Mindees mum is my friend.

[Mrsh3103]

Today my after schoolie was due to be picked up at 5pm. At 5.40 his mum turned up said the traffic was awful grabbed her son shouted she'd call me later & left.

I'm a bit unsure how to handle this. She's my friend and has been for a long time!
She's always late collecting, usually only by 5 or 10 mins. This is the first time it's been quite so late.
I'm really unsure on how to handle this, I don't want to cause any problems. Any other mum & I'd just invoice for the extra 40 mins at the end of the week
Any advice??

[Nicola Carlyle]

I'd bill her at the end of the week for 40 minutes extra. I'm assuming she's signed contracts etc therefore she will be aware of late collection fees.

[Mrsh3103]

Yeh she signed contract & read & signed policy on late collections. I just get the feeling that because we're friends she thinks they don't apply to her.
One evening she popped to tesco on her way to pick up. This made her 10mins late, I light heartily said 'I'll start charging late collection fees soon' she took this as a joke & said I'll charge you for all the tea you drink when you pop round for a cuppa.

[Nicola Carlyle]

Lol. I know what you mean but 40 minutes is taking the wee wee. I'd just say that when your working it is just that. No one else would get away with it and while you love looking after her kids you do have other things you need to be getting in with that obviously you can't do as you are still working until her child leaves your setting. Hopefully she will understand. X

[phoenix2010]

Hmmm shes a clever one isnt she , what a come back

you going round for a cuppa is social

you looking after her child is business

business and pleasure dont always go together , my friend / childminder picks my son up after school

It works because I dont take the pee out of her

You are going to have to put it a bit more bluntly , and perhaps open with "I know you think Im joking but Im really not , I finish at 5 o clock and if you cant be here on time , I will charge late fees "

good luck ! rather you than me

[Mrsh3103]

I was going to speak to her about extending his hours to 5.15 to give her time to be late. Really stressed out over it! I'm not going to care for a friends child again. Would rather lose the business than lose the friend I think!

[Ripeberry]

I was going to speak to her about extending his hours to 5.15 to give her time to be late. Really stressed out over it! I'm not going to care for a friends child again. Would rather lose the business than lose the friend I think!

A real friend would understand why you had to charge.

[angeldelight]

Today my after schoolie was due to be picked up at 5pm. At 5.40 his mum turned up said the traffic was awful grabbed her son shouted she'd call me later & left.

I'm a bit unsure how to handle this. She's my friend and has been for a long time!
She's always late collecting, usually only by 5 or 10 mins. This is the first time it's been quite so late.
I'm really unsure on how to handle this, I don't want to cause any problems. Any other mum & I'd just invoice for the extra 40 mins at the end of the week
Any advice??

If that is what you do with other parents then I would do the same with her

If you are worried then do a newsletter saying that from x date you will be charging late fees for late collection

She is taking advantage of your good nature and friendship

Time to put your foot down

Good luck keep us posted

Angel xx

[Rick]

Stick it on the invoice. I really don't see how she can query it! You are running a business, not a charity :D

Traffic must have been bad to be 40 minutes late....more than likely she stopped on the way to do a bit of shopping, grab a cup of take away coffee because she knows you won't say anything!

[Amandak28]

Hi, defo agree with the others, think there is a bit of blurred lines going on here.

I think the newsletter is a good idea. And also id deffo invoice her. She was late so needs to pay. Its that simple.
Maybe when you have that cuppa you could reiterate the lines between business and friendship.

Good luck and keep us posted :-) xx

[Emra81]

I agree with the others...she's taking advantage. I'd def invoice her and, if she queries it, act surprised and be completely matter of fact -you were late, there's a charge.

And if she makes any 'I'll charge you for cups of tea' type comments again, I'd jokingly (with an 'I'm making a point' twinkle in my eye) point out that she doesn't make her living providing you with a constant stream of tea!

[LauraS]

I am in precisely this position. Parents are often early and more often than not late. Today was 25 minutes late, yesterday 40, monday was 10. Very rarely get a text to let me know. It is driving me (and my family) barmy now and my husband in particular is just resigned to it. Just as with you, one of the lates this week (monday I think) was due to popping to Asda. There have also been lates when parents have been on leave from work etc and just too busy out doing other things (ie not held up by their employer). I feel they have no respect for me at all now.

I have let it go on for so long (my fault of course) and the longer it has gone on the more impossible it has become to tackle. If you do the same and don't tackle it, you will find that the friend takes the mick and pushes the boundaries further and further until the friendship is beyond repair. It will be tough to tackle her or bill her but you have to do it before it grows or you'll end up like me ;p

[Anacrusis]

I'm assuming she didn't let you know she was running late? I usually text parents if they get to 15 minutes overdue to see what's happened.

I would round down the invoice to half an hour because she's a friend! And when you hand over the invoice offer to look at the contracted hours if she needs longer. (if you're happy to work after 5pm)

If you don't do anything it will get worse sadly.

[munch149]

I new all my mums now before I looked after theur children and one is a close friend. I treat them exactly the same as anyone else in regards to childminding and have done from the start. As long as the know this they can't take advantage. The more you let people get away with things the more they try it on. Yeah sometimes my parents are late but they always text me and I always charge

[mama2three]

Over one of her 'cuppas' I would say you have been needing to speak to her about something. You would rather lose business than a friendship - and that you either need to completely separate the 2 ( ie treat them like everyone else) or go back to being friends and the child going somewhere else. You value her friendship , but need to treat everyone fairly - would she be happy working an extra couple of hours a week for no extra pay?

[smartbear]

I am in precisely this position. Parents are often early and more often than not late. Today was 25 minutes late, yesterday 40, monday was 10. Very rarely get a text to let me know. It is driving me (and my family) barmy now and my husband in particular is just resigned to it. Just as with you, one of the lates this week (monday I think) was due to popping to Asda. There have also been lates when parents have been on leave from work etc and just too busy out doing other things (ie not held up by their employer). I feel they have no respect for me at all now.

I have let it go on for so long (my fault of course) and the longer it has gone on the more impossible it has become to tackle. If you do the same and don't tackle it, you will find that the friend takes the mick and pushes the boundaries further and further until the friendship is beyond repair. It will be tough to tackle her or bill her but you have to do it before it grows or you'll end up like me ;p

We used to have same problem - now have a very courteous standard text ready on our mobiles which gets sent out at 15 mins late asking if all is OK. Hardly ever have to use it now!

[kimnolan87]

The parent who is an old school friend is the best......always picks up on time, refuses to use any owing hours, pays on time and even helps to tidy up if her son is the last one here!!! Xxx

[kimmy79]

I'm sure the parents would be the first ones to demand some kind of repayment if you consistently 'closed' early, deffo agree with the comments to invoice her with late charges........and next time you go to hers take a box of tea bags, no come backs then :clapping: hope you get it sorted x

[Petshrinklj]

Gosh I'd be too soft if it was a friend . I wouldnt charge extra I'd feel too uncomfy. (Walkover thats me) I'd maybe just text if she is running late and say you'd be closing in 5mins as off out of something. Too encourage her not to be late so your not in this situation again.

How was she when you first signed contracts and stuff? If she seemed agreeable etc then maybe you'd be ok charging her late fees and she won't take offence. It's awkward isn't it. Good luck. Hope your braver than me lol

[shortstuff]

as Mama has said I would bill her for the thirty minutes and remind her you treat it as a business arrangement and would appreciate it if she would let you know she is running late so you can organise yourself effectively x

[natalieatk]

I used to look after 2 sets if friends children,they have all gone up to big school so no longer have them but I'm so glad it's over!! Late/early dropping off and late collecting!! No explanation! And one only paid me what she got off tax cred cos she didn't want to pay the difference!! At the time I'd just started so was grateful but after the year I gave her summary of new fees and she didn't like it! I wouldn't take on friends kids again!

[Mrsh3103]

I'm going to invoice her as normal Monday morning. I'm going to put the late payment fee in it & just see what happens!
After all she wouldn't do overtime for free so why should I? Thank you for all your advice :)

[Amandak28]

Good for you! Let us know how it goes :-) xx