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?

@TheEyesOfLucyJordon
A mistake to not pay a significant bill?! Nah not buying that. I bet OP didn't "forget" to pay her mortgage / rent or other household bills. Unacceptable, there's literally no excuse. The person who I'll be "cutting some slack" in this scenario is the self employed woman whose invoice wasn't paid on time just after Christmas.

DH pays it as soon as he is handed the invoice normally whilst standing on our lovely childminders door step. Not paying a self employed person over Christmas is an especially shitty thing to do so I'm not really surprised she terminated your contract. Your only option is to beg forgiveness but, given how in demand childminders are, I imagine she's gone to the next family.

Good childcare is priceless, don't fuck it up.

That's assuming someone who couldn't be bothered to pay all month would bother after a reminder. And the next month, and the next.
It's a choice to not pay for such an essential service on time.

For one reason or another we haven't paid it

This is the bit that gives me pause. If OP had said they had forgotten, it was entirely on them and wanted to know how to approach the CM to apologise and get the place reinstated, it would be more understandable.

Instead, it is somehow the CM being unreasonable, only they're not.

I actually admire her boundaries. You’re totally in the wrong and I’m surprised you can’t see that?

100% agree. Even OP's description in the OP is so lax and casual - "for one reason or another we didn't pay". Nah. If you'd made a genuine error you'd describe it differently to that.

So she sent the invoice for January out early December

Surely she could have sent a payment reminder.

I can't believe you put these two sentences in your post and think the childminder is the one being unreasonable.

How many reminders will you be requiring before you eventually pay up.

That's a big supposition given that OP is incredibly blasé about not having paid already and that this is the very first payment. No doubt the CM knows from experience that parents who don't pay the first invoice on time are more trouble than they're worth to her, and OP's degree of entitlement over the whole affair strongly suggests that there will be more late payments and CFery.

Ah no. I would only advocate giving OP one chance. She would need to have paid on 2 January and then on time, without fail, going forward.

You are a red flag already so she is right to get rid of you.
I expect that place has already been offered to someone else who was happy to pay for the thing they wanted instead of leaving her hanging.

You couldn't even get it together or care enough to pay the FIRST bill, so why would she think you are going to be any better at paying any other month?

The biggest companies can afford to

And yet some of us managed just fine

Admittedly I was very fortunate in that so many wanted to use my (recruitment) services that there was no need to tolerate silliness, but then given the kind of waiting lists so many childminders have it would be surprising if this one wasn't in the same position

She did give her a chance. She gave her 5 chances in fact. I don't get paid enough to add chasing strangers for payment to my to do list. Not when I can replace them with someone who does value my time.

The childminder clearly doesn't want to have to be issuing 'quick reminders' to get paid and presumably has a waiting list of potential clients who would not require this.

Her choice.

Early December, bloody hell that makes it even worse! OP has had a whole month to sort this. Set reminders in her phone or write it on a calendar or something. Just plain unacceptable.

Sorry I'm with the child minder on this one. I work self employed and there is nothing more frustrating than sending invoices out in good time and then having to chase chase chase payment.

Adults are grown up to sort this out independently. I would have dropped you too for flakiness.

’Surely I’m not being unreasonable’😂😂😂

Could have been worse though ... there's always the roof blowing off, the tools being nicked or even the entire vehicle

People are responding in this way due to OP's attitude. If she had said that she was mortified when realised that she had forgotton to pay by the deadline and asked what she could do to possibly retrieve the situation, posters would have been much more sympathetic and much less judgemental. OP is outraged rather than apologetic.

That got me too. It's the sheer lack of insight to how wildly unreasonable OP is being that I can't comprehend 😳

So question please @hoolahoolay ....
Did you call her immediately when you received the message and explain why "between one thing and another" you didn't pay, beg her forgiveness, commit to it never happening again, make the payment first thing this morning... or did you just come on MN to complain that she didn't remind you of your financial commitment to her for your child?

People are responding in this way due to OP's attitude. If she had said that she was mortified when realised that she had forgotton to pay by the deadline and asked what she could do to possibly retrieve the situation, posters would have been much more sympathetic and much less judgemental. OP is outraged rather than apologetic.

Absolutely spot on.

Presume you had the money budgeted to pay so why not pay it. Your casual "for 1 reason or another we didnt pay" suggests it wasn't even that you made an error or forgot. Out of interest when were you planning to pay bearing in mind you were expecting to turn up with your child for settling sessions this week?

Not the childminder's problem.

I'm not sure where the five chances come in. Do you mean five weeks? Well, yeah. You could do it in days and say it was 35. But if it's slipped OP's mind, then it has.

The childminder has the right to terminate (presumably) and has chosen to do so. Do I think that was reasonable? No. I don't..