Travel fees?

Comments

• CuddleDuncan Mod

  July 2023 edited July 2023

  Travel fees are indeed an established thing and, like everything else, are a matter for the professional.

  However, ideally they should be given at least in principle in the profile, and they absolutely must be disclosed and agreed in detail before the formal booking is made. On the assumption that in the case you describe the professional did not mention booking fees until after the formal booking, you are quite within your rights to cancel.

  In that case you wouldn't meet, and so Karma is not appropriate. In any event you may wish to consider politely and fairly Reporting the professional.

  The exact same thing has happened to me. I did cancel and Report. A couple of days later the professional blocked me, so I presume she was warned by the mods and worked out that it was me.
• MrMarkAndrew

  July 2023

  @CuddleDuncan thanks for your answer. If nothing else, it seems a bit like a last-minute up selling attempt.
• CuddleDuncan Mod

  July 2023

  Yes. Although it would be illegal in most industries/countries.

  I suspect also it's sometimes used by less professional professionals when they are having a last minute change of heart or have had another offer, and they think, "Well I'll do it if he'll pay an extra forty bucks."
• cde123

  July 2023

  It's up to the pro, but I consider half rate for travel time to be reasonable, so $40 isn't wildly off - works out to about 15 minutes of her time each way. Still, it doesn't give a great first impression, so most pros won't charge for short distances.
• MrMarkAndrew

  July 2023

  @cde123 it just seems off to me. If I were traveling to her location I wouldn’t ask her to discount her fees for my commute. But she’s a guest only. If it’s not a long distance I say just chalk it up to part of the process.
• cuddlefaery

  July 2023

  @MrMarkAndrew travel fees usually are used as a deterrent against last minute cancellations and no-shows, and because travelling for a professional is considered a business expense where as for a client it is not. There can be a high number of these late cancellations that end up really hurting small businesses' bottom lines because they'll 1) have turned down other clients to hold the appointment, and 2) have already spent the gas and other travel expenses to go to the client's location. Deposits for service-based and non-tangible industries is nothing new, it's just that since cuddling is largely still cash based it's more visible than say with the hotel or massage therapist that use credit card systems to verify credit cards and place temporary holds pending payment clearing.

  There is also nothing stopping you from asking for a discount if you travel a long distance to visit a pro or have to get a hotel room to host - in fact a fair number of pros offer discounts to repeat clients when they book a hotel as a way to help offset the client's costs and to show gratitude for the repeat business. It's typically about equivalent to getting an extra hour free from what I've seen. When working with independent contractors/sole proprietors you have the power not only to choose with whom you do business, but also to negotiate certain terms up to a point. One way you could counter negotiate, for instance, is to offer the standard IRS mileage reimbursement (if in the U.S.), or whatever your local government used as that tends to dictate what the businesses also will reimburse for mileage. Alternatively, you could offer to meet halfway or find other creative solutions by working together to decide the best option for both.

  Still, most professionals I know of only charge specifically travel fees if the travelling time is over a reasonable commute (say 30mins-1hour) or outside of a certain mileage distance (example 25 miles). The fee is also usually discussed beforehand and done as a deposit prepaid at time of booking rather than charged last minute. Similarly, if it is a deposit against cancellation, that too should be clearly disclosed in advance so you have the option to negotiate or opt out.
• AllAboutSoul

  July 2023

  @MrMarkAndrew Charges need to be listed and priced. Throwing an undisclosed fee at you after the price and terms were agreed upon is greedy and should be refused and reported.
• MrMarkAndrew

  July 2023

  Thank you @AllAboutSoul

  I ended up declining on principle. Hasta La vista, baby!

  @cuddlefaery it would have been a 10-15 minute drive for her, with free parking available here. That’s why I called bs on her unofficial and last minute transportation fee.
• cuddlefaery

  July 2023

  @MrMarkAndrew yeah at the very least it sounds rather unprofessional and/or unprepared. Sounds like you probably made the right call.
• LadyVel

  July 2023

  I agree it sounds unprepared and/or unprofessional but I was once unprepared too.

  Little story of when I was fresh to the site:
  For my first out-of-town session, I was unprepared and hadn't even thought of travel fees but the guy booking was amazing and asked what my travel fee was for gas and such. 💙 After that I looked around at a few other pro profiles and decided to list travel fees on mine.
  I keep my hourly rate low so if I'm traveling, gas and tolls could quickly eat up my rate. For me, less than 30 minutes, I don't normally charge because that's just around town but to each their own.