I Gave A Parent Notice And Now They Are Badmouthing My Daycare

[JoseyJo]

I think it's because she's severely undercutting other providers with her rates....

The average rate per week in her area is anywhere from $125-$150 for toddlers, and $150-$180 for infants. Her rate is $50 a week all ages!!!

If she is only watching a max of 7 children in a city of 600,000 it's hard to believe other providers are that upset at her for offering 1/2 rate. How much of a difference could that make? And if they don't have infant openings anyway what do they care if another provider gets those kids??

Somethingseems fishy here...

[Willow]

what did I miss? what did you say in your email????

I just basically asked which came first, the chicken (provider terminating) or the egg (parent thinking provider was awful enough to invest time into badmouthing her multiple times).

I put my two cents in about badmouthing someone you were willing to leave your child with, as well as about excessive television watching.

It was a hodgepodge based on the half story we have here, but I felt compelled based on the track record of the provider. Not many can make it that long if they are genuinely as awful as whats being described. That parent chose the vent on an internet site over contacting licensing (safe to assume because they haven't paid her a visit thus far) says to me anyway that they are pissed off at being termed and there was never any honest concern on their part.

[Willow]

I think it's because she's severely undercutting other providers with her rates....

The average rate per week in her area is anywhere from $125-$150 for toddlers, and $150-$180 for infants. Her rate is $50 a week all ages!!!

I'm not sure where you're getting that number, it's certainly not what she's advertising as her current rates..... :confused:

[LaLa1923]

I'm not sure where you're getting that number, it's certainly not what she's advertising as her current rates..... :confused:

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/kid/4133040561.html

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/kid/4136148642.html

It changes

[daycare]

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/kid/4133040561.html

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/kid/4136148642.html

It changes

that looks like its only a promotion rate for the first two weeks

[JoseyJo]

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/kid/4133040561.html

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/kid/4136148642.html

It changes

This is just a starting special- she says in the ad it goes up to $80-120 based on age after that...

[daycare]

This is just a starting special- she says in the ad it goes up to $80-120 based on age after that...

she does say that it goes up to $120, but is that for an infant too? Lala said infant rate is about $180, which is still a big difference of about $240.00 a month

[permanentvacation]

What I like is how people talk about someone without even knowing them or their situation. I had to close for a few months because of hand surgery. Well, technically, I had one daycare child during that time. One of my parents demanded that I keep her child because her family and the little girl love me so much as a provider that she refused to take her child to another provider even though I told her over and over that I really need to close. But I had been her provider from the time she was 18 months old til then (she was 5 years old) and they honestly refused to let me stop watching her! So other than that one child, I was closed - I didn't take on any new kids, didn't advertise, anything for 4 months. I am now re-opening and am lowering my rates because ANY income is better than no income and I have to make up being unemployed for the past 4 months due to surgery --- Oh yeah, I'm a single mother and the surgery was unexpected - I didn't financially plan to close for 4 months. So yes, I have lowered my rates to get some - any income at all right now.

Yes, many of the other providers are mad at me for my rates. I have actually had calls from other providers who call me just to tell me off about my rates. Of course, I always defend my right to charge whatever I feel like charging. So that just makes them madder. I have lived through a few different situations and can see things from many different aspects. I have lived financially very comfortably and lived when I didn't know how I would pay for gasoline to get to work. I have charged $180/week and charged $40/week for child care. I have watched children for completely free at times. I have been friends with doctors and friends with homeless people. None of the daycare providers who have a problem with me have ever even tried to get to know me at all. They just get mad at me for charging less than the average rate. I have worked at a local daycare center and learned that 1/3 of their parents hadn't paid their child's tuition in 2 months because of financial difficulties. When I quote people the average rate and am told time after time that they simply can't afford that rate, I lower the rate until parents start saying that they can afford the rate. I just think that makes sense. If I say my rate is $150/week, and everyone says they can 't pay that and hang up, of course I'm going to start saying, "well, how about $125, or $100?" Or I'll ask where the parents work to get an idea of what their income is and then offer a rate that I think I might be able to pay if I only made $8.00/hour! Really, if you are a single mother of a 2 year old and work a retail job at $8.00/hour, how much do you think you could afford to pay a daycare? You have rent, car payment, car insurance, gasoline, groceries, etc. So, yes, my rates have been lower than the average rate. However, that just allows for a variety of people with a variety of income levels the ability to find a daycare in their price range.

I do a lot with my daycare children. I have worked in 3 different daycare centers and I do more with my children at my home daycare than any of those 3 centers did.

Outside of daycare, I have done things for others that many would not do and would not understand why/how I do/have done what I have done. I used to leave my house door unlocked all day and evening from the time I woke up til the time I went to bed and allowed any of the neighborhood kids to come and go as they needed to eat, relax, hang out, whatever they needed to do. Everyday, I would make large amounts of spaghetti and macaroni and cheese, (mainly inexpensive foods that filled you up quickly), I also bought a Nintendo game set with games and set up a hang out room for the local kids (these are kids that my child had become friends with - not just random strangers) but in my neighborhood, there was a lot of drug activity and I learned that many of the local kids' parents were drug dealers, many of the kids were afraid to be at their own house, many of them didn't have any food at all at home. So I - as a broke single mother - gave the local kids a positive, safe, food-filled home that they could hang out in.

Do you know that all the neighbors talked about me and gossiped all sorts of things that they thought up in their little minds about my house? Now, with my daycare, since I am charging low rates, the daycare providers are doing the same thing. So, maybe instead of talking trash about someone, you should get to know them and learn why they are doing what seems confusing to you instead of just getting mad, passing judgment, and gossiping about them.

[Unregistered]

Happy Faces Daycare had 12 violations in June.

[JoseyJo]

she does say that it goes up to $120, but is that for an infant too? Lala said infant rate is about $180, which is still a big difference of about $240.00 a month

That's true- I'm sure the 120 would be for infants and that is much to low for the area.

OP- My suggestions:

Raise your price to AT LEAST the norm for your area and be proud of your program!

I definitely wouldn't offer to refund parents for a month of care if they aren't satisfied w/ you. The only thing I can see that doing is scaring parents off or only getting people who want a free month of care and then moving on...

Take some new brightly lit pictures showcasing the best you have to offer. CL allows 12 now so I usually post at least 1 doing art/craft, 1 doing preschool, 1 outside playing, one field trip, one free play. Post your best pics only! Every pic should showcase the very best you have to offer.

On your ad: I would only include the following:

Licensed daycare has openings for children ages 1 - 4 years old

Competitive weekly rates include:
All Meals and Snacks
Diapers, Pull-Ups, Wipes
Potty Training
Hands-On Preschool Educational Program

We offer:
Entire Main Floor of Townhouse dedicated to Childcare
Fenced Yard
Non-Smoking Home

Sherri, Owner/Operator of Happy Faces Daycare
Licensed for 25 Years
CPR/1st Aid/SIDS/AED Certified
Certified Infants and Toddlers Teacher
Certified Preschool Teacher
Working Towards Earning my Degree in Early Childhood Education


:hug:

[LaLa1923]

she does say that it goes up to $120, but is that for an infant too? Lala said infant rate is about $180, which is still a big difference of about $240.00 a month

This is just a starting special- she says in the ad it goes up to $80-120 based on age after that...

that looks like its only a promotion rate for the first two weeks

Correct. $120 is what she's charging and the regular rate is $150-$180.

She did have an ad up that said $50 a week for care, nothing about a special. I know bc I'm looking for someone in her area for my nephew. Otherwise, I will have to keep him.

Anyway, I really don't want to go tit for tat. I'm not trying to me mean. I'm only offering this as a possible reason some providers I spoke to said what they said.
It doesn't matter what her current rate or special is now. The point is, it's much lower than the going rate.

[permanentvacation]

I have been in business for 25 years. Of those 25 years, I had ONE bad inspection. The one mentioned above -- which is when the inspector came here the day after my 2 teenagers came home from a week in Ocean City and I was preparing to have surgery. It was during a couple of days before my surgery. My personal kids dropped all their stuff from Ocean City and went to bed. I left it all for them to clean up and during that time, the inspector showed up. However, all of their stuff was in the bathroom and kitchen. So, the area that was currently being used for daycare was perfectly safe and legal. Some of the things that I hadn't done were paperwork items which the inspector repeated herself on the inspection and made one thing seem like 3 by saying something like " provider did not have all forms up to date" and then saying ' one child's emergency card is not up to date' and then saying' code number such and such is not kept up to date" So, for that one thing, ONE emergency card not being updated, it looks like there's 3 different violations.

[permanentvacation]

Yes, the going rate for infants here is around $180. However, we are in MIDDLE RIVER!!! Many people here are single mothers that work at McDonald's or Walmart! Their entire paycheck is about $280/week! How do you expect them to pay almost $200/week for daycare?? Don't be mad at me because I can offer prices that a typical retail employee can afford.

[Unregistered]

I am surprised. This is suppose to be a support/advice group for providers! Instead it has turned into a ambush of 1 provider to see what she has or hasn't done wrong.

As for prices, just because she has lowered the rate doesn't mean that she is a bad provider. Needing money. Yes. Bad provider. No.

OP- my only advice/ suggestion is to change your name. If you can't do that then change your ad. Just as something very simple... Like registered provider has X amount of openings for this age group at affordable rates or something like that. Good luck Hun!

[permanentvacation]

Also, keep in mind that daycare providers are actually competition for each other. Just as Target wouldn't say, "We charge $20/shirt, but you can get a shirt that's just as good as this one at Walmart for only $10." A daycare provider isn't going to say "well, typically the rate is $150, but there is a daycare provider who does the same things with the kids that I do, but she only charges $100".