Family Wants a Portion of Their Non-refunadable Deposit Back

[ranch_chick]

Hey, everybody!

I have a bit of a problem with one of the parents who was going to send her kid to my daycare...

Basically, the family signed on with me and agreed to a non-refundable holding fee that's equal to one-weeks fees per month that I'm holding the space. They also put his name on a list at a French daycare who ended up having room for him so they cancelled their spot with me. Now she's saying, "well I'm giving you over a month's notice so I feel you should reimburse the December portion of the holding fee." I told her that the deposit is non-refundable and that's not really fair to me since I've turned away families and have lost a lot of money by holding that space. After that, she says she thinks I should give back the December portion if i fill the space. I don't feel thats fair since I have to go through all the work of filling that space again! Am I crazy or is she being a little unreasonable?

Thank you so much for your input.

[JenNJ]

She knew the risks, you keep the cash.

[QualiTcare]

obviously these parents paid for several months in advance.

but what if they weren't financially able to do that? when would payment have been due? once per month?

if it would've been due monthly - and they hadn't paid you in advance - you wouldn't get paid for december bc this is still October. you may not have even gotten paid for november yet at this point. so, basically they're going to be paying for 2 months to hold a spot (november and december) that they no longer need to be held. they've given you notice, and they only want december back - not november bc of the short notice for november i assume. if i were them, i'd feel like i was getting punished for paying in advance.

how much notice do you normally require if a child is enrolled and attending your daycare and the parent wants to terminate? if the answer is less than a month and X number of days - i say they should get it back.

[juliebug]

humm i kinda see both sides of this. its a non-refundable deposit and she signed saying it was. but she is giving lots of notice for not needing you for dec i would probably give back the dec portion if i filled the spot!

[DBug]

If they agreed to a "non-refundable deposit" then it's yours. Don't apologize, and don't feel bad. Just wish them all the best and part company. They knew what they were agreeing to, and you've probably already lost more than what they want back while holding the spot for them.

[boysx5]

I had this happen to me last year and no way did I give the money back I lost three other families that wanted the spot and then took me a month to fill it so no way

[DCMomOf3]

How long were you contracted to hold the spot? I agree, non-refundable is just that, NON-REFUNDABLE. It is now your choice to void the contract and give them any money back, but they are not really entitled to it. If they signed a contract agreeing to pay the fee, then it is yours.

[DCMomOf3]

she says she thinks I should give back the December portion if i fill the space.

I don't know how viable this really is but could you suggest that if SHE finds a replacement family for you that fits, then you'd refund any of the deposit that is left. Kind of like subletting an apartment before the lease is up.

[missnikki]

Would she settle for half of December? Sort of a compromise?

[Live and Learn]

DBUG is completely right......the key word here is "NONREFUNDABLE".....

[QualiTcare]

Hey, everybody!

I have a bit of a problem with one of the parents who was going to send her kid to my daycare...

Basically, the family signed on with me and agreed to a non-refundable holding fee that's equal to one-weeks fees per month that I'm holding the space. They also put his name on a list at a French daycare who ended up having room for him so they cancelled their spot with me. Now she's saying, "well I'm giving you over a month's notice so I feel you should reimburse the December portion of the holding fee." I told her that the deposit is non-refundable and that's not really fair to me since I've turned away families and have lost a lot of money by holding that space. After that, she says she thinks I should give back the December portion if i fill the space. I don't feel thats fair since I have to go through all the work of filling that space again! Am I crazy or is she being a little unreasonable?

Thank you so much for your input.

i noticed this part - non refundable per month that she's holding the space. she won't be holding the space for november or december - so why wouldn't they get the money back for that time that hasn't come yet? maybe i'm missing something, but if i'm looking at it correctly - i don't see why they aren't asking for november also?

[momofsix]

I would probalby give them Dec. if I were able to fill the spot. Technically, yes you can keep the depopsit, but i agree that since they are giving you plenty notice, and would not have paid for Dec. if they were paying monthly that the right thing to do would be to refund it back. In my experience it never hurts to keep relationships in good standing-they could refer someone to you sometime in the future!

[QualiTcare]

I would probalby give them Dec. if I were able to fill the spot. Technically, yes you can keep the depopsit, but i agree that since they are giving you plenty notice, and would not have paid for Dec. if they were paying monthly that the right thing to do would be to refund it back. In my experience it never hurts to keep relationships in good standing-they could refer someone to you sometime in the future!

sooooo true!

[mac60]

I am not sure I would refund it. They knew it was non refundable. That is the whole purpose of a holding fee, to assure us that the family in fact is going to be filling that spot. I have been taken one time too many, holding a spot for 4 months for free, then the parent found out the 3 yr old was scared of dogs (this was a doctors child that was living in India with grandma and was coming to the states, they didn't know she was scared of dogs and I have 2 small ones). So during those 4 months, I held the spot for free, turned away other clients, lost out on income, then lost the family due to no fault of my own.

[Lilbutterflie]

I think I would refund the month of December... IF I was able to fill the spot by Dec 1.
In the future, you could edit the holding fee portion of your contract to say at the end "If at any time during the holding period you are to cancel services, The entire holding fee is NONREFUNDABLE." That way there are no questions and you are not obligated to offer any portions back.