Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Parking for tutor

78 replies

ughseniorschool · 19/04/2019 10:49

Aibu? Need a sanity check. I have engaged a speciality tutor to work with my son for 3 sessions (not cheap ... >£200 for the 3 sessions). I have just received an email following on from 3 previous texts to discuss her parking arrangements. My husband and I don’t drive and do not have a car. Our street is residential in London and there are typically several spaces available during the day. She just emailed to tell me she is cancelling our session if I cannot provide a parking pass for her. She lives locally. Aibu to be annoyed or should I make parking provisions for her? It seems really diva-ish to me — but I don’t drive so maybe I am missing something?

OP posts:
privatetutor123 · 19/04/2019 12:21

JessieMcJessie I can't speak for this particular tutor BUT - I used to be a private tutor in London and believe me I had enough clients and a waiting list that I didn't have to accept anyone that didn't have suitable parking or conditions for tuition.

I now exclusively tutor from home and do not offer a travelling service.

BoneyBackJefferson · 19/04/2019 12:22

How much time are you willing to lose if she can't get parked?

privatetutor123 · 19/04/2019 12:24

eurochick That's not taking into account other tuition commitments. As I said earlier, I was an extremely in demand London private tutor and I would often have limited half an hour spaces between each student. You can't expect her to have an unlimited amount of travelling time in-between sessions. She is fully in her right to ask for more money that she would lose through travelling exclusively to you and turning down other clients.

JessieMcJessie · 19/04/2019 12:25

So what sort of parking we’re they offering privatetutor123? Not picking holes, just interested. I live in a very affluent part of Zone 3 but nobody has private parking round here.

JessieMcJessie · 19/04/2019 12:25

Were

privatetutor123 · 19/04/2019 12:29

JessieMcJessie Some had drives, the ones who didn't I would get parking permits from. If that was not possible and I would have to park streets away, or in a carpark, they would be fully aware that there many be occasions when their lesson times get cut into.

If they weren't happy with this then I would offer an alternative e.g. a library, coffee shop and sometimes my own home. On rare occasions I would reject the tuition request if we couldn't come to an agreement.

Vulpine · 19/04/2019 12:33

Or s/he could cycle

DarlingNikita · 19/04/2019 12:35

If your street is not residents’ parking only then there is no such thing as a parking permit to give her. I think she has got confused. There is literally nothing you can do to guarantee a parking space for her.

Yes, this.

The way she's emailed you about it also sounds unpleasant and unprofessional. She could have asked more politely.

privatetutor123 · 19/04/2019 12:35

Good private tutors are worth their weight in gold IMO. I would always try to make accommodations for a private tutor with a solid record and word of mouth recommendations.

Bluntness100 · 19/04/2019 12:38

Is it permit parking only though op? You can get this, and not resident only. The fact you're looking into it might indicate it's the case?

If not then tell her no permits are required there is always space.

HomeMadeMadness · 19/04/2019 12:38

I agree with privatetutor I doubt it's the only student that day, she'll probably have a 30 minute window to get to the next student so public transport or cycling won't be possible.

Vulpine · 19/04/2019 12:40

Cycling is the quickest way to get around

JessieMcJessie · 19/04/2019 12:41

Sorry 123 but I don’t follow this - some has drives, the ones who didn’t I would get parking permits from.

Parking permits don’t guarantee a space. You can still arrive in the street and find all the spaces taken. We have a residents’ Permit and still sometimes need to drive around for a while to find a space. The permit just lets you park in the space once you have found one.

BoneyBackJefferson · 19/04/2019 12:42

Vulpine
Cycling is the quickest way to get around

Not knowing exactly much much equipment the tutor is going to have to carry, means that this may not be the best way to travel between jobs.

privatetutor123 · 19/04/2019 12:46

When I was travelling I would not only have the equipment of that one particular student, but all the other students I had that day. Each of my students had their own folders of work - so I would often be carrying 6 or 7 at a time! That was as well as other equipment like workbooks, pencil case, computers etc. Totally impractical to expect a tutor to cycle or walk long distances between clients.

The ones who had parking permits wouldn't usually be an issue as I was tutoring midday on the weekends. I only rarely had occasions where I couldn't find a space. If I couldn't find one I would explain this to the client and they were understanding that it would cut into their tuition time that day. I can imagine it would be worse if OP is asking the tutor to travel at peak times.

SoupDragon · 19/04/2019 12:49

If your street is not residents’ parking only then there is no such thing as a parking permit to give her

That isn't necessarily true. My borough has pay and display parking for which you can get a residents exemption permit and also visitor permits.

JessieMcJessie · 19/04/2019 12:51

Is it permit parking only though op? You can get this, and not resident only.

Not really sure what you mean by this Bluntness but OP has already said that the street is not permit parking.

Vulpine · 19/04/2019 12:53

You can carry a lot of stuff on a bike

JessieMcJessie · 19/04/2019 12:54

But SoupDragon OP says no parking restrictions on her street. I haven’t heard of the system you describe but the tutor doesn’t want to be parking further away in a pay and display space and, once again, OP still couldn’t guarantee that one of these spaces would be free.

MachinicianMagician · 19/04/2019 13:02

I used to be a private music teacher, visiting pupils at their homes. Biking wasn't an option for me as some students lived so far away from each other (30 miles+ on occasion). We dont know where this tutors other students live, they could be in the suburbs and live quite far away from OP. Biking and/or public transport aren't reasonable options in these cases. I made twice as much money once I transitioned from public transport to driving to my lessons.

Furthermore, some people (like myself) are terrified of cycling on roads or tutor may be unable to for other reasons.

If the parking is going to be problematic for OP then I advise finding a new tutor, it sounds like she is oversubscribed and can therefore be selective over who she tutors.

Parking can be a real pain to visiting tutors due to lack of available spaces in some areas. Like PPs I'd sometimes be completely unable to find a space in time (only had 30 mins travel time between students) and would then have to delay the lesson as a result. It's good that this tutor is forward-planning, but if a visitor permit isn't an option for OP then perhaps choose a different location or tutor.

ReadWriteDraw · 19/04/2019 13:05

I tutor in London and I’m very grateful if I am offered a CPZ pass but I would NEVER ask, nor, expect one. If I chose to drive then it’s my responsibility to find and pay for parking.

privatetutor123 · 19/04/2019 13:05

Vulpine If one parent is expecting me to travel by bike, then I would have to travel to all of them by bike. I frequently only had 30 minutes between each tutee. That includes concluding the previous lesson, walking back to my car, driving to the next client, parking and walking to their house and beginning the next lesson. If I am not able to travel from one tutee to the next, by bike in 30 minutes, then surely I am within my rights to ask the client to make up the difference I will be losing by being unable to accept other clients before and after them.

BoneyBackJefferson · 19/04/2019 13:08

Vulpine
You can carry a lot of stuff on a bike

That doesn't mean everything though.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 19/04/2019 13:15

She's not unreasonable to ask about parking arrangements, but she certainly is to insist on a parking pass which you don't have, on pain of not coming at all

It's a job like any other, so getting herself there - including parking if necessary - is her responsibility

JessieMcJessie · 19/04/2019 13:16

Which she doesn’t have because it doesn’t exist.

Swipe left for the next trending thread