Daycare Termination - Am I Being Irrational?
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Anonymous
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Today my youngest child ( 3 years ) was turned away from daycare, with a claim that her tuition was unpaid. I proved it was paid, but it took me missing a day of work to do so. Here are the facts: - The daycare is literally a less than a block from my home. - The high school aged sibling (a HS Junior) walks my younger child there every day on their way to the local high school . I pick up in the evening. - Payment is weekly using a credit/debit card on Mondays at pickup in the evening. I keep my receipts. - This has been the routine since beginning at the daycare. - I am paid up in full. Today, the manager was not there and daycare owner refused entry for my younger child, claiming to the older sibling that tuition had not been paid. I took off work, (I am a teacher at another school, also nearby) and relieved my older child so that they could get to school on time. I had to call out last minute to do this. The owner has been gone for three weeks, and just returned today. She demanded proof that I'd paid, which I showed her via my banking statements on my phone. The owner still refused to allow my child to attend until I could show the receipts from their machine. I went home, dug up the actual debit card paper receipts from their daycare, PRINTED my banking statements as additional proof, and returned to the daycare with the proof. The owner refused to meet me and sent a teacher to collect my documents. Later I received a phone call from the manager who apologized on behalf of the owner and admitted that a mistake had been made. I am appalled at the fact that I had to miss work today for a clerical error, an error that I had to prove twice. This is also not the first time this has happened. This daycare costs between $2400-$2800 per month, in cash. I have taken the refusal to accept my daughter today this morning as a breach of contract. I have sent them a letter that effective immediately, my daughter will no longer attend their facility. Am I being too harsh? We are not a new family, and I generally do not interact with the owner. However this was more hassle than I ever want to deal with again after shelling out almost $5,500 since January. |
Anonymous
| That might have felt good. But do you have a plan for childcare because slots aren’t that easy to come by. |
Anonymous
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That is absolutely extreme to not allow entry over one late payment. Are there other issues with you and them? Are you often times late with payment? Dropping off or picking up?
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Anonymous
| Assuming you have other care for your daughter this is not harsh at all. The refusal to meet with you about their error would have ended it for me as well. |
Anonymous
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This is not the first time WHAT has happened, OP? They've refused your kid entry because of financial issues?
Either way, I would not feel that my kid was safe in this place anymore. I would have a really hard time trusting that none of these people who treat her negatively because of their interactions with me. I would DEFINITELY not be willing to pay them anymore. |
Anonymous
| $2800 for a day care that only takes cash is shady. Very shady. Stop relying on your teen to parent your younger child and find a better day care. |
Anonymous
+1 we have been a day or two late multiple times. But we've been there for years with 2 kids and they know us. This would be a very jarring approach at my daycare. It's not the culture at all. I can't imagine a kid being turned away. |
Anonymous
It isn't a cash business if they are accepting a credit card/debit card. |
Anonymous
| The cash thing is shady. The refusal of entry would have made me furious. It doesn't sound like a good place-I hope you have backup care. |
Anonymous
| Not too harsh at all. Something is wrong with them. |
Anonymous
I'm also confused about the "in cash." Mine doesn't accept credit cards but we can pay by check which is a normal paper trail and allows for the childcare FSA reimbursement etc. I can't imagine making that level of payment in cash. |
Anonymous
I wasn't late, and have only been late once in the past (and only three days at that). The only issue that I can think of is that we are private paying and that the accounting was not up to date. I literally paid $1,600 last friday to pay ahead through the second week of March. Half of us are private paying. The center is relatively mid-size (approx 30 children) and half are subsidized. They bill subsidy a substantially higher rate than private (I believe upwards of 550 per week). |
Anonymous
| What a mess. I too would be looking around for a better place. Nobody here can answer here if there was a breach of contract. What does your "contract" say? Do they have your credit card on file? Do they have a deposit from you? |
Anonymous
Op says they take credit cards or debit cards on Mondays. Where did you see that it’s all cash? |
Anonymous
By cash I meant the immediate payment via their VISA Debit system, not physical cash. However they do accept cash which I've seen others do. My teen doesn't parent their sibling by walking them to daycare less than a block from our apartment, but thanks for that jab. |