Childminder terminating contract

[hoolahoolay]

Surely I'm not being unreasonable. So my son is due to start with a childminder next week when I go back to work after maternity leave. We have settling in sessions this week

So she sent the invoice for January out early December and she said to let her know if there were any errors, the due date on the invoice was 1st January. For one reason or another we haven't paid it and instead of reminding us she has messaged this morning to say she's terminated contract as invoice is 5 days late.
Surely she could have sent a payment reminder.

WTF can I do now?

YABU. She doesn’t want clients she has to chase just to get paid. Who would?

Find another childminder and pay them on time. Would you be happy to wait for your pay indefinitely, especially your first pay after Christmas?

Good on the childminder, she obviously values herself and wants to work for people who respect her.

You could have paid your bill on time.
It’s your first bill. She’s decided you’re not worth the hassle.
This is a scenario entirely of your own making.

she may have had issues with non payers before and doesn’t want another customer who doesn’t
pay on time. Does leave you in a bad situation though. Try speaking to her and explaining why you didn’t pay, she may be willing to give you another chance.

Oh dear. She may well have sent you reminders if you weren't a completely new customer. I assume she has been messed around with payment in the past and didn't want to risk going down that road again.

I don't suppose there is anything you can do except look for somewhere else.

Why do you think you're not being unreasonable? She's obviously thought to herself that you're going to be a difficult client who needs constant reminders to pay given you've not paid on time on the very first payment.

It's shit for you but completely understandable why she's taken this approach.

All you can do is apologise and look for alternative care.

Of course you're being unreasonable, you've had almost a month to pay and communication works both ways. The childminder is probably thinking you're going to be hard work, and doesn't want to deal with years of chasing for missed payments.

Honestly? Childminders are so in demand, I’d be paying mine early never mind on time.
I’d grovel to her, offer to pay next month upfront too as a sign of goodwill and hope she hasn’t already filled your place. She probably has.

I'm not sure what you can do. Maybe she is worried that if first invoice hasn't been paid on time, then she will spend the rest of the time that she looks after you child having to chase late payments.

What was the reason for you guys not paying the invoice on time? If it was a massive extenuating circumstance (death in the family, job loss, hospital stay), that would be one thing maybe. But if no reason, then I reckon it would be more difficult.

I would assume she has had issues with people of not paying their invoice/bill before. It isn't a great start paying late. Are childminders in demand where you live?

"For one reason or another we haven't paid it" is really really minimising and dismissive. And with that kind of attitude you sound like you'd be late with payment all the time.

You messed up massively here. She was dead right.

I have to agree with others. How would you feel if your company didn't pay you on payday?

I'm going against the majority here but I don't think YABU, it's your first invoice and it's a very busy time of year, people are out of normal routines etc, I can see easily how this could happen. I think the childminder is U to not send a reminder as it's your first month.

I assume she simply doesn't want someone who needs reminding to pay when she can easily get someone who does pay on time.

It was the first invoice, you had a solid month in which to pay it, you... just didn't, and she decided fuck that noise and fired you. Good for her. I salute her. She probably has many potential clients who will actually fucking pay, and it's not her job to coddle you.

You will have to work something else out. And this time you might like to try actually complying with contractual terms and paying in a timely fashion for the services you've used.

I don't blame her. She doesn't want to be chasing you for payment every month. Find someone else and pay them.

I agree with this. If you can't even make the first payment on time I'd be thinking you're going to be a pain every time! And to be honest, there's almost no reason this is acceptable. Sadly, part of adulting is even when something really shit happens, bills still need paying. It sucks, but it's true.

Ring her, grovel, and see what she says? And make sure you're paying your bills on time!

The OP could have set up a direct debit to start with then the payment would have gone out in time.

I think the only option is for you to ring her and hope she still has the space.
There is often a waiting list for childminders and even some nurseries. She might have decided you are too risky to keep as a client if you can't even manage to pay the first bill on time. Were you flakey in any other way? Late to pick up?
You need her more than she needs you and it is likely she can find someone else to take the place.

What is "for one reason or another"v

If you had an unexpected bereavement that might be acceptable. Almost everything else is no excuse - particularly as it's the first payment to secure the place.

I would agree with this if the op hadn't had the invoice since early December. If she'd visited the childminder the week before Christmas and got the invoice then I could understand actually. But she's had it a month...

So do I. If I cut off all my customers at work for being a few days late with their payments, then our organisation would go under. And with that, jobs would go.
bit of credit control is part of the usual business cycle.

Hope you get sorted with your childcare, OP 🙏

Pay your bills! I'd drop you too if I was her.

It takes minutes to set up a payment on online banking which the OP likely has. The fact it was December is precisely why the childminder probably sent the invoice so early but that doesn't mean it's her responsibility to chase it.

The OP is an adult who knew her child was starting childcare in January. Why should the onus be solely on the childminder?