Schedule Emergency, Last Minute. HELP, What Do I Say?

[jojosmommy]

A parent I am terming has been a schedule nightmare. She has given me a schedule months in advance and then changes it last minute. She has been scheduled to be off tomorrow for months. She even confirmed via text that she wouldnt have kids here Tue when she texted last week.

I made appointments for tomorrow for myself and my kids. Nobody was scheduled to come so this saves me from taking a day off. 5 min ago she texts they will be here tomorrow....... um NO!?! I text back that I will not be here, have made appointments based on the schedule she gave me.

Now shes mad. Wants to be refunded for tomorrow since "your not available". They pay weekly even if they choose not to come but I dont charge for days I am not open.

What do I do? I waited until this am to make the appointment, she has ruined my schedule so many times. I feel like it too bad, you said you didnt need care so I made other plans.

[Blackcat31]

I would tell her that I am sorry but she said herself that she would not need you on Tuesday and even confirmed this info several times. I would then say that unfortunately you cannot accomodate her schedule change.

What does your contract say about schedule changes?

I wouldn't refund anything as she was going to pay for the day without using it in the first place.

If it wasn't for your pre-planned appointments, I would be tempted to tell her you will gladly accommodate her schedule change for a small inconvenience fee.....

[countrymom]

do you have her schedual, tell her "based on your schedual that you have given to me in print form, you are not schedualled to be here"

[SilverSabre25]

"Sure! You can be refunded. by the way, I charge a $[daily rate] fee for refunds..."

[MarinaVanessa]

Forward her the text she sent you confirming that she would not be here tomorrow and let her know that you were not told of HER schedule change and therefore you made an important appointment and because SHE fialed to inform you of HER change with sufficient notice that you have her scheduled Wed-Fri as per HER request so therfore she does not qualify for a refund.

[Sugar Magnolia]

My financial policy says this "There are no refunds of fees or tuituons at any time, for any reason." It has worked well for me. Sorry about your difficult mom.

[cheerfuldom]

Do you have anything in your contract that deals with this type of issue? If she is paying for full time care AND you have nothing that says anything about not being available when she is not scheduled AND you have always put up with her last minute changes......it sounds like you either need to do this last minute change again or tell her no and run the risk of her terming. But its important to be clear about your expectations for the situation....she may not realize that she cant be doing this last minute stuff, especially if you have always rearranged things around her before.

[jojosmommy]

Immediately after her texting me her "new schedule updates" I returned a text to her stating that, "We will not be here tomorrow morning. I have scheduled appointments based on the schedule you presented to me."

She has already paid up front for the rest of care during the term period. She gave notice because I was inflexible with my schedule among a laundry list of other things. I changed my schedule knowing they would term, this way I am not the evil one . I posted about it somewhere else on here. She has always been a pain and I should have ended it that day but I thought it would be the right thing to do (for both of us) to follow through with the term period. For this and many other reasons I regret that.

If she even thinks about asking what my appointment is for I am going to smile and say "implants ". It's not but that should insert the mute button rather quickly LOL!

[jojosmommy]

And thanks ladies for listening to all the annoyances that come with difficult parents. Nobody understands like you guys do.