I had a new dcb start 2 weeks ago . He was here one week and then went to visit his dad for a week and did not come for the whole week . The last day of care the grandmother asked if they needed to pay even though he would not be here , I said yes per our contract I still get paid .

Today the aunt drops off dcb and gives me a check for this week , no payment for last week . I filled out and printed off my payment due letter to send home with dcb . ( payment due tomorrow for last week due at drop off on Tues).

I also typed up a new illness / symptom letter and they are all getting/got a copy of that as well .

I am going to stick to my policy 100% . No wimping out with these 2 new families .

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Do you have a trial period? I would give them a deadline to pay and then term if they don't.

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My contract is worded in such a way that she wouldn't have been able to drop off today without full payment. In your case however I would prolly wait and see if it may have been an oversight on their end before sending out a term letter or anything. Being a new family, it possible they are not real clear on your rules, or the aunt thought that the grandmother paid it, and grandma thought the aunt did.. could be an honest mistake and you will have it soon with a sincere apology.

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Yes , I have a 2 week trial period . Today starts week 3 . I gave a deadline for the missing weeks pay in my letter.
If they have trouble coming up with the payment then they should have talked to me instead of just not paying .

I am open to working with them if they would ask .

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Yeah I usually require a full 2wks payment to start care. I made the mistake of allowing the a DCF to start on a Mon and pay Friday and I really shouldn't have. They finally THIS WEEKEND after 2 mos are on a prepayment schedule. I have a feeling thins are getting weird with them. I don't know if they're going to give notice or what... But I'm just feeling a funky vibe. They missed some time because of Spring Break and then dad was sick, then today they have car problems. Two Mondays in a row now.

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Well dcm showed up with the $$ this morning .

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Before or after you gave the letter ??

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After .

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Well I might have gotten cash for the missing week of care but now I have a returned check to deal with .

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They aren't off to a very good start are they? After 1 bounced check I require cash from then on, too much of a hassle. It's only happened to me one time but it caused a lot of problems since I paid a bunch of bills and then realized the check didn't clear!

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Oh jeez. Have you had the chance to talk to them about it yet?

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I would move on from this family with a missed payment and a returned cheque within the first two weeks of care.

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that's too bad that you have to deal with this!!

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Discussed it with her yesterday afternoon via text ( love to have things in writing) .
She said she would bring it in the morning at drop off . Guess what - she had someone else drop dcb off . I asked the aunt who dropped off where my envelope was , she said she did not have one .

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Please don't let him back into care without payment. These people obviously don't respect you or your rules.

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That is what I am thinking too .

I will most likely also loose the cousin as well if I term . Dcb is only here until school begins in August , the cousin would possibly be here for about a year and a half .

Going from 3 full time to 1 will be a big hit , especially since it is hard to get new clients in the area .

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Ahh, I'd make sure to enforce late payment fees, returned check fees, and only take cash from now on- whatever your contract states. Sounds like you might be fighting payments if its only their first month

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I wouldn't accept him in until they caught up and paid cash from now on. If someone else drops off I and they don't have payment then I'd tell that someone that I couldn't take him. Doesn't matter to me that auntie has to go work or not, DCM put her and I in that predicament and so DCM needs to fix it, not me.

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They know EXACTLY what they are doing.

I wouldn't take the child any more until a payment has been received, + all the fees. No more checks!


Even though you feel that you can't lose them, you really can't afford to KEEP them under the circumstances. Let's say they continue to drop off and "forget" payment or bounce more checks. You're not getting the money ANYWAY, yet you are working. So you're still not getting the money EITHER WAY. Therefore, you could always start looking for other families, and if you lose these guys, then you're at least not working for free.

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Grandmother came for pick up and had the cash . She seemed very frazzled , mumbling about her daughter now owing her $$ . I handed her the sealed letter about the returned check fees due tomorrow to give to her daughter .

We will see what happens come the morning .

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Oh my goodness!!! So sorry this is happening!! I would definitely enforce those payment policies or term! That was my biggest learning experience with this job. I allowed a few families to start without a deposit, which could have left me in a bind.,. I looked at the deposit as a spot holder prior to care, but once they started care what did it matter? Well what happens when they just up and leave one day? Great clients can turn into nasty clients really quick! Someone just posted about a family she'd had for years that fell on hard times with a job loss so she offered them a 1/2 rate until he found a job... for 6 mos
!! Then when that 6 mos was up and dad got a job, guess who was leaving?? Yep! Pulled the kids out for free grandma daycare! So don't let someone who seems like nice people take advantage of you because that's exactly what they're doing. I dislike the relative drop off too... always seems like the most convenient time!

I have a DCF now that started back in Feb and every month its something. The first week they had to pay at the end of the week rather then the start per my contract because their nanny left them high and dry and they had to pay her Friday and start with me Monday... but never mentioned this to me from Wed to Sunday when they first came by to visit, or their second visit when they signed up, or that weekend! They gave me that first week and then over the next month would pay the 2wks plus 1/2 the deposit. Well if they made one more extra payment (I even printed out a payment calendar to show what payment covered what time frame) they would be ahead and on schedule but they had a "short paycheck" and couldn't pay the extra week to get them ahead (yeah right!) and paid me their normal rate which still left them a week behind! UGH!!! Then it was spring break, then they were sick... now he owes me tomorrow for the next two weeks and will finally BE ahead for good but I just have a feeling something will happen. I even reminded him of the payment due tomorrow (I reminded him to deduct 1 day for a sickness closure last week) so we'll see. I was flexible with these parents understanding their situation but their short paychecks don't stop them from eating at "nice restaurants" (their words not mine) and taking trips for their anniversary yet they can't pay me... If it happens again I'm going to be instituting a late payment fee. I don't have one because everyone else pays me on time. But it's been my single biggest regret so far because I just don't trust them now. I don't like it.

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"Sigh"

Got a call that dcg & dcb will not be coming today as they have a day off work.

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Otherwise known as, "We don't have our bounced cheque fees."

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Yup.

You might want to think about adding a late fee policy. My late payment fee policy inlcludes penalty fees. Even if a client owes a late pick up fee and doesn't pay it at pick up I add a late payment fee. If they don't pay those fees by drop off the next day then they don't stay.

I would think about adding this policy immediately or give them their walking papers. They're just playing with you now.

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