Wait list deposit...would you ask for a refund after 18 months of no openings?

[Anonymous]

If it's an application fee, I don't see what your basis would be for asking for it back. You're free to try of course but don't get your hopes up.

[Anonymous]

It was pretty clear to me that the fees we paid to get on the wait list were application fees and not deposits, meaning that they were not refundable whether or not we ever got a spot. It's a racket, but you know that going in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was pretty clear to me that the fees we paid to get on the wait list were application fees and not deposits, meaning that they were not refundable whether or not we ever got a spot. It's a racket, but you know that going in.

Exactly. "Application fees" are the biggest racket out there. You can ask, OP, but I would be shocked if you get your money back.

[Anonymous]

Director here. There is a considerable amount of work surrounding the processing of an application and maintaining a wait list. Plus, as previously noted the fee is meant to discourage people who are not serious and place their names on wait lists when they have no intention of registering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Director here. There is a considerable amount of work surrounding the processing of an application and maintaining a wait list. Plus, as previously noted the fee is meant to discourage people who are not serious and place their names on wait lists when they have no intention of registering.

I'd have to agree (not a director).

If wait lists were free, imagine how much work it would be to call everyone on the list when a spot opened, only to find out who didn't really want/need it. It would take 10x the amount of effort and time of employees who could otherwise be working at other tasks in the center.

OP -it should have been pretty obvious when you wrote the check that the fee was non-refundable. Too bad, so sad.

[Anonymous]

I think the only circumstance in which you'd really have a basis to ask for the deposit back is if the center dropped you from the waitlist - no longer has you on it even though you paid to be on it and they're letting in people who were behind you on the list. You'd need a receipt or a copy of your old check to prove you had paid, but it is a scam of sorts to enlist people on your waitlist then magically lose their info when spots open up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Director here. There is a considerable amount of work surrounding the processing of an application and maintaining a wait list. Plus, as previously noted the fee is meant to discourage people who are not serious and place their names on wait lists when they have no intention of registering.

Hello Director. Please give us some insight if you could. Suppose you were not a director of a center anymore and you were 2 months pregnant and would be in need of a spot somewhere soon. Knowing what you know about centers and waitlists:

1) Would you pay the non refundable fee and sign up to be on wait lists?
2) How many centers would you sign up for? 3? 5? more?

[Anonymous]

Hahahahhahahahaha! Welcome to the big city. You have to pay a wait list or application fee (which is NOT a deposit, which is NOT refundable) and then you have to light a candle, hope, and pray that someday, somewhere you'll get a spot. This is how it works. You sign up for as many as you can afford or you think strategically sound. I signed up for 12+ lists, paid what I had to, because I need daycare. I need them, they don't need me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Director here. There is a considerable amount of work surrounding the processing of an application and maintaining a wait list. Plus, as previously noted the fee is meant to discourage people who are not serious and place their names on wait lists when they have no intention of registering.

Hello Director. Please give us some insight if you could. Suppose you were not a director of a center anymore and you were 2 months pregnant and would be in need of a spot somewhere soon. Knowing what you know about centers and waitlists:

1) Would you pay the non refundable fee and sign up to be on wait lists?
2) How many centers would you sign up for? 3? 5? more?

You don't need a director to answer this question. See my previous post. Sign up for as many as you can afford and would realistically attend if offered a spot. Bright Horizons lets you sign up for 3 centers on one application, so there's some savings. It's like grad school application fees. In the scheme of how much you'll be paying for day care (or grad school), the wait list fee is minimal. Yes, it sucks, but day care is much less than a nanny or even a nanny share. So, if you're like me and need childcare so you can go to work, then you have to sign up as early as possible at as many places as possible, be flexible with your start date, maybe pay for a month or 2 early if you're offered a spot, etc. There is a huge demand for daycare, so things don't work exactly how and when we want them to or cost as little as we'd like them to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Director here. There is a considerable amount of work surrounding the processing of an application and maintaining a wait list. Plus, as previously noted the fee is meant to discourage people who are not serious and place their names on wait lists when they have no intention of registering.

Hello Director. Please give us some insight if you could. Suppose you were not a director of a center anymore and you were 2 months pregnant and would be in need of a spot somewhere soon. Knowing what you know about centers and waitlists:

1) Would you pay the non refundable fee and sign up to be on wait lists?
2) How many centers would you sign up for? 3? 5? more?

You don't need a director to answer this question. See my previous post. Sign up for as many as you can afford and would realistically attend if offered a spot. Bright Horizons lets you sign up for 3 centers on one application, so there's some savings. It's like grad school application fees. In the scheme of how much you'll be paying for day care (or grad school), the wait list fee is minimal. Yes, it sucks, but day care is much less than a nanny or even a nanny share. So, if you're like me and need childcare so you can go to work, then you have to sign up as early as possible at as many places as possible, be flexible with your start date, maybe pay for a month or 2 early if you're offered a spot, etc. There is a huge demand for daycare, so things don't work exactly how and when we want them to or cost as little as we'd like them to.

Actually, I DO really want to hear from the Director. Having already done everything you said in your post, I want to know if the Director would do something different or not.

[Anonymous]

I would be surprised if s/he said anything different. The only people I know who didn't apply to a bazillion daycares were folks who were interested in/open to nanny shares or a nanny. How could you possibly predict where you would get in? Time of year matters, I suppose, so if I needed care in September, then I could apply to fewer daycares. Federal or agency preference means next to nothing. The BH centers that don't have a preference have more openings, but they also cost significantly more. Anyways, we'll see if s/he responds . . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Director here. There is a considerable amount of work surrounding the processing of an application and maintaining a wait list. Plus, as previously noted the fee is meant to discourage people who are not serious and place their names on wait lists when they have no intention of registering.

Schools manage to do it. And give me a break about being "serious." If that's really the reason, you should refund the fee to folks who don't get a spot.

[Anonymous]

What exactly does the "small print" say with regard to this?

[Anonymous]

I love this idea. We just got a phone call that DS got a spot after THREE YEARS (he's happily been in another center since he was 5 months old.) I should have asked the woman for our deposit back, just to be snarky. Although at least I know they really keep a list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love this idea. We just got a phone call that DS got a spot after THREE YEARS (he's happily been in another center since he was 5 months old.) I should have asked the woman for our deposit back, just to be snarky. Although at least I know they really keep a list.

It's NOT a deposit! Why do so many people think they're entitled to a refund of an application or wait list FEE? I just don't get this. Yes, wait lists are long, but can you imagine how much longer they'd be if it didn't cost anything to get on the list? I, for one, would have applied to at least a dozen more centers. Get over yourselves people. It's not like the long wait lists are breaking news.