Cancellation Policy
Cancellation Policy at STIA
To reduce any likelihood of forgetting or misremembering your appointment date and time, you will be sent an SMS reminder of your appointment date and time 48 hours prior to your appointment. However, it is expected you do not rely on this text message should there be a glitch in the software that is not in STIA’s control. Out of courtesy, we ask that you please notify us of any appointment changes 48 hours prior to the appointment.
We understand that there may be reasons why you may need to change or cancel your appointment.
Please note, if you change or cancel your appointment the day before your scheduled appointment (falling on business days) you will be charged a cancellation fee of $85. If you cancel your appointment on the day or fail to attend, you will be charged the full scheduled fee.
What will be charged if I cancel my appointment on a Friday or Saturday and my appointment was on the following Monday?
If you cancel your appointment on a Friday (regardless of time) or over the weekend you will be charged an $85 cancellation fee. If you cancel on the Monday morning, you will be charged the full fee. Please note - hours prior to cancellation are counted on business days only, weekends and public holidays are excluded.
Please note: Cancellation fees are payable on the phone at the time of cancellation or will be directly charged to the encrypted credit card account details stored, or invoiced.
Why does STIA have a Cancellation Policy?
Our cancellation policy is based on the same rationale as many other industries. One example being the airline industry, you pay for your seat whether you arrive at the airport or not. As psychologists, we only see a limited number of clients per day. When a 50-minute appointment is scheduled, that time has been set aside for you. Given that the time has been set aside, if you do not use it, then it is unlikely at short notice it can be used by anyone else. Further, organising the rescheduling of that missed appointment ties up future appointments, pushes out our waiting list, and diminishes the availability of care for others. We trust you will agree that this is a fair and reasonable policy, and we thank you for your understanding.
The Office of Fair-Trading states that a business is within its rights to charge a cancellation or “no-show” fee for appointments, so long as this has been communicated to a new patient or customer before making the appointment.
** PLEASE NOTE: FUTURE APPOINTMENTS WILL BE PAUSED UNTIL YOU HAVE SETTLED THE OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT; All FEES ARE PAYABLE ON THE PHONE AT THE TIME OF CANELLATION OR WILL BE DIRECTLY CHARGED TO THE ENCRYPTED CREDIT CARD DETAILS STORED ON FILE **