have you terminated because a parent was always having to be reminded of payment.. i know ive read ppl have these issues, but it never hits you till your in the situation i guess.. she is a SA too so its not like its gonna break my bank.. but she is a neighbor. ughhhh. ive had to enforce late payments but she still pays late. i shouldnt really care right?

Reply

I have recently had to term for that very reason. She would always pay late and pay fees but I'd have to ask for it every week. I ask her if she would like having to ask for her paycheck every week. Very frustrating!!

Reply

tell her you started a "no pay, no play" policy. if she does not have her payment on time as your contract outlines, her child cannot come. no late fees. its either pay or go home.

Reply

it really is, because i HATE to ask for tuition. if i can get a little more organized, i would start billing, but thats a waste of paper and trees LOL..
i sent her a text one time and then she still didnt pay right away.. then one day she called and i brought it up and she was like.. i know i just havent got my pay check yet??? ughhhhh
i have told her COUNTLESS times to "let me know" about these things so at least i wont be ASKING..
whats worse is she had changed to before school, her moms work schedule changed, she would just have the little girl show up on my doorstep when she wasnt home on time but didnt expect to pay cuz it was 10 minutes.. im sorry.. umm NO.. this mom has to go.. i need to build enough strength to do it and still feel like we can be good neighbors LOL

Reply

her child is a beforeschooler.. she sends her cross the street to my house, i never even see mom until the mom come by to pay at the end of the week ughhhh..
i had to do a no pay no play policy for two toddlers and it was soooo easy, but with this lady, it seems soooo hard for some reason?? i think cuz she lives across the street LOL..

Reply

backbone girl!

I would start a new policy (you could even just do it for this dcm) first late fee after notice-$20/day, second time $30/day third time $50 and termination.

I had families like this, but it stopped when I raised my late fees (it wasn't a big deal when it was $10, but they think twice at $20 usually) and instituted a similar policy for late tuition payments.

I send home a little slip of paper that is an invoice the day before tuition is due, at the bottom there is a spot that I can circle $20/day 1st late payment $40/day 2nd late payment $50/day final late payment and then I would (will if it ever came to it) attach a termination letter to the notice and give them their FINAL total.

Reply

I have a SA he's a bus rider and here M/W/F B&A on T/TH his bus still drops him off at my house but DCM is supposed to be here. After a couple of times her not showing up until after the bus came I started charging her $10 which is my after school fee per day. She argued that it was only 5-10 minutes so I told her that she can either pay the fee at the door or I will wave the bus on and she can chase the bus down. Now she's 15 minutes early and she will call me to give me a heads up if she's running late and always has a $10 bill when she arrives! Sometimes you just need to stand your ground! Parents think our late fees or additional fees are no biggie if they just pay them. They don't understand that they are there to prevent the issue from coming up. Something like this came up before and another provider said she doesn't even charge "late fees" she said cause the parents just pay them and think it's ok. She said she gives a warning the first time and if it happens again she lets them go!

Reply

if her bill is not that much out of their pocket, then I would start making her pay monthly. I did this so that I did not have to constantly remind parents to pay up.

I also have the no pay no stay, along with late fee if they do not pay on time.

having a backbone really helps, neighbor or not.....

Reply

why cannot she not pay in advance each Friday for the coming week? you have to set some boundaries here. in her defense, you have allowed this type of thing to continue and have seemed flexible at times by saying "let me know" and that makes it appear that it is not an issue....or at least can be confusing since sometimes you speak up and sometimes you dont. some adults are just like kids, you have to be 100% firm and consistent every time so they get the message. make one exception and they think the rule is negotiable every tim.

Reply

I like this idea!!

Reply

I don't know how it is in other states but in mine (I'm licensed) my kids have to be signed in every morning at drop off by their parents and signed out every night when they leave by their parents. When I get inspected my license agent checks this. Doesn't your parent's have to sign their kids in each morning and if why isn't this mother doing this?? If you make her start then she has no excuse not to see your in the morning or the afternoon each day!

Reply

Yes you should care. It's very disrespectful and put you in an awkward position. She can set reminder on her phone if she needs to but yes I would give her a notice like this:

Dear dcf,

Per my policy you have agreed to follow you must pay tuition on time each week. This is your written notice. You have failed to do so x times. If I should have to ask for the tuition again you will receive notice of termination. How would you feel asking your boss for your pay check? Please do not put me in that position again.

Next time she don't pay send her kid back across the street when she comes over, don't even let her in!

Reply

I've never personally had this problem (except years ago with family, watching my cousin), but I do have it in my contract that one of the reasons of possible termination is lack of cooperation of parent and repeated late payments or pickups.
Why deal with a disrespectful parent if you can afford not to? Does she make her other bills come asking (such as utilities, phone, etc?).

Reply

We have to follow this policy too. Some parents hate it and would rather have their child hop out of the car and run in, so they don't have to stop, park, walk in etc. But it's the law here.

Maybe you could make that your policy even if it's not required by your state.

What if the mom sends the child over, but she doesn't come to your house? What if she decides to go to her friends house instead? What if she gets abducted? Far fetched? Maybe....but maybe not. I would tell the mom it is for the child's safety.......which it is......but it would also solve your not seeing the mom problem.

Reply

I was going to suggest requiring the child to be signed in as well. In my state we aren't required to by licensing but I chose to do it because of several reasons:

1. I wanted to see the child walked in and out by an adult everyday just in case there were issues that I needed to discuss
2. I wanted the adult in front of me so if they still hadn't paid tuition then I could refuse the child to the parent.
3. Proof of attendance for taxes.
4. Safety reasons.

I'd start using sign-in sheets if only for this parent or at least require that an adult drop the child off personally. I'd call the parent right away and remind them that if they do not have the payment (as in the parent has to hand it to you, not the child) then the child cannot attend the next day. Start keeping a log of the dates that payment is owed and the date that she actually pays. If it continues give her a warning notice. It's not personal, it's just business.

Dear Delinquent Diana,
As you already know, it states in my contract and policies to which you have agreed to that tuition is due on [DAY] no later than [TIME]. It has become a regular occurrence for me to receive the payment late. The following is a schedule of payments received:

12/3/12 Full payment received. 3 days late.
12/11/12 Full payment received. 4 days late.
12/17/12 Full payment received. 3 days late.
12/26/12 Full payment received. 5 days late.

This notice is to serve as a warning. Payments must be made by the due date and time and must be given to me personally. Further late payments are grounds for termination, no other warnings will be given. From this date on your child, Little Tommy, is required to be accompanied into the daycare by a parent and will no longer be allowed to walk in unaccompanied. Should tuition not be received on time childcare services will be suspended and the child will be turned away at the door.

I appreciate your immediate attention on this matter.

Sincerely Peeved Provider

PS: Have you actually talked to this parent about this issue? I mean really sat down and discussed it? I know it's probably already a part of your contract and policies but if you haven't been enforcing it firmly and have just simply been asking for payment when it's late your neighbor may just think that you don't mind. Have you told her up front that this is an issue? As in "Hey Diana, I noticed that paying your daycare fees late has become a regular thing and I have to tell ya ... I don't appreciate it. I have a fee deadline of Fridays at 6pm and that's my cut-off but you seem to be having trouble with making your payments on time. I know that we're neighbors and I'm not sure if you think that because of that you can have a little leeway but this is my business and I'm going to need you to make your payments on time just like everybody else...." and then let the conversation flow from there.

Reply

thanks guys.. im gonna get my backbone some steroids so i can have the backbone of someone thats been in this business for a while

i totally understand the poster that says i shouldnt tell her to "let me know" that it confuses her.. but really my problem is HAVING to remind her to pay more than she is paying late
i hate having to BRING UP discussions about money like a bill collector every other week. (hey did you forget, I dont know if you forgot..ughhhh).. if you already know you gonna pay Wednesday with $20 late fee because you had to pay the light bill then TELL ME on monday? smh
my thing is COMMUNICATION!! i wish these parents just communicated more.. even this week, the weathers been bad and i have had to text all of them to verify if their children were coming or not on more than one day.. i mean whats so hard to send a text and say "we're staying in today".. I need to discuss with them, i am not a CENTER.. i dont have to get up if your kiddos dont come
Can enforce consideration in my policy

Reply