Late Fee

[craftymissbeth]

I need to remind a dcm that she "forgot" to pay her late pick up fee this morning from yesterday, but not sure what to send her.

Yesterday she was 20 minutes late. I've never had to charge a late fee before. She didn't even call me until she was 17 minutes late and just said she had an incident at her older son's school and would be here in 10 minutes. By that point I was fuming and just said "ok see you then"

She showed up exactly 20 minutes late and then wanted to chit chat. I just said "the boys had a tough day again today. We'll see you in the morning. Don't forget your late fee of $20 at drop off in the morning. See you tomorrow!" Big smiles.

She said "um, late fee?"

"Yes, your pick up is at 3:00 and you are 20 minutes late. It's $5 per child for every 15 minute portion after that. $20. See you tomorrow!" More big smiles. And I shuffled them out the door.

They come at 5:30 am so I was still groggy when they got here or else I would have turned them around at the door. That's my fault entirely.

What do I say in a text (her preferred contact method) to let her know she HAS to bring it at pick up?

[Crazy8]

I am a little passive aggressive when it comes to talking money, so I would probably send a little message saying "didn't see the late fee in the boys bag, please make sure it is brought at pick up today". If they don't bring a bag in then I would just send out a "please remember late fee of $20 is due today". I wouldn't go into any more detail but I would be SURE to remember to turn them away at the door tomorrow morning if they don't bring it in. I have on occassion had to tell a parent "there is an ATM at the corner, should only take you (and child) 10 min. to be back".

[Second Home]

I have this one which I found on this forum ( from blackcat maybe) and just tweaked it a little to fit.

It appears that our clocks may not be in sync or that traffic slowed you down but you were late picking up your child on _______________ by ____________minutes. Closing time is 5:00 P.M.

My policies state that late pick ups are billed at $5 per 15 minute increments or any portion thereof per child.

Your late fee is/would be $_________________

_______This amount is due at drop off on your next scheduled day of attendance.

_______Your late fee was waived as a courtesy.


Thank you!

[DaisyMamma]

I am a little passive aggressive when it comes to talking money, so I would probably send a little message saying "didn't see the late fee in the boys bag, please make sure it is brought at pick up today". If they don't bring a bag in then I would just send out a "please remember late fee of $20 is due today". I wouldn't go into any more detail but I would be SURE to remember to turn them away at the door tomorrow morning if they don't bring it in. I have on occassion had to tell a parent "there is an ATM at the corner, should only take you (and child) 10 min. to be back".

I would go with this.
Or something like: I was so tired this morning I forgot to ask for the late fee. Please remember to bring cash at pickup.

[craftymissbeth]

I ended up texting her what Crazy8 suggested "please remember the late fee of $20 is due today". She said "okie dokie" and brought it at pick-up. She said "here's your money" flatly and sat it on the table. Whatev. She was termed yesterday so it's ok with me