Drop In Care

[TheGoodLife]

So I have a Drop In Mom that is a substitute teacher. She has always contacted me and told me the days she is looking for a job- her husband works retail so he can stay home with the kids on certain days during the week.
Well, Monday I get a text asking if I'm available Tuesday and Wednesday. (I've told her already that I will inform her if my other Drop In Mom scheduled me, so she knows if I'm not available) I tell her yes, I am only full on Friday. Fast forward to last night around 8- she texts me that she hasn't found a job yet. I have a 24 hours cancellation policy, otherwise payment is due. So I tell her I am happy to watch them if she has anything she herself needs to do, since she has me scheduled. Now today I get a message that she was not actually holding the spot- she just wanted to know my availability I replied that in the past, she had held the spot ahead of time, and informed me of the drop off time later after she got a sub job. Now I'm out the $. She did just offer to pay me 1/2, but I told her it's OK. I know I need to change it to being paid beforehand, I was just trying to be more convenient since she lives about 15-20 minutes away. Well, I guess it's a quiet family day- I only have my PT boy from 10:30-12 today!

[MNMum]

I can see where she is coming from. She needs to know if you are available before she can confirm subbing, then confirm you. I would make sure you have a good communication process in place that you both understand. She asks for availability, until she confirms you may give that spot to someone else, but since you know she is interested, you should let her know if the spot "fills".

[MarinaVanessa]

I don't know if you use Minute Menu or not but I do and I use the ChildCarePay option. When my drop-in clients ask me about my availability I never assume that they have reserved the day until I get payment in advance. I do it as a first-pay-first-serve so that I don't lose out on any money.

They call, ask me my availability, I confirm the date and I invoice them for the day. It is their responsibility to pay for the day as soon as possible. If they don't pay it right away and another client asks for the same day I will invoice that client and notify them that there is another client asking for the same spot and suggest that they pay the invoice asap if they want to get it. Whichever one of my clients pays the invoice first gets the spot and I delete the other invoice.

If the other client then goes in to ChildCarePay and doesn't see their invoice anymore then they know that someone else took the spot. I don't babysit them and remind them and I don't reserve the spot for them until it is paid in full for the same reasons that you just experienced right now. I have all of this included in my contract and in my handbook.

This same method also works with person-to-person bank transfers (if your clients bank at the same bank that you do) and through PayPal only instead of invoices you request the money. If one client pays first before another then you simply cancel the other request.

[canadiancare]

Since she is a supply teacher does she possibly get called morning of? Maybe you can tell her in advance when you are not available so she knows when she can accept calls.

I don't take drop in but that is how I'd do it.

[TheGoodLife]

I can see where she is coming from. She needs to know if you are available before she can confirm subbing, then confirm you. I would make sure you have a good communication process in place that you both understand. She asks for availability, until she confirms you may give that spot to someone else, but since you know she is interested, you should let her know if the spot "fills".

I understand that completely, too. Except that's how she's always booked me. I told her at the beginning that I would text her if my other drop in scheduled me, and we've always done it before with her asking if I'm available, then coming those days. So to me, "available" means will I take them, since I would have already told her I wasn't available as soon as I booked. KWIM? There's never been two different messages of "are you available" and then a separate "OK, we'll be there." So keeping with that, I planned on her being here. Nothing I can do about it, and I told her I wouldn't charge her, but think I will tell her she needs to pay me ahead of time now. Not convenient for her, but I don't want another "misunderstanding" in the future