AIBU to cancel appt after she moved premises at short notice and ask for my deposit back?

[fluffandfaff]

I use a dog groomer who was lovely and very local in my small village. – less than 5 minutes away, loads of parking right outside, no faff. I could drop dog off, come home for an hour, then pop back to collect. Perfect.
When I collected last time I booked my next appointment (for tomorrow, 3rd Feb) and paid a £25 deposit. I have no issue with her cancellation policy generally – 72 hours for refund minus £5 admin, after that full groom payable.

We have a personal email account we check a couple of times a week (mostly full of newsletter rubbish). Early Sunday morning (1st) I checked emails and found one from the groomer sent late Thursday evening saying she had moved premises.
New premises are about 6 miles further away, in a slightly dodgy part of a town, no parking directly outside. I’d have find somewhere to park somewhere else a way a way, in a very busy residential and industrial area and walk my nervous dog there. No chance of popping home either... I’d have to sit in the car for an hour waiting.
Worth saying: my preferred contact method is phone, which I’d selected, not email.
I messaged her on Sunday morning as soon as I saw the email, very politely, saying I’d like to cancel as travelling to the new premises is not viable, thanked her for her service and wished her luck. I also asked for my deposit back, accepting I was technically outside the 72 hours, but she had changed the terms by moving at short notice.
She replied very quickly saying she’d miss us but I was still liable to pay for the appointment, and that I’d had “plenty of time” to respond to the email (there was about 24 hours between her sending it and the start of the 72-hour window).
I replied saying I’d chosen phone contact and that less than 2 working days’ notice of a premises change didn’t feel reasonable. She then got quite rude, said I was being unreasonable, that it’s “only a 15-minute drive”, (realistically it is longer that with traffic etc and then finding parking) and that she told me at my last appointment she was moving. I genuinely don’t remember this and absolutely wouldn’t have rebooked if I’d known – I only used her because she was so local. The booking confirmation definitely still shows the old address. There were a lot of messages sent back and forwards, her saying her terms are perfectly clear and i was not getting a deposit refund and she would be invoicing for the entire appt. I told her that her t's&c's couldn't apply as SHE had moved the terms (address) outside of my control. She got quite arsey and she said she didn’t have time to argue as she’s stressed moving an entire business, then refunded me £20 and kept £5.
I mentioned it to a friend (very “don’t rock the boat” type) who said I should have just let her keep the whole deposit, but maybe argue the appt fee.
AIBU to think I was reasonable to cancel and ask for it back given she changed the location at short notice? Or should I have just sucked it up and let her keep the £25 AND paid for the rest of the appt?

no, preconceived notions, like:

New premises are about 6 miles further away, in a slightly dodgy part of a town, no parking directly outside. I’d have find somewhere to park somewhere else a way a way, in a very busy residential and industrial area and walk my nervous dog there. No chance of popping home either... I’d have to sit in the car for an hour waiting.

OP has never even visited these premises, so it is ridiculous to cancel for these reasons IMO.

No chance of 'popping home' from 6 miles away?

Busy residential/industrial area but no parking?

Dog too nervous to walk down a street?

Whatever.

It’s not about whether op checks her emails or how often. The groomer only emailed with 24 hours before cancellation period. It is perfectly acceptable and normal not to respond to some emails immediately.

The groomer clearly know she was moving premises earlier, so should have sent this email much earlier, and should have also made op aware once again at time of booking, and should have provided the new address in writing.

I deal with a company who moved premises a while ago and it was all over their social media for months that they were moving.

i think it’s good you fought for what you felt was fair for you, but I would encourage you to stop giving out your email address to businesses in case this happens again.

Ok lol.

Take your last point as an example. Perfectly valid reason and also reasonable for 6 miles to be a way away. It’s 4 miles to my nearest shopping centre and takes me 15 mins to drive there. Some people don’t have a spare 30 mins or more in their day.

I would assume op tbh that as it’s unusual for a business to give such short notice on moving premise, the groomer has done this deliberately to try and keep deposits, knowing she is likely to lose some clients with the new location.

Yes, and those reasons would make sense as to why she no longer wants to go there anymore, she's free to choose where she goes, but those reasons are ridiculous to use as an excuse for one appointment, one time (which will be her last one), which she could have EASILY attended.

The groomer told her in person about an upcoming move and gave her notice of the move in writing 4-5 days before the appointment.

OP has cancelled the appointment less than 72 hours before it was due.. not because she would have trouble getting there.. because she is unhappy about the move and doesn't want to put herself out in even the smallest way ONE time.

Very grey area. If I was OP I'd have kept this appointment then never gone again if it was that inconvenient, and if I was the dog groomer I would have given her the £20 back due to closeness of when I emailed.

I still think OP is being ridiculous though to have cancelled the appointment.

Pretty sure ‘no parking’ and ‘too far for me to drive home and back within the hour’ are just facts. Maybe you don’t go out very often but it’s not always easy to park at industrial estates because, y’know, industry is going on. OP knows her dog and what they’d be comfortable with.

You’re completely in the right but I’d have forfeit the deposit if she pushed that and didn’t invoice. Any time a clinic I’ve worked at changed location we lost customers, had people show up at the wrong place and didn’t charge. It’s a cost of moving. We’d also verbally tell them starting 3 months out and have confirmations mention the new address, email a month out, email apt notice with it in the subject and call/text as normal.

The issue for me isn’t whether I could physically get there once, it’s that the service I booked was at a specific location and that changed at very short notice, using a contact method I hadn’t selected. I wouldn’t have booked at all had I known the location was changing, and the booking confirmation still showed the old address. Despite her saying she told me verbally (doesn't count anyway) she absolutely didn't and I absolutely would not have booked. I am not sure how you can say that less than a week, and actually 2 working days notice is plenty! What a ridiculous comment.
I’m not being snooty about the new premises. I’m being realistic about parking, safety, and what works for my dog. Those are practical considerations, not judgements. Also I am not a confident driver, and never drive in towns or cities. I used her before as the location suited me.
In the end, she refunded all but £5, which suggests she accepted there was some responsibility on her side too. I’m happy to leave it there.

Are you there dog groomer? 🤣 Most people do not check their emails every day, thats a huge generalisation.
If a business I am using moves premises I expect way more notice than this lady gave. Utterly ridiculous to make such a move and inform your customers in good time.

Yeah, this happened with our NHS Dental Practice. They moved (after acquiring a shiny new building on a small industrial park, that was twice the size of the one they had.) They needed the extra room as 3 new dentists were starting. They were a mile further away, but there is parking there, and it's quite easy to get to (even for people who couldn't drive, as it's pretty much only an extra 10 or 15 minutes walk, and it's worth it to have an NHS dentist!) They told everyone by text, email, or in person, several months before the move. And posted it on facebook a few times.

Also, the local vets moved 2 years ago, but it was from the little market town to a slightly bigger market town (10 miles south) which was not great for most. Fortunately, a new vets opened 6 months later, (on the same little industrial park - 2 minutes walk from the dentist) started up by 4 people from that old vets who weren't happy that they had not only moved, but also been taken over by a big conglomerate, and they were charging twice as much as they should. (The takeover happened about 4 months before the move.)

But even they warned people 3 months before the move. Pretty much everyone got a text, or a letter in the mail, and it was posted on Facebook at least 4 times.

.

Yanbu. She should have refunded all.

So that disproves her argument of "I told you at the last appointment"

She changed the terms by changing premises so you are not liable to pay her. I'm glad you got your money back.
She doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant person and you are probably better giving your business to someone else anyway

Bit even if she had checked the email it's still very short notice and OP isn't unreasonable to want her deposit back.
I have my email on my phone so can see what is coming in but I don't check through it often as most of it is promotional stuff.

If it's inconvenient for op, it's inconvenient.
I would sack off the majority of my service providers if they moved six miles further away, as convenience is king to me because my time is short and there are plenty of other hairdressers/opticians etc nearby

But the contract is void because the groomer changed the venue at very short notice. It's not the same as the OP cancelling at short notice because they are ill etc the cancellation is because the groomer can no longer fulfil their part of the bargain ie carry out your grooming at the place specified on the invoice.
And also the groomer didn't contact the OP using her preferred method..
OP isn't in the wrong at all here and should get a complete refund including the £5

It’s personal email. So check it

if you don’t want emails as a contact point then don’t give one and only a phone number

The groomer said she told her, OP said she didn't. If she had told her she wouldn't have booked another appointment..
The appointment that OP made was for another premises OP was very happy to keep that appointment, but in effect it was cancelled by the groomer because she moved premises. It doesn't matter why OP didn't want to go to the new premises she didn't make an appointment to go there so she can't be charged for not going

Having run a business myself (one person band, requiring premices) a few thoughts

• you expecting her to contact you by phone is totally unreasonable. She will have sent a mass email to all her customers, not a personal one to each individual.
• you were told about the change in time. The fact you don’t check your emails is on you not her.
• Unless this was a last minute change (like I’m don’t know original place burnt down which is not the case here), she should have told you at the time of rebooking. That’s pretty standard.
• She is sticking to her cancellation policy which is fair enough.

Tbh I feel you’re both at fault.
She should have told you when rebooking. She can be more flexible re the terms of cancellation in the current circumstances. It would protect her business too (I couldn’t carry in going but she is great vs we clashed around cancellation policy).
On the other side, you approach things clearly saying she was at fault further using emails etc…. It won’t have helped your case and will have made you look unreasonnable 🤷‍♀️

Next step? It depends how long you’re happy to carry the stress of exchanging messages, being upset,Wonderimg if she’ll find a way to get back to you for not following the terms of contract etc….

If you don’t want people to contact you by email, don’t give them your email address…..

No small business like has the ability to select what is the lerson preferred way of contact. It works with very big corporations. It’s totally unreasonable to expect a one (wo)man band to do so.

Don’t ask how people prefer to be contacted if you just do your own thing!

I’m with you, OP, YANBU.

However, I’m surprised that you only check emails a few times a week, I thought you might be an exception, and then another poster wrote Most people do not check their emails every day, thats a huge generalisation

Everybody with a smartphone surly checks their emails at least once a day - that is 90% of the adult UK population!

Just for your information, dog grooming is an unregulated area so anyone can say they are a dog groomer, if you want to find professional qualified groomers in your area the best place to search them is on
www.thegroomersspotlight.com
It's free to use and really helpful.

I do take on board that as a one woman band she may well have sent a mass email, and I understand why that’s easier from her side. However, I’d still expect a significant change like a premises move to be mentioned at the earliest possible stage, especially as the booking confirmation showed the old address and phone was my stated preferred contact method. If she doesn't have the ability to use multiple preferred contact channels she shouldn't offer them. I only gave an email address as it was a required section of the registration form. Pretty standard I think. Email and phone number were required, and then a box to tick the preferred method of contact.
I’m not suggesting she acted maliciously, but the location was a fundamental part of why I used her, and that changed with very short notice. That’s why I felt cancelling was reasonable in these circumstances.
In the end she refunded most of the deposit and I’m happy to draw a line under it rather than keep the stress going.