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This morning when I went to pay for my childs daycare there was a sign on the front desk stating that they would be closed this Thurs and Friday for thanksgiving. Not a problem. However when I went to pay they still insisted on charging me for the full week stating that is thier "policy" I told the girl at the front that was just wrong and unfair! I did not want to raise to much of a scene so as not to have my child thrown out but come on, how can they do that? How can they legally charge for a service they are not providing? I pay well over a thousand dollars a month for that childcare so everyday is expensive. I am so angry I am thinking about speaking with an attorney to start a class action law suit or filing a complaint with the state of NC. Am I crazy?
you are not crazy. it does not seem ethically/legally correct to have you pay for services you are not using. but then again i am not sure what is the policy the day care center has. do they have any documents that you may have signed saying you will always pay for a full week ?
Do you pay by the month? If you do, they you don't get charged extra if the month has 30 work days versus 30.
Daycares typically charge you even if they are closed or there is a holiday. Their way of rationalizing is that you are paying for their holiday time, just as your employer pays you for holidays when you don't work.
ETA: You more than likely agreed to this when you contracted with them. I've never seen a professional daycare that did not run this way or one that did not make this a part of their contract.
I know it seems unfair, but most daycare centers and in home providers I know all charge for days not there. I ran a daycare from my home and did not charge because it did not feel right to me, nor did have a staff to pay or rent on a facility, so I was not out any money when closed. I believe the daycare providers feel if you get paid for vacations and holidays, they should too. When I had my one son in childcare I always paid for days off and I was told so when I signed the contract. I did not have a problem with it because I knew about it in advance and they were caring for my child and doing an excellent job, it was totally worth it for me.
The daycare has fixed expenses. You need to look at your payments on an annualized basis, not a per-day basis. The owner has to pay the rent/lease/mortgage per month whether kids are there or not. To be able to operate on the small margin that most daycares get after paying expenses, this is how they can stay in business. If you are receiving wonderful daycare in a safe place, it shouldn't be a big deal to you. If you don't like the service, then that is another matter.
A class action suit is just way over the top. Why would you consider doing this to a business that is offering a needed service to the community? You want to make it so that less people decide it is worth the hassle to deal with parents who can't understand that the bills have to be paid to provide your children with quality daycare? Being so litigious is NOT the way to guarantee better childcare in this region and THAT should be your concern.
The daycare has fixed expenses. You need to look at your payments on an annualized basis, not a per-day basis. The owner has to pay the rent/lease/mortgage per month whether kids are there or not. To be able to operate on the small margin that most daycares get after paying expenses, this is how they can stay in business. If you are receiving wonderful daycare in a safe place, it shouldn't be a big deal to you. If you don't like the service, then that is another matter.
A class action suit is just way over the top. Why would you consider doing this to a business that is offering a needed service to the community? You want to make it so that less people decide it is worth the hassle to deal with parents who can't understand that the bills have to be paid to provide your children with quality daycare? Being so litigious is NOT the way to guarantee better childcare in this region and THAT should be your concern.
The daycare center pays 365 days of rent, insurance,HVAC. etc.
Check your contract to determine if you are paying hourly, weekly, or any other variation.
BUT, more importantly the real issue is your contentment with the service.Do they take good care of your children? Honest? Clean? Right price? Close to home? Kids like it there? I think when you answer these types of questions you can then decide to relax and chill out or put the boxing gloves on.
I have one of my children in preschool now and I pay the same amount every month even though they are closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas week, spring break (1 week) and every other holiday or day off that the children in the public school have off. As Ani and Pink Caddy stated they have a budget and it is much easier to charge the same amount every week then to charge you more some weeks and less on others.
THank you, SSD, but funny thing . . . I always admire that you use less words and get your message across just as well, Hee Hee.
I think we all agree - we pay for the quality of the daycare center. I paid the highest rate in the whole region for my son. I only used it several days a month and the $$$ was never the concern - or the fairness that I had to pay for a whole week even tho he only came for 2 days MAXIMUM per week, 4 hours a day. So I paid for a whole week, every week, even tho he was staying only the equivalent of ONE DAY a week. My concern was his health and well-being. So paying a premium price was just part of the deal for me. The thought of suing someone b/c I was paying as much as others receiving 40 or more hours of service a week as opposed to my 8 hours never crossed my mind! I was just so happy to have a clean, safe, progressive daycare with caring providers.
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