"No Pay, No Stay" Policy Wording Help?

[AfterSchoolMom]

Just wanted to add that I hope I'm not coming across as argumentative, because that's not my intention. I appreciate everyone's input, truly. I'm just simply saying that I've had a Friday payday for a couple of years and it's just not working for me.

Yep, backbone is key. It is hard, though, when parents feel they have the upperhand because they KNOW that you can't fill their spot if they leave.

I've actually thought about taking on one more family than I need (staying within limits, of course) just so that I can afford to weed the worst one out.

[momofthree]

I used to have payments on Friday at pick-up. I was tired of parents not paying me as tried to enforce the rule that no pay no stay on Monday mornings but did not work. As I did not like confrontation with kids here or other parents. I have then changed it to email money transfer on a Sunday before the week start so parents pay in advance for the week.
I gave every parent two weeks notice of the change and since then no regrets.

[AfterSchoolMom]

I have then changed it to email money transfer on a Sunday before the week start so parents pay in advance for the week.
I gave every parent two weeks notice of the change and since then no regrets.

How does that work? Is that via paypal or something similar?

[dEHmom]

I agree with what you stated Afterschoolmom, but if you are having problems with them not paying on the friday, you're going to run into problems if they are paying on the day that you are watching their kid. kwim? it's not going to be easy to turn a child away when you open the door and they run in, and mom says i forgot my check book.

I agree that it is their responsibility, but unfortunately, people are not so responsible. For me, it's not like if they didn't pay me I could just go to their bank and take the money out myself. And for me it's not like if they didn't pay me I could still pay my bills. I expect my money on payday as I am counting on that to put food on the table for monday. If I had to wait till monday to receive payment, or tuesday or wednesday, then that's going to affect the care their child will receive.

If you think Mondays will work out well, that's great, I just don't see mondays working well for me, or lots of others. Monday will quickly turn into tuesday wednesday or thursday. I personally see the moving to monday from friday if there are already payment issues with the friday payments, being a light bulb in the parents head.

We have something to lose if we don't make a mortgage payment, we could lose our home. For the parents not paying daycare bills, oh well, they go somewhere else. They may or may not end up in court, and they may or may not have to pay you. Most people think small claims is just a joke. And don't think we'd actually follow through. Where I live, threatening small claims court does nothing. It's a 50/50 shot here whether I would win or they would win. And it's not worth it to take the time to go through the process, unless it's ALOT of money. Daycare around here is not always the most successful in court, but I also have to admit, alot of what you guys deal with in the USA doesn't happen very often here. It does happen, but not nearly as much. Daycare is SO HARD TO FIND around here that no one is willing to mess up a good thing. And being a small community, they know that if they tarnish their name, they will never find another daycare, or at least not one that they'd want to take their kids to.

wow i wrote a novel, sorry.
I know you are not being argumentative. It's ok, take a look at the date it's that time around here.

I'm just expressing my opinion on the monday payments, as I see that being much more of a heart ache then beneficial.

[dEHmom]

How does that work? Is that via paypal or something similar?

i have been wondering the same thing. I know if we bank in the same place we can do member to member transfers. i think paypal charges a fee over a certain dollar amount to transfer that to your bank account. i could be wrong, or maybe that $ amount is much higher than our payments would be?

[sharlan]

Here's a good one for you............my daughter works for a group of centers. She had to call several families to come pick up their children yesterday for non payment.

One father told her that he had already paid for the whole summer. He had the check # and amount - $35. She politely explained that was the registration fee, not the daycare charges. He said no, that was for the summer as summer school is free, right? Yes, summer school is free, but summer DAYCARE is not.

What a deal, 2 kids, from 7 AM to 6 PM, 5 days a week for 10 weeks!!!!!!!!!! That comes out to something like $.30 an hour.

[Zoe]

Here's a good one for you............my daughter works for a group of centers. She had to call several families to come pick up their children yesterday for non payment.

One father told her that he had already paid for the whole summer. He had the check # and amount - $35. She politely explained that was the registration fee, not the daycare charges. He said no, that was for the summer as summer school is free, right? Yes, summer school is free, but summer DAYCARE is not.

What a deal, 2 kids, from 7 AM to 6 PM, 5 days a week for 10 weeks!!!!!!!!!! That comes out to something like $.30 an hour.

Oh Man! ::::::::

[dEHmom]

Here's a good one for you............my daughter works for a group of centers. She had to call several families to come pick up their children yesterday for non payment.

One father told her that he had already paid for the whole summer. He had the check # and amount - $35. She politely explained that was the registration fee, not the daycare charges. He said no, that was for the summer as summer school is free, right? Yes, summer school is free, but summer DAYCARE is not.

What a deal, 2 kids, from 7 AM to 6 PM, 5 days a week for 10 weeks!!!!!!!!!! That comes out to something like $.30 an hour.

WOW!
I used to work for a call center, and we dealt 99% with American clients. This is in no way meant as disrespect to you, because I love you all. But honestly, the calls we would get were from anything from Acuvue rebates to wine rebates and everything in between. We also dealt with orders for those little inserts in your credit card statements for crappy products for a couple bux and up! yep, you would not believe the stupidity of people. They would order the products, prices clearly marked beside them, read us their credit card number, we would confirm the number, total charge, and shipping timeframe. Then we'd get called back and screamed at because the items were supposed to be free. ummm????????????????? then WHY WOULD WE TAKE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER, AND WHY WOULD WE TELL YOU A TOTAL $. or people who just would send in rebates for contact lenses and did not even come close to meeting the requirements, didn't put their name on the form, or didn't mail it for 2 years, and expect their rebate....hmmm......some people just have no common sense, courtesy, or brains period. camp for a week through the school doesn't even cost 35 dollars. .

[MarinaVanessa]

Wow, $0.30 an hour. What a deal! <-- can you smell the sarcasm. Sometimes I wonder about people today. It's like someone forgot to add the common sense ingredient into the batch when they were being made. :confused:

I also use software that automatically adds a late fee.

Just curious as to the name of the software that you use is. I don't personally invoice them or anything but I was thinking about doing it because of Nan's idea about adding in the amount they save in discounts and such for my SIL to see how much she's saving. You think you have problems? My SIL gets an awesome rate here AND my MIL pays for half of that AND she still can't seem to pay me on time BUT she can go to San Diego and then Las Vegas for weekends at a time ... but that's another thread .

[Blackcat31]

Just curious as to the name of the software that you use is. I don't personally invoice them or anything but I was thinking about doing it because of Nan's idea about adding in the amount they save in discounts and such for my SIL to see how much she's saving. You think you have problems? My SIL gets an awesome rate here AND my MIL pays for half of that AND she still can't seem to pay me on time BUT she can go to San Diego and then Las Vegas for weekends at a time ... but that's another thread .

:::: I actually use MMK, but I told my parents that (about automated late fees etc.) because taking the ability to negotiate out of the scenario solves this problem completely 100%. They can complain about it and I can be empathetic and understanding but they cannot argue with software...kwim?

Since I added that to my contract, I have honestly had zero issues with payments. (several years now) I have had a couple late payments on Monday mornings but they have included the late fees without me even having to mention it at all.

[Live and Learn]

Why don't you set up a payment schedule like this:

Friday payment $200
Monday payment $220
Tuesday payment $240
and so on.

[My Daycare]

Why don't you set up a payment schedule like this:

Friday payment $200
Monday payment $220
Tuesday payment $240
and so on.

I like this! It's short & up front.

[My Daycare]

How about...

No matter what, I will never forget to give your child the best care in the world.

While they are with me, I will never forget to feed them and meet their most important needs.

However, I will forget to answer the door when lack of payment makes perfect care for your child impossible to provide.

[Holiday Park]

How about...

No matter what, I will never forget to give your child the best care in the world.

While they are with me, I will never forget to feed them and meet their most important needs.

However, I will forget to answer the door when lack of payment makes perfect care for your child impossible to provide.

Hitting the "like " button on this one !!

[coolconfidentme]

If you don't want to mess with the actual contact with DCP, you can have them deposit the money in a bank account on Friday, giving their name to the teller for credit to them. (My bank does that)

If the money isn't there, send them a text or email advising, "I'm sorry to inform you, ___ bank records does not show a deposit made for your child care fees. Per policy, fees are due on Friday to insure your child's placement in ___ daycare. You will need to bring your balance to a current status (including late fees) for your child to be reinstated into ___ daycare. Thank you for your prompt attention in this matter."