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 wonder what the CM's response will be?

Yeah - OPs just entitled

“Yes I did apologise and say I didn't realise it needed to be paid the 1st but also said she should have reminded me and I would have paid. Communication would help!”

Well I doubt you will get your space back now! Nothing other than a sincere apology accepting responsibility, promising it won’t happen again, would have gotten you that space back.

You essentially said sorry……* *it’s actually your fault not mine. And then told her off. 😂

And totally confirmed to her she was right in wanting to avoid working with you.

I wonder if she's a mumsnetter and has seen that paying her isn't a priority for the OP?

“it hasn’t been priority”
as an ex child minder, I had parents with this attitude. I made sure it wasn’t my priority to provide care for their children.
quite simple, you entered into a contract, there was clearly a date on the invoice and the contract stated what would happen if you didn’t pay it.
Lesson learned hopefully and you might treat your next childcare provider with some respect?

Exactly- all this communication seems to be expected one way, with no responsibility on OP 🙄

Like it or not whether using a nursery or child minder you are essentially paying for their spot. You will have to pay if you go on holiday or your LO is ill etc because you're booking that slot so no one else can use it. The terms are that you pay up front. No matter how many mates, family, mumsnetters didn’t/don't pay a deposit etc, it's irrelevant!

The Christmas period is equally expensive for your childminder.

I think you had a lucky escape to be honest

Calling FTMs stupid is really not on. There’s clearly a lot of FTMs on here who are a lot smarter than you because they know how to pay invoices on time.

I guess she just wants all invoices paid on the 1st whether new or existing clients. Fair enough

You’ve broken the terms of your agreement (that you signed up to at the time, whether or not you now decide it’s unreasonable), you didn’t prioritise paying the invoice for an essential service, and you’re trying to deflect your responsibility back on to the CM because they didn’t remind you. Do you need reminders for all of your other bills as well? You’ve made a terrible first impression on the CM and I wouldn’t blame them for chalking you up as a difficult client and cutting ties.

Hang on… she gets paid BEFORE she does the work? Wow 😳 Is this normal in childcare land?

Yes. For both childminders and nurseries I've used across my 18 years of parenting experience with 2 kids, it is fairly standard for childcare providers to take payment for the month in advance.

I think she meant first time mum fwiw

How do you think people would manage if they have to wait three months for what may well be one third of their total monthly income? The OP accepted the childminder's terms and conditions and so should have made sure that payment was made on time. I've been self employed for the last seven years and I would really struggle if I had to wait three months for a third of my income! In all that time I've only ever had one significantly late payment, and I stopped working for the client concerned immediately. I know Christmas is an expensive time for everyone, but it isn't an event that catches you by surprise, any more than returning from maternity leave, and your absolute top priority should always be to pay your commitments before spending loads of money on presents, extra food etc.

Ah, this makes sense. Many S/E people have a few main clients they work with, it’s not unusual, and they are able to palm the issue off to the ‘finance department’ 🙄 and cash flow is also an issue. A big waiting list of eager clients does make sense to choose people who pay on time. Working in close contact with individuals who pay you vs. companies can be awkward if bills aren’t paid or invoices are late.

I lose contact of which post I’ve written now but it was the 5 days grace I was responding to.

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

Communication would help!

i mean, invoice, she asked you to check it, gave a date to pay by. That is generally considered communication.

the fact you didnt pay because it isnt a priority will let her know you are unreliable.

You don't see why you should make payment as per your contract.

You tried to tell her it was her fault you'd not paid.

You don't see why paying someone on time is a priority at an expensive time of year.

You clearly don't really need this child minder that much then.

What a disgusting attitude. Hopefully you can see how disrespectful and silly you've been, now that it's affecting your ability to return to work.

Good childminders are like gold dust. Also, they tend to know other local childminders and tell each other about non paying/difficult parents. They earn peanuts for the essential job they do and deserve to be treated with respect.

It was in the t&cs of the contract, not really hard to figure out when the payment is due, a lot of service providers operate in the same way. Anyway, I am assuming you are the OP under a different name, so crack on. Get off MN and find a new childminder 😂

I have to say being late to pay a first invoice does seem like a bit of a weird reason to throw a child out - I think you'd go 2-3months before going nuclear like that.

wtf? It's an absolutely perfectly acceptable reason to "throw the child out"! 2-3 months without payment? Fuck that, I'd not be able to manage 2-3 months without my wage so why should the CM?!

“Yes I did apologise and say I didn't realise it needed to be paid the 1st but also said she should have reminded me and I would have paid.
Communication would help!“

Sorry, but I think what you have said to her will make her perception worse:

• The childminder will see that you are telling her that you didn’t read it
• Implying that you will need reminders in future.
• She had already communicated with you.

In her mind it won’t bode well going forwards.
As a tradesperson myself who had clients who didn’t pay - I say kindly, please treat it as a life lesson to be on it in future and pay invoices promptly.

I sure hope so. This is one that will definitely not be worth the trouble.

Why should she remind you? Can't you put a reminder on your phone?

I agree with this! Telling her that she should have reminded you wasn’t a good move- now she’s going to think you’ll push your luck every month and wait to be reminded.

She clearly doesn’t want to have to be chasing people right left and centre to get paid, that’s why she has those ts and cs re late payment.

Communication would help!
This is so funny because she gave you written communication and you looked at the date on it and decided it was wrong!