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-   -   Daycare Terminated My Child Then Wanted To Charge Me For Not Going Back (https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25521)

aer523235 01-14-2011 06:02 PM

Daycare Terminated My Child Then Wanted To Charge Me For Not Going Back
 
My daughter goes to an in-home daycare, and the woman who runs it has a son her age. My daughter got sick one day when she was at the daycare (vomit and diarrhea - no fever) and I came to pick her up. (Keep in mind my daughter doesn't bring viruses to the daycare ever. If she's sick, I keep her home and take a sick day until she is better.) So, that same day, 2 or 3 hours later 2 other girls had to leave because of a high temp and ended up being sick as well. Her son ended up with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea then had to go to the ER to push fluids in him. She sent me a picture and said, "I dont know how I feel about this... your daughters last day is at the end of this week and if I want to leave earlier then to let her know and she will pack her things...Giving me less than one weeks notice through a text. I had already paid her for that week (which hadnt started yet, since this was on a Sat), so I told her since she's blaming my daughter for her sons illness, I wont be returning and I will cancel the check for the week that hadn't started yet. The contract I signed says that if a parent/guardian wants to remove the child from her daycare they must give 2 weeks written notice and those two weeks are to be paid in full. But I told her she terminated my daughter for a ridiculous reason, blamed my daughter for having IV's in her son, I wasn't GIVEN two weeks to write a letter notifying her that we wont be returning and therefore her contract is VOID. Does anyone know if I have to pay her? She said if I pay her the full amount for one week, plus the charges for a cancelled check she wont take me to court. If I don't pay on time the charges will go up to the full 2 weeks pay plus the $15.00 cancelled payment fee and we will go to court. Can someone please help me? She terminated me, and I didn't choose to pull my daughter from there, I just chose to leave earlier then her termination date. Someone please HELP! Thanks!!!

Michael 01-14-2011 06:23 PM

Welcome to the forum!

dEHmom 01-14-2011 06:34 PM

did she put in there anything about a trial period? I have in my contract a 2 week trial period where either party can decide it's not working out with no penalties. I would refund the 2 week deposit and we'd part.

If she doesn't have anything like that, cancelling the cheque is just asking for trouble. Did you do this already? You will end up in a court battle almost guaranteed.

Keep a cool head, be the bigger person here, and just explain to her that the contract states 2 weeks, and you need to find alternative care. Keep the text as proof. It's hard to believe that everyone would have the same problem at the same time, they must've all contracted it at the exact same time, possibly food poisoning?

jen 01-14-2011 06:50 PM

In my contract it states that I must give my parents 30 days notice if I terminate care. Does she have any termination requirement in her contract as it pertains to the provider terminating care? Does she give any reasons when she can terminate immediately?

If the provider does have a notice requirement on her part of more than one week, then she breached the contract.

Make sure to keep those texts...

As for not bringing a virus "ever." Anyone can bring a virus to daycare unknowingly. She could have picked something up at the grocery store..one of the other kids could have brought the virus and your daughter became ill first.

This is just a guess but I'm wondering if the provider feels that you gave your child a fever reducer prior to brining her to care as the other kids all got a high fever and yours did not.

aer523235 01-14-2011 07:12 PM

Very true girls! I told her my daughter could have most definitely brought the virus there, and I apologize if she did. I was just saying that Im not a mom that drops off my sick kid so I wouldn't have to call out of work, I have kept her home plenty of times.. I can see her getting upset and terminating me if my daughter continuously showed up sick or had to leave early for a fever and illnesses, but it was a first. And I have been going there for 10 months. No where in her contract does she state her termination policies. She told me on saturday that my daughters last day will be friday. And I told her shes being completely unprofessional and making decisions based on her emotions rather then being rational. She terminated my child because her son ended up in the ER, and she gave me a week "out of courtesy, so I could find another provider." I was able to have my aunts and relatives watch my daughter for the week as I went on numerous interviews and found someone else. But since she decided to terminate my daughter out of anger for "getting her son so sick he ended up in the er" I wasnt going to bring her back there, and because I didnt go back within the one week she gave me before my daughter was terminated she now wants me to pay her for the 2 weeks notice since "I pulled her before she was let go"
I dont know if shes right, or if her contract is void since I didnt have two weeks notice to write or letter, and it wasnt my choice to pull her from the daycare... It was my choice to pull her before her termination date.
Its frustrating because she told me shes doing it to keep the parents happy - which means she told them my daughter got all the kids sick, which is completely unprofessional as it is.
Does this help?

Daycare_Mama 01-14-2011 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by aer523235:
Very true girls! I told her my daughter could have most definitely brought the virus there, and I apologize if she did. I was just saying that Im not a mom that drops off my sick kid so I wouldn't have to call out of work, I have kept her home plenty of times.. I can see her getting upset and terminating me if my daughter continuously showed up sick or had to leave early for a fever and illnesses, but it was a first. And I have been going there for 10 months. No where in her contract does she state her termination policies. She told me on saturday that my daughters last day will be friday. And I told her shes being completely unprofessional and making decisions based on her emotions rather then being rational. She terminated my child because her son ended up in the ER, and she gave me a week "out of courtesy, so I could find another provider." I was able to have my aunts and relatives watch my daughter for the week as I went on numerous interviews and found someone else. But since she decided to terminate my daughter out of anger for "getting her son so sick he ended up in the er" I wasnt going to bring her back there, and because I didnt go back within the one week she gave me before my daughter was terminated she now wants me to pay her for the 2 weeks notice since "I pulled her before she was let go"
I dont know if shes right, or if her contract is void since I didnt have two weeks notice to write or letter, and it wasnt my choice to pull her from the daycare... It was my choice to pull her before her termination date.
Its frustrating because she told me shes doing it to keep the parents happy - which means she told them my daughter got all the kids sick, which is completely unprofessional as it is.
Does this help?

I replied to the other thread, but I wanted to say it a little more straightforward.

The ONLY way you owe her money for this week in question is if in her contract it says that the provider must provide the daycare family with 1 week notice with payment should she decide to cancel care. You would then still have to pay for that 1 week even if you decided not to send your daughter for that last week.

If she had nothing in her contract about her giving notice, you owe nothing.

If she had something about her giving a 2 week notice or any other time frame besides 1 week, then you also don't owe, because she voided her contract by only giving you a week.

aer523235 01-14-2011 08:37 PM

Thank you so much for your help. She has nothing at all in her contract about the provider terminating care. I was a new single mom and she had just opened her daycare. I didn't even make copies of the stuff I filled out but I dp have the contract that has her sick policy, if parent decided to leave, it was like a 10 page contract that she wrote up. She stated if she were to close she would try to provide adequate notice for arenas to find other daycare arrangements, but nothing about how much she would charge if she had to close on emergency, which she had to the week that my daughter got sick. And she said she would reimburse us for the inconvenience then when I ask her the price it was 10.00 off.. I don't want to go to court but she is requiring I pay the one week plus the 15 bc I cancelled the check and she knows I'm a single mom who now had to find a new provider in such a short amount of time plus pay them 2 weeks worth to start. I don't want to take a day off work for court and I can't afford to pay her, plus I don't think I should have to since she terminated my daughter. I just feel like I wish her and I could be more civil but shes unprofessional, shes pregnant and shes a rollercoaster.. I just want to ask her for a copy of every page I signed and filled out for her daycare! Within a week lol!

cillybean83 01-14-2011 09:07 PM

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. She sounds a bit sloppy and unprofessional...

Maybe you could send her an email stating why you feel you shouldn't pay, quote her own contract to back up your reasoning, and explain why you canceled the check. If you don't acknowledge the situation and why you canceled the check, odds are she'll try to use that against you if you end up going to court.

Hopefully this mess will work itself out, if nothing else kill 'em with kindness. Call when you know she won't be around, leave a very nice voicemail, act concerned about her child, apologize for any misunderstanding, explain yourself, sound firm yet kind, not defensive, and wish her the best in the future. Maybe that will be enough to cool her jets and get her to drop the whole thing.

Good luck!

dEHmom 01-15-2011 06:51 AM

I got really confused when I went to the other post about this.

Just curious aer523235 why did you open 2 identical threads?

Make sure you maintain your story, do not start adding/removing/changing any details. Stick only to the facts.
Any conversations you have with this provider you need to make sure you can PROVE the conversations either by recordings, or paper trails (emails/texts//etc).
Don't say anything damaging to your case. Often I think the providers have more of the sympathy from the judge but I don't know for sure. Really depends on the case. If you have the proof that she told you friday is the last day, OR you can leave earlier if you like, just let me know, then that is proof enough. IF you didn't let her know that you were stopping early, then you might have an issue there as she was expecting you to come. However if she stated you can end early but you are paying for the week regardless, then you chose to walk away and pay. If she didn't inform you you were responsible for the payment if you walked then you are not.

As for the cancelled cheque, I feel that is damaging. When you write a cheque the person accepting it is fully expecting that money to be theirs. You cancelling it is a bad scenario in a court case. You should have talked to her and requested the money back. I understand your position, but now she can take you to court, request the original cheque amt, plus late fees, NSF charges or cancelled cheque charges, and court fees too!

It might be in your interested to offer to pay the NSF fee she incurred if she incurred one (get proof of it), and tell her you will pay for only the day that your child was with her. Because of the situation, and the proof you have she is the one who has voided the contract, it is in her interest to agree to that, and avoid the court. However you have to do so in a mature manner, with a paper trail, and come across as you know you have her without saying that lol.

This is simply my opinion, it is not a legal opinion or anything of the such. You may be able to contact a lawyer over the phone and just ask if you stand a chance in a court room setting. Listen carefully to the words they use, and use that in your favor.
More people on here will have input, and I'm sure some will disagree or help with what I've stated in this.

Lilbutterflie 01-15-2011 07:14 AM

Let me start off with the fact that I DO NOT agree with how your daycare provider acted and the decisions she made, I am actually very sad that you are having to go through this situation.

BUT, am I the only one that sees that her provider did NOT void the contract? It sounds like there was a clause in the contract about PARENTS providing a two weeks notice, paid; but I haven't heard if there is a clause in the contract for HER providing the parents with a termination notice. Therefore, although it's terrible that she terminated in the first place and only gave one weeks' notice... her provider was not voiding the contract.

Now seeing that the provider didn't void anything, I'm sorry to say that I think you do owe her the money, at least the money for the one week and money for the cancellation fees. Not to mention any canceled check fees she may have in the contract. You who made the decision to terminate care effective immediately and cancel a check you had already written for that week. I think the best thing for you to do when you found out would've been to talk to her personally, tell her how upset you were and why, and ask for your money back for the week. I don't think you necessarily owe the two weeks notice though, she terminated care effective a certain date and I don't think she can ask for money beyond that.

dEHmom 01-15-2011 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by Lilbutterflie:
Let me start off with the fact that I DO NOT agree with how your daycare provider acted and the decisions she made, I am actually very sad that you are having to go through this situation.

BUT, am I the only one that sees that her provider did NOT void the contract? It sounds like there was a clause in the contract about PARENTS providing a two weeks notice, paid; but I haven't heard if there is a clause in the contract for HER providing the parents with a termination notice. Therefore, although it's terrible that she terminated in the first place and only gave one weeks' notice... her provider was not voiding the contract.

Now seeing that the provider didn't void anything, I'm sorry to say that I think you do owe her the money, at least the money for the one week and money for the cancellation fees. Not to mention any canceled check fees she may have in the contract. You who made the decision to terminate care effective immediately and cancel a check you had already written for that week. I think the best thing for you to do when you found out would've been to talk to her personally, tell her how upset you were and why, and ask for your money back for the week. I don't think you necessarily owe the two weeks notice though, she terminated care effective a certain date and I don't think she can ask for money beyond that.

The OP has 2 threads IDENTICAL, but some information is here and some there, that's why I stated I was confused.
To be honest OP, we are not giving you any advice and guaranteeing that you are in the right. We are merely stating what we feel is correct based on the information only you have given us.
OP stated that there was no information in the contract regarding the provider terming. So it has been discussed and decided by all in the other thread, that the provider has voided the contract BASED ON THE INFORMATION BY THE OP. Should any of the information provided to us from the op be incorrect, or omitted, we can't control that.

aer523235 01-15-2011 10:26 PM

I'm sorry for the confusion! I thought that by posting in the parents forum providers couldn't read my thread to I reposted it, with more details in the providers forum... My mistake, sorry to confuse everyone, but I really appreciate all the response! I'll make this even more clear for everyone who has helped me! Her contract states " xx daycare provides the right to lke any provisions to the contract and terminate the contract for any unforeseen reason. Every parent/gardian will receive written confirmation in advance of any changes." then she states "if any parent/gardian decides to pull their child from our daycare they are to provide two weeks written notice in advance stating their last day. Failure to do so will be charged in full for two weeks." word for word! Now she texted me on Saturday saying, and I quote "Friday January 14 will have to be your last day here at the daycare. If you wish not to return for the week then let me know and ill have her belongings" and I said "your giving me the week because I had paid for it on Friday, but my daughter will not be returning Monday, and for that reason I will put a stop payment on the check today." and she responded, whatever you want to do, I was actually giving you the week to look for another provider. I don't need your money. It's not worth my son being admitted into the ER!" and then she did a 360, started an argument with me, tried to cash the check on Tuesday got a returned check fee and sent me a message saying she will take me to court. Now the only thing I got from her was a text with her last day, is that written confirmation of terminating my daughter? She is saying I didn't send her notification but she terminated Kayla first and didn't give me written notification, making her just as guilty as me. And she told me to keep my money, but now she wants the money and the fees and to go to court after I told her I was putting a stop payment on it- so why would she try and cash it? Tell me she doesn't need my money and then try and take me to court over it! I guess I didn't read the fine lines earlier and as someone who state earlier "listen to what words the lawyers use exactly and use them to my advantage! You really helped me go through the contract and actually read each word to help mr gruel understand. Now that i wrote anotherrrrr novel, does anyone want to provide anymore helpful and extremely useful input?? Pleaseeee! Thank so much for helping me through this horrific event!


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