Hi!

I'm looking for advice about cancellation fees. I always ask students to give me at least 24 hours' notice if they need to cancel a lesson (except in cases of sickness, of course). Mostly it works, but there are some who insist on cancelling on the day itself, or even right at the last moment. It's frustrating, because I can't possibly fill their slot, even though sometimes someone is looking for an alternative slot because they can't make their regular lesson that week. Do other teachers charge for late cancellations? Half the fee or the whole fee? How is this practice received?

I was also thinking of offering concessions for people on Income Support. Does anyone else do this? Does it work?

All advice gratefully received.

Thank you.

How patronising. Was your newsletter for parents or 5 year olds? If they are very ill or there has been a death, I would make up lesson no problems, it happens and I would hope that people would afford me the same courtesy.

I agree that 24 hours is minimum notice, especially when excuse is pathetic. If it is out of character for the student to miss lessons like this then I tend to try and make it up. Most parents are good about giving plenty of notice, in which case no matter what the reason I will make up the lesson - you can't expect the same time to be possible every single week.

I have never found the need to be quite so uber officious about this.

My new spiel for this term's info sheet, just for another approach. (I'm taking assertiveness lessons from noodle. )


Fees will remain unchanged until September 2008. Absences are not allowable, but as always, I’ll do my best to reschedule in cases of illness, or if there is an important school event taking place, such as a carol service or similar. Lessons missed through any other activities can not, I’m afraid, be rescheduled or refunded. In the past I have tried to fill in time missed because of trips away, sporting activities, parties, and so on, but the scale of this became too difficult to manage, and, as such, I’ve had to stop it altogether. It’s up to you to prioritise! Please do your best to come to your lesson even if you weren’t at school that day.

In reality, I'll still try to reschedule missed lessons if the excuse seems legitimate, but I've needed to appear black and white for the benefit of those who persistently take advantage. I never refund or offer reduced rates.

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There was a time when I didn't charge for cancellations, but I got taken advantage of so many times that I now charge in full for late cancellations or non-cancelled/missed lessons. The only exceptions I make are genuine emergency illness requiring hospitalisation/treatment or genuine death of a close relative (ie. parent, sibling) - I would hope nobody would lie about the latter, but there's always a chance of one who'll try it on..... I do smell rats very easily though

The vast majority of my adult students appreciate that I am not running a charity. They understand that I too have bills to pay and cannot just have people turning up for lessons on an ad hoc when they feel like it basis.

The problems I ususally encounter are with parents and their children

This is from a students view (not a teachers):

I think if you should charge for the lesson unless the pupil gives a weeks notice or atleast 3 days. I would be happy with that and i think your pupils should be. However on the other hand you should give them notice of a week if you are going to miss a lesson. However, you should also set a number of lessons a year and make sure you have given every pupil the chance of having that number. ie if you miss a lesson you must make it up!

I think if a pupil cancels the day before that means somethings come up so that means its more important to them than the lesson so why should you be understanding?

I have had music lessons for atleast 8 years and i havent missed more than 2!

Just a few more things:

I don't think unless the pupil gives 2 or 3 weeks notice you should offer a rescheduled lesson. The student shouldn't benefit from screwing you around and it is effectively money you are losing by doing it for them.


I guess this would all sound harsh from a teacher but as a student i would find it all very fair.

Strict indeed, but as you rightly say, fair to everyone since they know where they stand from day one.

I have been considering employing a written contract myself, especially when it comes to the amount of holiday (no lessons) some of the private school children take. Nine weeks is the record this summer!!!! I've put up with it this year, but this will be the last. More to the point, none of them will have even taken the violin out of its case since their last lesson back in July and then the parents will be expecting ME to drag their little darlings up to Grade 5 exam standard in just eight weeks. They've got another think coming........

Thanks to everybody for this advice. I have never handed out terms and conditions before but will seriously consider doing so now. However, I think the problem would be having to enforce them......

I think the combination of being quite strict and giving yourself that loophole to use when you see fit is very sensible. No one can take advantage, because you've not said "in the case of X, Y or Z you won't have to pay...", but you can if you wish be very generous if you feel it's appropriate.

Especially those who may have already treated you as something of a 'musical childminder' for some time already...........

My terms state that missed lesson are to be paid for. This is regardless of notice or reason but as it is not our main household income I can be flexible if I choose. Generally if people don't mess me about then I will be more inclined to be lenient when the need arises. I will also offer to rearrange if I can.

I had one teacher who charged for ALL missed lessons including when I was in hospital.

That's how I work too. Like Dulciana, I state in my T&Cs that missed lessons cannot be allowed for but in reality I will try to make up the lesson if its possible. It has reduced the amount of messing around that I used to get before T&Cs massively.

Ouch!

I think that if David has been waiting in for pupils inconsiderate enough to cancel 10mins before their lesson, he's right to point out that it's unacceptable... Some people need these things spelled out for them - even matters of common courtesy unfortunately.

Some teachers just don't have space in their timetable to offer a rearranged lesson time even with the best will in the world. And if it is their only income then they can't afford to lose money over missed lessons whatever the reason.
If this is made clear at the beginning then you take it or leave it.

Well I'm only here at the computer now because it looks like one has forgotten about his first lesson this term, despite confirming he'd be here last week...

I pay for all my lessons in advance (four week blocks). If I give sufficient notice, I'm able to reschedule the lesson. If I can't make the lesson on the day for any reason, I don't expect to get the money back - it wouldn't be fair on my teacher as it would be too late to get another pupil to fill the slot. The system works well and my teacher is incredibly flexible with rearranging lessons - even at 8am (before work) if required!

There is nothing on earth that would persuade me to have somebody for a lesson at 8 a.m. And knowing my form at that time, the pupil wouldn't want me anyway!

I've had a rearranged lesson at 9a.m. before now when I've been going on holiday that day.

i'm another who charges for missed lessons, regardless of the reason or the notice given, BUT i always offer the opportunity to reschedule. if we can't find a mutual time that week to move the lesson to, then i make a note that one is owed to the pupil and we normally fit them in during the school holidays. ultimately, this does mean that i am putting myself out, but it suits me as i have the time to do it.

i sum it up in writing by saying 'all lessons must be paid for. any cancellations can be rescheduled at mutual convenience'.

if a pupil misses a lesson due to truly exceptional circumstances, i then decide whether to waive the fee or not.

Me neither lol!

If anyone's ever seen "Ring"... at 8am I look like that girl coming out of the TV, and the pupils would be terrified

My earliest is 10am, and that's only on a Saturday. I suppose I used to start really early for other jobs, but now I've got out of the way of it.

To be honest, I'm not my best at 8am but pre-exam needs must! It's only happened once for me but I know she has regulars at 8am on some days. I am astounded by her work schedule - I know I couldn't do the same.......but she says she loves it!

I'd happily do 11 p.m. if they were old enought to share a glass of wine during the proceedings.

Sounds good to me! After all, I'm sure it's just as important for teachers as pupils to enjoy what they do!

Personally I think it's very unfair to cancel for genuine illness. I gave written T&Cs for the first time last week that basically said to give as much notice as possible and I would try, but not guarentee to rearrange the lesson (not charging if it's not). As long as people don't take advantage of my kindness I will keep it that way. For any who do I would have to take a firmer stance, or get rid of them altogether.

I am fortunate that both of my long standing pupils have played very fair and hopefully will continue to. In fact I don't remember either of them cancelling at the last moment. Occassionally for school trips, which is fine with me. In school last year I more often had people missing lessons for various good and not so good reasons, but that happens in school more, especially if it's exam time or there are outings or school events.

Just to throw a spanner in the works...
I wonder if our benevolence as teachers depends on the calibre of the pupil? And in how much we want to keep them? When I say calibre I don't necessarily mean highly talented (though that as well). I mean hard-working/ consistent/ long-standing. If the pupil is still quite young, there are things which are beyond their control - like payment on time, getting lifts to lessons, etc. Are we prepared to be more 'understanding' if the pupil in question is one of the above-mentioned?

I have recently had to tigten up on my missed lesson policy. I knew things were getting bad when a parent rand up to say it was a bit too windy to come out that night so did I mind if she cancelled!! I now have sent out a letter stating that I must have 1 weeks notice for cancelled lessons (I can try to re-arrange with a weeks notice) if they cancel after this time they are charged the full lesson rate. The only exception is if they are ill then I don't charge.

Yes!

I'm lucky enough to see most pupils AND parents everyweek and I think coming down on them like a ton of bricks would damage the rapport that has been built.

I think students (and their parents) who are rarely away often don't expect the lesson to be made up, it's the ones who are often "ill" or "busy" who expect the most. I don't make the effort to make up these lessons unless there has been notice. You can tell when it's genuine.

I am surprised that the parents of children who miss lessons so often, and don't give sufficient notice are happy to waste so much money, at £14 a go, if they miss 4 lessons a term that's £56 a term so £168 a year...

Ok, people. What to do when it's the first lesson of term that's missed and you haven't had a chance to give the pupil the bill yet? Does this make any difference? Somehow it's easy enough when a lesson is missed after the invoice has already been paid, but what about handing over, with a smile, a bill for something that never took place? And they haven't had a chance to read the terms and conditions yet because they're in the envelope with the bill?

From a student's point of view, I think that some teachers are a bit unfair. Of course, I appreciate that they have bills to pay and a job to do- but who teaches for the money? Some teachers seem to charge their pupils for all sorts of things, including missed lessons, and then go jetting off when they feel like it. My cousin had to pay for a term's piano lessons in advance and then had no teacher for the majority of that term because she was off doing something else. Admittedly, this was at school and I'm sure most teachers wouldn't dream of doing something like that- but the leniency does work both ways. If my teacher wanted to cancel a lesson for something else then I would most likely say that was fine! There ARE other things more important in life than an hour's music lesson, which you can have the week later anyway. Of course, I understand the need for T & C's etc. but there are a few teachers who could benefit from a bit more understanding

If you were too ill to teach, would you re-fund the lesson?

No, I appreciate the need for T and C's. I'm just saying that in my experience, some teachers could be a bit more 'human'. It's the same with school teachers.

About the money comment- I meant who teaches purely for the money. If you were just after a job to pay the bills and didn't like what you were doing, I suspect most people wouldn't be teaching?

I still charge for this actually - I send a letter at the beginning of the term with dates and fees. If they miss it (without warning) tough! It's happened often enough now that I have phoned everyone in advance so there can't be any excuses of "not knowing if it was this week" etc. Still looking forward to all my coffee breaks this week...

Littlelady - I certainly teach for the money - it's my job! Of course I enjoy it a lot, but there's no way I would be doing it for free - bills to pay etc. Of course there ARE more important things than music lessons, I don't think anyone would argue with you. Common courtesy however, giving notice for missed lessons is another matter. You can have a lesson a week later, but that means you've paid for a lesson you've not used - or more likely, your parents have paid for a lesson which you haven't used. Not to mention your teachers time you have wasted.

Still, that true about everything surely?

My young brother is in what our American cousins call 'construction'. He never wanted to do anything else, started out in an apprenticeship as a joiner, and worked his way up to assistant site manager last year. He loves it, but that doesn't mean he'd be quite happy to turn up and work if his company decided not to pay him this week ('cause they had other expenses this week, and needed the money...).
Similarly I love my work, but it's all the money I have! Sure, if I had millions, I'd probably keep a few pupils on for fun, but I don't...
Yet!

We're human as long as we're treated as human, rather than like a Chinese takeaway that you grab at short notice and only pay for when you want it! It's fine to say that there are more important things than music lessons, and it's fine to do something else on your lesson night if you prefer - but being 'human' doesn't mean that the teacher should be repeatedly refunding and rescheduling, depending on the pupil's whims. Turning up when it suits is fine as long as the teacher's time, which has been set aside, is paid for. (Though personally I wouldn't be happy to continue accepting the money; I'd rather accept a new, more committed pupil!)

I charge too - letters get sent out at the end of the previous term so they are fully aware of when their first lesson back lesson is. No excuses really when it's there in black and white.

Having said that, the opposite happened yesterday. I start back today but I had 3 pupils turn up for their lessons last night. I do wonder sometimes if they actually read all the letters etc... I give them!

My situation is a little easier from the point of view that I claim the number of hours I have taught monthly from the Association which employs me. However, since the Association doesn't bother, I send out a letter at the beginning of term explaining that it is the pupils' responsibility to be at their lessons. After all it is not only my teaching, but my time they are paying for. I state that I will claim for every lesson missed except in the case of SERIOUS illness, hospitalization or the death of a close relative. I also state that in the event of missed lessons I will do everything I can to make them up but that the decision to do so is at MY discretion and according to the availability of a space. I ask them to let me know in advance if they know they will be absent
so that I can use their space.

I also give them a copy of my timetable and(with the permission of parents - it's a tradition now so they all accept it) a list of phone numbers of all my pupils. I tell them if they need to change a lesson time they can arrange a swap with someone who has a lesson of the same length. They should notify me of the change if possible but if they can't they are to go ahead with it anyway.

I take particular care to point out that in the case of siblings who follow one another and who may all be absent on the same day the same rules apply.

In practice I am rather softer than my terms but I hold the reins. If I can / want to be generous it is I who decide, not the pupils.

It was a bit hard to establish but it works well now. I get the occasional parent who tries to wriggle round things but I point out that the same rules apply to everyone.

This "humanity" thing gets seriously on my nerves.
Is it human if a student or parent just turns up when they like to? And the teacher has no chance to do anything about it and sits around stupid waiting for the student to show up? Is it human if every hangover is a "serious illness" all of a sudden? Is it human if every sleepover is more important than an already booked lesson?
If someone treats me with respect, I will do the same, and as I already mentioned: The paragraph about the teacher's discretion leaves a lot of loopholes where I consider them appropriate. But T&Cs have to be strict, otherwise people start to work their way around them all the time. I have to make clear that the decision is down to me, not to them. If I don't I will always have problems. And like others already said: Teaching is not my hobby (although I enjoy it), and I have other things to do if I know the time is available.
And of course I make up for lessons I cannot teach, and of course I refund if this is not possible. If students would be as concerned the other way round, we possibly all would not have problems ...

If you have an appointment with a painter to decorate your house, and then no one is there to open the door and let them in - what do you think will happen? Do you think they are human enough not to charge you for their wasted time?

I am not talking about the friendly and well coordinated students here (which are the vast majority to make it clear). If those people get serious problems, I am always eager to help. But the ones who always try to make things work their way and take advantage sadly do exist, and it is for them to have strict rules that cannot be misinterpreted. If those people decide not to take lessons because of my "inhumanity" - fine, I can seriously do without them.

I am really sick of the fact that music teachers always have to justify their T&Cs - how many other professions do feel the pressure to do this?

I totally agree with you, far too many people think that music teachers teach simply for the love of music and that because of this they can walk all over them and it doesn't matter. Of course I love music and teaching but it is my job I need to be paid!!

Exactly. You can't live off air alone!

While most people are very reasonable and 99% of the time everything runs according to plan, it is only sensible to have something in place to cover yourself in case someone tries to take the proverbial. Also as has been said several times, very few teachers will stick stringently to t & cs in every case. Most people use their discretion when things enter a 'grey area.' This works fine for me! (and for my students!)

Well said. I completely agree with you

I'm feel quite fortunate not to have encountered teachers as rigid as some of you seem to be!

My son's piano teacher is great about missed lessons. She only teaches on 36 weeks of the year, and is willing to make up missed lessons e.g during half-term, or the week after most pupils finish. Of course, we give as much notice as possible of things like concerts or school events which crop up on lesson nights, but there are bound to be occasions when an illness appears suddenly. She says she can always use the hour doing jobs, as she teaches at home, so never charges unless we've had the lesson.

However, she is adamant about payment in advance. The invoice is issued along with a short progress report at the end of each half-term, and she also gives dates of lessons in the next half-term. It must be paid before the start of the first lesson back. I think this is very fair, as she's so flexible about lessons, but I'd be reluctant to pay in advance if I thought she might charge me for a missed lesson without trying to accommodate us.

Yes - but frankly I've had one or two teachers who treat their students like Chinese takeaway. I agree that students should be more considerate of teachers, but there are definitely some teachers out there who need to be more considerate of their students.

In some ways you are lucky that she doesn't rely on the money.
Personally I would have found 36 lessons a year quite frustrating... far too many weeks off for me.

I think that's it in a nutshell. I was under the impresion when I started building my pupils up that common courtesy was actually a common thing, which is why I never had T&C's - and which is why I'm now a little cynical. T&C's still leave the teacher with the opportunity to exercise courtesy and discretion in knowing when to waive the rules, but without being taken advantage of.

Well, some of us obviously did not have the luck to always have students who are an example of the already mentioned "common courtesy" - if everyone would just pay without moaning or stop cancelling 10 min. before the lesson (or, even better, simply not showing up), most of us surely would not mind. I won't even start with the ones constantly showing up too late and then moaning when they only get 50 instead of 60 min.
Again: If someone treats me with respect and is reliable, I offer enough discretion. But a sleepover or "can't be a..." is not a reason, and missed lessons like that have to be paid for. And if I get the impression that someone is constantly ill, and especially on the day of the lesson, missed lessons like that have to be paid for. Full stop.

This has nothing to do with being overly rigid, but with not being taken advantage of and maintaining a stable income- but sadly many people who are not self-employed never seem to see this point.

The payment in advance btw. is something that is done by many teachers for exactly that reason - not having to run after their money and constantly discussing whether or not a cancelled lesson has to be paid for. If I only did one-off arrangements, I would have more difficulties if someone does not show up. I had (not anymore!) a student who constantly cancelled on the same day, but sadly was on the one-off option. I never got any money for these missed lessons, although I tried to make clear more than once that lessons not cancelled with 24hrs notice have to be paid for. Needless to say I just stopped teaching her after a while.

Sorry if I am not that flexible about lessons, but apart from teaching singing, I also have a private life, and I don't see the point why I constantly have to sacrifice this for "accommodating" students when I already offered them the utmost flexibility. Especially not for those ones who aren't really committed.

Did you ever think about the fact that we do not only have ONE student we have to accommodate, but some of us 20 or 30? So what are we supposed to do? Start teaching during the night, at weekends and during our holidays to satisfy our students? Sorry if this sounds cynical ...

Sorry, Mezzo, if I've hit a nerve here. I take your point about being self-employed and needing a stable income. Probably my son's teacher is in quite a different position, as most of her income seems to be derived from teaching in private schools in the area, and she doesn't take many home pupils. I expect that's why she has time in school holidays to make up any missed lessons.

If you have so many pupils, surely they should be able to swap with one another? For instrumental lessons other than piano I've always used the county music service, and you pay by the term, then if you don't turn up it's hard luck. However, because the teachers usually do at least two evenings, it's generally possible to swap with another pupil if there's e.g. a school concert.

I quite agree that pupils who are regularly late or just don't turn up should be given short shrift. If they were keen on their lessons it wouldn't happen; and if they are only coming because a parent feels they should, then perhaps having to pay for the lessons anyway will make said parent think twice about continuing with them. I think it's dreadful when children are made to learn music; after school they should be doing things for fun.

I know what you mean. One pupil's Dad rang me 5 minutes after his child's lesson was due, to say that he couldn't possibly get her there as he was watching a football final which was overunning and it was too good too miss (I was so annoyed I wished his team had scored whilst he was ringing with his 'good' excuse ). I also have had to enforce rules, but the exception you use, which I used to, has also backfired on me. Suddenly it was illness that caused the cancellations. However, several times, out of genuine concern for the pupils, when I asked if they were better the following week, the look on some of the pupil's faces made me realize they'd not actually been ill! I now include illness as chargeable, but stress that it is better to ring straight away at the first sign of illness (which in most cases is normally the day before). In this case I can normally reschedule. Since I've been taking the payments half-termly upfront, there are not half of many problems as I used to have. Just a word of warning - you may get more pupils turning up with coughs and colds - but to look on the bright side it builds up our immunity systems (a bit like our GPs)

I might add, that I do bend the rules sometimes with certain reliable families and in most cases manage to rearrange the lessons. However, the repeated offenders are the ones who lose out.

Nope! But it's the one thing without which you'd not live at all......

I have a couple of slots which I tend to leave free most of the time so I always have an alternative to offer - I won't usually teach on Saturdays as hubby works away during the week so the weekends are our only time together, but if I have to rearrange I'll happily give a lesson on a Saturday morning while hubby takes the real cd for a walk or something....... (BTW the real cd was 3 on 5th September - can't believe she's growing up so fast!!! ) And as I don't get a half-term (my private school plus the local school take different weeks holiday) I can make up if necessary then too........

Yeah I must admitt I have had a few questionable illnesses since I introduced this in april. But most of them are ok and I just had a call from the mother of one of the bad excuse attenders to say that she wants to stop lessons due to being in a gcse year ( that good old excuse!!).