Problem with nursery - advise needed

[Ptica]

My son has been attending the nursery for almost 2 years so far, full time. It costs us an arm and a leg but as we have no family arrangements, we had to choose this option. The fees are very high and my husband is a small business owner, so we often run late with the payments. However, the fees are always paid within current month and we were never late for a month or more. This month I covered the fees 10 days later (so I paid today for August) and the nursery started saying they never received my payment, so they are cancelling my son’s place. I called tha bank which confirmed the payment left my account, so I called the nursery and manager told me they cancelled my son’s place and accounts haven’t confirmed the payment was received. Also, she said it is a business and they have no depts policy . I asked what depts if I just paid as I got paid my salary only yesterday. She said they have to receive the payment by the 10th of the month - which can be challenging for us sometimes as I am getting paid around the 20th... I followed up with the email to her and accounts but they left me with no reply. I am in despair now as I paid for the month and they are not allowing him in and don’t have any childcare at the moment. Is it legal what they did?

[QueenAravisOfArchenland]

I understand they are running a business but what about child wellbeing?

Bloody hell, this is indeed the most CF thing I've ever seen on here. They're not a child wellbeing charity and your child isn't "in need". They're a business that provides childcare for money. You've consistently failed to pay for their services, so they've now declined to provide them further. Good for them. They don't have to do a damn thing for you or follow any procedure they don't choose to follow. The fact that you don't have other childcare is 100% not their problem.

I can't believe how completely unembarrassed you are. The second time I paid even a day late, I would be crippled with embarrassment and would do whatever I had to do to make sure it didn't happen again.

[JeSuisPrest]

I know I was wrong but clearly they cannot ignore me.

Perhaps they are ignoring, you the way you ignored their requests to make sure you paid your bill on time? It's annoying isn't it?

[spaghettiforhair]

It's quite simple you pay for a service on time, they provide the care for your son. Or should they start paying their staff late to suit your payment schedule?

[user1483387154]

Title should be ..... need help organising our finances. Our late payments mean our son has lost his nursery place.


It's completely your fault and they are well within their rights to cancel your son's place

[RidingMyBike]

Goodness. DD's nursery expects payment for that month by the 1st of the month. So August payment had to have cleared into their account by 1st August - OP does your nursery expect cleared payment by 10th of each month or is that the date you've started the transfer?

I initially tried to pay it from previous month's salary, as I get paid on 25th each month but that turned out not to have time to clear - nursery reiterated that it must clear by 1st month so the money I've just been paid on 27 August will now be used to pay the October bill, as September was already paid from July's salary.

It sounds like you've really messed the nursery around. What does your contract state about termination of the account?

[Ptica]

They refunded me the days which we didn’t use + deposit. We are looking now for something more affordable so we make sure the payment won’t be missed. My previous nursery was notified that we would make a payment a bit later this month and we also let them know in advance about counting the days down to 3. Now it doesn’t matter as we have to move on.

[ellesbellesxxx]

People like you cost me a lot of time, effort and money.
When people pay me late, or not at all.. I then have to use savings to pay my children’s nursery (as I am not going to risk paying late)

I then spend time sending countless emails, and quite frankly it’s rude.

[Daisy2990]

Is there a reason why you are not paying for the nursery fees from your business account? We have always done this because childcare is an allowable expense. Presumably this would also have solved your cash flow problem seeing as the business was paying and you wouldn't need to wait for your salary.

[jannier]

Its a shame parents don't get rated by Ofsted then those who pay on time wouldn't suffer because of late payers.

[Lunde]

I still don't think that OP even "gets it" - she thinks that she can just announce that she will be paying late and changing the terms of her contract and the nursery just need to accept it!

[itsaboojum]

It’s this sort of parent who messes things up for every family needing childcare.

Constantly bleating about how it costs "an arm and a leg" when the fact is that fees are so low in relation to costs that many nurseries are on the verge of going bust. Late payments can only make matters worse.

Then there's the old chestnut of seeking out somewhere "more affordable". In reality this means they’ll always go for the cheapest they can get away with, instead of the best they can afford. Doesn’t this say a lot about a mum's priorities?

Constant downward pressure on fees means nurseries have to address their costs instead. That means fewer and less qualified staff, lower quality food, poorer quality toys and resources.

In a nutshell, this sort of attitude inevitably results in fewer childcare places for everyone, coupled with a general dragging down of standards and quality all round.

[Ptica]

Well, chariging £65 or £80 per day I wouldn’t call it affordable

[YeTalkShiteHen]

Rent, business rates, heating, lighting, staff, equipment, food, training, decor, overtime.

All costs that have to be met, and won’t be, if parents think the rules don’t apply to them.

[Imknackeredzzz]

For gods sake you can’t just announce you are paying late and the nursery has to accept it. You signed a contract, you breached that contract, contract terminated. Simple

You take the absolute piss

[itsaboojum]

Well charging £65 or £80 per day I wouldn’t call it affordable.

Will I get flamed for suggesting it might be less than entirely responsible to have children when you know they’re "unaffordable"?

You want to look at these nurseries' costs and how close they are to going bust on their "unaffordable" fees, made worse by people who regard their charges as an optional inconvenience.

Oh, and please don’t ever grow old or you’ll discover what unaffordable care fees really look like. The figures you quote won’t buy you even a couple of brief care visits for an elderly relative.