Charged £90 for being 3 minutes late to collect children from nursery

[Justastorminabcup]

3 minutes late! I thought I was on time. nobody said anything when I arrived, they just sent me an invoice in the post.

I can understand that they need a system to prevent parents regularly being late. They have a business to run and staff to pay etc, but £90!?! For three minutes! How can they think this is reasonable???

I've used this nursery for 4 years and have never been late before.

AIBU to be utterly shocked that a childcare establishment who must know that many parents struggle to be able to afford daycare for their children could feel it is acceptable to charge such a fine? Is this normal? Would other care providers do this?

I have sympathy with the nursery btw. Having worked in reception year in the past

I think it's rare that parents just can't be arsed to pick up the children on time- especially 5 mins here and there. They're late from work.

I also wouldn't expect that the nursery close and lock up at closing time- that IE if the nursery closed at 6 all the staff finish at 6. I'm not saying that it's ok because they're there, but I wouldn't expect to have to pay them 3 mins overtime. They'd be there anyway, tidying up and prepping for next day.

Yes, that's not time they should be looking after children but in my place they'll do that round the children if there is a chance they can leave early so it's clearly possible. I would expect anything 2-3 mins to be reasonable and a charge of £15 ish to kick in after 5mins. No one in their right mind could think £90 a min is ok.

Bet you'll never be late again

Our nursery charges £45 per 15 minutes in 15 minute blocks. It's a ridiculous charge but so far has encouraged my husband to always be on time. I can see why they do it, it's a deterrent, but if hit with the charge I'd be rather irritated with myself.

I'm with the nursery on this one, for all the reasons stated above. The staff may not have said anything as it's in the Ts and Cs and the last thing they want is a confrontation with a cross parent over something they have no actual control over. As an ex teacher I know how frustrating it is when people are late to pick up, particularly when it becomes a habit. When DS was in nursery, they had no late fee and it was often the same kids still there when I went to pick up at the end of day - and yes I was guilty of not worrying about being on time because I knew there was no charge. If there was a late fee of £45 per child I can guarantee I would have been early every time!

I agree it's extortionate but that is the point surely.

The late charge is £45 not £90 as the OP has two children - it would've helped if that was in the first post.

OP, once you've checked the contract, if it isn't a mistake, it may be worth appealing to their goodwill to reduce or waive the charge as a first time offender and the fact that you were only slightly late.

Oh sorry missed your update!

So you actually knew about the charges?

I'd try to dispute the 3 minutes late, I'd you thought you were on time.

Walking, unfortunately the reason for lateness isn't the nursery's problem. If it's traffic accidents etc affecting many parents, they will probably know. If it's not being able to get away from work, that is the parent's problem - if your work is like that then you have to pay the late charge or find an alternative nursery or nanny with longer hours.

Of course staff will be around clearing up, but nursery may have a policy of at least two staff on site whilst any children are present, but it's ok for one only to finish tidying and locking up. Staff may be going home by bus or train and be delayed by considerably more than 3 minutes. Etc.

I am with the nursery on this one. This is the cost for 2 dc, and also not phoning to let them know you were late. Even if you thought you were on time, you werent and that isnt the nurseries problem. There is no need to be late, aside from a genuine serious emergency. I would always aim to pick up before closing time then this wont happen. If you are kept in late from work, you need to have a plan B. Nurseries have a plan for late patents and they need to be compensated.

I think it is ridiculous personally and I would be looking elsewhere if that were a feasible option. I understand late fees but not £90 for three minutes. sadly I've worked in too many nurseries that are all about making money and the business model and not about the children, and I wouldn't want my child somewhere like that.

I'm not saying this is the case with your nursery, OP, I'm just saying that is how a bill like that would make me feel, that they are all about business and not about compassion or understanding or caring about the children and families and that would make me very unhappy.

I was once 20mins late to collect DD, I rang the nursery to tell them and when I got there i was out of breath, red faced and crazy apologetic. They sat me down and made me a cup of tea while Dd helped tidy up! The first thing they said when I walked in the door is "are you ok?". I was usually early and they were worried about me!

The charge is extortionate but I do agree with nurseries charging. I used to work in a pre-school and the same parents day after day would turn up late. Not because they were stuck in traffic or stuck at work. It was because they thought their time was more important than ours. Funnily enough as soon as the late fees were brought in they made it in time.

I understand but if the nursery advertises their hours as say, 8-6 I expect to be able to pick my child up at 6. I don't expect that I have to be in advance of that each day for safety- it may not be possible from the get go (ie if I finish work at 5.30 30 mins walk away) therefore the chances are high that in 4 years you may be a minute or two late. A minute or two you can debate with their click being fast, tbh. I think there is a massive difference between late collecting and 3 minutes past 6pm, I really do. I would be freaking out if I was delayed enough to arrive at nursery at 6.03 but I wouldn't expect it to be too much to ask as a one off that the nursery accommodate it.

It's not 3 minutes though, if the staff had to stay late then nobody gets paid just 3 minutes overtime. If you have to ask someone to stay then it has to be worth their while. I have never worked anywhere where overtime wasn't paid in at least 15min blocks.

Walking, then you request flexible working to finish at 5.15.

If you are able to walk, chances are your commute time is very well defined and at very low risk of change. As soon as you factor in a train, bus or car, you need to have a safety margin. DH and I both have flexible working and we catch a train that gives us 40 mins to do the collection with a back up train that gives us 20 mins. We have been late less than 5 times in 7 years and paid the fee when we were late.

It is excessive and grabby. It would make me wonder about their ethics.

^ this

I would lose faith too OP.

I think what's slightly different is that it wasn't closing time. The nursery was still open for another 3 hours after.
Although I suppose your two could have just pushed them over the ratios.

Also seems a tad early for charges for an even session to be starting. Most parents won't be finished working at 4:30 so do they have to pay a day session and evening session?

All the nurseries I looked at had a daily charge and you dropped off and picked up within the advertised open hours

I think its extortionate, especially if noone had to actually work late. One traffic jam,for which you obviously can't use your phone, could be devastating financially for some people.

Fatima

I assume this nursery charges £x per hour between, say, 8.30 and 4.30 and £y per hour outside of that, which could work well for parents in certain roles eg schools and others still benefit from the lower rate for most of the day. But for fairness they have to be very strict on the cut off for the cheaper hours.

I think its extortionate, especially if noone had to actually work late
The op doesn't know.
The staff were there presumably because they had to be because of the children. And the hour after the children leaving may be to tidy up, clean, prepare the next sessions. Lateness may well have a domino effect on all of those.

I wonder if they've done this because of the ParkingEye case. Becles hit the nail on the head with the disincentive to be late. I don't know if £45 per child would be considered to be an unfair penalty in this case, but in the ParkingEye case, £80 for outstaying a 2 hour stay in a private car park was not. After the case, people said that nurseries might do the same. I would query it. Even though the Supreme Court made this decision it was on the facts of that case and it can't be routinely applied to other scenarios (well it can but a court can say the scenario is different).

I have to say I wouldn't notice a 3 minute delay unless I was waiting to go somewhere after work. Maybe that was the case although I see this wasn't closing time. I wonder how they can prove you were 3 minutes late. Your word against theirs - when you pay so much each month? How to make friends with your customers - not!

To be honest, its hard to be so precise as to say you were 3 minutes late. It's perfectly possible for a nursery clock to be a minute or so fast and the OP's clock to be a minute slow. And, of course, there could be staff error involved too. Did they log the time the instant you arrived? They can't have done since they didn't say anything to you at the time.

We've got a radio-controlled clock in the kitchen, and it's often 3 or so minutes out from the clock on my iPad. I don't set either of these myself but they never show the same time. In fact, the clock on my iPad often shows a different time to the one on my iPhone, so I don't know what apple are up to.

If I were the nursery, I'm not sure I could say with certainty that someone was 3 minutes late.Do they get you to synchronise watches when you drop off.

That said, you would have known you were cutting it fine. If your pick up time is 4.30 you would usually err on the side of being slightly early. You wouldn't be aiming to be there at 4.30 exactly simply because then you do risk being late.

That's 50p a SECOND isn't it?!! Blimey.

That is a ridiculous charge. I wouldn't pay it and I would give them notice. Obviously nurseries want to discourage people from being late but it is almost inevitable that it will happen on the odd occasion (depending on were you live/work) and a charge like that for being 3 minutes late for the first time in four years is just profiteering.

I was late about once a year picking up children from nursery and I don't think I was ever charged. Perhaps that is because of where I live and it is understood that traffic is sometimes horrendous. You can't just leave in time to make sure you get there (as some have suggested) if there is a three hour delay on the motorway. I always got DH or someone else to collect if that happened but inevitably they were occasionally a couple of minutes late.