To refuse to pay this nursery charge

[Jeronnemo]

2 children in nursery. Been really happy there. A few niggles but nothing major. This month's bill had a £40 per child charge for an activity that they only do in winter. It usually kicks in in December through to April but this time they've charged it early. The issue is that they've not actually done the activity yet. I spoke to the manager about it and she was very abrasive and came out with some absolute nonsense about why it was on the bill. She lied and expected me to just suck it up. I'm livid but the conversation is over as far as she's concerned and if I push it any further, I risk being asked to leave. Do I just write it off for the sake of peace and my blood pressure?

Just make sure that the end month isn't added on and it evens out. I'd get clarification for it.

🤦🏽‍♀️ the op has been quite clear that paying for the activity on Nov 1 was for the activity to go ahead in Nov. The manager didn’t say oh Nov invoice is for Dec. The manager admitted the activity didn’t go ahead but didn’t give a clear reason as to why not.

No, I absolutely don't condone them having to do this - and as I said in my earlier post, they've communicated it very badly.

It may be that they've previously told parents 'with a wink' on numerous occasions what the stated charge is really needed for and haven't twigged that OP wasn't present at any of those times. Possibly they believe that she knows very well that it's a cover to make up for the funding shortfall and are irritated at her for, as they maybe see it, trying to make trouble for them and refusing to play ball?

What I don't condone most of all is successive governments making providers charge less for a service than is viable and insisting that it is 'free' because they've paid for it in full - and thus leaving them no alternative but to either charge extra in a roundabout/underhand way or just to close down.

Both.

It makes sense what you are saying. Have you spoken to any other parents about this?

I'm wondering why you're spending an additional £40 a time for an activity that doesn't cost the nursery any additional money, staff or resources. How did they justify the additional charge for it in the first place? Why did all the parents agree to pay it?

Reminds me of my story described upthread with £1000 requested to be paid just to get on the waiting list. Word salad followed. They should have just called it the admin charge - meaning “we need more money so take it or leave it”.

Most nurseries have incompetent financial management is the bigger issue. Those directing the budgets day to day are not trained in finance or business. They are excellent childcare staff who have risen the ranks to manager but don’t have the skills to competently handle the finance.

The will be the same for other parents there. So ask them what they are doing,

As others have suggested, I would write to the nursery/accounts dept in the guise of checking you've understood properly to get the reasoning in writing. Then I suppose it is a matter of either sucking it up, or making a stand. It does seem out of order, but some people/companies do out of order things when they think they can get away with it. Good luck.

Or maybe people need to learn how to read.

@Jeronnemo you’ve been very clear.

@CheeseIsMyIdol 'I’m a professional, lifelong editor with plenty of experience parsing others’ writing. And I have no idea what the basis of your complaint is. You aren’t explaining as clearly as you think you are.'

You are obviously not very good at your job. This is not hard to understand.

We can differ on opinions without making a personal insult. Some of the responses have been way too abrasive for an anonymous forum.

I understand what is being said, I just think we are missing key details that would help us understand more fully where the root cause is.

Thank you. I luffs you 😍

She pays for the month ahead on the 1st. She paid on the 1st Nov for November, the charge was on there, but the activity didn’t happen. She’ll pay 1st Dec for Dec, and again pay the charge but hopefully they will do the activity. She’s asks nursery if she can deduct the £40 from 1st Dec payment as she paid it for Nov when the activity didn’t happen at all (and they seemingly lied about it)

I don’t really understand how people aren’t getting this..

It's not unreasonable. Of course it's not but this isn't what I'm disputing.

Of the ones I know, it's about not rocking the boat and having your card marked as a troublemaker. Some have challenged it, same as me but have been told the same bullshit.

But charging in November and not doing it is not OK.

It's also worse if you are unable to challenge it, in case they deny your child a place, because that's extortion.

I am a principled person and if it happened to me and I was able to afford the consequences of complaining, I would absolutely be taking this to court. If they can get away with this then what's next? Blatantly saying that there is an extra fee for blowing noses and if you don't pay, tough?

And if they denied my kid a place if I did that, I'd take them to court over that too.

How have you been lied to?

What about ‘November’?

You’re right OP. We’re all a bunch of incompetent readers who can’t make head nor take out of your posts because we’re stupid.

Did the others get a clearer explanation from the manager than you got?

You really are being pretty shitty here OP.

Not initially. It was about her 7th post when it became much clearer.

Nurseries have to make up a short fall in funding from the government.
It’s a terrible position that the government put early years providers in by making them sign a contact which says they won’t charge a top up fee if the child is funded. The government want to maintain the ‘we provide free childcare’ mantra which is completely false. They only partly subsidise the child. The shortfall has to come from somewhere.
Nurseries therefore have to get the understanding of potential parents over this matter before they sign up for a place. Most parents don’t understand this awful anomaly. It’s very difficult to explain because of the contract providers are forced to sign with the County Council through whom the funding goes to the provider,
That’s why a lot of providers have closed over recent years. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. It is impossible to provide quality care for the funding provided by government.

Do you maybe think that this could have been the reason for the word salad lie ?