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kendallina 07:19 PM 02-11-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
This is an old post, but I'm dealing with it right now (which is why I googled it!). Let me give another perspective.

I use a Primrose (national franchise) daycare center, and frankly, I think it's completely unfair to make me pay the full tuition for a snow day. My case may be a little more understandable, because my daycare is expensive. My child's not in one of those shoe-string budget centers that would be looking at me thinking, "Listen lady, we barely charge you what we should as it is!!"

I understand having to pay if my child is sick and doesn't show up--I totally get that. Or, for example, if I want to cancel on my cleaning lady, I better give her enough notice so that she can try to fill the spot--otherwise, she's held time for me and can't make up that money. I totally get those things.

But if I buy a steak sandwich from the Corner Deli every day at lunch, and the Corner Deli one day decides to close for weather...guess what? They don't make me pay for the sandwich anyway! Why? Because THEY decided to close.

(And God, please don't respond with "But you didn't have a CONTRACT with the corner deli!!" I'm not even going to respond to those responses because they're not relevant to the point I'm making. This isn't about what's legal or what I agreed to, etc. This is about whether or not it's FAIR. This is about the morality of it. The ethics of it. The customer-service aspect of it. The "are you being a fair business owner" aspect of it.)

And yes of course I read my contract--I'm a lawyer. And all you out there shouting "didn't you READ the contract???" at these people, I think you're missing the point. I read it. And, yes, when I read it I thought it was unfair, and, yes, I chose to use the center anyway. My point is not that I'm complaining after the fact...my point is that it feels very UNFAIR and it really BOTHERS ME and makes me angry at my daycare--much like that dad that posted above who felt screwed. Not because he didn't know it was a possibility, but because it feels crappy and he (and I) are frankly just complaining.

The way I look at it is this: I am paying $50 a day for a service. If I'm willing to show up with my child for my daycare to perform the service, then my daycare should do one of two things: 1) perform the service for the $50, or 2) not perform the service but not take my $50.

Doesn't that sound reasonable? The reality is that SO OFTEN when the daycare is closed, SOMEHOW most of us other workers STILL HAVE TO GO TO WORK. So not only am I out the $50 I had to pay for services my daycare REFUSED to render that day (yeah, yeah, I know...for safety...but the rest of us are out there, so our bosses deemed it safe for us to go to work somehow...), but now I have to pay money on top of that to find different care for my child! (Care I already paid someone for, mind you!) And I REALLY feel bad for the people who simply don't get paid if they don't go to work, because sometimes those people are doubly screwed--they have to pay the $50 plus they have to miss out on their paycheck that day because they couldn't find care for their kids...ummm, care they ALREADY PAID SOMEONE FOR. (okay, I'll give the dead horse a break)

Think of it this way: Imagine you work in the city and you pay a parking lot $25 a day to park there, but SOMETIMES when you show up with your car they turn you away, but debit your checking account for the $25 anyway. Seriously. Imagine that. Most people would be outraged. Regardless of whether or not this was in the contract, how screwed would you feel once this had happened two times...three times.... ?

And please, can we just skip the responses about how my kid's not a car and the daycare providers aren't parking attendants and how dare I and devaluing and all that--This post is irrelevant to how wonderful the pseudo-moms are at my daycare, who are helping me parent my child. This argument is about the money end of things.

The daycare is a BUSINESS. And the point is simple. The daycare is providing a service, I'm paying for it, they refuse to provide it sometimes, yet I can't in turn refuse to pay for it. UNFAIR. Legal, yes. Unfair, yes.

Let's make this daycare a co-op. NOW I get it. This co-op only makes enough money to keep itself in operation and because of that, we all benefit (from low costs). Fine--in that case, I'm not complaining--we need to keep the center open, regardless of weather! But a for-profit center is different.

I read all these things about "but we (daycare owners) still have to pay the rent! we still have to pay operating costs!". So? How is that persuasive?? Guess what? If I stopped coming to work and my boss started refusing to pay me, do you think it's a valid argument for me to say, "But I still have to pay my mortgage and my insurance and buy food!!" Hell no! He'd say, "You don't provide the services, you don't get paid." Why is this universally-accepted concept so screwy when it comes to daycare?

To me it's no different than, say, a retail business. If they decide to close for weather they don't make sales that day. Or cut hair that day. Or sell gas that day. In other words, they LOSE MONEY if they choose to close for weather...so therefore most of them rarely close! But somehow when daycares close for weather they still get paid for the services they didn't render. I can't see in what world that's fair!

(And that doesn't even touch on incentive. If I got paid for not coming to work, and I got to DECIDE when I wasn't showing up, any time, any day, guess what my incentive is?)

Look, at the very least, charge me some MINIMAL amount. Some amount that doesn't include the cost of feeding the kids or profit or supplies that day. Even that would make me feel slightly less screwed.

Clearly....I'm tired of snow days.
Yup. As a provider, I completely agree with you. Having to pay for a service that is not being offered is NOT fair. I do not charge my parents for snow days. BUT, I do charge a couple extra dollars/month than many providers in my town so that I do not have to charge for snow days. This year was an anomaly for my area and there were lots of snow day. I will lose a few dollars because of this- but my parents are super happy that they get a credit on their statement when we've had a snow day--client satisfaction matters a whole lot in keeping your business stable. Last year there was not a single snow day where I live and I made a little extra.

I understand a provider's inclination to say, "well, it's in the contract" and I say it myself. I have policies in place that some parents don't like. They have to decide to either deal with it or leave. Obviously, you've decided that this one "unfair" policy is not worth leaving a child care that you seem to like otherwise.

I agree with you that it's not a fair policy-perhaps a better compromise would be the center charging more per day and not charging on snow days or just charging a reduced amount on snow days for those expenses that we do still have to deal with (utilities and such).
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