Deposit, Cancellation and Postponement Fee Policy

Occasionally, mediation participants question the deposit, cancellation and postponement fee requirements. Why is a deposit needed? When a mediation is canceled or postponed within twenty-one days of the scheduled date, why does Markus Mediation (MM) charge for services which are not rendered?

When mediation participants schedule a session, the mediation is tentative. However, the date and time are reserved until the deposit is due (twenty-one days before the mediation session). When the deposits are paid, the mediation is no longer tentative. Rather, it is confirmed.

When the deposits are not paid at least twenty-one days before the scheduled date, MM becomes concerned that the mediation may not proceed as scheduled. At that point, MM may offer the day to other potential mediation participants in order to insure a mediation is held. As a corollary, when other potential mediation participants seek to schedule a mediation, they are not given the option of selecting a date which has been reserved for another case.

When a mediation is canceled or postponed within twenty-one days of its scheduled date, the chances are remote that another matter can be scheduled as a replacement on such short notice. Without deposit, cancellation and postponement fee policies, MM would lose business opportunities by turning away others for dates on which mediations have been "confirmed," but are later canceled or postponed.

Finally, when one party cancels the mediation within twenty-one days of the scheduled date, that party, rather than the other party or the mediator should bear the economic burden. Therefore, the party responsible for taking the mediation off calendar is sent a supplemental bill for the other party's share of the deposit.

If you have any questions regarding these policies, MM's President, Scott Markus, invites you to call him directly.