Should I have given this refund??

[Petal291]

Hi all I will try to keep this as brief and simple as i can.
I gave notice to my parent a week ago, she found a nursery straight away for her child, to start the Monday following last day of notice period.
I got a text from parent this weekend asking if we can terminate contract Friday 2 March. I asked for what reason, parent replied as would just prefer it that way???
I tried to call her but she wouldn't answer phone. Text back i would invoice her as normal for last two weeks of notice, as i had already been paid up to 29th February, and if she chose to take child out of my setting that was her choice. But that she had to pay me.
This is when it all went wrong, she said she won't pay me if i'm not having her child. I tried calling her again, she still wouldn't answer. I explained best i could via text that she still owed me 2 weeks notice, she signed a contract etc etc....
After some going back and forth with some texts and her saying some very nasty things about my children, awful things I said I would terminate contract as of now (saturday) and would give her a cheque for refund of Monday, tuesday and wednesday this week as she had paid me in advance.
But now i'm thinking of cancelling the cheque!! I was trying to do things properly, by following the rules and being preofessional, i would refund her as i'm not having her child, but she is never going to give me the two weeks money she owe's me £180 is she!!! She calims fall tax credits as single parent and i'm sure they would've paid her for my services.
I am thinking of cancelling the cheque, opinions please.
I've never been in this position before, feel like i've been a fool and feel like I haven't dealt with this at all well (
Thank you.

[BuggsieMoo]

So basiclly she said nasty things and you therefore terminated contract with immediate effect? Do you have this termination with immediate effect in writing?

It seems she deliberatly said things to get your back up and make you issue an immediate termination.

I would also be inclined to cancel the cheque but speaking from experience, she wont pay you the fees due and I doubt your insurance will touch it as it is less than £250 she owes (this is the figure I was given by both NCMA and MM when I had a non payment).

You may just have to forget her notice money - but id still do the warning letters to her etc - they might scare her into paying.

[little chickee]

Cancel the cheque - although there is a charge for that.

Have you already given her the cheque?

You do not owe her any refund - she owes you money.

She has a hard neck being so nasty to you i definatley would not be giving her anything and i would try to gether to pay the money she owes you too.

[rickysmiths]

Oh dear what a pickle.

Annoying as it is I think you should leave the cheque because if you stop it she could claim lost earnings and/or any childcare fees and any expenses she incurs as a result of you withdrawing care. There was not immediate reason to withdraw care so you are in a difficult position.


I don't know why you decided to give notice, but it should have said in your notice letter when care was due to end and what fees were due up to that time.

I never never discuss business of this nature via text because it is so easy to be miss understood.

Even though she was lucky enough to find alternative care quickly she would normally still be obliged under the terms of your contract to pay for the notice period whether she uses it or not.

Except you may have voided this as you suddenly terminated the contract with no notice and not within terms that you are allowed to do this.

If you use the NCMA contracts it will tell you on the back of page 3 what reasons are acceptable for you to terminate immediately and still be allowed to claim your notice period.

I think you need to ring NCMA or MM who ever you are insured with and ask for advise before you do anything else.

[Petal291]

Thank you all.
I am going to leave this, it is awful what has happened, everything was fine with mum until i gave notice. I guess she wasnt' happy that i gave notice.
I will put it down to a lesson learnt and if in future if any parent sends me a text regarding our arrangements, i shall tell them we can make an appointment for a face to face meeting.
thank you all again.

[Mummits]

I don't think you can do anything about this one, but I would take a deposit sufficient to cover the fees for the notice period next time.

[DCS]

I will put it down to a lesson learnt and if in future if any parent sends me a text regarding our arrangements, i shall tell them we can make an appointment for a face to face meeting.
thank you all again.

This is best!

Never conduct biz by text message.

Never give an answer on the spot.

If in doubt about any parent request, a good line to use is "there's lots going on right now,leave it with me and I'll get back to you tommorow. This give you time to think things through and prepare any questions that may want answered before you give your final decision.

Try to take two to four weeks as deposit, refundable within 7 days AFTER the last day of care, less any outstanding fees and subject to contractual obligations being met. Parents tend behave better if they still have an investment in the working relationship post handing in of notice letter. Also if your are messed about, you have some financial recourse in hand.

[lynnfi]

Helloo,
Yes I think that is best as well. I hope she does not try to have you pay for the two subsequent weeks as well, as if you terminated contract, and have paid her the first week, the 2 weeks that you will not do were in the notice period and you might have to pay for these as well from a legal point of view.
But I do not think it will cross her mind, I wouldn't worry.

[mumx3]

I have something in my policies which says I will not tolerate verbal abuse (amongst others) from parents and if I feel I need to, will terminate contract with immediate effect and return any money paid for childcare not received.

You cant keep money for childcare you are not willing or able to provide.

Clever mum though....probably did it on purpose!

[cloud9]

I have something in my policies which says I will not tolerate verbal abuse (amongst others) from parents and if I feel I need to, will terminate contract with immediate effect and return any money paid for childcare not received.

You cant keep money for childcare you are not willing or able to provide.

Clever mum though....probably did it on purpose!

I have a similar clause in my contract however mine states that if i am subjected to any verbal abuse i reserve the right to terminate care with immediate effect and parents will still be responsible for paying the full notice period.