To refuse to pay this nursery charge

Then you have had £40 added to your annual nursery fee. At less than a pound a week on top of the fees I would let it go but gently ask the manager via email to clarify how many months they will do the activity this winter. Not to get into an argument but to let them know you are aware you have paid for something you haven’t got so they don’t make a habit of it.

Surely if this was the case the nursery manager would have explained this to the OP when she queried it. Sounds like that didn't happen but she was fobbed off with an excuse.

I’d be really cross in your shoes, especially after being lied to, but I’m not sure what you can do. You could try not paying that element from the december invoice

Exactly. Waiting lists are so long they are totally irrelevant where I live. And you’d be straight out for being a pain in the backside.

If you are paying for an activity which will tske place eventually, that’s fine. If you are paying for an activity that will not take place, ask for a refund. Drop the aggression now though.

You say it’s an in house activity so presumably no additional costs for the nursery? Are parents able to opt out of this activity or is it compulsory? I suspect some parents don’t pay the £40 and that’s why they decided to charge for Nov but only do the activity from Dec. To be honest I can’t think of what the activity would be that it incurs extra costs for them but is done in house and only in winter.

if parents are not able to opt out of the activity the smart thing for the nursery to do to avoid all non payers and queries would be up their daily fees by £1 a day all year round and add the activity to the the list of things their fees include.

Keep written accounts and notes and dates of conversations.

Respectful communication and questions from a group of you hopefully can be met with a satisfactory outcome.

It might be that the centre will continue the activity for an extra month and consider it prepaid in November..
Good luck.

I would call it fraud.... serious but not sure where you go with it. Ofsted or council.
If they do this to all parents they bring in a hefty 'bonus'!

If that's the case then surely you need to take your children out and find a new provider?

What the OP meant us that the charge is applied monthly when the activity occurs.

She will be charged again in December for the December activity - fair enough.
But the charge was added in November also despite the activity not occurring.

It is actually theft by the nursery.
The OP is not great with semantics but it's still not rocket science to figure out.

I would actually be very upset by this. If it is a nursery chain, go higher up. If anything independent nursery, there should be a body that can be alerted about shady business practices.

I think this reasoning is key here. Without it, no-one can really comment.
My first thought was that they’ve decided to bill in advance this year to cover costs before the activity, therefore you will pay a month early, but you’ll still pay the same number of times.
But I’m assuming this isn’t the case.

But OP, please, why not explain the lie she told you rather than repeatedly avoiding the question.

It’s normal to put your concerns in writing. And normal for them to answer your concerns respectfully.
Why would you be fearful of getting taken off their books when they are Ofsted registered and registered with the County Council responsible for distributing funding. You can take your concerns further if you aren’t satisfied.

You are obliged to allow them to answer your concerns in writing properly. And should now follow that process.
Parents should not be at the mercy of unscrupulous nursery services and need to hold them accountable ..if you are certain of your facts.
If your invoicing is incorrect, for whatever reason, you shouldn’t simply roll over and pay it. Why would you want your children under the management of such an unscrupulous company.

Definitely agree that you need to get this in writing. Verbal conversations can’t be proven. And it will be harder for them to lie in writing.

Then what’s the issue ? Are you saying you’ve paid for November and the activity didn’t happen, or are you paying in advance for December ?

Why would you want to keep your children in a nursery where the manager is dishonest?

I would wonder what else they lie about…

I’d email them, asking for a response. Harder to waffle a reply by email than on the phone.
along the lines of ‘further to our telephone conversation re November payment, I was discussing this with another few parents and we are still a little confused. Could you kindly explain why……..’

Would be good if you got a few more parents on board and can cc them into the email to let manager know it’s not just you involved to fob off.
it’s reasonable to expect a clear explanation as to why you have been charged extra for no apparent reason. £40 may not be an enormous amount in relation to overall monthly fee but it’s still £40 that they can’t just decide to take for nothing.

Now we know it’s an in house activity, I wouldn’t pay the £40 charge for December, if they query it, you say, well I paid for November and it didn’t happen.

I get it honestly I do, I had the exact same conversation with my SIL, it is unfair but there are people who will pay it to keep the peace so things will not change.
She could suck it up a little better because she was entitled to some funded hours.
If the activity doesn’t take place over the winter at all, depending how long your children have there I would possibly look to change things if there are alternatives.

In that case I would suggest sending a polite note saying you couldn't really understand the explanation given and could they please set it out in writing.

well I understand your problem. You paid Novembers invoice at the start of the month this includes £40 for an active . You presume your child will be doing the activity in November but they don’t.
so yes you have been charged for something you haven’t had .

OP isn’t asking for an investigation on the problem. She’s clearly asked whether to suck it up or take it further.

There’s no reason why posters can’t take it at face value and answer the actual question. They don’t need to become armchair detectives.