Cancel an appointment with therapist and charged double...

irishbran77

Is it permitted for a therapist, or other professional, to charge more than 100 euros as a cancellation fee when the appointment missed was only to be charged 50 euros itself?

If their website or advertisement advertises a flat 100 euro cancellation fee, is it then acceptable and part of the oral contract when a person cancels with short notice on a session worth 50 euro?

I assume it is, and that once it's clearly advertised in their literature, then there is no room to move. But I could be surprised and that there could be a law that states a cancellation fee must not exceed the cost of the cancelled service.

Any ideas would be welcome!

dudara

As long as it was made clear to you when the booking or appointment is made, then I believe that it is OK.

I'm surprised that more doctors/professionals don't charge cancellation fees. I used to work as a doctor's receptionish years ago and the amount of no-shows was unbelievable. It could easily by 50% of the day's appointments.

Though having said that, E100 seems a bit steep.

Kila

Perhaps the logic is that if you cancel an appointment at short notice, they miss out on your fee (€50) and also it's too late to put someone else in that slot so they miss out on any replacement fee (also €50) they may have been able to book in if the had had more notice.

Nody

Sounds as it is time for you to be surprised

dotsman

Kila wrote: »

Perhaps the logic is that if you cancel an appointment at short notice, they miss out on your fee (€50) and also it's too late to put someone else in that slot so they miss out on any replacement fee (also €50) they may have been able to book in if the had had more notice.

That's not right. They either miss out on your €50 or they don't. If a replacement is found, then the doctor/therapist etc is no less well off due to the cancellation. If a replacement is not found, then, yes, the therapist/doctor is down the €50.

I would certainly query it, and unless there's a very good reason, would never do to said doctor/therapist as it is terrible that they try to profit from your cancellation (cover their loss - yes, profit - no).

However, to answer the original question, I imagine if they have said cancellation fee well advertised, then there's probably not much you can do but refuse to go there again.

irishbran77

Thanks to allt he ideas. I would agree that covering a particular business's costs is more than fair. A standard 50 euro fee isn't too aggravating to me, but hearing that there's those, as dotsman put it, trying to profit from the cancellation is a bit much. The man in question charged actually more for the cancellation than for the appointment itself and in my mind i can't imagine how they would justify this!

Big Wave

Kila wrote: »

Perhaps the logic is that if you cancel an appointment at short notice, they miss out on your fee (€50) and also it's too late to put someone else in that slot so they miss out on any replacement fee (also €50) they may have been able to book in if the had had more notice.

That doesn't even make sense. So they get €50 if you turn up, but €100 if you cancel & they fill your slot? Eh, what?

OP - pay the €50, and thell them to f*ck off RE the €100. If you pay €50, they aren't even 1c out of pocket! In fact, they're €50 up, and didn't even have to work for it!

Mcfast

double is a bit ridiculous alright.that would put me off returning tbh,theres plenty of legit reasons why you would have to cancel.nobody wants to be a hundred euro down for nothing in these times

Big Wave

dudara wrote: »

E100

AltGr + 4 = €

Xcellor

Big Wave wrote: »

AltGr + 4 = €

y€ahhhhh

Kila

I've been to some places where they have signs up saying that, due to a high volume of cancellations and missed appointments, they will charge for them.

Even though this is just one person, a business is likely to have more than one customer. And that means that they are likely to have to deal with more than one cancellation. Any business has to have a model for cancellations. If you simply allowed everyone to skip appointments or cancel whenever they wanted, with no notice, the business would go out of business.

I read a statistic recently about the number of missed GP appointments, for example, and the amount of money wasted is ludicrous. You're paying for staff to keep the place open and run it, you're paying for services and utilities in the building, etc. And if people keep making appointments and not paying (or cancelling last minute) then you'll end up losing too much money to stay afloat.

Big Wave

Kila wrote: »

Any business has to have a model for cancellations. If you simply allowed everyone to skip appointments or cancel whenever they wanted, with no notice, the business would go out of business.

Eh, not if they charged the same cancellation fee as the appointment fee - how would they lose money in that case?! But they're trying to charge double here, which makes no sense! Double + they can still fill the slot!

MysticalSoul

To charge the appointment fee for late cancellations is standard practice (usually 24 hours). I would query with the therapist why they are charging double, and some therapists may be open to negotiating the cancellation in exceptional circumstances eg family bereavement.

The fact it was advertised as €100 though, there is nothing your friend can do about it, as he was aware of the policy, however it would be best for him to check the reasoning why such a high charge for cancellations.

Many therapists have to pay a charge for the room they use, hence why a cancellation policy is needed, as if a client doesn't show up/give sufficient notice, he/she still needs to pay for the room.

scully74

QUOTE 'I'm surprised that more doctors/professionals don't charge cancellation fees. I used to work as a doctor's receptionish years ago and the amount of no-shows was unbelievable. It could easily by 50% of the day's appointments'

BOLL&X, doctors etc have enough, was doin a job today in a consultant eye doctors new 3million house on the grounds of Adare Manor.....:mad:

Big Wave

scully74 wrote: »

QUOTE 'I'm surprised that more doctors/professionals don't charge cancellation fees. I used to work as a doctor's receptionish years ago and the amount of no-shows was unbelievable. It could easily by 50% of the day's appointments'

BOLL&X, doctors etc have enough, was doin a job today in a consultant eye doctors new 3million house on the grounds of Adare Manor.....:mad:

Jees - learn to string a coherent sentence together, man!

Mr. Incognito

I'd take my business elsewhere.

100 is ridiculous.

AmcD

scully74 wrote: »

QUOTE 'I'm surprised that more doctors/professionals don't charge cancellation fees. I used to work as a doctor's receptionish years ago and the amount of no-shows was unbelievable. It could easily by 50% of the day's appointments'

BOLL&X, doctors etc have enough, was doin a job today in a consultant eye doctors new 3million house on the grounds of Adare Manor.....:mad:

So one consultant ophthalmologist has a pricey house and therefore all doctors are too rich and therefore people shouldn't bother having the courtesy to cancel appointments?

I take it that if you were ill and wanted to be seen by your GP, you would be a little annoyed if you couldn't be seen that day? Everyday there are plenty of "no-shows", which stop other patients from being seen. This is not just an inconvenience to the general practice staff, but also for other patients.

It is a real pity that we don't charge for missed appointments, but usually it is medical card patients, who don't have the money anyway.

Faith

Can I ask - is there appointments available that cost more than €50? Is €50 for, say, half an hour, but you can also make appointments for 2 hours, costing €200? If that's the case, then I can see where they're coming from with a flat rate.

Blue_Wolf

If they had time to replace the original appointment than that 50euro from the new appointment would have covered the original and therefore should be no cancellation fee. However, I think 50euro cancellation fee is fine when short notice is given, get charged for that slot. The slot costs 50euro, can't charge extra 50euro for the slot because they couldnt replace it.

Kila wrote: »

Perhaps the logic is that if you cancel an appointment at short notice, they miss out on your fee (€50) and also it's too late to put someone else in that slot so they miss out on any replacement fee (also €50) they may have been able to book in if the had had more notice.