Q: Can I charge anything I want for no-show appointments or is there a limit?
A: The no-show charge policy must be communicated and agreed to up-front (or implicitly agreed to based on clear notice at the time of making an appointment). Only then will you have a legal basis to charge the fee. As far as the amount, there is no stated law on this, but as a rule of thumb most courts would not enforce a punitive amount, so keep the amount "reasonable." Defining what is reasonable is hardly an easy task, but when courts are called upon to define such things, they will usually consider evidence of what is charged for similar no-shows at other similarly situated businesses in the surrounding community, or the lost profit caused by the lost appointment which could have been given to another paying client--but if your appointment calendar was not full to begin with, then that is a harder claim to make.
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