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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to complain

71 replies

Royalsighness · 29/12/2014 11:31

So today I went to take my son to nursery and it was closed for the week with no warning or letter, me and my husband always make quick chit chat with the staff and nobody told us verbally it was closed. I can understand bank holidays or Xmas/New Years eve but why today and tommorow? The biggest pain is we have to pay! £48.00 per day and I've had to book emergency annual leave from work that my boss still hasn't cleared so im worried about that now.

AIBU to make a complaint and refuse to pay?

OP posts:

TheFairyCaravan · 29/12/2014 12:24

Read your contract, it will probably be in there that they are closed between Christmas and New Year, most nurseries are.

rugbychick · 29/12/2014 12:37

Maybe it was a sudden closing due to staffing issues? You mentioned you worked for the NHS, is the nursery run by the hospital you work for? My DD is at an NHS hospital run nursery and is only closed on bank holidays and weekends. They do close at 4pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, but signs are up everywhere about 2-3 weeks before hand reminding us of this. Same with bank holidays-noticed up 2-3 weeks in advance remember being parents of the closed date

Original poster

Royalsighness · 29/12/2014 12:43

It's just a normal private one it isn't attached to a school or anything, the communication is poor at best but I should have asked really. I didn't expect them to be closed for so long over Christmas because they are always open for school holidays and things like that, they said they are always closed bank holidays.

I will get him moved to the hospital nursery as I'm pregnant and will be sending my next child to nursery and don't really want to pay out hundreds for days I don't use, I don't begrudge paying them holiday at all but I'm poor and will get it in the neck about this time off and I can imagine my boss will take it to HR.

Merry Christmas

OP posts:

LIZS · 29/12/2014 12:45

Is it not practical for dh to share the time off ?

EBearhug · 29/12/2014 12:49

Even if it's in the contract, there's no harm in plastering it over the front of the website as a reminder - it clearly hasn't been well-communicated, if there were also other parents there.

If it's just because they didn't bother reminding anyone, YANBU to complain. If it is because of an emergency, they could still do with feedback that there could be better communication, even if it's a piece of A4 pinned to the door, and a bit later, a message on the website. But in that case, it's asking to review their notification processes to see if it could be done better in future, rather than a complaint. You can't predict an emergency - but you can expect something to go wrong at some point, and they should have contingency plans to deal with that - especially at this time of year, when there are higher risks of disruption because of illness or weather.

Fairenuff · 29/12/2014 12:54

I'm asking because you seem to be so sure that you know which days they will be closed, despite being surprised that they are closed. It's contradictory information.

I can see how you got in a muddle though. What does your contract say?

Original poster

Royalsighness · 29/12/2014 12:57

There is not a single thing on the website! Nothing at all! Nothing anywhere! I don't want to have to rely on my contract which is probably lost in my poorly organised house to be aware of things like this. If someone said your phone would stop working for a week but you would still have to pay and it was written in the small print of your contract before you singed it I can imagine most people would have still expected a warning.

DH works shifts at a new job so doesn't want to rock the boat there at such short notice, i accept that.

OP posts:

ilovesooty · 29/12/2014 13:00

It might be advisable to locate your contract and keep it somewhere safe.

clam · 29/12/2014 13:05

It's many years since mine were at Nursery, but it was standard practice to close between Christmas and New Year, as others have said and was listed in the contract. The fees were spread out across the year, so if you didn't specifically pay for those few days, you'd end up paying more for the other days, iyswim.

If it was closed unexpectedly for illness, then it's highly unlikely that they wouldn't have phoned people, as well as posting notices on the doors. The fact that they haven't done so, means that it's expected, rightly or wrongly, that everyone knows.

VodkaKnockers · 29/12/2014 13:06

Over the past 10yr I have used nurseries (private and council funded) I have never known them to be open the week between Christmas and New Year.

Quitethewoodsman · 29/12/2014 13:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

insancerre · 29/12/2014 13:11

I would say yabu if it was justvypu but as you say there were other parents there this morningvthete must have been some breakdown in communication somewhere
I manage a nursery and its just not possible to verballyvrwmind parents about things like this. You start by telling a couple of parents, then you start repeating yourself then you forget whobyouve told and whonypu haven't, then you get gran or grandad and they forget to pass message on. Its a nightmare
I try hard to relay important information in different ways but sometimes its hard to make the parents read the info( assuming they can read english, which is a whole other issue)
I expect your contract will tell you the opening days. Did you not read it?

Original poster

Royalsighness · 29/12/2014 13:14

I read it in June 2013 when I enroled my son. All of the other women at work had letters and the information is in their nurseries website. Really strange.

OP posts:

Lonecatwithkitten · 29/12/2014 13:15

I would prepare for the nursery to closed on Friday too as round here you contract is for 51 weeks, with the 1 week off being 5 days in addition to the bank holidays Christmas.

clam · 29/12/2014 13:18

Maybe the other people turning up this morning hadn't read their T&Cs properly either.

Original poster

Royalsighness · 29/12/2014 13:19

He doesn't go Fridays and I'm wondering if it was a Friday when the hours were communicated with parents. I accept IABU but will be strongly considering an NHS Nursery I think.

OP posts:

fufulina · 29/12/2014 13:20

Our nursery was open 49 weeks a year, 1 week off for Easter and two at Christmas. Pretty standard and in the contract.

clam · 29/12/2014 13:20

I think it unlikely that they would only impart information like that on one day, as they must surely know that a number of their charges don't attend every day.

BackforGood · 29/12/2014 13:40

I do think its normal to close for the week between Christmas and New Year, but I also think its normal practice to remind parents with a big notice on the door as you go in/leave so it sounds like communication has been poor in your case.
That said, if you like the Nursery generally, I wouldnt move them because of this. Nurseries vary in quality, hugely, so if youve got one you are happy with, dont move over this one thing.

PuppyMonkey · 29/12/2014 13:53

DD's nursery was always open as normal on Christmas week, apart from the actual Bank Hols.

Yes it's no doubt in your terms and conditions that yours is closed completely. But it wouldn't have hurt them to just double check everyone was aware of the closure - a quick email saying "merry Christmas and see you all on January 5" or something.

ShinyTwinkleStars · 29/12/2014 14:05

I didn't know what hours our nursery was open over Christmas. So I asked last week. Simple.

If they are closed, I wouldn't expect to pay.

Purplepoodle · 29/12/2014 15:07

First thing I checked when I when looking at nurserys as many round here close over all xmas and new year. I ended up paying a bit more for the nursery I use but they only close on set bank hols and have longer opening hours.

KateSpade · 29/12/2014 15:13

OP my DDs nursery is closed for 10 days over Christmas also & I understand how bloody annoying it is having to pay when she doesn't even have the option to go!

I have to be in work this week & DD is being looked after by my mum, but if she was working I would be royally screwed!

VodkaJelly · 29/12/2014 15:18

That is most odd op, my DD goes to nursery and they were closed for the week beginning 22nd December but are open this week (she is not going in this week as I am off work). But it was advertised that they were shut everywhere. In the newsletter, highlighted on the invoice, verbally told, and a big sign on the door.

And we dont have to pay for that week as the nursery decided to close.

Indantherene · 29/12/2014 15:28

My DD went to 2 different nurseries in 2 different parts of the UK and both closed from midday Christmas Eve until after the New Year. One didn't charge but the other did.

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