For not wanting to pay my therapist when I was sick!!

[Anonymous2566]

So, I’ve been seeing my therapist for about a year and things are going well. I’ve been very dedicated and always attend my sessions and pay upfront. My issue is, the cancellation policy. The agreement stipulates that I must give 72 hours notice for cancellation, otherwise the full payment is due. I was sick a few weeks back and let my therapist know on the day, she wished me better, advised me to relax and then put something about the cancellation policy, but that she didn’t wish to charge me on this occasion. Again, I have been sick and had to cancel my session on the day. She sent a similar message, wishing me better etc, but this time included something like “I’m afraid this is very short notice to cancel
without charge” and then offered a reschedule, which was online and didn’t suit as I was still feeling poorly.

AIBU to not want to pay this? How could I possibly give 72 hours notice when I woke up sick?!! It’s seem a little inflexible.

Yes, I have read that. Not sure why you think I havent.

Bit of a cheeky fucker, aren't we ?

You ignored the 72hr clause twice even though you knew it was there. If you think it's an unreasonable clause for Illness then you don't agree to the contract at the start and look for another therapist. It's not difficult. People can't go around agreeing to contracts then expect special treatment when they don't want to be bound by the terms. You had a chance not to agree when you were given the contract. Tne lesson here is read what you are signing, if you did read it and still carried on then you've got even less cause to complain.

You need to pay the therapist, I get this frequently with work, its normally on a day rate so its hundreds of pounds and sometimes multiple days get cancelled in a week.

Pay up or find another therapist! I block customers now if they cancel more than twice at short notice..

Interesting. Not sure what difference does it make if you meet your therapist on a Monday afternoon every week to if you meet them Monday afternoon one week and on a Wednesday morning another week.

Reading more post in this thread I think it may be a different approach to things in different places, I am not in the UK.

I’d be more bothered about paying the therapist regularly for over a year with no obvious end point.

Rather than worry about one unattended session, maybe you could think about looking towards a clear end date and/or find a new therapist who focuses on helping you to get on with your life.

The only time I used therapy was with a hypnotherapist who sorted me out in one session. That was money well spent!

No-one wants to pay for a service that they are unable to use due to illness. You are no different to anyone else on that, it’s not unreasonable to feel a bit annoyed about that. But you should be annoyed that you got ill, not at the person providing the service you were unable to use.

That's exactly what I was going to say @Causewerethespecialtwo

@Anonymous2566 I get that it stings to have to pay for a service you couldn't attend through no fault of your own. YANBU to feel that way. But your therapist isn't being unreasonable in having those Ts&Cs (and enforcing them) for reasons already given. Also, unfortunately, there are so many people who will make the "I'm ill" excuse when they aren't actually ill, they just don't feel like doing something (not implying that's you BTW). As service providers have no way of knowing who's genuine and who isn't they simply have to have a blanket policy for dealing with cancellations. Plus they can't afford to subsidise missed appointments. I hope you feel better soon and that you're finding the therapy helpful

There are different types of therapy for different people and different issues.

Some therapies are short, time-limited interventions.

Some are longer-term and can take years, due to the complexity of what needs to be explored and how it needs to be explored in order to help the patient most appropriately.

It's not unusual to see a therapist for long-term work. It's just maybe something people don't talk about that much when we live in a rather 'instant fix' society.

But what is reasonable for illness - it sounds like 24 hours wouldn’t have been enough and you can’t just make an exception for illness otherwise that will always be used as an excuse.
what is they all cancelled on the day due to illness, she would make nothing

The second time I do agree you should pay - but I also think that the cancellation policy should reflect a reduced rate for unforseeable illness. After all she's a therapist not a loan shark.

When you signed up, you knew these were the terms. It sucks but this is her livelihood 🤷‍♀️ I get you were ill, and I’m not saying you were making it up, but plenty of people would just because something better came up or they were a bit skint.

I was once charged for a session as I missed it due to being in a ambulance with my dead grandmother. First time missing a session ever. I found a new one after that

I used to run a psychological therapy service in London and the amount of piss-taking clients in this industry is absolutely unreal (we once had a client who cancelled last minute because she bought a discounted graffiti workshop off wowcher!).

Also the amount of clients who call in "ill" and suddenly become "well" when you remind them of the cancellation policy.

OP, let me ask you a question. So when you called in sick, would you be happy for your therapist to call a new client off her waiting list, offer them the slot, assess them and them put them into YOUR weekly slot going forward, kicking you out? No? Then you need to pay.

I get the posts about it impacting income and yes I did ‘agree’ to those t&cs but I seemed to think that 72hrs was for things like planned holiday etc which is easy to give plenty of notice for. I am surprised it’s for illness and as others have pointed out, 72 hours is U

YABVU.
Of course it is for illness too otherwise you'd get people who couldn't be arsed to turn up/got something better to do that day/fancy a day out with the kids because the weather is nice cancelling and claiming illness at short notice.

I am also self-employed and have a similar cancellation policy (48 hrs). I was naive at first and had a get out for illness until I found out three families had cancelled one day at short notice saying there was a bug going round and in fact they were in the local outdoor swimming pool because the weather was nice.
Terms and conditions were changed after that.

She let you off the first time which she didn't have to and reminded you of the cancellation policy and then you did it a second time so of course you should have to pay.

If you don't like it find a therapist with a different policy and good luck with that. t

It appears she was paid a reduced fee. Contractors vary. The one I work with most frequently pays the full amount for a DNA or short notice cancellation but the fee they pay per session is pretty low in the first place. Swings and roundabouts I suppose.

You are being completely unreasonable. Your therapist has bills to pay and can't slot someone else in instead of you last minute. It's not her fault you are sick.

You sound as if you have little concept of what self-employment means and the impact it has with people cancelling left right and centre.

You will find a lot of establishments these days will only take people on if they hold their card details for exactly this reason.

Exactly this. Her mortgage provider isn't going to give a shit that her income is down because you had a "good reason" to cancel at short notice. FFS

I feel like self-employment through therapy is probably not the safest bet for upholding a mortgage anyway tbh. It's a lifestyle business and with that you are prone to peaks and troughs of income because you are dealing with people, not machines.

Unfortunately you wouldn't believe the number of people who take the piss, and claim they are "ill" when they just don't fancy going. I have a lot of first hand knowledge of this. She stated her policy and you signed up to it. Everyone thinks they are a special case and they deserve special treatment.

You just have to suck it up. You wouldn't get a refund for a missed concert or train journey because you were ill. This is someone's living.

Only certain professions are allowed mortgages?

That's exactly why most therapists don't earn high incomes and many have to undertake other jobs alongside their therapeutic work.

You what now?

Quite.

All the more reason for her to need to charge for short notice cancellations.