Cancellation fee due to missed appointment

arcon5

Annabee wrote: »

I would think it depends whether or not you agreed to this before booking the appointment? ie what sort of contract was between you and the clinic? Any 'terms and conditions'? If there was no previous mention of charging for missed appointments, then I don't see how they could enforce this. And if they tried to charge your credit card, then you could probably get the bank to do a charge-back.

Check if you have any paperwork from them, check on their website, before agreeing to pay.

If its not in the terms and conditions then its damages for op breaching the contract she entered in to, making their terms irrelevant really.

Chargebacks aren't always that simple either, they can defend them.

artbaron

phingers wrote: »

The niggle is that they have had over £500 from us across 3 family members and numerous appointments in the last year or so. Doubtless they would have gained a similar amount over the next year or so...

Wow. Do foot problems run in the family?






I'm here all week.

Annabee

arcon5 wrote: »

If its not in the terms and conditions then its damages for op breaching the contract she entered in to, making their terms irrelevant really.

Chargebacks aren't always that simple either, they can defend them.

Maybe, but realistically they are hardly going to take her to small claims court for £35 are they?

I still think if it is not in their terms and conditions then it's unenforceable. If it is, then you should probably pay, but it would be worth asking them to waive the charge (as TakeAwayAddict suggests) as you are good customers.

earthstorm

Annabee wrote: »

Maybe, but realistically they are hardly going to take her to small claims court for £35 are they?

I still think if it is not in their terms and conditions then it's unenforceable. If it is, then you should probably pay, but it would be worth asking them to waive the charge (as TakeAwayAddict suggests) as you are good customers.

Maybe not, but the OP needs to check the terms they agreed when they joined the practice and not for the appointment, which i dare no terms are given when you make an appointment just like when you make a doctors appointment, but then we all know that to get a signed doctors note etc. it will cost as its clearly displayed in surgery, so i dare say in their podiatrist practice their will be a list of prices displayed .

why should they waive the fee, the OP did not show up for an appointment and never called to cancel. The fee will be their to cover some of their costs and also to discourage patients from missing appointments. If they keep waiving these fees, then why charge the fee in the first place.

Annabee

Why should they waive the fee? To keep the goodwill of a regular customer who had made a one-off genuine mistake, and to keep them coming back! Makes commercial sense.

arcon5

Annabee wrote: »

Maybe, but realistically they are hardly going to take her to small claims court for £35 are they?

I still think if it is not in their terms and conditions then it's unenforceable. If it is, then you should probably pay, but it would be worth asking them to waive the charge (as TakeAwayAddict suggests) as you are good customers.

No, they don't have to, they have ops card details.

How is damages for breach of contract unenforceable? In fact, they'd potentially have grounds to charge op the full cost of the service (less the cost of any stock unused, if any).

Hintza

Pay the money and then grovel for a discount on your next few bills.

The sad thing is the OP came on here with this question at all looking for a way to duck personal responsibility.

Annabee

arcon, I think the £35 was the full cost of the service.

I am sure most people in the real world would feel the same as the OP. I can see it must have been annoying for the clinic to have their time wasted, however this was a one time mistake by her and mistakes happen. If the OP had done this frequently or was a new customer then they would have made the right decision by charging her, but in this case they have been foolish to !!!! off a good customer.

Once again, on the 'Consumer Rights' board, the OP has been berated. It is beyond weird, there a lot of posters who are always on the company's side. Maybe the board should be renamed.

agrinnall

Annabee wrote: »

Once again, on the 'Consumer Rights' board, the OP has been berated. It is beyond weird, there a lot of posters who are always on the company's side. Maybe the board should be renamed.

Which posters are those then, name some names if you are so convinced that's the case? Perhaps you misunderstand the purpose of this board, it's not to be on one side or the other of an issue simply because of who the poster is, but to inform the OP of what their rights and responsibilities are, even if that's an answer that they don't want to hear.

Annabee

I disagree, surely the whole point of MSE is to support the rights of the consumer?

OK, the customer is not always right, but if you think they do not have a case, etc, then why not just inform them of that in a neutral manner without apportioning blame? Like on other consumer websites.

Don't get all the vitriol that is often poured out on OPs (and particularly in this section). You sometimes get the impression that some posters have an agenda.