Am I being unreasonable for refusing to pay?
Background: ...
Given the pandemic, our nursery made the decision to close for the foreseeablefuture on 31 March, despite the government directing nurseries to remain open for key workers.
As a resultof them closing we had little option but to seek alternative childcare arrangements which came at a cost.
On the 29 March the nursery posted a message on the communication app, stating that to retain a place at the nursery, they would seek 25% of usual child care costs during the pandemic.
Several days later and following an outcry from parents, this message was deleted and another message appeared stating that the fee would now be a one off 25% of usual childcare costs to retain a place at nursery, this fee would effectively be a refundable deposit.
We decided not to retain the place at nursery and sent a message to confirm that we wouldn't be taking them up on the offer.
We have today received a phone callfrom the nursery, stating their intention to invoice one months fees (circa £1k) as a notice period...
even though it was them who chose to shut - they made their nursery unavailable for childcareservices during the notice period which was at a cost to ourselves.
They keep referring to the agreement, however, despite three requests, i still haven't received a copy.
I go out of my way to manage our finances efficiently and as a rule I do not pay for services that I do not receive.
I got a bit mad on the phone and told them, the only way i would pay is if directed by a court... was I unreasonable?