Nail salon no show charge

[Prettybutdumb]

I had a nail appointment recently at a salon that I’ve been frequenting regularly for years. The morning of the appointment my youngest woke up and ran to the loo and poor thing had a bad tummy. I emailed the school, but still had to take the eldest in and it was bad enough that she had an accident on the way to dropping off her sibling.

I messaged the salon as soon as I got back (they weren’t opened yet) to explain what happened and that I won’t be able to make it. This has never happened before. I’ve never been late or had to cancel before. There was no reply and today I saw that my appointment was charged 100% for no show. I completely understand that they have their own employees, costs etc, but isn’t that poor practice? To charge the appointment in full without as much as a conversation or message back when I’ve been a regular customer (I go at least once a month) for so long?

This last minute type of cancellation has happened twice in my life before as I have small children and they can be unpredictable - once with a dentist and a second time with an osteopath. Both said it’s a first occurrence and they won’t charge anything (although their T&C said they would), just offered me another appointment.

I feel pretty miffed and it’s safe to say they’ve lost me as a customer.

Terms and conditions say 50 % they are rude!

@Bluetrews25 oh I totally clocked the name. 😂

My sister runs a business like this and has a lot of regular customers .she is very reasonable and doesnt ask for deposits or anything like that, lets people pay in instalments etc.Just last week she lost a fair amount of money through last minute cancellations (gaps that were too late to fill). Whilst things do come up at the last minute, these people still need to pay staff, rent, electric etc - where else does the money come from? Whilst your are probably a valued customer, I suspect the salon have not taken this decision lightly OP and it it probably as a result if some people taking the piss .

I can see why your annoyed as £100 is a lot of money for a nail appointment.

But I can also see that the business has to make money, I think maybe to charge you 50% would of been more reasonable for the nail technician.

If it was me I would probably wouldn't use her again as £100 is a bit excessive.

I just do walk in's when I get my nails done.

YABVVVVVU

Firstly YABU because you know their T&C's so why do you think you're so special you should not be held to them like other customers?

Secondly, YABU because you didn't even speak to them in person before the appointment - you have no idea if they ever got the message (there may have been an issue with the messaging system or they couldn't access messages for example) or the message may have been heard at your appointment time (eg the salon opens at 10am and your appointment was 10:15am so even if they played the message as soon as they opened you were already a No Show) and that's probably why you were charged the NoShow fee as opposed to the sub 48hr cancellation fee.

Thirdly, YABU because you are complaining that you haven't had the fee waived when you haven't even asked them to do so. For all we know it is an automatic fee system (IE if you aren't there at the appointment start time they record it as a NoShow and the system automatically charges the card on file) but had you actually called and spoken to someone they may have been able to do something about the fee as a goodwill gesture - eg refund part of it back or offer you part credit towards a future booking etc - but if you haven't even spoken to them then how or why should they refund you when the cancellation was 100% your fault?

I think it's quite reasonable to define it as a no show. It was cancelled very last minute by the sound of it.

Let me get this straight, you are happy to pay £100 for your nails but begrudge them that fee when you decide to basically give them no notice to refill the slot? You also seem to be harping on about this losing a loyal customer thing, when in actual fact you arent a loyal customer if you are expecting them to work for free or half of their normal fee. If they are charging £100 for nails they sound pretty high end, so you can forget this whole is it wise to be dropping a "loyal" customer thing too as they'll have clients waiting for slots.

Sorry OP, but if the T&C's say they will take 100% fee, then they are entitled to. I run a small business and if people give me less than 24hrs notice of cancellation, I also charge 100% fee. I still have to cover my bills if clients don't show and although 99% of my clients are lovely and prompt, some people aren't.. Therefore the blanket rule is in place to protect my income and time and that of other clients who can then be slotted in to cancellation slots.

Over £100 for a nail appointment? What on earth were they going to do?

YANBU, this is short-sighted and poor service from the salon. For future reference, I've usually been able to avoid cancellation fees by postponing appointments, reservations etc by a few days, then calling the next day to cancel.

I've just had this very conversation when I got my nails done today. My nail tech is now charging full price for no show or last minute cancellations. She is really busy, I've got all my appointments booked til the end of the year & her next available appt is mid November.

Shes had a no show yesterday & a last minute cancellation today. That's lost income for her. Those appointments could easily have been filled if she had prior warning

Shes only recently started taking deposits & implementing a cancellation fee due to the number of folk who seem to think her time isn't important & cancel for flaky reasons

As someone who gets their nails done regularly - how the hell can it cost £100 😮

Stop making stuff up. “mark on bank account for a fraudulent claim” 😂😂

The OP believes that their cancellation policy was either unclear or has not been applied correctly. She’s also querying them keeping her credit card details on file. It’s reasonable for her to discuss both issues with her card provider and no, that does not constitute fraud, no matter how annoyed you feel about it.

Regarding the contract terms and fee charged: I’d be surprised if a court agreed that automatically charging a 100% no show fee was remotely reasonable.

1. they choose not to offer walk-ins so haven’t made any attempt to mitigate their loss, and
2. the cost of the service also includes an amount to cover products used. You can’t charge for products that haven’t been used. That’s potentially fraudulent!

YABU OP. You are also rude - not a solicitor's appointment - what the actual heck?

Your child being sick is not the salon's problem, is it.

Her understanding being at odds with the salon doesn't mean there is an issue though.

Yabu for moaning about the no show fee. It’s quite clearly stated, based on your own posts.

Yabvu for your snooty “it’s not solicitors appointment”. You are no more capable of doing your own nails to the standard you like, than you are representing yourself in a legal matter, that’s why you merrily part with £100 an hour every month, for your nails.

I'd start by asking them whether they got your message on their messaging system, or was there a problem with it? Then discuss whether, as a long-term regular customer, part of the charge could be set against your next appointment. Especially if you are in a position to potentially fill someone else's late cancellation slot.

YABU. A same-day cancellation is a no-show - or do you expect them to be able to magic up a customer at the last minute?

I run my own business and any cancellation with less than 24h notice is fully chargeable.

Why don't you just call them and see what happened.

I wouldn't be impressed about them just taking money out of my account either. Regardless of their cancellation policy. I'd want to know how they are storing my information for a start.
I'm not sure how things work with keeping your banking information on their records like that. It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable so I would probably give my bank a call about it.

YABU. I am self employed and people are charged 100% if they cancel their appointment with less than 48 working hours notice.
Businesses usually have clear T&Cs that you would agree to at the time of booking.
It is unfortunate when my clients are ill or their childcare falls through but I still have bills to pay and a roof to keep over my head.
That was a slot somebody else was not able to have/they weren't able to advertise as available due to the short notice so it is reasonable that they still ask for payment.

It’s not their fault that you had to cancel - yes I would expect to pay in full

Not at all, just not to be charged the entire over £100 for a weekday morning appointment that I couldn’t make. It’s not a solicitor’s appt.

This is a huge issue people that work in "luxury" services have and it is incredibly annoying.
Hair dressers
Nail techs
Beauticians
Dog groomers
Dog trainers
Pet sitters
Cleaners
The list goes on. You miss your nail appointment, or your hair cut, or your dog's groom, or you don't need this week's domestic clean. It's no biggy for you so you don't think you should have to pay for it because it's a luxury service, not something essential.

That business is how the person puts food on her table and it isn't remotely her problem that you couldn't make it, to be honest. If that is the attitude you have towards her services then she probably won't care to lose you as a customer.
You were happy with the amount they charged at the time of booking so that doesn't come in to it at all.

Yabu I would assume I'd be charged and surprised if I wasn't.

they were within their rights to take the money.

It's a foolish business practice for an other wise great regular customer, though, because it's likely they'll lose their regular customer over it. Very short-sighted.

The T&C say 50% for late cancellation which is 48h or less (I thought mine was because I messaged before the appointment?) or 100% for no show. They decided it was a no show because it was quite short notice.

YABU

Messaging 30 minutes before your appt to say you’re not going to make it leaves little time to give that appt to someone else. Yes, things happen but you also knew the T&C and were happy with them until they effected you.

You're not out of money cancelling the appointment. The salon is.

Why was it £100? What service costs that much?