Changed Policy Due To Family Taking Advantage!

[Unregistered]

registered but logged out for privacy.

So last friday a family that is supposed to pick up on Fridays at 230 didnt pick up til really late.So at 430 all my other kids had left and kept wondering where this family was. At five thirty I texted family asking where they were and when they were picking up child. Mom called me back a couple minutes later and they were still an hour and half away. I was so upset. This family is my only family I have problems with paying late, picking up early or late without notice. So this weekend I wrote up a new closing hour. I feel bad because I know this will affect mainly only them. But I cant take it any longer. My policy is that I will be closing at 530 and that if they need me later they will have to pay an additional 4.00 and hour.And I have to be able to transport there child after this time so I can run errands. Because I know that they work until 630 and sometimes 730 (they work at farms)but they have been getting three hours everyday later than everyone else for the same price and lately have been bad about picking up early on fridays like agreed upon in the beginning. I didnt want to just kick them out but I need to be able to do things in the evenings. I have started feeling like a prisoner in my own home !
Family didnt come monday so sent paper home yesterday. Stating needs to be signed and returned. Do you think they will feel attacked? Im afraid they will quit & if they do hopefully I can a new family fast. I just feel friday was my last straw. Not picking up your child for five extra hours and just assuming I didnt have any plans on a friday night but to watch your child was so past my boiling point!

I just opened in November and so I agreed to a few things with this family I would never have agreed to now. (you know when you first start you are just desperate for people ) well everyone else I have is awesome so i guess everyone gets a bad apple sometimes. Just hoping everything works out as I do love this child.

[daycare]

first off stop feeling bad...Don't let their problems become yours..

Here is what I have....each spot comes with 9.5 hours of care each day. Once you go past 9.5 hours, the rate is $6.00 an hour or fraction thereof. YOu must arrange all overtime with me at least 24 hours in advance OR you will be charged the late fee of $1.00 per min for each min that you are over your contracted time.

If they leave, then leave...DOn't feel bad, you didnt do anything wrong. You offer a service and if they can't follow the times set for your business, then they need a service that will......

[momma2girls]

I agree, there problems are not yours. I close at 4:30, so I can transport my own chlildren, to afternoon activities, etc... such as swimming lessons, gymnastics, softball, basketball, etc. I am not going to miss my children's activities or be late on the count of daycare parents!! I have already been there done that before, and never again!!!

[Christian Mother]

Time for some better communication with these parents. I start that right off at the interviewing stage. I don't feel that I am to unreachable as to ask the parents to follow the contract to the tee and if there is going to be a change that is minor in any given day that they notify me right away. My rules still apply like if they go over our contracted hrs. And each child has diff. hrs contracted with me but are allowed up to 10 hrs. After that they are charged $5 the min. they are late. Pretty much $5 an hr. If they haven't called or notified me they will be late I will be making that call 15min past their scheduled pick up time. I don't wait...not one moment. Most of my parents are on time all the time and are not late unless they notify me a head of time. I would be Very worried if they where late bc of this and that is why I don't hesitate to call. If this happened to me and a parent said that they are 1 1/2 away I would let them know to please bring XX amount of money for the late fee as per my contract with no call or notice of late fee that is my fee and dcc could not return with out it in hand. It's just plain rude that there wasn't a call made or some kind of contact given to you that they would be late. But it is also up to you to make sure that communication is there between you and the parents. The parents are learning from you that its perfectly acceptable to arrive late bc your not putting your foot down. You need to teach the parents your rules and follow through. I had a family I did daycare with last summer that continue to show up when ever they felt like it even though we had a signed agreement and I termed bc dcf was disrespectful to me when he picked up his son late. I let him know that I made several attempts to contact him to find out if everything was ok when they weren't hear on time and he ignored my calls and texts. He came in his bathing suite. It was the summer time it would of been nice to just call and say he forgot the time or got hung up at the pool. But instead he acted like he was in his right to speak to me in a negative tone. That was their last day of daycare. I think we are all willing to work with families and want to do what we can to assist when there is the extra need but parents need to understand that respect is huge thing and communication. Those 2 things are key in a daycare.

[Crystal]

I'm not one to term.....but this family would have had their walking papers on Friday when they FINALLY got there. that behavior is COMPLETELY unexcusable.

[JenNJ]

I'm not one to term.....but this family would have had their walking papers on Friday when they FINALLY got there. that behavior is COMPLETELY unexcusable.

I agree!!

[Blackcat31]

I'm not one to term.....but this family would have had their walking papers on Friday when they FINALLY got there. that behavior is COMPLETELY unexcusable.

I also agree!

[MissK]

I'm not one to term.....but this family would have had their walking papers on Friday when they FINALLY got there. that behavior is COMPLETELY unexcusable.

ditto!!

[AfterSchoolMom]

If all of your other families are gone by 4:30 and this family is supposed to pick up by 2:30...why would you stay open until 5:30? :confused:

I'd do a 4:30 closing time, and charge them per hour past 2:30 IF they prearrange it with you. If not, like daycare said...$1.00 per minute.

[momofboys]

If the family is supposed to pick up by 2:30 on Fri I would have called them at 2:45 to find out where they were. I would never have waited until 4:30 to call & inquire. Also wondering why your hours are until 5:30 if everyone else is out the door by 4:30.

[daycare]

If the family is supposed to pick up by 2:30 on Fri I would have called them at 2:45 to find out where they were. I would never have waited until 4:30 to call & inquire. Also wondering why your hours are until 5:30 if everyone else is out the door by 4:30.

this too.... it sounds like you really need to communicate with this family a lot better..

I am not one to term right away, i always try to talk things out and come to a solution that is fair to everyone. Especially fair to me and the rest of the DCK...

[Sugar Magnolia]

Short of terming.....fees, fees, fees ....oh and fees. $$$ speaks way louder than words.

[cheerfuldom]

way more fees than $4 an hour. I would do $1 a minute.

[Unregistered]

When I first started my business I set my hours from 7 to 6. When this family started they needed daycare later once and awhile monday through thursday. Then on fridays she was supposed to be here at 230 (i do have other kids until 430 that day) Well it started getting later more than once and awhile and then it on fridays started creeping til later. I had felt bad because they had a house fire and they had alot of things going on so I tried to be more leanient. But last friday was my last straw. How dare any family think its okay to just come pick up your kid whenever you want especially that past your hours. The reason I am charging the 4$ after 530 is because I didnt want them to "have to quit" but I want them to be more responsibe in picking up there child and know there will be payment that they have to pay if needing later. This family doesnt have alot of money so I know that money is important to them so if they have to pay extra when they are later they will try and pick up earlier if can. (the dad was not working alot for a couple months yet sometimes I was still having there child until late which I thought was rude) but now if they have to pay extra for it they wont do things like that. Also I have made it clear to them that if they pay late or are late picking up my late fees will be enforced! Im slowly starting to get a backbone. Now dont get me wrong I have totally thought about just terming this family (especially since If I could find another family that would be done by 430 I could be done then its so tempting)and may still do so. But we will see how they are now that I have made a few more rules and made known I will not be letting things slide anymore.

[MarinaVanessa]

Hmm, I'm wondering why you're feeling bad :confused:. And I'm curious as to how they are being charged. Does their fee reflect their 2:30 pick up on Fridays? Or are they paying the same fee as everybody else that doesn't pick up early? The reason that I'm asking is because if their fee reflects their early pick up and they are getting "free" child care out of you even your new policies are lenient.

You want to charge them an extra $4 an hour for extra time that they need. I charge $5 an hour for every extra hour extending past my client's scheduled hours but they have to pre-arrange that time with me and I have to approve it. If they don't prearrange it and they are early or late I charge $5 for every 15 minutes (or part therof). If your client was my client and they did to me what they did to you and picked up at 7pm on Friday they would have been handed a bill for $90 which they would need to pay right then and there otherwise I'd add a $5 late fee payment per day until it was paid and I would not be watching their kids until it was paid in full. And that's CHEAP!

I know that some providers charge $1 per minute which would come out to be $270 just for Friday!! And you're feeling guilty for adding extra fees if they stay extra hours?? Oh honey, don't feel bad.

If I were you I'd add an early drop off and late pick-up policy and charge a fee every time it happens. Sit down and discuss their schedule, if they need longer hours and they expect it to be available to them on a regular basis when they need it they should understand that they have to pay for it.

The business of family child care is a learning experience and we've all gone through it too. All you can do is learn from it and change it (which it seems that you are doing) because if you don't change the things that bother you you'll soon find yourself resentfull of your DC family and doing FCC won't be so fun anymore, trust me. Good luck to you, use that backbone.