stiff a small business out of money you legitimately owe them? They still have to pay for staff, electricity, rent, etc. If you don’t cancel on time that’s a space that can’t be filled. The money was already earmarked for your appointment. It doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant or about to fly to the moon or have a sudden attack of terrible diarrhoea. Those bills still have to be paid.

7eleven · 27/05/2023 13:13

Nobody likes to pay for something they haven’t had, but at the end of the day somebody has to, and in this case it’s the person who cancelled. The therapist wouldn’t have been able to fill the slot.

LotsOfBalloons · 27/05/2023 13:13

Yeah I wouldn't expect a refund with 3 hours notice. You are basically asking the person to give you £30 of their pay even though they were there at work and available etc.

Not many people would be happy with going to work but then getting a few hours docked because there were less customers for example.

purplecorkheart · 27/05/2023 13:13

OP, sorry but I think you are taking this too personally. You are a client of the business not their friend. You are one of many clients. Three hours notice regardless of the reason was clearly not enough time to fill your appointment slot so you were charged. They still have to pay overheads etc regardless whether you are there or not. They cannot turn around to their electric supplier and say our client did not make their appointment so as a loyal customer of your company we do not have to pay.

7eleven · 27/05/2023 13:14

You may not have been the only person to cancel that week.

continentallentil · 27/05/2023 13:14

TeaYarn · 27/05/2023 13:06

So many people grudging the OP getting a refund 😂😂😂

They aren’t.

Nobody would suggest she shouldn’t try asking for one. Just that the business is perfectly entitled to say no.

quiettimes · 27/05/2023 13:20

I had a hairdresser attempt to charge me a cancellation fee - I filed a chargeback with my bank and won. My case is different as I did actually contact their hairdresser with enough notice to cancel, but they just didn’t cancel it on their end. It wasn’t a mistake. They didn’t want to cancel so essentially breached their own T&Cs. Easy win - my bank reversed the charge as soon as the transaction stopped pending, and I just had to sign some forms and send over evidence to keep the money.

You have a chargeback as an option I suppose.

I think as a goodwill gesture, they could give you a discount on your next session.

Original poster
Buttercupdaisies · 27/05/2023 13:28

I probably am taking it a bit personally. I’m not completely unreasonable and I do see it from their side, but equally I feel there has been little or no attempt to see it from mine by them. There’s clearly no way I am going to go to the appointment with being told to go to hospital, so it is one of those.

It is a bit annoying that so many posters are berating me for not having read the T and Cs when they haven’t read my posts, though!

OP posts:
PickNewName · 27/05/2023 13:28

Buttercupdaisies · 27/05/2023 10:18

I do get that. I just suppose as a reliable customer some goodwill would have been nice and would have meant I’d have continued to go.

They can’t pay their electricity bill by giving people at short notice ‘good Will’.

Londontown12 · 27/05/2023 13:29

ilovesooty · 27/05/2023 12:45

Oh for goodness sake
You're not the business owner and you aren't in a position to say what you'd have done.

I appreciate that the OP couldn't help what happened but 3 hours is very short notice and it doesn't seem fair that the business owner should stand the cost of an appointment if it couldn't be filled

Show quote history

Actually I am a business owner and if u treat a regular like that u lose future income and bad reputation!! Losing £30 for one appointment or gain £120 for the next month it’s not rocket science !!

Original poster
Buttercupdaisies · 27/05/2023 13:29

Well no, but if the business is struggling so much that one cancelled appointment means they can’t pay their electricity bill then surely they’ll miss the regular £30 per week more? That is what I would have thought. In any case, I was just interested in knowing what others thought. I’m not going to argue it but equally I’m not going to be making another appointment, so only the business will know how much of a loss either will be!

OP posts:
3girls1boy1puppy · 27/05/2023 13:30

Whilst I totally get your last minute cancellation was unavoidable and you have every right to feel a bit annoyed …….. I am on the side of the business. When you make an online booking and enter your card details there will be t&cs that you are signing up for. If you aren’t happy with their cancellation policy then choose a different business. You knowingly accepted their t&cs or chose not to bother to read them.

My best friend is a lash technician. She averages eight 1hr appointments per day. At one point she went through a stage where about 10-20% of all appointments were cancelling/rearranging at the last minute, or just not showing up. The online booking system she uses charges her £2 per booking, plus she has to pay rent/electric for the room she uses in a salon. She’s also paying her Childminder £6ph to have her child while she works. So for every customer who cancels last minute, she isn’t just losing £30, she’s also losing £6 for childminding she didn’t need, plus £2 for the online booking, plus a percentage of her room rates. It’s quite a lot out of pocket for someone who is self employed and struggling to make ends meet.

LIZS · 27/05/2023 13:31

Have you tried to rebook? Maybe they will give you credit against the next one.

Moveoverdarlin · 27/05/2023 13:31

I agree OP, I would be miffed. Sometimes when you run a business you have to have good will. I wouldn’t go again. You’ve been going every week for the past few months and as a heavily pregnant woman, had to attend an emergency appointment. Where is the sisterhood? Despite their policies and T&Cs in order to get that repeat business sometimes you treat people on a case by case basis. You didn’t just not show up.

Original poster
Buttercupdaisies · 27/05/2023 13:37

@3girls1boy1puppy i do understand that. It must be very hard, and there will be times that charging for missed cancellations and appointments is appropriate. I’m not sure mine was one of them, though. I also am not keen on them having my card to charge. My hairdressers do charge for missed appointments but they don’t have your card details on file, you just can’t make another appointment without paying, so I imagine that most people wouldn’t make another appointment.

Mostly I do take these things on the chin but I think it’s because the way it’s been done seems a bit sneaky somehow.

OP posts:
Parker231 · 27/05/2023 13:39

Moveoverdarlin · 27/05/2023 13:31

I agree OP, I would be miffed. Sometimes when you run a business you have to have good will. I wouldn’t go again. You’ve been going every week for the past few months and as a heavily pregnant woman, had to attend an emergency appointment. Where is the sisterhood? Despite their policies and T&Cs in order to get that repeat business sometimes you treat people on a case by case basis. You didn’t just not show up.

Who do you think should pay the member of staff who was at work to do this appointment?

TeaYarn · 27/05/2023 13:39

ShandaLear · 27/05/2023 13:08

Why would you lie to stiff a small business out of money you legitimately owe them? They still have to pay for staff, electricity, rent, etc. If you don’t cancel on time that’s a space that can’t be filled. The money was already earmarked for your appointment. It doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant or about to fly to the moon or have a sudden attack of terrible diarrhoea. Those bills still have to be paid.

Show quote history

Why wouldn’t you lie to protect your own money? Do you make a habit of paying for things you don’t get?

TeaYarn · 27/05/2023 13:41

continentallentil · 27/05/2023 13:14

They aren’t.

Nobody would suggest she shouldn’t try asking for one. Just that the business is perfectly entitled to say no.

Show quote history

Yes. They. Are.

Try reading the thread again. That will help pass some time in your weekend.

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