Salons that charge if you cancel

[endofmytether88]

I'm due to get my lashes lifted tomorrow. Woke up this morning with a stinking cold, the cancellation policy is "if you cancel within 24 hours you have to pay full price for the treatment no matter the circumstances" so basically I'm going to go, with this cold and if she gets it then that's because of her policy.

Surely there should be some exception to this?

Then everyone who couldn't be fucked anymore would use the exception. Maybe you need a super duper "look I've bought kleenex" exception. But then I guess you could just buy kleenex if you couldn't be fucked.

You can ask but, unless you're a regular customer who's never cancelled before, I'd expect them to charge you full whack.
Really common to have such a policy as it's fairly unlikely they'll fill your slot at late notice. Do you have any friends who might take the appointment in your place?

How would you prove an exception? Everyone would just say they’re ill. These policies wouldn’t need to be in place if people didn’t cancel last minute / not turn up

Unfortunately people take the piss with illness. Just go and maybe wear a mask, they may well turn you away and not charge you. Or they may be happy to just do the service with your Cold.

It'll be at the salon's discretion.

Not you OP, but the percentage of flaky people is colossal. I used to work in a part of the NHS with big waiting lists and people saying they were desperate for appointments etc. Our DNA rate was about 20-25%. People cancelled if the weather was nice (seriously, that's what they said).

If it's the day before I definitely call and ask.
My hairdresser has rescheduled for me free of charge in this situation and also my physio.
Dentist wouldn't reschedule and as NHS dentists are like hen's teeth I did once drag myself in.
I think those were the only times it's happened to me so not a bad record.
If they can't fill the appointment they don't get paid so I can understand why they charge.

Call and speak to them. If you end up going, wear a mask

If you'd cancelled this morning would that still have been within 24 hours?

I go to three different salons for hair and beauty and two take deposits and charge for missed appointments.

But, they know me well so when I've been ill they'll waive the charge if they can but actually it's fine if they don't. I know the policy and have a choice whether to accept it.

It's shit that you're ill but it's not their fault and they are running a business.

I would see how you feel in the morning but wouldn't go in with a heavy cold or a fever. They could lose days of pay if you pass on whatever you have.

@EarthlyNightshade I'm a dental nurse in a private practise and we actually request people cancel if they have colds etc! We put a post on our website not long ago actually. One person coming in with cold could effectively cost 2 people (dentist and nurse) a few days wage.

They won't care if you turn up with a cold, they and/or you can mask up and take precautions.

They would get far more piss takers cancelling at short notice than people showing up with colds. It's just business.

Why? They're a business and they need to make a living. If they had a wishy washy policy whereby they accepted last minute cancellations at no charge, at discretion depending on the circumstances, then ultimately everyone would expect it. Because people are selfish, including yourself seemingly who in order to punish them for having a perfectly reasonable policy are going to turn up full of cold and infect the whole salon. Lovely.

I agree our appointment rate went down 90% when England played the cup final ⚽

Exactly, so you know the right thing to do is not go and suck up the cost. It's rubbish for you but one of those things.

@waftabout my app is 9am tomorrow and I woke up at 10am feeling terrible. It says on the website "full charge within 24 hours no exceptions" so I'm going to turn up quite obviously unwell and she'll be close to my face and say, I would've cancelled as you can see I'm not well but I can't afford to lose money for a treatment I wouldn't be having" I understand their need to not have people cancelling for no reason at short notice but I don't like the "no exceptions" part

I think this is a good policy. I am now with a private dentist that does allow cancellations.
My previous dentist had a one strike and you're out policy, so it wasn't just paying for the appointment, they would deregister you from the practice (they got me in the end anyway).

But how is that the fault of the person doing your treatment? It's very unlikely they set the policy.

You've said yourself what the impact is of people coming in when they're unwell but you're happy to ignore that to prove a point.

You accepted the terms when you booked the appointment.

@waftabout it's just one woman in her converted summer house so I assume she set the policy herself

You need to find a different beautician then if you are not happy with the current one's terms and conditions.

There’s a local restaurant that charges £20 a person if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice. We were going to book for six of us, but £120 if you have to cancel is a lot.

In yours shoes I would ask the technician if they mind you coming in with a mask on or prefer you to stay away? I've done that before, my nail tech asked me to rebook due to issues but my lash tech was fine with me wearing a mask.

Fair enough. But my point still stands, you accepted the policy.
If you'd called/messaged at 10 when you woke up, she might have been able to fill the appointment or agreed not to charge you.

You didn’t think to message her?

‘Hey! I have a stinking cold, I can still make tomorrow as I don’t want to lose deposit, just checking you’re ok with that.’

If she chooses to cancel that’s on her.