Extra Curricular Fees

[DanceT]

Good afternoon,

Wondering if anyone could give me some guidance. For quite some time we have been paying additional “Extra Curricular Fees.” On the company website the fees cover the following; Forest School sessions, Cookery, Yoga & Mindfulness, Community trips. My son receives none of the above.

So we are paying for a service which my son isn’t gaining anything from. I’ve queried with the nursery and can’t seem to get a straight answer.

I’ve requested to opt out of the payments, and have been told I need to give a terms notice. So I would still be paying these fees until September.

I have been paying, and I will continue to pay until September, for a service which we are not receiving.

Where do I stand on this? Can I request money back, can they still charge me another term+?

Thanks
Sam

What answer have you had?

I’ve been told that they’re transitioning management and are working to get things back to where they should be. Staff sickness prevents them from leaving the nursery due to numbers. Just excuses it seems.

My son’s been attending the nursery for 14 months and has left the nursery 3 times. They done yoga classes for two weeks then it stops.

When I ask what my son is actually gaining from the additional payments they avoid the question, because he isn’t gaining anything.

So they’re expecting me to pay another 5 months of these fees without my son benefiting from anything.

I would put your complaint in writing and state that since you haven’t had a satisfactory answer and you have given them ample time to address their staffing issues and catch up on missed extracurriculars you are formally disputing their invoices and request a refund of the fees for the past six months in the amount £xxx.xx (less an amount for the yoga and trips they have actually provided).

They can’t charge for services they have not provided, however vaguely worded!

You should tell them they should have given you a terms notice that the sessions would be stopping and you’ll stop paying for a service you’re not receiving immediately!

my nursery says if we don’t pay these top up fees our child will be excluded from activities so I pay them , but in his nursery they actually run.

If these fees are on top of funding then the payments have to be voluntary so I doubt they can enforce a notice period.
You could ask your Local Authority early years need for advice.

You need to get in touch with the early years funding team at your local county Council authority. They’re not allowed to do this.