Cancellation of a job

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or get my latest posts directly in your mailbox. Thanks for coming to the Foo!

Sometimes it just does happen. A far away production company needs some pictures from Norway. They find and book us. The shooting day comes nearer, and still I have not received details as to where and when and what. Internal warning lights start flashing, if slowly. Then, the night before the shoot, an e-mail arrives with a “sorry, but our client has cancelled”.
That means cancelling (on very short notice) equipment I had planned on renting. Which is not the smartest move, reputation-wise. But it also means a day off. Well, let’s rephrase that one. A day that is suddenly awailable to do some of the things that have been waiting to be done, but were pushed to the to-do-list instead.
So the question is, how do I charge the far away production company? I know how it is to be in their shoes. They probably feel a bit embarassed as to having cancelled so late.
Since the cancellatin came less than 24 hours before the shoot, we would usually charge our expenses ocurred (but no less than 50% of the job quote). Do you feel this is too much / too little / just right?
Comments welcome.