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?

[manicmij]

You should pay. They seem to be a bit harsh though not accepting a payment plan however they are due the money. Trying to find a new place may be difficult if the new place contacts your current one for info a out child/reference. You may be black listed. Hard lesson.

[lottiegarbanzo]

You should definitely cancel the cheque

[Faultymain5]

How hard is to to read the thread before giving an opinion that doesn't even count anymore?

[Mememeplease]

Good because they'd be cutting off their nose to spite their face if they were prepared to lose such a loyal customer over their mistake.

[Teacher22]

My advice is to keep an account book. I do and I would have taken the nursery fees off my running total of disposable money. It would have been sitting in the account if the cheques were not cashed and I could have rewritten the cheques with no problem.

I cannot see how you can order your finances if you do not know the true position of your income, liabilities and disposable money at all times.

[Lweji]

I think they are lucky that parents are prepared to pay in installments at all and the manager should apologise to you for having insisted on full payment immediately with threats of not having the child over Easter.
What if you had given them the money but they had lost it? Would they still want you to pay them twice?
Glad the business owner has more sense. Maybe that's why she's the owner.

[Aveeno2017]

How can anybody not know that money hasn't been taken out of their account for months? Of course you need to pay...maybe that's why you lack funds now!

[Lincspeeps]

OMG - I can't believe the number of comments that have continued coming in criticising me LOL.

Some points:

1. Yes, my financial acumen is poor. I will be keeping a much closer eye on my accounts in future.

1. We pay by cheque as that's the only payment method accepted.

1. For the third and final time, no matter what some (many!) of you appear to think, I didn't not miss the money. I was not trying to steal it. I did not think I was going to 'get away without paying'.

Thanks again for all your comments. It has genuinely been helpful.

However, to all of you who made comments along the lines of "I don't believe for a second you didn't notice the cheques hadn't left your account" (or words to that effect)….….this approach to dealing with people will win you absolutely no friends in life and result only in sadness.

You may feel superior and all-knowing when you type it but, with no evidence whatsoever to back up your claims, then you are really not much more than a troll.

Thanks again to all who gave their time and constructive advice.

[FaveNumberIs2]

For all the people wondering how the op can't know there was an extra £580 in the bank ... the cheques were over two separate months, so not £580 all in one go.

Secondly, I never have a clue what's in my own bank. It's true, I don't have to fork out for childcare, but I do have regular bills and shopping to do. The only day I could give a clue as to what's in the bank, is payday. And even then I'd probably be wrong.

So get off the op's back about it being impossible to know that there was extra funds in her account.