Cancelling nursery place during "settling in" period

Toomuchdebt

onlyroz wrote: »

It seems like a lot of fuss to make for the sake of a few hundred pounds.

Ummm that's a small fortune to some of us, me included.

emsywoo123

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

Ummm that's a small fortune to some of us, me included.

Thanks thought it was just me!

emsywoo123

Thanks for all your replies thus far.

I received this this morning via email:

I have had confirmation from head office the outstanding balance to pay is: £208.83.

Fees to December are £334.83 (as one calendar months’ notice is required to withdraw) less the deposit paid of £126.00, leaving a balance to be paid of £208.83.



any got any good ideas for a response? I am usually quite good at this stuff but I am having a total mental block

emsywoo123

Anyone? Sorry to bump but still don't know how to phrase it and need to tell them something...:o

bunty109

I can only advise you what I would do: I would respond that I am in the process of taking legal advice and reporting the matter to OFSTED. I would state that you witnessed xxxxxx and that upon mentioning this to staff it was denied, hence your decision not to continue sending your child after the settling in period. You do not consider child protection issues to be dismissed so lightly. I would suggest that if they wish to pursue you through the small claims court then that is their perogative.

Do you have legal cover on your household insurance? If so, ring them for advice. And I really would consider reporting any concerns you have to the local authority, OFSTED and in writing to the nursery management.

susancs

What about something along the lines of:

Dear X,

Re: Child X-1 hour settling in sessions on x,x,x invoice



I have today received your invoice asking for £208.83, stating £334.83 for November and December, minus my £126.00 deposit. This amount is in reality for three hours settling in child care, during which I remained in the setting for two of those hours. I must assume that you are unaware that the poor practice I witnessed in the Nursery is the reason why I had to terminate my child's place with immediate effect after the last hour long session.

I stayed with my child during two, one hour sessions and no issues with the care were noted. After returning from leaving my child for just an hour in your nurseries sole care I witnessed XXXX. I made a complaint about the practice at the time. Under the circumstances you can understand that I would not consider allowing my child to go to a Nursery where such unacceptable practice goes on.

I made a complaint at the time to the Nursery about the incident and this should be logged in the Complaints register as per OFSTED guidelines, with full investigation outcome details logged. I will of course cite this complaint and the fact that my child only received three hours childcare as my reason for refusing to pay £208.33 should you wish to persue the matter.

I look forward to hearing from you in regard to the outcome of the investigation of my complaint and as you are now in full possession of the facts, I hope that you will revise the invoice to a zero charge and refund my deposit.

Yours sincerely
X

geekgirl

Also if you are a member of your local co operative (as in food shop) as part of your membership is free legal advice. http://www.co-operative.coop/legalservices/free-legal-advice/

I have used them before, they are open till 9pm I think and they were a great help.

emsywoo123

Thank you all, I shall put a letter together now and await their response!

Make-it-3

mountainofdebt wrote: »

Isn't that akin to blackmail?

If the incident is that bad to warrant the OP to want to pull out then she should do so and be prepared to fight the nursery over the issue of fees

Yes, and you'll see I said I didn't think that was the way forward.

I think some posters are confusing a "settling in" period with a "cooling off" period that you get in some contracts for other services. Settling in is not to see if your child likes the nursery or not, but to acclimatise them to it with a few shorter visits first. The nurseries I have visited said that its more for the parent's benefit as they tend to worry about their child being away from them more than the child is.