How to play this? Removing child from nursery.

[karmacoma1]

Dd had been in nursery from 2nd of jan this year.

We’ve had no end of problems. She’s been sent home for ‘sticky eye’ 4 times, and twice for ‘high temperature’ the last time claiming dd had a temp of 40... dh took her to a and e, who thought he was a serious ott pfb dad, as her temp was 37 and she only had ‘a slight cold.
The final straw was when called me demanding I pick her up as ‘I’ve just called your husband, and he’s denying all knowledge of her being i ll isn’t picking her up!!” To which I was as I had just put down the phone to dh who had agreed to pick her up... so I came out of work at lunch break to go in with dh to try and sort out what the fuck was going on... and they had called the wrong father!
So some poor other bloke had been called in as well as my dh.

Subsequently I have found dd a lovely child minder. She starts 1st of Feb.

For the nursery, you pay upfront- so I’ve paid January’s fees.

Also as I get vouchers through my work, they have received £240 for Feb.

The nursery are meant to have 30 days notice - but in one of the many arguments dh and I have had with them, they said they would wave it and we could take dd away - this was before we had alternative childcare.

Can I get away with not paying them for next month? I really don’t see why I should pay for a month where she’s not there at all

Did you pay a deposit? If you leave a bill unpaid, they might not refund it and use that as payment. It sounds like they’ve been OTT but basically nurseries ask you to pay a month in advance as it would take them some time to fill the space if you just stopped coming and they would find that difficult financially. If they have said they will waive the payment (and you have that in writing) however I don’t see why they would cause a problem?

You'll be contractually bound if you've signed paperwork etc. If they have said they ill waive it ask for that in writing. Otherwise there is a risk they could chase you for the money if you don't pay.

Don't pay them. They sound bloody hopeless. Give them notice today if you haven't already then just be shut of them.

We don’t have that they would wave it in writing... it was just said to us which is concerning.

I paid a deposit of £50 which I don’t mind losing - I just want to be rid of them to be honest. Also they would still receive the childcare voucher - again, not bothered, just want to get her out of there

I think you're legally bound to the contract.

It's annoying when they're ill and need to be collected early, but the staff have to play safe. Her temp could have come down by the time you reached A&E. She must have seemed very unwell for your DH to rush her to A&E, so I don't blame the nursery.

Put it in writing to them "we have decided to take you up on the offer you made on x/1/18 to waive the fee if we remove DD from your nursery, her last day will be x. Obviously I will not be expecting the return of fees already paid for Feb amounting to y"

If they inisist on payment you will have to cough up though!

Check the contract for a settling in period after which the 30 days notice kicks in.

If it’s childcare vouchers though, can they use them for Feb if they’re not looking oking after the child the vouchers are for?

Aside from the calling the wrong father (which is crap I agree) your complaints seem to be that she’s been ill? That would happen in any new starter to a child care setting, also a childminder will ask you to pick up a child with a temperature too. And I don’t know why your DH deciding to take her to A&E is their fault. If you signed a contract saying you had to pay 30 days notice then you should do that. Especially as your complaints against them are basically “they send an ill child home”. You may find she has a spate of illness at a childminders too, lots of new kids and germs to pick up.

Give it a go, reminding them of their offer to waive fees as RandomMess says.

The main thing is to get your notice in tomorrow morning as that will limit the amount you'll owe if they do insist on payment. But you've nothing to lose by trying.

The reason you should pay for Feb is the notice period which is in their T&Cs. If they honour their waiving of them then great, but don't get into a battle of "she's not going so I shouldn't have to pay". The notice period is there to cover their ongoing costs if they can't get another child to take the place instantly.

You can Amend a contract orally it’s just tough to prove in court but they aren’t going to sue you overnight so just don’t pay and when you give notice in writing refer back to the conversation. Do it writing though so you can pinpoint the date you gave notice.

‘You’ll be legally bound to the contract” I would claim the nursery have already breached the contract by failing to provide the services they are contracted for.

Calling the wrong dad is pretty bad, but it does sound like you're annoyed with the nursery for having policies which state sick children shouldn't attend.

You're assuming your child picked up the sticky eyes and the colds from there, but so you ever take DD to the park, or to a cafe, or to Tesco? She could have picked those things up from anywhere - even from you. You might not have developed a condition that she has due to her immune system being so young. And Good luck with the childminder being happy to accept a sick child in her home every day.

I agree with @RandomMess about sending them an email to confirm in writing what you've verbally agreed.

Just because vouchers are in your childcare account doesn't mean they have access to them. You have a standing order from your voucher account to nursery. Just cancel that.

My child gets sticky eye all the time and her nursery never send her home for that. They would for a high temperature. Calling the wrong Dad is terrible - they've potentially given a parent confidential info about the wrong child concerning them being ill.

Even though you're leaving I would consider reporting them. They don't sound capable of looking after children.

If you have signed a contract, you are boud by it.

You may need to pay next months fees in lieu of notice. Have you given written notice yet?

O/T but why did your partner rush her to A&E? That’s not the nursery’s fault.

I would refuse to pay. My DS’s nursery will call you if they have a high temp and give calpol if you agree. If it doesn’t reduce then they ask you to collect, which is good as my DS’s temp often spikes to 39-40 with a runny nose even though he is fine in himself.

But if your DH took him to A&E then I’m assuming he was unwell too so they were right to send him home.

I've been sent to A&E by the GP with instructions to get there quickly or should he get an ambulance, to find when we get in, within 15 minutes they were happily playing with no sign of illness at all. A&E laughed and said it was the famed A&E recovery.

But why did he take her anyway? Did the nursery suggest it, because there's no need to go in with just a temperature unless there's other signs or it's not coming down with calpol.

There was actually one time the nursery ‘panicked’ me. They called to say DS had been unwell all day and now had a rash on his chest and back. We both left work, rushed to collect him and took him to a GP emergency appt. Stupidly, we didn’t look at the rash ourselves until we got in to see the GP, there was no rash, and what I could only describe as maybe a bit of slight ‘winter’ skin. He had a bit of a runny nose and no temp. I was embarrassed to waste the GPs time and learned my lesson that in future, I will see the symptoms myself, check temp myself on pickup before I rush for medical attention.

Yep I wouldn't pay the vouchers from your childcare provider account either - cancel the repeat payment.

If they threaten court, you can then rethink but until then, don't pay.