I would just like to ask where others stand in terms of charging for lessons cancelled with very short notice because of illness.

I had the mother of a student phone me on thursday, about half an hour before her son's allotted lesson time saying that her son had come home from school feeling ill and would not be coming to the lesson (no request to re-arrange/offer to pay etc) - baring in mind this was at about 5pm so the child would have been home from school for well over an hour, which was ample time to cancel a little further in advance.

Furthermore, I had earmarked this lesson as the final deadline for bringing the exam book they have needed for the past two months which makes me think this illness was a little too conveniently-timed!

My policy clearly states that any lessons cancelled within 24 hours will be charged in full but I have (foolishly) been a little leniant in the case of illness in the past and feel I may be being walked over.

I am not sure whether I should charge for this lesson in case it is a genuine illness but my feeling is, generally, if they are well enough to last the whole day at school he could surely last a half hour lesson!

What would others do in the situation?
Assume they are using illness as a feeble excuse and charge... or give them the benefit of the doubt at the risk of being taken advantage of?

These things don't half make this job more difficult! Makes me think it would be easier to be a ballet teacher, who get paid whatever, if only i was fit enough!!

I also have a 24 hour cancellation fee clause in my contract. I establish right from day one that teaching is not my hobbie, it is how I earn my living. Most offer to pay no problem, but I do waive it sometimes - especially for the long term, loyal families whose support means so much to me. Go with your gut feeling.

Bag x

When my daughter had colds thrice, it affected her hearing somewhat so we cancelled it more or less at the last minute and paid double at the next lesson the first time but her teacher refused the payment so thereafter, we just re-schedule the lesson at his convenience so she has an extra lesson.

I think it's reasonable to expect to be paid (without 48 hrs' notice) unless she has offered to re-schedule and you had turned her down.

Be brave and ask for PAYMENT tactfully or else there'll be repeats.

I never charge for genuine illness or unavoidable circumstances, and always offer to reschedule. Sometimes it's possible, sometimes it isn't. Of course, this raises the issue of trust between you and your pupil/parent, but it soon transpires if you are being taken for a ride. If that happens too often I just get rid of them for a more reliable pupil. I usually tell the others that I have had to "sack" someone because of unreliability and too many short notice cancellations. They are then aware that I won't put up with it. In reality, I have only had to do this twice.
For reasons other than the above, I charge. I find most people are honest, and will pay.

Yes, I'm inclined to side with the above view and that of most others. Before I started teaching pupils part time, my own teacher gave me the advice that you must charge for missed lessons. That way, there is an incentive to attend; the results are consequently better if they come as planned. Everyone wins: teacher, pupils and parents.

If they get used to your being a soft touch then they will give in to the little darlings' whims to cry off at the last moment (because they've had a rough day at school etc.) I'm gutted for them!! A little bit of self-discipline and stickability is a quality to be striven after. People are lost for that these days.

Of course, as has been already posted, you should go with your gut instinct. Some are genuinely ill; one soon realises who is and who probably isn't. And you won't want a liberal sprinkling of their germs if they are unwell. Certainly, if they ask for an alternative time and you can't manage it, then that's also a different matter.

LR

I now charge monthly in advance so I no longer get this problem as parents ask for an alternative time for the lesson if the child is ill. I also go out of my way to try to fit them in as they have already paid. If the circumstances are exceptional then I will give credit against the following month, but illness is not exceptional.....Before I changed to this system, I used to get parents cancelling because their offspring wanted to go to a party for example...that has now stopped, needless to say!!

I have to say, it has happened that a kid has come home from school and it's taken me a while to realize that they are actually sick and not just tired and ready to re-charge their batteries with a snack and a bit of downtime. And yes, I would (reluctantly) cancel music rather than risk them being too sick to attend school next day, since after all, school attendance is compulsory and I have a duty as a parent to get them in a fit state to attend school!

However, that's a separate problem from payment. If I have to cancel on the day, then I expect to pay for the lesson. If the teacher is willing and able to re-schedule, that's a bonus (especially with primary school-age kids, who get minor illnesses frequqently).

I really think it depends on your pupils and their families and their general attitude towards music lessons.

I find it hard to reschedule lessons because of other commitments on evenings other than when I normally teach, so I am willing to accept pupils letting me know that they are unwell within an hour or so of their lesson. (I find it works both ways, if I have to cancel a lesson because of some real domestic emergency then I don't worry too much - it doesn't happen too often and I make sure no exam pupil is adversely affected, but since reading these forums I have realised that I have particularly considerate "parents").

I have also been in the situation where my daughter has been sent home at the end of the day clearly with a temperature - school has obviously thought that she would just make it to the end of the school afternoon - and I've had to cancel a violin lesson within about an hour and a quarter of it being due.

However, I am not tolerant of lessons missed because of a party, nor for team games such as football, and on principle I would make a point of rescheduling the lesson.

I normally reschedule for illness, or carry the lesson on a week, but holidays i charge half.

Last week I rang my teacher at the last minute to say that two of my children had a vomiting virus - though I was well and able to have my lesson if she still wanted to come...

Personally, I don't want sick children in my house spreading their germs to me and my family! Anyway, a sick child doesn't concentrate or want to be bothered, so there's little to be gained by teaching them. If we can reschedule the lesson, that's great but it's not always easy.

So, whilst I do have a contract clause about charging for lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours notice, I rarely do so for last-minute sickness. I, like others, think you quickly tune in to those parents/pupils wanting to take you for a ride. In my experience few do and keeping good relations with the bulk of my teaching practice is more important to me than occasionally reclaiming fees for a sick child's lesson.

This is almost exactly what I do - and it does become obvious that it's not 'genuine illness' when it happens consistently - or when you saw the child coming out of school with a hop and a skip, and then hear that he was in school the next day too! I promise to 'reschedule where possible' if a child is sick, but in cases like the above it's just magically not possible, as I'm 'busy' that week. But I think everybody deserves the benefit of the doubt, as children CAN go downhill very quickly in the course of an afternoon with viral things, and it is possible that an hour's notice is genuine; maybe the parent was holding off because he/she was intending to do his/her best to get the child there.

I went to a student on Sunday. This was at her mums request with the promise of paying a bit extra as I don't normally teach on Sundays. Anyway, I got to the door, rang the doorbell and listened while they were all inside arguing about who was going to let me in. I rang the bell again, but walked away as they still did not answer. This is the fourth occassion now where lessons have been cancelled with little or no notice. Yesterday she was sent a letter saying no more lessons. A pity because the week before she had bought all her books to work towards Grade One.

I wouldn't mind if they had gone out and forgotten I was going (although I would have left a note to say I wasn't happy about it) but for them to be inside like they were was the height of rudeness in my opinion. I sometimes think because I'm "only" a private tutor, people think it's not important enough to have a bit of common courtesy in regards to commitment towards lessons.

Sorry- rant over.

Follow your instincts.

They're the losers; what goes around comes around. If that's their attitude to life, it's going to slap them in the face one of these days. Hold your head high and don't run after them or make any further contact I'd say. Good riddance.
LR

Charlies Aunt, I think you did the right thing there. Hope you have some nice pupils who make up for the bad experiences!

Thanks, LR and allears. Yes, my other pupils more than make up for the loss of this one. I wonder how her mum would've reacted in the same circumstance- she too is a teacher!

Just to add agreement that that was a totally despicable way to behave.

It is difficult to know when to charge/not charge. Apart from following your instincts I think dcmbarton and dulciana have the best policy. If you do teach an ill child you risk becoming ill yourself and losing a lot more money.

I still try to encourage them to get here if at all possible - 'unless they're likely to vomit on my piano' is what I say on the note at the beginning of term! And they usually seem to do their best,

I have a similar situation with a pupil who has missed about half of her allocated lessons, as she is always ill with one thing or another.

My main problem is that the mother phones about half an hour before her lesson, or later, after they havent turned up. I would normally charge for a "no show", but i know the girl's mother well, and the girl does seem to be having ongoing health problems. However, more often than not, I don't get paid. I don't really press the issue, as I know her, and also she is my last pupil of the day.

Does anyone have any advice?

see the other thread for my answer.....!!!

I generally go by instinct and my husband believes I'm soft! But I have two children and as you are all probably aware am not in the best of health and quite frankly do not want to get any bugs doing the rounds. If the parents offer to pay I accept, I let them offer before stating that I may or may not charge. I've not lost a pupil yet due to this attitude.

I had to cancel some lessons at short notice myself last Friday due to Gastro-enteritis, so I know how quickly things can strike.

Yesterday I had a phone message from the above student, apologising for the Sunday and asking if she can resume lessons from this Saturday. I feel I should stick to my guns and say "No", but if I went armed with a contract they would know they wouldn't be able to mess me about in the future.
What would you do?
Thanks all

Unless you are desperate for the money I would walk away from this one! If as you say it's not the first time they have let you down then even a contract is unlikely to make any difference.
It's always sad to lose a pupil, especially under such circumstances, but they do seem to be taking you for a ride here....

Did she give a reason for what happened on the Sunday?

I now insist that parents pay up front "illness " can often mean rectum immobilis on the part of the parent
this translates as "cannot be ar----" to come to the lesson

If a child is genuinely ill I might reschedule but not at less than 24 hours notice

For regular trouble makers I have the wolf pit ie they don't come back

To suziestar:

Do you ever try and reschedule this girl's lesson? If she's always ill and they can't reschedule either, then you're losing out bigtime! I know it's difficult in the case of someone you know, but then again why should the fact you know the mother give her the right to take you for granted? Surely she should respect you even more if she knows you?

Do you offer an alternate slot when the girl is ill? If so, what happens?

If she can accept an alternate slot and so can you, then no problem - you don't lose out financially.

If she can accept an alternate slot but you can't, then you could probably fill her slot too, so I would hint gently that other people are after her slot and that if she wants to keep it she should start paying in advance.

If you can accept an alternate slot but she can't, then the girl is doing too much and is probably always ill for that reason!

If you can accept an alternate slot but she can't, but not because of other after-school activities, then I'd be suspicious of the 'illness' and would suspect you're being taken for a ride.

If you can, try the alternate slot thing and see what happens.

You could also tell the mother you've had to change your policy and now all lessons are being charged in advance. Some people charge just one week in advance and say it makes all the difference.

Charging in advance seems to concentrate minds greatly and children are rarely if ever ill as a result!

Violinia

Totally off topic but I feel compelled to point out that school attendence isn't compulsory at all! Us parents have a legal duty to provide or children with full-time education - we can either let our local school/government choose what to teach them or decide ourselves. Whichever- we individually choose what we want for our own families.

Happy New Year everybody, Fiona M

Yes you can home-educate but if your child is registered at a school then you do have to get them there on time on a daily basis otherwise there's trouble!

Work isn't compulsory but if you have a job and keep turning up late or not at all, there are consequences. I think that's what was meant.

Violinia

Fiona, where I live, it is compulsory (written into law), although the government is starting to waver a bit. Even a week off due to illness 2 or 3 years ago can be enough for a high school to refuse a student's application!

I think we all must have missed that all-ears is in Japan!

Funnily enough I've just been on the phone to one of my students' mums - she's been asked to see the Head of her child's school today about the growing non-attendance of her child due to asthma and end-of-week school refusal. The school have mentioned the words 'social services' so frequent non-attendance certainly does become a problem here once your child is registered.

Violinia

As a parent and now also a pupil, I expect to pay in the case of missed lessons. Mrs A is considerate and if it is possible to reschedule a lesson she will do so at some stage but she cannot guarentee it that is fair enough. As we have been with her now for a number of years she has relaxed with us considerably but that as because we have built a trust over the years.

It is your living, and you do have to make your pupils and parents take it seriously. Whether that is by enforcing a contract on those that play you up or whether it is by inviting people to leave if they mess you around that is really down to how you like to manage things.

Mrs A asks for fees in advance for 10 lessons. Life is much easier if you hold the money rather than persauding people to part with it later. Mrs A has taught from the age of 14 and now is well advanced into her 70's so she has managed parents and pupils for many years so I reckon she know's what she is is about.