Advice Please!

[KayB]

I had a family with 2 kids that came to me 2xs a week. They came for 2 weeks and the mom texted me and said they could not afford me. I do have a contract with them and they signed in agreement that they would give a 2 week notice. But the mother and I discussed it and I was nice enough to just have them go with a 1 week notice. The Sunday before the week that was to be their last week she texted me and said they were out of town as her father was in the hospital and not doing good at all and so the kids would not be here. I said ok and that we would be keeping them in thoughts and prayers. At the end of the week I texted to see how things were going and she got a little snippy with me and so I asked her point blank if she planned to honor her contract and she said yes she would and that they were still out of town. We are now going on the 3rd week today with her not making good on her contract. I texted her this morning to see if they were out of town still but no reply.
So my question is how would you handle this without being cold hearted about her father being ill??

[sharlan]

Do you have a trial period in your contract?

Personally, I'd just let it go and move on.

[KayB]

No, I do not have a trial period in there

[Thriftylady]

For a part time family, I would just call it done. Not worth fighting with her. Your sanity is worth more than that!

[Blackcat31]

I had a family with 2 kids that came to me 2xs a week. They came for 2 weeks and the mom texted me and said they could not afford me. I do have a contract with them and they signed in agreement that they would give a 2 week notice. But the mother and I discussed it and I was nice enough to just have them go with a 1 week notice. The Sunday before the week that was to be their last week she texted me and said they were out of town as her father was in the hospital and not doing good at all and so the kids would not be here. I said ok and that we would be keeping them in thoughts and prayers. At the end of the week I texted to see how things were going and she got a little snippy with me and so I asked her point blank if she planned to honor her contract and she said yes she would and that they were still out of town. We are now going on the 3rd week today with her not making good on her contract. I texted her this morning to see if they were out of town still but no reply.
So my question is how would you handle this without being cold hearted about her father being ill??

Depends on whether or not you want to pursue this or not.

If you do, then send her a certified letter stating the agreed upon payment and what amount she owes and when you want it paid by. If not paid by that date, I would file in small claims court for the FULL amount due.

I would even state that in your letter....

Pay $X amount by April X, 2016 OR owe the FULL amount due for two weeks AND court costs AND late fees etc...

That usually "scares" them in to paying.

If you dont want to pursue this any farther than asking her again to pay, then I'd let it go.

Personally, I would NOT let it go but that's me.
You gotta do what works best for you.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Depends on whether or not you want to pursue this or not.

If you do, then send her a certified letter stating the agreed upon payment and what amount she owes and when you want it paid by. If not paid by that date, I would file in small claims court for the FULL amount due.

I would even state that in your letter....

Pay $X amount by April X, 2016 OR owe the FULL amount due for two weeks AND court costs AND late fees etc...

That usually "scares" them in to paying.

If you dont want to pursue this any farther than asking her again to pay, then I'd let it go.

Personally, I would NOT let it go but that's me.
You gotta do what works best for you.

Same.

Also, what does your contract say about a failure to pay?
Could you require folks enrolling in the future to provide you with a security deposit fee (final two weeks paid up front)?

[KayB]

In my contract it says $25 late fee. Uggghhh!! part of me wants to send her a certified letter and try to get it as I am not 100% positive she is even telling me the truth! The other part of me wants to just let it go but if I did that then what good is a contract if I don't follow through with it :confused:

[jenboo]

In my contract it says $25 late fee. Uggghhh!! part of me wants to send her a certified letter and try to get it as I am not 100% positive she is even telling me the truth! The other part of me wants to just let it go but if I did that then what good is a contract if I don't follow through with it :confused:

Send the letter and see what happens

[Ariana]

This is why it is sooooo important to get the last two weeks paid upfront. I know it is too late now but so many parents flake out after termination it is good to have that money upfront and then you are guaranteed the last two weeks pay whether or not they show up.

Next family require a two week deposit before enrollment which is to be applied to the last two weeks of care. Send her the letter for sure but in the future have the deposit as it saves a huge headache in the end.

Good luck . I had a family flake out on me in a similar way once but luckily I only lost $50.

[sleepinghart]

~I agree with the others about the 2-week deposit. That's the only way to keep this from happening again & again. I also agree with the others that said "let it go"...this time(after all, they were only part-time and not there long). So, my advice is to let it go this time and consider it a valuable lesson learned...and of course make sure you always get some kind of deposit from all the families you take on in the future.

ETA- Also, if you personally really don't want to let it go, I like blackcat's idea about the certified letter so I'd do that. I certainly don't think that at least attempting to collect it like this would hurt .

[sleepinghart]

~I agree with the others about the 2-week deposit. That's the only way to keep this from happening again & again. I also agree with the others that said "let it go"...this time(after all, they were only part-time and not there long). So, my advice is to let it go this time and consider it a valuable lesson learned...and of course make sure you always get some kind of deposit from all the families you take on in the future.

ETA- Also, if you personally really don't want to let it go, I like blackcat's idea about the certified letter so I'd do that. I certainly don't think that at least attempting to collect it like this would hurt .

I also wanted to add that you really don't have anything to lose at this point(except for maybe a little time & effort), only something to gain, by attempting to collect.

[KayB]

Thanks y'all for your advice! I have been doing this for 25 years now and NEVER had this issue! But I think I am going to revamp my contract and ask for 2 week deposit for any newcomers! I also think I will go ahead a send a certified letter out and as previous poster said...what have I to lose!?

[sharlan]

How much does she owe for the one week?

[KayB]

She owes $100 I even gave her a $5 off per child a day discount! But isn't that just like someone to take a mile if given an inch