ParentPay problems?

elisebutt65

Sorry if it's the wrong board for this.

My kids' school uses ParentPay for Dinner money etc. DS1 isnt back yet as he's starting 6th form soon but DS2 started yesterday. The ParetnPay website is really playing yup - taking forever to log on and I've tried to pay his dinner money as it's a pain to get cash out for him to load up his card as I'm working all week.

I just paid £20 and got through to the Verified by Visa stage - took forever!. Then the website crashed- 'Runtime Error' :mad::mad::mad:

No email through and it crashes whenever I get signed back on and try to check the payment history

Now I have no idea whether there is any money on his card. The school never answers the phone - it's an automated system and yo leave a message, but they never ever call back and Parent Pay have no contact details - their FAQ says to deal with the school -Aaargh!!! :mad:

I had enough money on me to give him cash for today but now I'm stumped - I have to go to work in a bit (I teach) and it's all hands on deck at college for induction week so I don't know when I'll get a chance to get cash out - Flaming pants system!

WestonDave

Most systems struggle under peak usage, and I guess the last few days especially at "Oh $%&^ I've forgotten to do your dinner money" time in the morning on peoples first day back, its been creaking a bit. There is only so far you can ramp up systems to cope with peaks without it becoming uneconomic by having server capacity sitting idle for most of the term. Best option for the future is pick a time when most other people won't be doing it - doesn't make it less frustrating though!

franticmum

I din't want to leave it to the last minute, so topped up both my daughters accounts on 30/8/11, putting £20 on each account, but got no email confirmation. Concerned by this, I went back to parentpay to note the accounts had not been topped up. Assuming I had made a mistake, I performed the whole process again......and still no top up.

On Friday i noted the money had left my bank account, but is still not showing on their accounts over a week later.

I have contacted the school who say they can do nothing but gave me the phone no for parentpay. I left a message there yesterday morning......no response. There is no way of contacting them via the web, so I am not only stumped, but also concerned as to where my £80 has gone.

Fortunately the school has promised that "no child will be allowed to go hungry" so I do hope that kind lady in the office is prepared to share her lunch!!

Any advice as to where to go with this would be gratefully received

onlyme110

I too have had problems with this website over the last week. My eldest daughter has started secondary today and the school use this system to pay for dinners, uniform, trips and virtually everything!
I have been trying all morning again to get onto the site with constant load problems and runtime errors so over the last 7 days I have not managed to get any money on the account at all.
Now she has had to take packed lunch and snacks today, and I am unable to pay for the school trip (we weren't allowed to pay until after 7th). So it's not been a case of leaving it til the last minute cos I've tried for over a week!
No links/email addy etc on the site so I too am stuck at the moment!! The site says webpages have been closed to deal with the traffic but obviously that hasn't helped!

WestonDave

Err - I'm slightly worried now - off to check!

WestonDave

Site has gone down - this is where schools need to be on their wits and ensure kids with no dinner money still get fed. Today is my son's first school dinner and I can't check whether the money that went in on 1st Sept is actually sitting there. Fortunately due to school trips etc he still has 3 days worth of credit anyway, and secondly I know the school will feed him and ask for money later if there is a problem.

franticmum

So nobody is at all concerned that this company has grabbed the cash and run? After all if you were going to do that, what better time? start of the year, accounts all filled (supposedly)...........or is that just my criminal mind working overtime?? lol

YORKSHIRELASS

I cant log in at all. I know its a busy time but surely the Parentpay Company was expecting September to be busy and had plans in place to cope with it? My son has some money carried over from last year but I cant check how much is left. Our school runs a "cashless system" so there is no alternative way of paying for lunch and this is a stressful enough time for a lot of kids.

I am sure schools wont let their kids go hungry but still its a shambles and very annoying.

somethingsgottogive

God, that sounds like more hassle than its worth! There's got to be an easier way!

thinkdifferent

Looks like a total shambles to me. My children are are at a school that uses ParentPay and I have been unable to pay for school dinners at all.

I might be over simplifying but this service only does one thing and its failing 100% as delivering even that.

Quick scan of Google shows there are alternatives, Tucasi, ParentMail +Pay to name just two- I suggest that we parents suggest these to schools that use ParentPay as a alternatives.

thegirlintheattic

The school will have a system in place for pupils who have not managed to top up their cards. Though I would send a note to form to make everyone aware. Our school for example has the lunch ladies note down names of kids who haven't been able to pay and they pay later on in the week.