Late Payment Excuse...

[Pandaluver21]

My contract states payment is due on Friday by 5pm. If it is not made by 5pm on Friday, a $10 late fee is added and an additional $10 per day will be added at 5:01pm. All payments and late fees must be paid by Monday or parents can not drop off.

I have a parent that pays bi-weeky through Zelle. They have been with me for about a year and have never paid late. Two weeks ago, she messaged me (through brightwheel) that she "forgot" to pay because "things have been crazy" and paid me through paypal but using her a bank account that showed her husbands name, not her usual one that shows her name. I explained on the following Monday that I waive the first late fee, and that if it happens again she will be expected to pay the late fee according to her contract.
Payment was due again two days ago. She did not pay. I got a message at 6:30pm tonight saying she is "having problems with her bank account and zelle" and wanted to know if I had received payment yet. I got payment about 5 minutes later, no late fees included. I have not responded to her but I'm frustrated with the whole thing. She ALWAYS messages me on Friday through brightwheel, that payment is sent. If she did actually send it, she would have sent the "payment sent" message she always does. If she was having issues, I would hope she would have messaged on Friday letting me know there were issues. What I'm thinking actually happened is she forgot again and decided a lie would be the way to go...

1- ADVICE!
I would like to write her back before drop off on Monday, but am not sure what to say. I was thinking something along the lines of :
Payment was received at xtime on xday, and is considered late. Unfortunately I have already waived your first late fee, and will need the additional $x paid before drop off on Monday or no care will be given. If you are having problems with payment in the future, please let me know BEFORE payment is due.
I don't accept payment on weekends other than online (I don't need people dropping by on weekends when I'm not working) Should I say something about finding another way to pay? About "lying" (though I can't prove it) Anything about having already told her I would charge late fees this time? Ugh. I have been contemplating terminating this parent, I think this may have made my choice easier. Unfortunately I would like to wait to terminate until January, when I will have the finances to do so...

2- I'm interested to hear what excuses you have had with late payments and how you handled it. I've been doing this so long I've heard so many of them but I'm sure there's always new ones out there to be prepared for!!::

[Pandaluver21]

3- Follow up question. Do you turn off messaging ability over the weekend. I hate having to be frustrated about something on my time off, but if I hadn't heard from her I wouldn't know what was going on until drop off on Monday.

[boy_mom]

Hi DCM,

Thanks for they payment update. I see the regular tuition payment has posted on xx/xx. There is a late fee of $××, which can be paid this weekend electronically or in cash no later than Monday morning drop off.

You may want to call brightwheel (or what ever company she is using to pay) to see what the issues may be with your account. I haven't heard of any issues with the other daycare accounts. Hopefully they can troubleshoot this for you before the next due date.

See you Monday!

Then turn off your messages - no sense in stressing over her response. There are only two possible outcomes, and you know how you'll react to both situations!

[rosieteddy]

Two late payments I would expect late fee and then cash on Fridays.

[Pandaluver21]

I sent her a message similar to what I stated above. She respond with "I thought you said it was $x per day?" (I had originally told her 3 days worth but she was only two days late this time... three days late last time) So I wrote her back and said I miscalculated and that it was only $x. She said "I will send it right now, thank you"
Glad it was pleasant, but if she knew I said it would be "$x per day" then she was clearly listening and KNEW she should have included a late fee. And obviously she wasn't having too big of a problem with online payment since she decided to pay the fee through it (instead of cash Monday) and it went through right away.

[Cat Herder]

If you switch to payment before attendance, late payment becomes an issue of the past.

[Annalee]

If you switch to payment before attendance, late payment becomes an issue of the past.

Trying to convince a fellow provider of this right now.

[Blackcat31]

Once a parent has issues with ANY form of payment two times in a 6 month period the ONLY method of payment I will accept is cash.

Once they've established paying on time (with cash) for the next 6 months I will allow them to go back to alternate forms of payment.

I get tired of hearing the "technical issues" excuse.

[Josiegirl]

If you switch to payment before attendance, late payment becomes an issue of the past.

This has got to be 1 of the top 5 best business ideas of dc.

[CountryRoads]

2 - I had one dcm a couple years ago who would say "is it okay if I pay you on the 10th? I paid extra on my other bills and forgot about daycare." Gee, thanks I stupidly let it slide, then it happened again the next month. Put a stop to that real quick

I had a dcm who knew payment was due, told me she had a check for me in her car and she would bring it in after she took her kids out. I'm sitting inside waiting for my check and she literally just drives off. I should've terminated on the spot. It was when I first started and I didn't have a late fee policy. I added one in after that.

[Cat Herder]

Back in the 90's I had a parent tell me the reason they could not pay me was that they asked themselves what I would do in their situation. Yep, blamed me for not paying me.

They had a choice of paying me or putting a down payment on a discounted opportunity for a Disney trip with their kids that came up suddenly. They knew I always found a way to take advantage of the opportunities offered to my kids. What they did not know is that I have never made a late payment. I would have taken out a loan, picked up an extra shift or put it on a credit card, first. The real reason was they expected me to be willing to make it happen for their kids.

It was a wake-up call.

[Pandaluver21]

If you switch to payment before attendance, late payment becomes an issue of the past.

All payments are due before attendance, ABSOLUTELY THE WAY TO GO! I used to allow payment up until Monday at drop off, but that caused way more issue. Payment is due the previous Friday for the following week.
It wasn't so much an issue of when payment was due, as much as her deciding she didn't have to follow the rules...

[Pandaluver21]

Once a parent has issues with ANY form of payment two times in a 6 month period the ONLY method of payment I will accept is cash.

Once they've established paying on time (with cash) for the next 6 months I will allow them to go back to alternate forms of payment.

I get tired of hearing the "technical issues" excuse.

I actually thought about that, it is not currently in my contract but I will definitely be adding it/adding an amendment. I think they think technical issues means they are not at fault and don't have to pay...

2 - I had one dcm a couple years ago who would say "is it okay if I pay you on the 10th? I paid extra on my other bills and forgot about daycare." Gee, thanks I stupidly let it slide, then it happened again the next month. Put a stop to that real quick

I had a dcm who knew payment was due, told me she had a check for me in her car and she would bring it in after she took her kids out. I'm sitting inside waiting for my check and she literally just drives off. I should've terminated on the spot. It was when I first started and I didn't have a late fee policy. I added one in after that.

Did she pay at pickup? I would have been so frustrated!

Back in the 90's I had a parent tell me the reason they could not pay me was that they asked themselves what I would do in their situation. Yep, blamed me for not paying me.

They had a choice of paying me or putting a down payment on a discounted opportunity for a Disney trip with their kids that came up suddenly. They knew I always found a way to take advantage of the opportunities offered to my kids. What they did not know is that I have never made a late payment. I would have taken out a loan, picked up an extra shift or put it on a credit card, first. The real reason was they expected me to be willing to make it happen for their kids.

It was a wake-up call.

Because just about everything else they spend their money on is more important than the care of their child....

[CountryRoads]

Did she pay at pickup? I would have been so frustrated!

This happened at pick-up on a Friday. I sent her a message letting her know that her bill needed to be paid on time and I just couldn't accept late payments. She said "I'm sorry. It wasn't on purpose."

She paid me Monday morning.

[Jo123ABC]

I had a family notorious for late payments. I was in my first year and took way too much crap. One day dcd dropped of a check and said "I wouldn't mind if you'd wait til' Wednesday to cash that". payments were do Mon morning for the week.