Ways in which the poor are penalised.

[malificent7]

Dd loves her music but paying for lessons can be a struggle. Studen single mum. I do my best but i am sometimes late with payments . I have totally settled up and dont owe any more.
However as i was late with another payment dd is not allowed to go to thr last lesson of term. I have paid for this lesson however and im not allowed a refund for it. Its £10 worth which for someone like me could get food for Christmas or pay a bill.
Apparently she cant go as its not fair on parents who pay on time.

Im just going to leave it and pay on time...i think i can scrape it...i was just a bit gutted that dd had to miss out for my incompetance so will make sure it dosnt happen again..

This this update from the OP says it all! You can afford to pay but essentially chose not to. Totally unfair on the teacher and totally unfair on people who genuinely are struggling financially.

OK, I think the OP gets it. I think she has had enough of a roasting.

I am disgusted at this thread. You don't know what being poor is. I was brought up in a poor household, none of us children did any paid for extra curricular activities. NOT EVER. There was no money for them, money had to go on essentials which include food and shelter.

You can spend money on music and dancing lessons and all whilst being a full time student. You are spoilt not poor.

I do however agree that it is not appropriate for the teacher to retain the lesson payment and then not teach the lesson. No, that is not on.

However any other disruption is to your laziness and lack of organisation. Sort yourself out. And stop insulting all those that have really experienced poverty.

YANBU, if you’ve paid for that lesson you’re entitled to receive it. They can’t just decide to keep the money and cancel the lesson as a “punishment”. Unless the t&c’s that you signed up to specifically states this will happen in the event of late payment?

Ask them to show you where in the t&c’s it states that they will cancel prepaid lessons and keep the money as a punishment for late payment? I very much doubt it says that anywhere. I’d be really angry and would insist on having the lesson or the money refunded. Don’t be a doormat.

I have not read the whole thread but I think YANBU to expect to to have the lesson you have paid for. The teacher can cancel further lessons because she's fed up of being paid late but surely she attends the ones paid for unless you signed a contract that you would be fined a charge if late.

I'm not sure why you are getting such a roasting about paying for music lessons on benefit. I would rather a parent spent ten pound a week out of tax credit benefits for their child on music lessons than alcohol or cigarettes or such. I presume you get money from uni student funding too?

WhokilledO2

she's not getting a roasting for paying on benefit, she's getting a roasting for being late in her payments, and blaminglate payment on her benefits situation.

Her paying on time is irrelevant to how she obtained the money. the OP isn't being punished for "being poor" she's being punished for paying late.

It's like going to the shop, and buying something each week (let's say your weekly shop) - forgetting your money, asking for an IOU and promise you'll pay this evening. Then rock up 2 days later paying the £25, then do it all over again. maybe waiting a week or more before paying them. The shopkeeper would stop giving you tab. As they have no idea when you'll pay them, and they have bills to pay of their own.

Music lessons aren't essential to life, so the child can miss a couple of weeks and continue to practise until OP has enough money to pay on time. No doubt she'd stop lessons over Christmas anyway - so OP can save u and pay in advances, then child can go back to lessons.

WhokilledO2

she's not getting a roasting for paying on benefit, she's getting a roasting for being late in her payments, and blaminglate payment on her benefits situation.

Her paying on time is irrelevant to how she obtained the money. the OP isn't being punished for "being poor" she's being punished for paying late.

It's like going to the shop, and buying something each week (let's say your weekly shop) - forgetting your money, asking for an IOU and promise you'll pay this evening. Then rock up 2 days later paying the £25, then do it all over again. maybe waiting a week or more before paying them. The shopkeeper would stop giving you tab. As they have no idea when you'll pay them, and they have bills to pay of their own.

Music lessons aren't essential to life, so the child can miss a couple of weeks and continue to practise until OP has enough money to pay on time. No doubt she'd stop lessons over Christmas anyway - so OP can save u and pay in advances, then child can go back to lessons.

Paying late is a completely separate matter. If a lesson has been paid for in advance then the teacher is obliged to provide that lesson. You can’t charge someone for something then refuse to provide it because you’re annoyed about something else.

You want your child to benefit from hobbies and realising you cant is tough

But your decisions have made that the case. You could have carried on teaching, supplemented your income by tutoring etc if teaching full time was too much and got a basic job alongside . Instead you blew a large inheritance and decided to become a student yet again.

What happens if the new degree and job are too much as you didn't give teaching that long a chance from memory and quit easily.

Our choices impact our children, we only have ourselves responsible for their lives.

I fail to see why OP is blaming Universal Credit .... how does UC make you pay for music lessons late??

If you can't pay your bill on time then maybe you can't afford it. Music lessons are a luxury and are highly unlikely to lead to anything.

Lucky you haven't been hit with charges for being late repeatedly.

We are poor. Not in poverty any more, thankfully, but still poor. I've gone without food, heating etc to ensure my DS can still access music. It's his one hobby and he's very talented. However if I hadn't paid on time I wouldn't expect the service to be provided.

It's really unfortunate that all children can't access music. It's so beneficial and as a teacher, I can vouch that music in primary school is usually a crock of shit not great unless you are wealthy enough to afford private lessons. It's one of those things that's pushed aside for core subjects and sport which is crap for the kids who are talented in other areas.