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adele1985
01-03-2012, 05:27 AM
Ok so I have a parent who has been with me since day one her son comes to me before school 3 days a week

Last month she had a falling out with her mum so asked me if I could have him after school too which i did. I gave her the bill which had the afterschool care added to it for feb, which she happily paid

I only cared for him afterschool for 2 weeks as she made up with her mum so there was 5 days which she had been charged and paid for but didnt need my care

I gave her the invoice for this month with just her normal hours on for before school

Shes not happy as I have not taken the money off for the 5 days she didnt use

what would you do - shes coming to speak to me about it this morning before she goes to work


my thinking is she was happy to pay for the month up front so I assumed she would need me for the full month so she should pay for the full month even tho she didnt use 5 days of it

I explained this last night as she didnt give me any notice that she wouldent need me (she told me on the day i was suposed to be collecting from school she didnt need me anymore)then she would dtill have to pay for the 5 days not used
I agreed to only charge her half fees for the 5 days as a good will gesture

What would you do???

flowerpots
01-03-2012, 07:39 AM
My policies state that any 'booked' sessions are paid for wether they are used or not. Do you have anything in your policies hun?

EmmaReed84
01-03-2012, 07:41 AM
Without knowing the terms of your contract or your policies it is hard to say.

I would explain to parent you requested this care and only told me with less than 24 hours notice that you no longer needed my service which impacted my week as I cancel plans etc.

However unless you got anything in writting and signed to say you were taking on these new hours I dont know where you will stand... If she pushing the issue I would be inclined to give her money back and learn a valuable lesson.

I have not been minding long so someone else may come along and offer better (poroper :blush:) advice

sarah707
01-03-2012, 07:43 AM
You need to go back to your policies like the others say.

If you have stated in your fees policy (and parent has signed to say they have read and understood the fees policy) that booked sessions have to be paid then yes you have done the right thing.

However if you haven't mentioned it anywhere then you can't charge.

Hth :D

miffy
01-03-2012, 07:43 AM
I think she's got a real cheek!

Like Flowerpot if they book the session then I charge whether they use it or not.

If she hadn't made it up with her mum she would still be expecting you to have the child now.

I think you've been generous enough offering to accept half fees, I would have stuck with full.

Miffy xx

wendywu
01-03-2012, 08:38 AM
She cannot just pick you up and drop you when she wants. You stepped in to help her out dont forget.

If she argues about paying and you only end up charging half fees then i would let her know in no uncertain terms that if she falls out with mum again then she is on her own. :angry:

You just cant help some people. :panic:

Mouse
01-03-2012, 08:47 AM
I agree with what some of the others have said. You need to look at your contracts & policies to see what it says about charging for additional hours.

I have it in my policy that all additional hours need to be paid for in advance & if not use, the money is not refunded.

adele1985
01-03-2012, 09:37 AM
Thanks for your advice girls

Ive cheaked my policies and it dose state that regular days are chargable if parents use them or not

it dosent state that about one off care tho so ill have to do another policy to say that any booked sessions will be charged for

EmmaReed84
01-03-2012, 09:40 AM
Thanks for your advice girls

Ive cheaked my policies and it dose state that regular days are chargable if parents use them or not

it dosent state that about one off care tho so ill have to do another policy to say that any booked sessions will be charged for

It is all learning... I love this forum because I read post and think "Oh I hadn't thought about that" and it makes revisit my policies.

We can't get 100% of things right 100% of the time.

Mouse
01-03-2012, 09:44 AM
I think then that you need to explain to mum that she gave the impression the changes would be permanent and so the after school pick ups would be regular days.

If she didn't say she wanted you to do it only until she'd made up with her mum, I think it's fair of you to assume it was going to be a permanent arrangement and these would become regular days (so needing to be paid for).

If she did suggest it was only a temporary arrangement, then I suppose she could argue that they weren't becoming regular days, so weren't covered by your policy.

The Juggler
01-03-2012, 10:13 AM
ask her what she thought would happen. if she had booked child into a holiday/after school club would she expect to have the money refunded???

However, on this occasion I might offer half back but tell her next time bookings are paid for in advance and not refundable :panic:

adele1985
01-03-2012, 12:12 PM
just woundering does anyone offer one off care or as and when care and not charge if they book in and then not need it ??

EmmaReed84
01-03-2012, 12:17 PM
For me personally. If some asked me to work until later, or another day outside of contracting hours then changed their mind I would give a refund provided at LEAST one weeks notice was given. They have to give 4 weeks for contracted hours so do give a little for one off, non contracted) This is stated in my policies and discussed at the time of requiring extra hours... I will not do extra hours unless I have been given 2 weeks notice as I am really busy so usually have to alter plans.

miffy
01-03-2012, 01:07 PM
just woundering does anyone offer one off care or as and when care and not charge if they book in and then not need it ??

No, I don't - once it's booked it has to be paid for even if they change their mind. You will get mucked about if you do this.

I shop weekly and sort out my meals for the following week - if people start cancelling I would be out of pocket as I've already bought enough food for those people.

Ask yourself, would this mum be happy if her boss said "Oh we don't need you next week now, so-and-so is doing your job so we won't be paying you, OK?" I don't think so!

Miffy xx