Unfair Cancellation Fees - Private Consultant

Nm207

Hi,

I have private healthcare insurance through works which covers me for appointments with private consultants.

I had an appointment with a private consultant (part of a frequent consultation) on Tuesday afternoon through Zoom. I had intermittent problems with my internet supplier  the week before which was supposed tone resolved by EOD Friday but on Saturday realised that I had lost all broadband connection. After talking to the ISP, they told me that the problem would not be resolved until Wednesday. At this point I had also maxed out my data allowance so I e-mails the consultant and explained the situation, requesting a cancellation (this was sent on Saturday and appointment was on The following Tuesday afternoon).

I have now received an invoice from the consultant charging me for £160 (the full fee) due to short cancellation notice. To be fair, it does say on their invoice that cancellation less than 2 working days would be charged at full fee. I do find the situation unfair as I tried to give them as much advance notice as possible. It is not like they offered me to dial in (rather zoom) or meet in person instead. Moreover, the consultant had also cancelled on me ( at the time of the session) for they very same reason, with no notice at all.

the way it works with my insurance, I pay the consultant and then claim the fee back. I have spoken to my insurer however and they have stated that they will not cover cancellation fees. I have not paid the consultant yet. I thought I would post this here for some advice on how to proceed. By the way, I will no longer be seeing this consultant again as this experience has left a bitter taste in my mouth. Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.

tacpot12

I think you are going to have to pay this cost yourself. Really the cost should be being pay by your ISP, but your contract with them will say that they are not responsible for any losses caused by a loss of service. This doesn't stop you complaining to them, and you might get an ex-gratia refund of one month's broadband which would be better than nothing.  

mda99das

could you not have used whatapp?

Toothsmith

mda99das said:

could you not have used whatapp?

That still needs 't'interweb, or data.

This does seem a tad unfair to me, especially if consultant did the same to you previously, with less notice. 

unforeseen

At this point I had also maxed out my data allowance 

That was the point that you could have nipped out and bought a cheap PAYG sim and put 2GB on it as a cheap fix to get your consultation. 

Pollycat

Toothsmith said:

This does seem a tad unfair to me, especially if consultant did the same to you previously, with less notice. 

+1 to this.

I'd go back and point this out and ask for the fee to be waived.

Undervalued

It may seem harsh but the fault is yours (well actually your chosen service provider's) and not the consultant's.

That said, particularly if you are not going to see him again, I would write and explain the circumstances and point out very firmly that he did the same thing to you so therefore you intend to call it quits!

Is he a physician or a surgeon? It used to be said, probably not true now,  that only a surgeon and not a physician would sue for an unpaid fee. It was an extension of the inverted snobbery that still leads consultant surgeons to call themselves "Mister" and not "Doctor", except of course when using the Doctor handle gives them a perceived advantage!! 

PterionPterion

Undervalued said:

It may seem harsh but the fault is yours (well actually your chosen service provider's) and not the consultant's.

That said, particularly if you are not going to see him again, I would write and explain the circumstances and point out very firmly that he did the same thing to you so therefore you intend to call it quits!

Is he a physician or a surgeon? It used to be said, probably not true now,  that only a surgeon and not a physician would sue for an unpaid fee. It was an extension of the inverted snobbery that still leads consultant surgeons to call themselves "Mister" and not "Doctor", except of course when using the Doctor handle gives them a perceived advantage!! 

The last bit made me chuckle. The animosity between physicians and surgeons has always been comical although the Dr title made physicians come across as aloof as the other. 

A lot of younger surgeons now prefer to keep the Dr title. They're no longer butchers or training on the job as a surgeons assistant and prefer to use the title that displays their medical degree 😂

In this case they'll be charging for their time i guess (or waste of an appointment slot) as most professionals would. Did they decline a telephone consultation because that would have been in everyone's best interests. 

Nm207

unforeseen said:

At this point I had also maxed out my data allowance 

That was the point that you could have nipped out and bought a cheap PAYG sim and put 2GB on it as a cheap fix to get your consultation. 

Since this had previously happened to my consultant as well, I honestly did not think that she would charge me, otherwise I would have dialed (phoned) into the zoom call and let her potentially end the session as it would not be an effective communication method (The consultant is a psychotherapist).

Nm207

Undervalued said:

It may seem harsh but the fault is yours (well actually your chosen service provider's) and not the consultant's.

That said, particularly if you are not going to see him again, I would write and explain the circumstances and point out very firmly that he did the same thing to you so therefore you intend to call it quits!

Is he a physician or a surgeon? It used to be said, probably not true now,  that only a surgeon and not a physician would sue for an unpaid fee. It was an extension of the inverted snobbery that still leads consultant surgeons to call themselves "Mister" and not "Doctor", except of course when using the Doctor handle gives them a perceived advantage!! 

The consultant is a therapist, and tbh, this has definitely put a dent in our relationship (would rather raise such issues with an admin rather than her directly) and I don’t think I would be comfortable with them after this experience (I have been seeing them for a few months now I expected a fairer treatment)

Undervalued

Nm207 said:

Undervalued said:

It may seem harsh but the fault is yours (well actually your chosen service provider's) and not the consultant's.

That said, particularly if you are not going to see him again, I would write and explain the circumstances and point out very firmly that he did the same thing to you so therefore you intend to call it quits!

Is he a physician or a surgeon? It used to be said, probably not true now,  that only a surgeon and not a physician would sue for an unpaid fee. It was an extension of the inverted snobbery that still leads consultant surgeons to call themselves "Mister" and not "Doctor", except of course when using the Doctor handle gives them a perceived advantage!! 

The consultant is a therapist, and tbh, this has definitely put a dent in our relationship (would rather raise such issues with an admin rather than her directly) and I don’t think I would be comfortable with them after this experience (I have been seeing them for a few months now I expected a fairer treatment)

Is this person actually a doctor, registered with the GMC? A psychotherapist generally isn't whereas a psychiatrist or course is.

I am sure there are good psychotherapists and counsellors around but is is an unregulated "profession" with some right cowboys (and girls) amongst them!