Was it my fault?

[Howisthisok1]

On Friday, I booked a non-surgical procedure for yesterday. I have been a customer for several years, but only go once or twice a year max, using money I have saved from Christmas and birthday gifts as I cannot afford it otherwise.

When I was waiting for my treatment, I asked them to check when I’d been for that treatment last and was told it had been nine months previous. When my treatment was finished and I went to pay, I almost fainted when they told me the price had increased by £200. I was so upset and said I would not have booked had I known that as I could not afford it and that no one had told me either when I booked or arrived. The receptionist said she would call the manager and get back to me later. On my way home, she called to say it was a price increase and I had to pay it unfortunately. She said she was shocked herself as had not long returned from maternity leave. I have asked them to get the manager to call me on Tuesday.

AIBU to think they could have told me?

How much is it normally? If it's usually £200 and has increased by £200 that's a big increase. If it's usually £2000 and has increased by £200, less so. But either way I think they should have told you there had been a price increase when you booked.

Im assuming it was a three figure price before so quite spendy . I would have checked the price on booking to be honest. I mean yes, equally they should have flagged up such a steep rise but you probably should have checked.

I wouldn't book any kind of treatment without checking the price first, the onus is on you to make sure you can afford it.

£500 increased to £700

It's not what you want to hear OP but I can't think of many things that haven't increased in price recently.

While it would have been good customer service for them to have told you, I think it is on you to check the price before committing. Sorry

if you only go once or twice a year you're practically a new customer every time. They must see hundreds, if not thousands of people in the space of 9 month - you can't expect them to keep track of every single one, how often they come, and how much the price has increased in that time - it might have only gone up £50 since the person who came 2 months ago, £100 for the person who last came 6 months ago, £200 for you, £300 for someone who hasn't been for a year, etc.

I would 100% have checked the price before booking, particularly given it's not something you can easily afford. I think this is on you, sorry.

Yes I get that but I’d literally just sat chatting with them and they’d checked when I was last in so knew there had been a price increase. There had been no increase from my last visit to just recently so it had gone up £200 in one jump. She’d even asked if I was still using thd skincare and I said I’d run out but coukd not afford it with havibg the treatment but still no one added thst the treatment had increased.

its no one’s fault but worth checking in advance. I’d complain to management. You will have a stronger argument if they don’t display their prices anywhere as staff should really check customer is happy with price.
By complaining you might get a 5 or 10% discount but no guarantee. You can review and state your unhappiness.

Unfortunately I think it’s on you, and you should have asked the price before booking.

That's a huge increase but actually the amount is beside the point.

If you haven't bought something for 9 months, you really should check the price hasn't changed.

Did they clearly display prices on their website? If so, there is no obligation for them to let you know in any other shape or form.

I agree with this. Yes, you should have checked, but it's worth complaining as you might get a discount. Good luck.

No prices displayed and no mention of price increases. Only record of price increases refers to their 2025 increase and nothing since . That was posted on Instagram

See this is where I think they are unreasonable, price lists should always be very clearly displayed so there is no room for this kind of scenario to develop. You can lead a horse to water and all that but their responsibility is to make it as clear as possible. Their argument will be you should’ve checked which is not entirely unreasonable but I do feel they have been slightly sneaky.

That’s an insane jump in price in such a short amount of time and I’d be going elsewhere in future.

However, it is up to you to check the prices.

You know that the prices would likely have changed since it’s been almost a year since you last went.

Even when you do your weekly food shop you know that the prices will fluctuate.

It’s always better to confirm the price of anything beforehand.

The trouble is with many procedures, the price isn’t a fixed price - it’s dependent on how much product they use, how long it takes etc.

I had a minor surgical procedure and they send out a confirmation of the final cost before I had it done, which is what they should have done here.

I would definitely try and complain but the onus is on you to confirm the price before booking like anything else and so I’m not sure how successful you’ll be.

Surely everyone checks prices before they agree to buy something? Unless they’re so rich that it doesn’t matter.

It's on you to ask

But I'm surprised you weren't asked to pay a deposit for an expensive procedure. That would normally be the point where they tell you how much it is, and they take a deposit.

you wouldn't go to the shop and buy a coat without checking the price and I don't think this is different

I think it is your fault unfortunately. It makes sense to check the price of any treatment or service when booking it rather than assuming it will be the same as it had been before, particularly if you rarely go

They knew there'd been a price increase but didn't know whether you knew!
You saying 'you couldn't afford it as well as the treatment' doesn't mean they magically understood you meant the old treatment price as well as the new one. If anything I would assume that meant you were aware price had gone up as you were able to afford treatment and skincare previously and now said you could only afford treatment.

Perhaps the receptionist thought the person who had booked you in had told you, or the person doing the treatment thought the receptionist had.

I've never gone for a haircut, treatment, shopping, dentist check up or whatever and had the receptionist randomly tell me about the price in advance - the assumption is you find out beforehand if you can afford something before doing it!

From their POV, what if they'd told you and you'd realised you couldn't afford it and walked out - they'd have lost the business £700 and probably get in trouble!

Price increases are normal. Always have been if your money is constrained ir is always on you to check you can afford it, you can’t jisy go and buy stuff, not ask the price and then complain after.

What’s she going ro complain about, she never checked rhe price ? You don’t do That. Anywhere, you always ask the price before committing. I don’t think ever in my life have I bought something or had a service and nor understood how much it cost. Ever.

what next, buy a washing machine and kick off as it cost 20 percent less the last time you bought it. Order a takeaway and the same?

their prices will be on their website. It won’t be some big secret.

That’s a 40% increase.

So you booked something that is objectively expensive to begin with without checking the price? That’s on you OP and it says a lot about society nowadays that you’re scrambling to pin the blame on someone else because YOU didn’t check out the price before booking it. You’d have to have been living under a rock to not know everything is more expensive than a couple of years ago 😂

I'm sorry OP, but it was on you to check the price when you rang to book, so that you were sure you could afford it.

However, a 40 percent price increase in 9 months, is an absolute rip off, so I'm not surprised you say you can't afford to pay it. I think in this instance, as it is really your mistake, when you speak to them on Tuesday, I would acknowledge it was my own mistake, but ask if they will accept the remaining £200 in installments, and figure out what you can afford to pay them towards it each month in advance. So if for example you can only afford to give them an extra £10 a week, ask them if you can pay it in installments of £40 a month for 5 months, which will show that you're doing your best to be reasonable about it, but I would also point out that a 40% price increase is a lot for you to absorb, bearing in mind that you hadn't been aware of the price increase.