AIBU to not want to pay in full?

[Lincspeeps]

DD is in before and after-school childcare in a small place near Peterborough. We used them for DS for three years and DD has been there for five years. Never had any problems with them and have got to know staff very well.

Last week we had a call to say that due to an admin oversight our cheques from May and July 2018 have never been banked (total of £580) and as they are almost 9 and 11 months old they need replacements as the bank won't take them.

We hadn't realised they hadn't been banked and, being honest, that money is no longer available. Obviously an error on their part and on ours. We have offered to pay them £100 per month but they want it all or they won't accommodate DS after Easter.

AIBU to not want to pay it all out. We would have to go into overdrafts to find the lump sum and would be charged. As it's a dual error I don't think £100 per month for six months is unreasonable....is it?

[RomanyQueen1]

Can you borrow the money or ask if you can pay in two instalments rather than £100 per week.
They need a new system so this doesn't happen again, and you need to be vigilant and check regularly.
The tax year finishes at the end of March, they obviously need to have the books straight.

[aspoonfulofyourownmedicine]

I've just read the OP properly again and realised that it was 2 separate months - May and July - so it's not like the OP had £580 randomly sitting in the account - that's £290 in May and £290 in July, not £580 in one go. Sometimes I have a little bit extra money where I've worked extra shifts on my 'zero hour' contract bar job, or where I've worked during school holidays doing extra holiday work so would have bit extra cash.

** Glad they've accepted a payment plan OP

[floribunda18]

Bollocks that you didn't notice the cheques hadn't been cashed. If you can't afford £500 now then you would have noticed.

However, it is shitty on their part. I'd find somewhere else to take the kids, and pay them back £100 a month.

[ToftyAC]

Yes they might take you to court and win, but the court would also take a dim view that a sensible repayment plan had been put forward and would possibly order that you do pay it monthly.

[JustTwoMoreSecs]

I don't get how you don't notice the extra £580 but now don't have enough money to pay at least half My thoughts exactly.

[Ipithombi]

I think you knew the money hadn’t gone out and thought you’d got lucky! You owe them the money. You need to pay it.

[Beeziekn33ze]

Lincspeeps - Glad to see that they saw sense and accepted £150x4.
What a lot of hypercritical posts from those with impeccable financial acumen.
And then there are the ones who (wilfully?) misunderstood and decided you were trying not to pay 🙄

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

I don't get how you don't notice the extra £580 but now don't have enough money to pay at least half

My thoughts exactly.

Well, if you won’t read the bloody thread...

[MadMadaMim]

I'd offer £280 now and then 3 installments of £100.

I don't have much money but also wouldn't notice an extra £580 over a 3-4 month period. I never know how much I have until I haven't got any....

I check maybe 2-3 x per month

[SnowyAlpsandPeaks]

I didn’t know anyone had cheque books anymore......

[Sara107]

Some harsh comments. I could easily not notice the cheques not being cashed. We don’t get bank statements any more and I don’t regularly check the account- same amount goes in every month, roughly the same comes out as we pay all bills by monthly direct debit. We would run at a slight surplus so that over time a nest egg builds up to deal with one off bills like the house insurance., school shoes etc. The nursery have messed up on 2 separate occasions so they clearly have a systemic problem in dealing with cheque payments - I would want to know how they are going to do things differently to stop that happening again. I think, as the mistake is theirs, it is absolutely reasonable to pay them off in instalments.

[BlueCornishPixie]

Some posters on here are such dicks. Being a sanctimonious arse doesn't make you look clever or better than others.

I can see how you might not notice, I am self employed so my monthly income fluctuates for example. And my monthly expenditure could easily fluctuate by 200 if it had been an easy month ( no surprise spends etc)

It was their mistake, it's been 11 months. I think if you go to a customer and say we haven't cashed your cheque from 11 months ago you have to show some leniency for your mistake! You can't expect someone to be able to pay you nearly 600 in one go if you failed to cash their cheques. That's totally unreasonable. I wouldn't dream of doing that to someone who had paid me nearly 25k over the years!

OP never suggested not paying, this is a totally fair arrangement, preventing the OP going into debt and the business getting their money. Some people on this thread act like owing a business money is the worst thing in the world.

[springbreak3]

@Lincspeeps

Also confused as to how you didn't notice £580 not going out, but now cannot afford to pay it. Have your finances got severely bad in the last few months?

It's bad that they only just realised it, and it would be nice if they let pay instalments. However, they don't have to do that.

As a few pps said though, they can't need the money that bad if they didn't notice the money missing (when you paid it to them in the middle of last year!)

I agree with the posters saying it's their fault as much as the OP's and they should let her pay in instalments. Threatening to not take her DD after Easter is nasty. It's basically blackmail.

[springbreak3]

Not having a go OP, I just struggle to get why anyone wouldn't notice the money not going out, but I know we are all different....... I hope it works out OK for you.

[springbreak3]

JUST NOTICED they accepted the £150 x 4.

Sorry! I did all read the thread except the last 2 pages.

What a tit.

Good result

[Bessica1970]

Not everyone checks their bank statements - I certainly don't. You haven't done anything wrong and have not said you won't pay. As it's their mistake, they should allow you to pay in instalments. I would repeat your offer, and tell them that if they withdraw your childcare offer you will be writing to Ofsted. After all it could unsettle your child to have to go to a different nursery.

If however you can manage to pay in one go somehow, I would do it, just to avoid any bad feeling between you and the nursery. They may be less likely to overlook minor problems if you dig your heels in over this.

[Bessica1970]

Oops - didn't see the later posts until now!

[Playmytune]

If you are on a tight budget you need to keep on top of your finances. If you aren’t checking your outgoings against your available finance you are, at the very least, being very foolish!
I check my statement every month to ensure the numbers tally with what I think is in the account.
You should pay this money owed now as it your responsibility to do so. Get an overdraft or bank loan and clear your debt! Then take more responsibility for your finances!

[RomanyQueen1]

I check regularly now as something similar happened to me once with dancing fees, costumes etc. Thought I'd paid and they hadn't put it through.
Every month or more often is checked now, if you have online banking it takes no time to check.

[sewingismyhobby]

You did pay them at the time with a cheque.

Their issue is their crap admin processes and it makes it their problem that the bank will no longer honour the cheques.

I'll wouldn't be offering to pay them anything without a court order.

[Iseewhatyoumeanthistime]

I know your issue has been resolved OP, but it can happen and it happened to me. I used to give nursery a cheque every week, (they didn't at the time take card payments) which would be cashed within a week or so. The manager left then I noticed the cheques would be cashed sporadically, 2 or 3 at a time, once 6 cheques were cashed at a time but were about 2 or 3 months old and out of sync. It was when they came to me with 2 old cheques that couldn't be cashed and returned to them as I had changed bank accounts and the account was closed. Luckily nursery agreed to me paying a bit extra every week to cover the outstanding amount. I didn't notice because my DH is self employed and pays all different amounts in to our bank account each week and i didn't religiously check they were cashed. Plus my fees could be different each week. I then started to transfer the money to a saving account and put it back into current account once the cheque was cashed and I even started making a note of the cheque number and ticking it off when cashed. Much easier now you can bank transfer or make card payment .

[flowergrrl77]

Glad that it all ended well!

Like someone else on here, I too have a separate account for cheques, I transfer funds as I write the cheque so I know I can’t accidentally spend money twice!

Good luck xx

[Yabbers]

They will have bills to pay too
Then they should be more careful with banking cheques.

If you are on a tight budget you need to keep on top of your finances.
She’s wasn’t on a tight budget. It’s only now it’s tighter because of a booked holiday.

Bollocks that you didn't notice the cheques hadn't been cashed. If you can't afford £500 now then you would have noticed.
Last month I had a whole load of cash in my account. I paid off the flights for my holiday last week then a week later got confirmation my daughter’s SN trike was ready (three weeks earlier than expected) and could I pay 560 quid for it. The holiday was three times that amount and I could pay it out of my account. This meant I couldn’t send a cheque for the bike and it went on the credit card until next payday. It is possible to have a lot of money one month but not have it the next, even more possible for things to change over 9 months. It is also entirely possible for people not counting every penny not to notice two separate 290 cheques not being cashed over a 3 month period. Why is that so hard a concept to grasp?

[nuxe1984]

Do you not keep monthly accounts? A running total from which you take off your commitments, like mortgage, bills, etc? And checked your bank statements against payments made, cheques written, etc?Surely you'd have noticed this much spare cash left ... sounds to me as tho you were hoping they didn't noticed that the cheques hadn't been cashed.

[M4J4]

And how would you feel working for 2 months, realising you didn't get paid, and then find out your boss won't pay you.
This will go to court they will win.

Are people really this thick?

OP NEVER SAID SHE DOESN'T TO PAY

She wanted a payment plan, which is more than reasonable.

I bet lots will be pissed off that OP is not being forced now to pay it off at once. Who gives a shit if she has rent and bills to pay