Advice please

[tara]

I have a friend that uses this site her name is emma she is on holiday this week.She has just had a call from a dad his baby has not yet started with her.His partner has signed the contract and every thing was fine,but he said hes lost his job so wont need the childcare.She has rung me wondering what she should do as they have signed the contract and owe her about £250.00
.What would you all recommend.Im newly registered and have not yet started yet so thought it might be better asking people with more experience.

[EllieF]

Difficult situation - business head says charge, heart says dont.
Its one of those dilemas.
What about talking to the family and suggesting that they split it, i.e. pay half, and when he finds a job again and they do need childcare, the half they have paid can come off the next fees due
Ellie

[sarah707]

If the baby hasn't started yet and parent is informing her before any deposit etc has been collected, then I would say walk away and be grateful it didn't happen 3 weeks into the contract.

Poor her, what bad news to get when she's on holiday

[Pipsqueak]

I doubt there is much chance she will get the money but she could always be "generous" and charge half.

Its a shame this has happened but at least its not further down the line.
She needs to get advertising!

[cloud9]

If the baby hasn't started yet and parent is informing her before any deposit etc has been collected, then I would say walk away and be grateful it didn't happen 3 weeks into the contract.

Poor her, what bad news to get when she's on holiday

I'd agree with this, i to learnt the hardway and now stick to 1 rule, no money, no contract and agreed placement. I take every meeting now as if i havent got the child and continue to see people until the deposit is secure and the contracts have been signed. And since i have started doing this i now worry less!!

The NCMA also say that the chances of recovering such loses in these cases before the child has even started are slim and they wont even pursue such claims.

[miffy]

I think your friend might just need to chalk this one up to experience and hope that dad gets another job soon and they need childcare again.

Hope it doesn't spoil her holiday

Miffy xx

[Chatterbox Childcare]

This is a hard one.

If it was a deposit then they shouldn't get it back. A retainer could still be collected but is it worth it as they may want cover in the future.

Lastly, they should be in their settling in period and that can be walked away from at any time.


I would leave it and see what the future brings - you never know they may come back or recommend you to someone else.

Debbie

[madasahatter]

I agree with the other posts, however personally I would err on the side of generosity on the basis that they may need childcare in the near future. If your friend charges them it may cause bad feeling, especially if losing his job has caused them to have finance problems. And as a good proportion of childminding business is generated by word of mouth you don't want any negative publicity.

[emmadines]

thanks ppeps and Thankyou Tara for posting for me! I suppose I havent truely lost anything......



the other thing.................... what do I do with the contract??? I will have to get them to sign something stating that they have terminated contract and are reliable to notify the working tax credits etc.