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?

Most childminders have waiting lists, the place is more than likely already filled. Childminders don't have time to send reminders, if parents don't pay they are out. Childminders don't have debt departments, they have the ability to remove parents who don't pay instead

Makes me wonder when you would have made the effort to pay 🤔

@devilspawn If you're running a small self employed business you shouldn't have to chase for payment. The childminder is probably in a similar position to me, with just a handful of clients, and I don't expect to have to chase anyone to pay my invoice. It clearly states my terms at the bottom of every invoice I send, and my clients have enough respect for my services to pay me within my 14 day deadline.

Tiny businesses do not work like that

She's too busy looking for a new CM after cancelling herself!

I don't blame the childminder, you were late for your very first bill and that's a sign that you cannot afford the payments. Childcare is a pretty important bill to just forget. She probably has a waiting list and can choose to ditch poor payers. She has bills to pay too! Apologise, beg, offer to pay upfront for a few months if you can. Or learn from it and try to find new childcare. Good luck.

Love the idea of a one woman band childminder having a debt department.

I'm a childminder and I have a strict 'no debt' policy.

If payment isn't made in advance then I provide no childcare until the invoice is settled in full.

If I have to chase for payments or have to repeatedly refuse care, then I end the contract.

I have a thriving business with a waiting list for September.

No. But neither would I expect Tesco to charge me upfront. However, this story isn't really about the terms and conditions.

OP has overlooked paying the invoice, for reasons we're not sure of. I'm in no way denying that that cock up rests with OP. The invoice was due for settlement on 1 January, before the provision of any services. It would not have taken the childminder a great deal of effort just to send out a reminder on 2 January. Should she have gone down that route, all this would have been avoided.

Now we have a (presumably) stressed OP, due back to work with no childcare. And a forum of (mainly women, the majority with children I would think) that have no sympathy. And, of course, would never make such a mistake themselves.

Well this is the imperfect Lucy J checking in. I fuck up. Fairly frequently. People cut me slack and I'm grateful for it.

I'll stand by my view, which is that the childminder's response was disproportionate in the circs 😘

Omg! Why would you not pay her on time? Your bloody FIRST invoice as well? She'll be thinking this is a sign of things to come, always having to chase you for payment. Fuck that, she's been generous giving you 5 days leeway imo.

Yep! All of this.

Now we have a (presumably) stressed OP, due back to work with no childcare.

Right, so pay the bill on time then? 😂 not hard is it.

What about the stressed out childminder waiting for payment? Where's her sympathy? Op certainly hasn't shown any.

I think you meant to say "The BIGGEST companies have debt departments but, obviously, a one-woman business can't possibly have one..."

100%! It's just so lax and there's absolutely no excuse for it.

It's not a real job like OPs and Lucy J's though...

For one reason or another? Not good enough. Pay promptly next time.

I run a nursery school and late payments are a constant issue. I think there is a underlying belief that childcare should be free with many people, and payments are often underprioritised.

After a while, you can spot the late payers and problem parents a mile off and if I had the option to ditch them - I would.

She has almost certainly dealt with countless issues regarding payment before and is presumably in high demand.

It's not. She made a mistake. Cut her some slack.

YABU for being far too busy glugging wine and guzzling turkey to send a payment which would take less than 5 minutes.

Over a month with 44,640 minutes in it, and then not apologising and expecting a reminder.

Shape up.

I wouldn't have dreamed of doing this to our amazing childminder who made my return from maternity leave a few years ago so much more bearable for me by being fantastic with my little one. She was worth her weight in gold and she deserved to be paid on time for the service she was providing to us. Awful that anyone can try and excuse not doing so.

Indeed. When my dog goes into kennels, we pay in advance. This is because cheeky fuckers in the past have failed to pay.

I'm assuming that this childminder is in demand. I'm sure she wouldn't have terminated OP's contract unless she had other people wanting her services.

The OP sounds quite blasé about not paying on time by saying 'for one reason or another we haven't paid it' and the invoice is already 6 days overdue after OP was given a month to pay. This would raise red flags with most people that OP was going to be difficult about paying her bills on time.

First month and you didn't pay on time. She is in demand and no payers are a pain and impact her planning. Your only option is to grovel and cross yiur fingers or find another.

Of course childminding is a real job; I haven't said otherwise. A quick reminder on 2 January and all would have been well.