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.

Yeah, I think you're going to have to take this one on the chin. It's way, way too short notice. She's got your bank details. She's got every right to take your money out. I don't really think there's any way you can avoid it unless you can transfer everything out of your current account Then she might chase you for it. Someone said she won't. Why wouldn't she?!

Do you want to risk being taken to small claims court and owing multiple hundreds? Rather than just paying an extra 100 pounds? What if everybody just gave a few hours notice before cancelling? Many businesses would go under. You're being very unreasonable. You were about to spend £150 on a vanity procedure, so you can afford to pay. Why should she lose out because you changed your mind?

It clearly says 24 hours notice is required for cancellations so, as a PP said, cancelling less than 24 hours is considered a no show.

She's also probably annoyed that you keep messaging her on a BH when she's given you her answer

The availability is probably an automatic thing because she's cancelled the appointment, her calander now shows her free.

Yeah, that’s really not what a deposit means at all.

My partner and I returned from a meal out earlier tonight
I was calling it a "date nite" . We'd had a nice time.
Once home, he reached for an already opened bottle of red and found it empty.. and this is what happened next.
Him "oh. Its empty"
Me " oh, is there any white?"
Him "yes"
Me "then why don't you drink that then ?"
I disappear upstairs for my warm socks and come back down.
He has a glass of white in his hand and approaches me , kisses me on the lips , says "I love you (I thought he was being romantic) then follows it up with "but dont feel you have to manage my drinking".
Me "I'm not" ....
He looks at me. I'm confused.
Me "what are you trying to say?
Him "you poured it down the sink...
Me : what ? no I didn't...
He goes on to tell me I had poured the remains of the open red wine down the sink. I protest my innocence and he calmly goes puts the tv on. Im left feeling both foolish (for thinking he was being romantic with three kiss) and angry at his accusation and judgement of me. I go sit next to him.
He makes small talk about the t.v
program. I am upset at what just happened so I calmly open up.
Me :: I feel upset at what just happened there. I thought you were being romantic saying you loved me ...but really there was was something else behind it ...::
Him: :" yes there was, I did think you liked nice in your dress but I was doing it to start the conversation off (about the sink pouring) nicely. "
I ask in future for him to just be direct and ask me, not fool me with a kiss first.
I tell him again I didn't do it.
He firmly believes that I had. His proof ?..... that he ran his finger over the plug and there was red on it..so, it's a fact he says, and all I have to be is honest.
I protest my innocence.
I can't believe his calmness. He says maybe I forgot that I did it. I seriously wonder if hes right and maybe I had forgotten but I am sure I didn't do it. I get upset and ask him not to play games with me getting me to think I've done something I haven't..
He refuses to back down. Says stuff like who was it then ? The fairies?.
I ask him " why would I suggest you drink the white if I've a problem with you drinking" ? "Why wud I throw the red away to then offer you white? "
But none of it makes any difference. For me, we had a lovely meal out, I really made an effort to look nice and I cudnt believe he wanted the night to end on his mistrust. I said that I had told him the truth and that he had made the choice not to believe me. I felt like the rug had been pulled from under my feet. Said that I loved him and why would i lie to him ? He said it was because I was "2 dimensional". He turned the telly off and didnt want to entertain me talking about it.
He said "just drop it. I"d forgiven you while you were stood at the bottom of the stairs" I started to get a bit hysterical. He still wasnt listening to me and his comments were making it worse. I had nothing to be forgiven for. He got up to get ready for bed but then returned downstairs. He slept on the sofa. I said I didn't want the night to end this way and asked if he had created the tension purposely to avoid sleeping with me. He said no.

Im so tired. I have to be up again away 6.30am. He upset me so much my emotions are only just calming down 4hrs later. Hes slept soundly.

I really could do with some careful and honest advice here. Any one else been in the same situation? What do I do about this ? Am I being too sensitive about this? or is his behaviour way off the mark? I don't know how I feel going forward....

Ps ' We been living together since 2020.

Thanks
Jo

You need to start your own thread.

But to answer you - he drank the wine and is trying to gaslight you. What you need to do is leave this abusive asshole and sleep better at night.

If you bailing out, don't forget to give 24 hours notice or you have to pay full price.
If you want specific advice, best to start your own thread.
Ending nights that have been fun and pleasant with contrived arguments like this is never a good sign. You might have to have a good look at the whole relationship.

Thank you for for the advice. I had completely missed that I had not started my own thread. Sorry , I am new to mums net.

I'd contact your bank/credit card company to tell them the situation. I've read the email. Sounds like if you cancel you lose your deposit. If you simply don't show up, you have to pay the full amount. Hence why she booked you back in! I hope you have an email stating that you wouldn't be attending?

Indeed, I can't think why else she would've booked me back in. I have the message exchange on instagram where I'm telling her I no longer want the dissolving but wanted to keep the appointment for something else.

The 48 hour thing in the email is presumably the "boilerplate" T's&C's on the Fresha App (for practitioners who don't have their own T's&C's). Her own T's&C's are own her website and I assume supercede those.

The change made to your appointment is because she has switched you to another staff member (who is probably on leave) to ensure she's freed up to take other appointments, but the Fresha App will still bill you for the appointment.

Did you cancel your appointment via the app? If not, that is why she has moved your appointment. If she cancels it, she will lose money. She's moved it to someone else so she is free to take a booking at that time.

I’m self employed and I would definitely be taking OP to the small claims court were she to take your advice.

If you booked it in the app you also need to cancel in the app. Have you done that?

What on earth makes you think aesthetists are medically qualified? Any fool can call themselves what they want off the back of a 2-day course.
So filling your face with shit, having that dissolved by more shit, injected by a random person, is a buyer beware situation

The fresha app doesn't allow you to do this once it's too late to cancel. My beautician has it set up so you can only amend appointments at least 72hrs in the future.
Given the appt was at 12 today then it really depends if the OP cancelled before 12 yesterday in which case she will owe £15 (as she has paid £60 of the £75 due) or after 12 in which case she falls into the 'no show' part of the t and c.

So an update, she has now agreed to swap the appointment for a facial and I'll pay the £100 that was owed for the dissolving instead of the £65 that it would otherwise be.

I feel incredibly awkward going after all of this but overall its a good resolution.

Did you actually read the OP or just the first third of it?

Who said she was going to replace it with a facial?

Fresha is great as a therapist because when you book, it sets out the terms and conditions of the booking. This means the client should know the cancellation policy, before even placing the booking.

Unfortunately for you, that means the contract is clear, and you agreed to it.

She'll probably struggle to fill that slot now, so she's not unreasonable to charge you the full amount. While it's good you've considered the implications of the treatment it's not her fault you decided to do so the day before the appointment. Did you check her terms when booking?

The dissolver is prescription only so if she's not a medical prescriber herself she would have to work with a prescriber to get the products and this prescriber would need to see each client for a consultation.

This person is not a prescriber anyone who has medical qualifications ie dentist, nurse, doctor is quite clear on their advertising that that's what they are, they don't hide the fact they're a doctor or nurse.

I don't know where beauticians get their products from, be very wary of going to anyone who is not a medical professional
Tbh £150 is a small price to pay for not letting this person inject into your face.

I have no sympathy for people who scam money from others whilst committing a criminal offence.

Nice one! Good news. Enjoy your facial. (Ooooh Matron!)

If you have requested a specific procedure it's not uncommon for the clinic to order in the product specifically for it, as they have limited shelf life and they don't stockpile active ingredients. My aesthetic place orders in the particular filler I need a couple of days before. That's probably why.

I've just left.

She was very nice about it all surprisingly. She said she only told me it would be the full cost as she didn't think I was going to turn up, but insisted that as I had done she doesn't want the whole £150 just the cost of the facial so I paid that and gave her a tip for the inconvenience.