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?

I think her actions were quite drastic but not unreasonable. She isn’t obliged to chase for payment and it could end up being a big task if she regularly has to. Given that it was your first payment she maybe felt that you were going to be unreliable payers. If she has a waiting list she might prefer to move on to someone else rather than chance further late payments from you.

I would send a grovelling apology, pay now, and ask for a second chance. She might be willing to give you one if you can convince her it was a rare mistake on your part and that you’ve put reminders in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

You don't think businesses should be able to set their own terms?

In your world, there wouldn't be any businesses, because nobody would be willing or able to set them up if they weren't able to set payment terms.

I think you are a CF to even think that you are not being unreasonable

It is your first invoice and you were late. The CM isn’t going to know if this was a genuine mistake or not and doesn’t want or need the hassle of flaky parents

Good for them in cutting their losses straight away

Hopefully learnt to pay contractors on time in the future.

If you had an established relationship where you were usually on time with your payments, then she may well have given you some leeway. A first bill paid late is a red flag and she's probably decided it's not worth the risk that she'll have to chase you up regularly for payments. Chances are she has a waiting list and has chosen to take the chance on someone else. I can't really blame her. She has bills to pay too.

The most you can do is call, apologise and hope. Or learn a lesson for next time.

The fact that you are not mortified by this speaks volumes about your character.

Expecting to be paid on time? In fact, not even on time. The childminder gave her 5 days grace. If I were short of clients, I would have no choice, but I'm not. Had there been communication, or an established relationship, that might be different.

I am currently chasing £5k 😣😭

YABU - They are a 1 man business where cash flow is everything and do not operate on a 30 day or similar credit basis, you had your chance to show willing and to be a good client and missed.

The daft thing is those saying she should have reminded you would probably be the same posters saying the red flags were there from the beginning if it was the childminder posting in 6 months saying she had to remind the OP to pay her each month...

She probably understands that if someone hasn't paid the first invoice on time, it's likely there will be future issues with payment 😬

You can call, apologise profusely, ensure her you'll pay on time from now on, and see if she can be flexible at all. But really this is on you.

OP, do you think you should have to chase your employer to pay your salary? I doubt it.

Pay the damn invoice on time, it's not rocket science.

All you can do is apologise now, but if she has a waiting list, she's probably moved on already.

@Butchyrestingface I doubt that's the case for a tiny self-employed childminding business though.

I run a very small business and wouldn't tolerate waiting over a month for payment.

I agree with this. You do not yet have an established relationship and she doesn't know you yet to know that she wont be trying to chase money every month .

She is obviously not desperate for work and is able to pick and choose clients that make her life easier, not potentially harder by not paying on time.

Honestly, the childminder probably has a queue of people wanting them to look after their kids - ones that don't need reminding to pay their invoices. Why would she bother keeping you on when you've been late in paying the very first invoice? I wouldn't either. It doesn't exactly set the best of impressions for the future. A mistake that has understandably cost you your childminder.

Call her! Excuse yourself and promise it won't happen again and. If not, find somebody else. I would have given a warning that if you don't pay contract will be terminated but legally she's not obliged to do so.

Good on the CM!
Pay your bills on time going forward.

I’m self employed (not child minding) and usually clients tell you who they are very fast. This would be a huge red flag for me that I would constantly have to chase you for late payments. I would also terminate your contract, not being paid on time gives me so much anxiety.

AND I charge a late payment fee. It’s not even worth the late payment fee. Just pay me on time.

Why not? Because a little, compassion, empathy and understanding makes for a good world.

I believe that child care is difficult to source these days, so the childminders are wielding the power. And yes, you can; it's up to you. But, using the full force of that power just because you can doesn't serve society well, in my opinion.

It's your call; I've said so already. But ... I don't agree with you. It's an opinions forum 😚

It's notable that even now you have zero embarrassment or concern for the CM's finances and time. Your only concern is your own convenience.

Fwiw, I would not take back a client if I'd made the decision to terminate, no matter how much grovelling and advance payment they offered. I wouldn't be interested in some exhausting dance where they basically always need chased and think they can get around me with a sob story, I'd have made a firm decision to move on and offered the place to someone else when I terminated. So I would focus primarily on finding other places, although you can fit in some grovelling to cover your bases if you want.

It’s her income. How would you feel if you were 5 days late being paid?

YABU. You should pay your bills when they are due.

All you can do is apologise profusely, promise it won't happen again and ask if she'll reconsider. Decent childminders quite often have a waiting list. She may be able to pick and choose who she offers places to....

When the due date was Jan the first that means it must be in latest at this date- not leave it til this date and then forget. You should have paid when you received it in dec (knowing Xmas is busy) or set up a direct debit for dec 31st. It’s now Jan 6th- so almost a week late when you’ve had a month to pay it.

I'm a childminder and I would absolutely do this. I don't chase people, asking to be paid. If you don't value my service, I'll have your space filled within the day.