Being charged £150 for changing my mind about a procedure

[AbsolutelyGutted1]

I have a small amount of filler and I wanted to have it dissolved so I made an appointment to see an aesthetician I've seen before and paid a £50 deposit. Her social media contains what i felt was a reasonable amount of info about the product used to dissolve, hyaluronidase. I clearly didn't do enough research.

The appointment was for tomorrow.

Unfortunately (or fortunately - depending on how you look at it) I was reading up about it today to prepare myself and came across some disturbing accounts of what hyaluronidase can do to you when it goes wrong, and I decided I didn't want to take the risk for such a small amount that will probably be undetectable to the eye after a year or so.

I sent her a message today and told her I'd had second thoughts about the dissolving and why, but said I'd keep the appointment and just get something else (a facial or something)

She can't/won't do that and now wants me to pay the full £150 charge for the original procedure I booked for and I'm absolutely gutted. I don't have a lot of money and had saved up for this especially.

Do you think it's fair or unreasonable? I didn't expect to see the deposit again, obviously, but the whole cost?

I've NC.

You have been really unfair.
You do your research on the treatment first, then find a reputable practitioner.
Wht do you think it's ok to cancel late on a bank holiday when your appointment is tomorrow?
You are the one in the wrong and it's dreadful that people are telling you how to screw her over.

I think it’s reasonable that you’re charged.
Especially as today is a bank holiday so you’re lucky she even picked the message up

Not an excuse but a reason, I have severe inattentive ADHD.

I genuinely did not see, or take note of, the term of having to pay for the full treatment if cancelled within 24 hours.. when booking.

I will accept that I'm unreasonable.

So do I
I have had something similar done but when I started it did my research went for a consulat etc. it takes me a long time to earn 150e in am not going to waste it
try ringing the company tomorrow go in and talk to her about the procedure aswell
if not chalk it up as lesson learned

I think if the product she was intending to use has a short shelf life and is likely to go to waste, then it's absolutely reasonable to charge for the full session as this will be her time/product and it wouldn't make sense to provide you with another service in that scenario either of course.

If the product will keep and she's out her time alone, then I think another service which uses up the appointment time (and no more) would be a good will gesture.

The products should be prescribed by a Dr or nurse prescriber for each patient individually, which is why it's costly. Unless the aesthetician is a persciber themselves they have to pay someone to do it.

What is an aesthetician? Is she a doctor or medically qualified? hyaluronidase is a prescription only medication so unless they are medically qualified they would be acting illegally in administering this treatment.

You aren't being charged for changing your mind, the charge is for cancelling with hardly any advance notice, and from what PPs have said leaving the therapist with expensive materials that she may not be able to use on someone else.

Agree a bit shortsighted really isn't it.

Read the thread! She won’t have a gap as the OP offered to have a different treatment.

Bloody hell.

Not in this case, since the OP had changed her mind about having the treatment so wasn't likely to return.

Exactly

If a shift gets cancelled with 24 hours at work we get paid in full for it.

Same here.

Less than 24 hours gives no time to arrange someone else to take the slot. Materials purchased might now go to waste.

Completely fair to expect it all

She has bills to pay as well, you cancelling last min means she can’t fill the spot and has lost £150

you would have agreed to her cancellation policy so yes, Yabu

That is not what a deposit means.

Many businesses set the forfeiture amount as a the deposit amount because it's logistically easy, but you can be liable for the whole amount of the cost of a service regardless of the deposit size if the terms you've agreed make you so.

Unless she is a medically qualified prescriber, or directly overseen by one (in other words, one is present and speaks to you) she is breaking the law and not only should you not pay her, you should demand your deposit back.

Distance selling regs don't cover personal services.

She will have a loss, as she will waste the filler.

So I mentioned earlier I got a notification that my appointment had been changed to the same day with no context. I've just re read that email and it states this:

Cancellations with less than 48 hours notice incur a 50% charge of the treatment price, but no shows incur the full amount of the treatment charge.

I don't fall into the no show category.

Edited to add - so how can she say I need to pay the complete cost of the treatment when this email says only 50%?

She told me I owe her the full amount. See next pic.

A completely different policy.

I didn't see anybody else there. To be completely honest I don't know whether she is a qualified prescriber or not.

@Beatrixslobber the £150 thats being paid covers the injection, treatment and the beauticians time. If the treatment isn't used then it makes no difference as long as the cost is covered 🤷‍♀️

edit: unless you mean the new treatment would use different products and therefore cost more?

The policy is badly written but it sounds like it you give at 48 hours notice then you get a 50% refund but less than 24 hours means payment in full.

I do think you could argue to get at least 50% back based on what those emails say.

I've taken a screenshot and sent it alongside a message wanting to be clear on what they intend to take from my bank. I've also asked for clarification about the email I received changing my apt for the same day without actually consulting me about it.

She didn't reply to my earlier message (she read it early afternoon) so I'm not sure she'll reply to this one.

I'm a bit stressed about all of this now 😔

Whilst I understand you must feel gutted, im not sure it's fair to expect her to be responding on bank holiday Monday.

I think this is just 'one of those things'. Definitely await clarification on the cancellation policy but otherwise I'd try to just accept youve probably had a lucky miss and move on.

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