Former daycare calling in debt collectors for fees that they don’t deserve

[Anonymous]

Getting a lawyer involved for $600 doesn't make sense unless you know one who will help for free. Even then, it might not be worth it.

Seems pretty terrible what they're doing. Should name them. The bad publicity may make them think twice about pursuing these cases. Although once something is sent to a debt collector, my understanding is that its hard to call them off!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contact their licensing board.

Licensing does not get involved with business contracts.

nope, but somewhere shady enough to take non-provided services to collections is probably cutting corners elsewhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting a lawyer involved for $600 doesn't make sense unless you know one who will help for free. Even then, it might not be worth it.

Seems pretty terrible what they're doing. Should name them. The bad publicity may make them think twice about pursuing these cases. Although once something is sent to a debt collector, my understanding is that its hard to call them off!

small claims court disputing the debt. At that point you might as well sue for the time you paid but they closed. You might end up defaulting them

[Anonymous]

OP here.Thanks everyone. We just got our debt collection notice. For what it’s worth, we paid the full tuition for the last 30 days for which we did not attend. They had offered a discount when they were closed which we paid, but they made up this rule (in an email, no contract) that if you chose to leave, that discount didn’t apply to you for your final month. They then charged us the full tuition for the time they were closed minus the discounted tuition that we paid. essentially charged us retroactively for the remainder of the amount that they offered a discount bc they were not offering services.

We’re not in DC.

I contacted our lawyer that says we’re right, but not worth the effort to go after them. I want to ream them in social media, but he mentioned paying it to make sure we don’t ruin our credit score and then possibly going after them in a lawsuit, so to be cautious about defamation. Any thoughts from anyone?

[Anonymous]

^^OP here- note that we did not pay a discounted tuition for our final month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.Thanks everyone. We just got our debt collection notice. For what it’s worth, we paid the full tuition for the last 30 days for which we did not attend. They had offered a discount when they were closed which we paid, but they made up this rule (in an email, no contract) that if you chose to leave, that discount didn’t apply to you for your final month. They then charged us the full tuition for the time they were closed minus the discounted tuition that we paid. essentially charged us retroactively for the remainder of the amount that they offered a discount bc they were not offering services.

We’re not in DC.

I contacted our lawyer that says we’re right, but not worth the effort to go after them. I want to ream them in social media, but he mentioned paying it to make sure we don’t ruin our credit score and then possibly going after them in a lawsuit, so to be cautious about defamation. Any thoughts from anyone?

If there is no discount mentioned in the contract regarding disenrollment, you don’t have a case. For example, if they advised in the contract that when you disenroll, you pay the last month in full,they are not entitled to give you a discount they may offer because of COVID-19. The enrollment contract takes precedent over an email, but it sounds like you know that but just don’t want to pay. Preschools offered discounts to parents as they understood families were not getting the normal care and to entice them to stay. It was not to get you to leave. Why would you discount the tuition of a disenrolling family? Trust me, your lawyer was right about two things. You shouldn’t go after them in court or on social media. They are not doing anything to you personally and probably took good care of your kids prior to COVID. If you signed the enrollment agreement and the disenrollment section states that you pay the last month in full, then shame on you for wanting something different and signing. Don’t blame the school because it doesn’t serve your interests now.

[Anonymous]

I would just let them ding my credit score but I’m stubborn like that. (Unless you are planning to use credit soon to make a big purchase.) I recently had had a debt collector come after me for money that I owed a college from 1996 and paid 10 years ago. It’s about $5,000 and my credit took a hit of about 50 points, but within a few months has rebounded back to 800. Eff ‘em. I’m not planning to use my credit anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.Thanks everyone. We just got our debt collection notice. For what it’s worth, we paid the full tuition for the last 30 days for which we did not attend. They had offered a discount when they were closed which we paid, but they made up this rule (in an email, no contract) that if you chose to leave, that discount didn’t apply to you for your final month. They then charged us the full tuition for the time they were closed minus the discounted tuition that we paid. essentially charged us retroactively for the remainder of the amount that they offered a discount bc they were not offering services.

We’re not in DC.

I contacted our lawyer that says we’re right, but not worth the effort to go after them. I want to ream them in social media, but he mentioned paying it to make sure we don’t ruin our credit score and then possibly going after them in a lawsuit, so to be cautious about defamation. Any thoughts from anyone?

If there is no discount mentioned in the contract regarding disenrollment, you don’t have a case. For example, if they advised in the contract that when you disenroll, you pay the last month in full,they are not entitled to give you a discount they may offer because of COVID-19. The enrollment contract takes precedent over an email, but it sounds like you know that but just don’t want to pay. Preschools offered discounts to parents as they understood families were not getting the normal care and to entice them to stay. It was not to get you to leave. Why would you discount the tuition of a disenrolling family? Trust me, your lawyer was right about two things. You shouldn’t go after them in court or on social media. They are not doing anything to you personally and probably took good care of your kids prior to COVID. If you signed the enrollment agreement and the disenrollment section states that you pay the last month in full, then shame on you for wanting something different and signing. Don’t blame the school because it doesn’t serve your interests now.

But if the enrollment contract doesn't specify what happens during extended shutdowns then the provider is in breach of the contract. This is particularly true if the OP is in an area where the daycare could have continued operating.

[Anonymous]

Thanks folks. Did pay the full final month in the tuition. They were attempting to retroactively reverse the discount for when they were closed. Honestly, one of the main reasons we left was that they attempted to make us sign a waiver that released them of any past present or future liability related to covid. We refused and we weren’t allowed to come back when they did reopen. That was our last straw. We decided to leave before they revised that unreasonable waiver. I truly think that since we weren’t even allowed in the building, we shouldn’t have to pay for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just let them ding my credit score but I’m stubborn like that. (Unless you are planning to use credit soon to make a big purchase.) I recently had had a debt collector come after me for money that I owed a college from 1996 and paid 10 years ago. It’s about $5,000 and my credit took a hit of about 50 points, but within a few months has rebounded back to 800. Eff ‘em. I’m not planning to use my credit anytime soon.

Hmm- don’t they constantly Harass you? How did you get them to go away?

We are thinking of buying a slightly bigger house. And may need a new car in the next year...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.Thanks everyone. We just got our debt collection notice. For what it’s worth, we paid the full tuition for the last 30 days for which we did not attend. They had offered a discount when they were closed which we paid, but they made up this rule (in an email, no contract) that if you chose to leave, that discount didn’t apply to you for your final month. They then charged us the full tuition for the time they were closed minus the discounted tuition that we paid. essentially charged us retroactively for the remainder of the amount that they offered a discount bc they were not offering services.

We’re not in DC.

I contacted our lawyer that says we’re right, but not worth the effort to go after them. I want to ream them in social media, but he mentioned paying it to make sure we don’t ruin our credit score and then possibly going after them in a lawsuit, so to be cautious about defamation. Any thoughts from anyone?

Seems like good advice if you don't want to mess with your credit score. If you end up not wanting to file a lawsuit after the fact I'm sure you could leave online reviews (with the facts only and no additional opinion commentary) without it being considered defamation. But be sure to ask the lawyer first of course.

This is shady as all get out and I know I would never send my kid to a school that acted like that.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I don't pay thieves. No service, no payment.

I would contact the newspapers, I would out them on social media, I would really shame them everywhere.

[Anonymous]

^ Because if you stick to facts, it's not defamation. And get a new lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You signed a contract. You need to fulfill your debt obligation.

It sounds like the contract didn’t have any plans for extended closure.

Then you owe. If it does not say you’re off the hook if they close, you owe.

The contract stopped being valid once the service stopped. ie: The daycare closed, the contract is null

[Anonymous]

Thank you, yes. I’m pretty pushed. All in all it was several thousand dollars that we paid for no care. I told myself I was trying to keep a small woman owned business up and running, but never again....