AIBU To think I shouldn't have to pay nursery bill.

[chickydoo]

Any thoughts much appreciated.
My son left nursery 3 years ago. Left early July as we were going on holiday then, and he was due to start school in the September. We gave plenty of notice. (There was a bit of upheavel in the nursery at the time as the long standing manager had left for reasons unknown & there had been a succesion of stand in managers for a while)
A bill arrived for the August of £500 approx I phoned head office, said son had left and that we had given plenty of notice. They said fine, no problem, and that was it. Or so I thought.
3 years later I Have started receiving nasty letters from the nursery demanding the payment for the August bill. 3 years down the line! They say son went to nursery in the Aug but they or we have no record to prove otherwise.
Eventually someone listened to me and said that they would cancel our account, and we had a letter saying we had a Nil balance with the them. Yet still the demands come! I phoned them again, the accounts dpt said they had no record of the letter they sent out stating nil balance! Thankfully I kept it, so sent them a copy asking for them to acknowledge receipt of it, they haven't and the demands keep coming, threatening all sorts of things!
I just don't know what to do next, any legal eagles out there to help???
would really appreciate some advice

Well of course you don;'t have to pay. They are harrassing you really. I'd try to get hold of a solicitor to write them a 'cease and desist' type letter.

Email them a copy and also send a copy recorded delivery.

You could try Citizens Advice on how best to proceed with a formal letter?

I would phone them up and request a meeting. Take in all your letters and then you can show them the letter stating the nil balance.

Second what Eric said.

Peculiar 3 years later.

It's simply lack of communication between the accounts department and the nursery. The computer says it's outstanding and no one has issued a credit note to clear it. Basically someone has to sign of the credit note being issued and it seems that no-one is doing so or telling the accounts department they can/should cancel the bill.

Phone the accounts department and try and speak to a senior person in credit control if you can and ask for a credit note to be issued as previously agreed - you have confirmation with the letter you have that this was agreed. Give details of the name on the letter, date and reference number and offer to fax/email it to them to be dealt with immediately. Follow this up with a copy of the letter to nursery as below.
Get a name, fax number/email and address for who to contact.

Write a letter to a senior person or manager at the nursery and copy it to the accounts department. State everything that has gone before hand -that ds didn't attend nursey that august, you had given notice, the bill was issued in error, it should of been cancelled as agreed by xyz member of staff, and that you expect the account to be cleared properly now and for written confirmation that this has been done.

I would also be tempted to put in there that despite your previous good experience with the nursey this continuing issue has tainted that for you and you would have to seriously reconsider recommending the nursery to friends and collegues in light of this ongoing problem.

Send it recorded delivery so they can't say they didn't get it and attach copies of the previous letter saying nothing was owing and highlight the relevant section and date.

Tell them you expect the matter to be cleared within 28 days.

I would send a final letter repeating it all including a copy if the letter they sent. Ending with you will nit be paying if they wish to take you to court go ahead otherwise you will be reporting them for harassment and that no further contact from yourself will be entered into.

What Gillybean said.

Thank you all so much for taking the time and trouble to respond, I will take your advice and act on it. Much appreciated
Chicky

What a pain in the arse!

you do not have to pay, they sure seem to be mucking you around :( i think in your position i would be ringing and angrily asking to speak to a manager etc