COVID is spreading through the West Australian community like never before and it is leaving business owners like Rachael Shaw and Jasmine Rolls with difficult decisions to make.
On top of all the other challenges of keeping the doors of their hair salon open during a pandemic, increasing numbers of people are having to cancel appointments either because they test positive or become a close contact.
"We just can't afford that right now," Ms Shaw said.
It means they have chosen to continue enforcing their cancellation policy, even when people are legally prevented from attending their appointments.
But other businesses have chosen to absorb those costs themselves, creating a potentially confusing situation for customers who suddenly find themselves in isolation.
Customer response mixed
For customers of Ms Shaw and Ms Rolls' North Perth salon, the cost of not being able to make an appointment with less than 48 hours' notice can vary between about $30 and $250.
In a post on social media during the week they reminded customers of those rules and said being a close contact was not a reason for the fee to be waived, which they said prompted a mixed response.
"We've got mouths to feed, we've got children at home, and we do feel for those people," Ms Shaw said.
"We've got girls that haven't been able to come to work, but it's not really our problem at the end of the day.
"We need to protect clients, we need to protect ourselves, we have to protect our families, but at the end of the day we don't have the funding to waive the cancellation fee."
Ms Shaw said where customers did have to cancel they were open to working with them, including by asking for a deposit for their next appointment rather than a cancellation fee.
The government has offered businesses financial support if they can show a loss in turnover of either 30 per cent over four weeks, or 50 per cent over two weeks, between the start of the year and the end of April.
The loss of revenue has to occur over a "comparable period" in 2021, although an alternative period may be used to provide an accurate representation of the business' financial situation.
But Ms Shaw said the salon still did not meet those requirements and so would have to find its own way through without government support.
'Having to reschedule kind of sucks': tattooist
The tattoo studio Chrisna Tanra works at in East Perth is taking a different approach.
If a customer has to cancel their booking because they are required to isolate they do not have to pay a fee as long as they can reschedule.
"It's the right thing to do," he said.
"You don't want to just take the money and go."
Mr Tanra said it still had an impact on the business but was a cost they were willing to accept.
It's all in the terms and conditions
When the ABC took the question of whether businesses should charge cancellation fees if a customer was a close contact to the streets of Perth, most agreed while difficult for businesses it should probably be waived.
But Consumer Protection executive director Trish Blake said that was not what the law required.
"Some businesses, particularly smaller businesses, just can't afford that and so they are entitled to rely on their terms and conditions."
As long as the business did not change its terms and conditions after the booking was made a cancellation fee could be charged, Ms Blake said.
"We would absolutely encourage all businesses to do the best they can, and customers, consumers, to work with businesses, try and find a middle ground, and be understanding of each other's circumstances," Ms Blake said.
"At the end of the day the business doesn't want someone who might be positive with COVID coming into their business because that would have wide-ranging impacts on them.
"But they are entitled to stick to their terms and conditions."
