Nursery charging us for not taking place

[Flumsymummy]

Hi, we put my dd down for nursery place and signed a form accepting a place to start in September paying a £80 deposit which was refundable against fees once you start. This was in December last year. We’ve had no contact from nursery at all since then even though a letter which accompanied the form said they’d get in touch to remind us about an intro day in June. The nursery contacted me on Monday by text message (absolutely the first contact since early December) saying they assumed we didn’t want our place as we hadn’t turned up and demanding a terms fees to be paid as we’d signed a contract saying we would pay a terms fees. I honestly hadn’t realised we actually had a place confirmed as they had not been in touch. I do not need the place now as our childcare needs have changed but had assumed I didn’t need to inform them as they had not contacted me.

I would expect the £80 non refundable deposit to cover us not starting and we should not have to pay the full fees. The nursery is also oversubscribed so the place will be filled.

do you want them to phone you every week to check you're okay?

Obviously this is not what the Op is expecting. Although in 9 months it is entirely reasonable that she forgot about the place and after receiving no contact about the intro in day in June, it's reasonable to assume that her child didn't have a place.

I had similar but luckily they were ok with just the deposit.

Put name down for 2 nurseries, no guarantee of a space. Was offered space at preferred nursery, informed 2 months before start date. Great. Nothing from 2nd nursery, assumed no spaces until asked about what settling in sessions I wanted, 2 weeks before start date.

In hindsight should have formally cancelled.

I understand that signing this acceptance and paying £80 secures my place.

This ^ very definitely reads to me that it confirms your child now has a place in sept and you are bound by the t&cs, including giving at least a term’s notice to leave, or be liable for fees. You didn’t give notice, you are unfortunately liable.

Yes, it was poor practice not to contact you in the interim, but equally you could have been proactive and contacted them. There’s nothing in the wording you’ve given that required them to contact you, that would just have been a courtesy on their behalf.

There’s nothing in the wording you’ve given that required them to contact you, that would just have been a courtesy on their behalf.

What about the letter attached to the form stating:
"they’d get in touch to remind us about an intro day in June."

Whilst it could be argued both the OP and the Nursery were at fault for their lack on communication if the Nursery had actually contacted her about this day then surely it could have been resolved?

Obviously this is not what the Op is expecting.  Although in 9 months it is entirely reasonable that she forgot about the place and after receiving no contact about the intro in day in June, it's reasonable to assume that her child didn't have a place.

Eh no it isn't. Who forgets about arranging childcare and why would you assume you didn't have a place when you have clearly signed to secure a place.

Have you changed address or phone number op? It is shit they never got in touch. This is your only hope I'd say. Emphasise your dc should have had settings etc

Hmmm, fair point, but i’d still argue that is just a courtesy extra - it’s not included in the t&c OP signed.

I too would understand it that you have agreed for a space in their nursery. You were wrong not to cancel if.

It sounds like what you thought was a mere form was the contract and it not only confirmed the space but also that you needed to pay your notice period. I think you are liable.

Can you send your child regardless to make the most of the place until your notice period ends, even though you don’t need it, or do you not need it because you also signed up elsewhere?

I agree about asking them to confirm how you were contact regarding the day in June.

Although in 9 months it is entirely reasonable that she forgot about the place and after receiving no contact about the intro in day in June, it's reasonable to assume that her child didn't have a place.

Where I live you give at least a year’s notice to get a space at a nursery. You speak to the nursery and they tell you when a space will be free, you complete the form and pay the deposit because you know you then have a space reserved, and at best you can hope a space comes up sooner. I thought that was fairly normal.

To be fair, the nursery failed to contact her with details of the introduction day or any new starter information. It isn’t unreasonable to assume that if you receive no information at all then you do not have a place at all.

There is clear fault on both sides.

why would you assume you didn't have a place when you have clearly signed to secure a place.

Because they did not make any further contact about the introduction day or to confirm starting arrangements.

It isn’t unreasonable to assume that if you receive no information at all then you do not have a place at all.

It is unreasonable if you fail to pick up the phone and call them.

It isn’t unreasonable to assume that if you receive no information at all then you do not have a place at all.

Exactly. The part that baffles me most is that you say the place was due to start in September. I assume the date agreed at the time was for this Monday as that's when you needed the childcare from? Were they just expecting you to leave your child with no settling in sessions, having not met her keyworker or had any discussion with staff etc? In most Nurseries isn't it common for the child to get used to the setting before starting there? Also how were they expecting you to know when to turn up, who to speak to or what you needed to bring, were you just meant to guess.

It is unreasonable if you fail to pick up the phone and call them.

It wouldn't have occurred to me that I would need to be the one to make contact, especially if they had stated they would contact me regarding intro days.

I also wouldn't be very impressed at the first impression they were projecting. The tone of the text is very harsh and lays all blame with the OP. Assuming the OP is a first time parent she wouldn't necessarily know that she still had a place when so long had passed with no contact regarding start dates or settling in sessions, perhaps naïve but not unreasonable in my eyes.

Putting your name on a waiting list is one thing, but signing a contract and paying a registration fee obligated you to taking up the place.

The wording of what you signed says you accept a place.....so it's your fault . You should have confirmed with them that you didn't need a place.

It couldn't be more obvious from that wording

A terms notice is required before a child leaves the nursery or you may be liable for a terms fees”

Your child hasn't left the nursery as they didn't start. If what you say is correct they have not contacted you to confirm the place, a start date, settling in dates, so you were right to assume your child does not have a place at the nursery.

I would write an email telling them this and also politely to swing their hook.

Yanny or Laurel of contracts 🤣

The wording seems very clear to me. The fact that they haven’t contacted you is not great though so I would be focussed on that.

I assumed I had not got a place due to lack of any contact about starting arrangements or intro session in June. Also my assumption from the contract was the only risk when signing the form was the loss of the deposit if I did not take the place. To me, not taking the place means not starting the nursery. The deposit was paid at the same time as signing the form so im confused as to why this was needed if they expect a terms notice? They will not find it hard to fill his space.

I know I haven’t done the right thing and deserve to lose my £78 but I think they were at fault not contacting me to confirm if my Dd was starting

Asking for an additional £500 feels excessive

Flumsy what did the Nursery say when you explained you had received no information?

I would have expected some communication from the nursery re settling in and how things would be working - based on this i would not expect to be paying for a full term