About being charged for missed appointment?

[Buttercupdaisies]

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.

So the consensus is overwhelmingly that you're unreasonable but you disagree

I don’t think it is as cut and dried as that @Clymene . I don’t think I’ve ever said that I can’t see things from their point of view, the opposite in fact, but by the same token I know this feels rather grabby and sneaky and I’m reluctant to continue going on that basis. Even if that is unreasonable, they are still my feelings.

Also, I do always bear in mind with MN is that there are a lot of people who will always try to find a way to say you’re being unreasonable, because they enjoy giving people a hard time, and there are also a lot of people who pay very stringent adherence to rules without accepting that life doesn’t always work in that way and that flexibility and goodwill are positive human traits.

So essentially I do take on board all points but I also do take them with a little touch of salt, because otherwise you do end up with situations like the poster who’s dad passed away.

Same thing happened to me last week.
My son was taken in to hospital and my appointment was first thing Monday morning.

I rang and explained and was told to get a letter from the hospital.
So I did and I didn't get charged.

Is that something you could do @Buttercupdaisies .

But I see what you mean about being annoyed they should at least give you one strike .

Thinking about it, if someone passed away very suddenly and didn’t make a pre booked appointment, I guess that they would still charge the card but that feels very, very wrong to me.

Did you ask them if you could transfer your appointment to another day and communicated that you knew they potentially could charge you for not turning up, but if it could be switched to avoid that, you'd appreciate it?

I have missed 2 appointments in the past for private physio, with 2 different places. One, i had a 3 week newborn and completely forgot my original time had been changed to an earlier session. I rang up with half hour to spare (appointment was an hour away!) crying down the phone uncontrollably - thanks hormones and sleep deprivation!!! The receptionist was lovely and rescheduled for another day, no charge. The second time more recently it was totally my fault, hadn't checked the appointment time properly. To start they said I'd have to pay, but they ended up having a free slot later that day which i attended so i didn't get charged.

Sorry about your son, @Iamtheonwandlonely . I would rather draw a line to be honest. They weren’t unreasonable to charge me, fair enough but I’m also not unreasonable in choosing not to go back.

@Simpsonn so the injury happened at work. At first I was fine - a bit shocked, but fine, then I started to get some awful cramps. I rang the maternity unit who recommended I come immediately. Work wouldn’t let me go at first (and that is a while other story and I’m definitely not BU with that!) but eventually I got out. I rang up, but no one answered and I left a voicemail message explaining and apologising profusely. The signal in our hospital is dreadful so to be fair I don’t know if they called me back, but I didn’t have a voicemail message. When I got out I had an email receipt sent to my inbox.

I can see why their actions have left a bit of a bad taste with you if you are a regular customer.

You probably do not feel valued and it feels a little bit underhand.

You need to weigh up which is worse for you, to keep on going, knowing that they did this or to stop going and find somewhere new that you don’t know well.

I can see how not charging you for a one off seems fair to you but from the business side of things, perhaps five people have done the same thing already that week and also want a one off goodwill gesture to not be charged. The business owner still has all their costs and probably turned customers away because they were full. Now they have unfillable slots, rent, childcare etc to pay so they could work and no reimbursement for the fact you didn’t turn up.

As a PP said, train companies expect you to pay in advance and if you miss the train then you don’t get a refund.

I get why they charged you. It’s fair enough.

I also get why you don’t want to go back…it does leave a bad taste in your mouth.

If I give someone such short notice I still pay even if they tell me not to. It’s their income after all - with more time they could have found someone else. It’s not fair to leave them shorter this week due to my issues. I see it more on goodwill on my part that I care enough about them to recognise that

If you regularly missed fair enough but I wouldn’t go back either after that.

You can usually get another train though. Also, it works both ways so that if the train is cancelled they have to pay you compensation. I wonder if the business OP uses had to cancel appointments for an emergency reason they would offer customers compensation . I expect not.

I don’t know if you run your own business or not, from your comments I’m guessing not. They have to have T&Cs in place for a reason. It doesn’t mean they’re horrible and uncaring.

They’re not a charity and yes, shit happens but you cannot expect them to finance every customer’s predicament.

It is not "overwhelming"!

I don’t run my own business, but honestly I would be a bit shocked at a dead persons card being used. Perhaps most people disagree, I don’t know. My dad passed away very suddenly, one of those literally fine one moment and then gone the next, and I would have been so upset if a business had taken money from his account. But if it’s in the T and Cs …

I don’t understand why you’re so reluctant to call them and ask if you can use the charge for your next appointment. It’s the most logical thing to do. By saying you won’t return without even having a conversation does seem like throwing your toys out the pram if I’m honest.

Many places have an automated system where your card is debited if you cancel or don’t turn up. Without speaking to them, you don’t know if this is the case or not

3hrs before and via a voicemail at that, I would also charge you. It is incredible how many people make excuses, lie, don't care and they are the people to blame for you being charged. If it was just those who genuinely had a need most businesses can accommodate. But there are just so many liers out there that those who don't end up penalised.

Well, it’s 70/30 to be fair, @WomblingTree86 . But I know how I feel about it - I am just interested in the views of others. As I’ve said, I’m not going to demand the money back but I’m also not going to make another appointment. The business might not care about that; equally, they might need as many regular customers as they can get. We just can’t know!

Well, there wasn’t really much else I could do, @Marchitectmummy !

@SamW98 i don’t mean to be provocative but I don’t really understand what you’re not understanding. I don’t want to go again. I don’t wish to go back. That’s really all there is to it.

These things all come down to communication.

If a client misses the deadline to cancel, but before the appointment, then rings, apologises and asks if it might be possible to re-book….they might exercise discretion and not charge.

Even if someone rings the next day and apologises, they might not charge.

If someone rings after the charge has been applied and apologises,is pleasant, asks if it might be possible to re-book….they might let you, if this hasn’t happened before.

However, if there is zero communication, all that business knows is you didn’t turn up…no idea if you forgot, didn’t fancy coming,had an emergency or anything else.

To me it makes sense to apply the charge. Many businesses will do that in the circumstances BUT will then consider refunding or re-booking if the customer communicates with them. That customer usually won’t fail to turn up again, or Willie spect to be charged and not get a refund.

BUT it sounds like OP hasn’t communicated. Instead, she didn’t turn up and even after the charge doesn’t want to speak to them, just not use the business anymore. Failure of communication is actually the root of most issues.

From a business point of view, people need to realise too that customers actually tell all kinds of lies unfortunately. People will say they had an accident or someone died,in order to avoid paying. It is extremely hard for businesses to know who is being truthful and who isn’t. Blanket policies dont have ambiguities and are clear-cut.

Ive been charged before for a no-show. I was cross with myself. I rang up and profusely apologised and hoped they might re-book and use the mo eye for another appointment…..but I accepted they might not and that was their right. In that circumstance, they did re-book me. I was honest that I had forgotten. I think they appreciated that more than me telling them about a crisis. However,I appreciate that they were £50 out of pocket because of my carelessness. And I would have been willing to own the error which was mine and accept errors sometimes cost us and no-one else should lose out because of them.

It's not grudging the OP getting a refund. It's understanding that the business ended up with a very short notice cancellation and quite rightly didn't want to be out of pocket. They should have communicated that to the OP though.

I would feel the same.

WTF?