Any advice please!!!!

[boo70]

Hi just wanted to see if any one could give me some advice.I posted a few weeks ago on what to charge for an after schooler and holiday fees. Need further help!!!
I have 2 after schoolers for 3 hours each day and charge exactly for those hours, which sometimes ment that i did not get paid when the children went to friends, after school clubs etc. I have changed this to a fixed amount of hours now and price and told the parents this is still payable even if children do not use the full amont of hours. This did not go down well to say the least!!! Also said i was going to charge half fee in school hols to keep the place available, if they come i charge for hours that their with me for and if they are not coming i would charge a retainer fee of half of the hours they would do after school. Confusing myself now!!
Now wants reduced fees as 2 children from same family explained that i do not do this and i am getting all kinds of grief now, feel like telling them to go elsewhere.

stick to your guns, set out your charges i black and white and pin up/give out to parents, put it in newsletter style giving info etc, so they wont think its a dig..we can never get it right can we

ok thanks for your help, only they got really shirty with me when i explained this to them and said who has given me the right to make these changes. I explained i am self employed and can make whatever changes that i feel are acceptable, and all of the childminders in my area do charge this way.

get your details on cis, send out some business cards and stand firm with these people. YOU give you the right, im surprised someone can be so cheeky to ask you that!

i proberly wouldnt charge a retainer for the school hols but its your business

i have 10 before and after school children and when i started i decided to make my own enrolment forms where parents write down the hours they want me to care for their child
the policy states that early pickups and late drop offs do not reduce the bill
and so the hours that are on the form is the weekly payment they pay me each and every week during term time unless i am closed due to sickness

i think its hard for you as you started your business with one rule but once the business started you have found this not to work so have changed it

nobody likes change espeally if it involves more money but they will get used to it

i have decided to put my hourly fees up in April but told all the parents on the first week back in January and as yet nobody has said anything

do whatever you need to do for your business, in the hoildays could you not find different children (this is what i do) for for the school hoildays this way you might not have to charge a retainer for term time only children

i wouldnt charge a retainer during school hols either - i do term time only contracts and school holiday contracts. Parents are not going to want to use u for after school hrs during hols and if someone came to u for a school hols contract onlysay 9-6 u might not b able to do it as u have to keep the space free for the term time only contracts say from 3-6 if u get what i mean

ok thanks for your advice, the only reason i thought of charging a retainer for the hols was that last year they only came a quarter of the hols when they said they would be coming for at least 5 of the 6 weeks and it left me not being able to fill there spaces.
So do you think its reasonable to charge for term time only and drop the retainer for holidays.Thanks

Message withdrawn

Thanks Shosha, thats great advise this family have great ways of making you feel obliged to do things to suit them and im driving myself mad thinking this is my buisness and i should be the one to decide my terms & conditions.

hmm, my firends dd whom i mind will be going to afternoon nursery next month, if her elder sis is ever ill, she always comes to me too...nothing has been mentioned about school holiays yet tho?? and i couldnt hang around until the odd school hols for her to come full time again, dont think its best i offfer the retainer opion, as i couldnt afford to keep the place open..however as elder sis is 5, and younger one is already part time(in feb), maybe ofsted would allow them both to come even if my normal ratio's were full(hopefully!)