Terms & Conditions of Business
Every business and service provider has its own terms and conditions. Beauty Therapists are no different. This page serves to ensure that all clients understand the client/therapist relationship and business terms and to establish professional boundaries from the outset. No hidden wording; no small-print; no jargon!
Over the years, I have turned away hundreds of bookings on the basis that my diary is already fully booked, only to get cancellations and end up with unfillable gaps, which has been financially very damaging and frustrating.
I have taken legal advice to ensure my terms and conditions are considered fair and reasonable. Please take your time to familiarise yourself with my terms and conditions before embarking on bookings. For all existing clients, please note the only real change to what you’re used to is the implementation of advance payment for all bookings, instead of simply online bookings.
In the trading year ending March 2024, my business suffered avoidable losses of £5,500 due to late cancellations. Just folk who cancelled with such little notice that the space could not be re-filled, or clients on the waiting list had already booked elsewhere. Worst of all are losses from clients who refused to pay cancellation fees.
No-one likes to pay for services they don’t receive, but you wouldn’t ask Taylor Swift for the cost of your ticket back if you were not able to go to the concert.
The only alternative would be to hike my prices up so high that last minute losses are covered by all other paying clients, but this hardly seems fair! Therefore the only step left available to me is to ensure that each individual client is totally on-board with the way I work so that if you find yourself in the situation where you can’t attend for whatever reason, you cover my loss, without bartering! Like you, I have bills to pay!
The only workable solution to protect myself from these avoidable losses is to seek payment at the time of booking your appointment. That’s not to say that I can’t offer you any flexibility. I can, and I will endeavour to mitigate charges to you in any way I can, BUT, where there is a loss to the business, there will be a charge to you. If that sounds fair, then read on!
A copy of this in document form will be given to you on your first appointment. A signed copy will be retained by me.
NEW CLIENTS – All new clients are required to telephone in the first instance to book their first appointment. Once we have established a working relationship, you will have your online booking facility enabled.
ONLINE BOOKING – All clients with an “enabled” online booking status will be required to pay a booking fee at the time of booking. This will be held securely on your account. This pre-payment is subject to my terms and conditions.
TELEPHONE BOOKINGS/IN PERSON BOOKINGS – Bookings that made over the phone or in person can be paid for in person or via a “link” which will be emailed/text to you to allow you to pay your booking fee. Your appointment is not confirmed until payment has been made and your appointment is subject to over-ride by online bookers, so please do not delay in making your payment.
CHILDREN/MINORS – I respectfully ask that children and companions of any age are not brought to your appointment unless they are here for a treatment. Thank you. I love Children, but their naturally inquisitive nature is not suitable for this environment.
Minors of existing clients under the age of 16 can receive treatment with parental consent at my discretion, and depending on the terms of my insurers. This is subject to change. Currently, minors must be accompanied by their consenting parent/legal guardian until they are 16 years old. Proof of age will be required. Specialist waxing is not available to under 18’s. There is no discount given to children. Minors absolutely must undertake a patch test before waxing.
BOOKING FEES – A blanket 100% non-refundable* booking fee is required from all clients new and old to confirm your appointment.
*Booking Fees can be used for a future appointment if you need to change an appointment or an appointment is cancelled within our cancellation terms below and the appointment re-filled with no financial loss to the business. If your appointment cannot be re-filled your booking fee will be retained in full. If your appointment is refilled but to a lesser value than your original booking (ie – you cancel a full body massage, and I fill the space with a brow shape, for example), your booking fee will still be retained.
If your appointment can be filled with a booking of equivalent value and there is no loss to the business, your booking fee can be returned to you or held on account for your next appointment, less a £25 administration fee**.
If you do not show up for your appointment or cancel outside of the cancellation period, you will be charged 100% of the fee.
Same day cancellations, irrespective of whether you give 3 hours or 20 minutes notice, will still be treated as a no-show.
An allowance may be made to represent any un-used product and laundry costs. If you have not attended and these products have not been decanted/prepared/used, you will not be charged for them. If however in the event of a waxing treatment, you cancel on the day and the wax pot has been on for you, hot towels steamed in readiness for your facial, no allowance will be made.
If you cancel on the day of the appointment and (for example), hot stones have been prepared and heated for you, wax has been heated for you, products decanted for you etc, you will be charged the full fee. The climate control is still on for you. The water heater is still on in anticipation of your appointment, whether you arrive or not! These costs have to be covered.
Any allowance made will be deducted from your next service fee, or can be refunded to you if preferred.
**Administration fee – The administration fee of £25 covers the cost of trying to re-fill a cancelled or re-arranged appointment (excluding those brought forward to a sooner date). This may entail social media marketing, email marketing, calls to clients on a waiting list, the time taken to process their booking, the cost of paid social media advertising, the cost of card processing in the event that a refund may be due to you.
YOUR RIGHT TO CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT YOUR BOOKING –
Please check your diary carefully when making your appointments. If you find you have made an error when booking, please inform me straight away and there will be no charge for this if it’s on the day you booked the appointment.
If you book online, you have 14 days from the day you book your appointment to cancel with no charge whatsoever unless your booking falls within that 14 days, then the cancellation policy applies.
CANCELLATION POLICY
My cancellation period is strictly 72 hours/3 days.
If you hold an appointment in my diary for more than two weeks and then cancel it outside of 72 hours, you will still be charged 100%. This is because others cannot book the slot that you have reserved.
In the event that the space can be re-filled and there is no loss to the business, only a £25 administration fee** will be charged. The remainder of your booking fee can be returned to you or held on account towards your next appointment.
If you book an appointment within 14 days of the appointment and then cancel, you will be charged 100% unless the space can be re-filled and there is no loss to the business, only a £25 administration fee** will be charged.
Re-arranging your appointment (unless you bring it forward to a sooner date) will still incur the cancellation charges above.
If you do need to cancel or rearrange your appointment, please telephone me immediately. I understand sometimes things crop up, but PLEASE ensure you know I am aware if you can’t make it by calling me. If you email or text me and haven’t had a reply, you can assume I am with clients and unaware.
If you are late for your appointment – I run strictly to time, so if you are late, your treatment will be adapted to ensure I am not late for my next client. You will still be charged for what you have booked. I will do my absolute best to complete your treatment, but in the allotted time only.
In the case that not enough time remains to perform any part of the treatment, then it will be deemed a no-show as the treatment will not commence. For example, a brow shape is a 15 minute appointment. If you arrive 10 minutes into the appointment, not enough time remains to perform any part of the service with a realistic outcome. The treatment will still be payable.
Same day cancellations are considered a no-show. This is because my diary is so busy that I am rarely able to find the time between appointments to react your cancellation, and there is rarely an opportunity to re-fill the slot. I will absolutely do my best though!
Please be aware, you will be charged for what you have booked. Time is allocated to accommodate your requests. If you change your mind about the treatment you would like, you will still be charged unless 72 hours’ notice is given and there is no financial loss to the business.
I reserve the right to refuse treatment without prejudice if I deem you not to be suitable or if I don’t feel comfortable. Please be sure to follow all the pre-treatment guidance associated with your booked treatment.
SICKNESS – If you are unwell, please telephone to rearrange your appointment as soon as possible. There is no sick pay for the self-employed, and I would prefer you kept your illnesses to yourself. Anyone displaying any symptoms of respiratory illness, heavy cold, any covid symptoms, sickness or diarrhoea whatsoever MUST stay away. If you attend your appointment and you are unwell, I am unable to treat you and you will be charged 100% If I can re-fill your cancelled appointment and there is no loss to the business, only a £25 admin fee** will be charged. The more notice you give me, the more chance I have to fill the space. I will rebook your appointment as soon as I possibly can when you’re well again.
If I am unwell, I will telephone you as soon as possible to re-arrange your appointment and in most cases, I will do my utmost to get you an appointment elsewhere if I possibly can. I will return all booking fees pertaining to that appointment as soon as is possible, or keep them on account for your next appointment if you prefer. Your choice entirely. Please be patient while I recover.
REFILLING YOUR CANCELLED APPOINTMENTS – Be assured, my terms and conditions and cancellation policy are written solely for the purpose of protecting myself from financial loss. My policy is not intended and never will be to profiteer from your illnesses, accidents, mis-haps and life hiccups!
I will do absolutely everything I can to re-fill your appointment as per my cancellation policy, but remember that this in itself comes at a cost to me.
Your appointment is not confirmed until it is paid for. Your client status may be suspended until full payment has been made.
eGIFT – The value of eGift vouchers will be deemed the same as booking fees and therefore the gift will be forfeited in line with the cancellation policy in the event of late cancellation/no show.
I reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions to suit the needs of the business at any time. Details of any changes will be advised on my website, louisetildenbeautytherapy.co.uk, through my social media channels and through my email marketing activity.