I agree with Rive that the general assumption is that if you don't hear from her, the session is on as planned. However, I tend to prefer to know sooner than later, like I don't want to want for a possible cancellation from T. So in the past, if, say, it snowed, I'd send him a text asking if session was still on that day, and he'd get back to me quickly and say he'd be in the office. But his default also seems to be that if I don't hear from him, everything is going as planned. Yet he's fine with my checking in. To me, your T taking so long to respond is a bit of an issue and something worth talking to her about. Does she prefer a particular form of communication, for example?

In terms of charging you, that would bother me as well. I definitely think she should have been lenient and not charged a cancellation fee if you couldn't make it to her office due to the flooding. Or if you woke up sick. However, you were potentially going to cancel due to work, not due to the weather conditions, so maybe she would have seen that differently? My T is generally lenient in terms of last-minute cancellations, though one of those times I was in the ER with heart palpitations, and he said of course he wouldn't have charged me for that (I was able to reschedule for the next day). And ex-T didn't charge me when I was sick once.

I think sometimes T's find it easier to just have a set policy that they bill clients no matter what if they cancel at the last minute (or within 24 hours, or whatever their policy is) or just no-show without warning. Then they don't have to make decisions on when to make exceptions. However, I also feel like there should be some flexibility on their part in terms of charging, particularly if it's illness or some sort of family emergency or if it's a rare event, like the client cancels maybe once a year. But again, some T's find it easier and more "fair" if they just have a set policy.

I'm in the "have some leniency" camp. But also consider that if you cancel and your T doesn't find someone to fill your spot, then she's out $200. One time in a year, no big deal. But if she has several clients a week do that, it can really add up. This is assuming that you normally pay her $200/session--if you pay less than that (or use insurance that pays her less, which you couldn't bill if you don't attend), and she's actually making *more* money by your being out, that seems really unfair. The same if she found someone to fill the slot and is then getting paid double.

(I say this from the perspective of someone who works as a freelancer, where I'm not guaranteed a particular salary, it depends on what work I do in a given week.)


I think she should be open to talking about all of this, too, and it sounds like you may need to spend more time discussing it.