Nursery Fees waiting lists

Number16

Hi everyone. New to this forum. Just about to enrol our son into nursery but found out most nursery make a NON refundable charge to put our names on the waiting list, and this is regardless whether you actually get a place or not. I understood that it is non refundable even if you pull out of the waiting list!

Is this legal? And does anyone knkow a way round it?

thanks.

winnie81

I had to pay a non refundable fee for my 2 eldest children to go on our playgroup waiting list too. My younger 2 will be having a couple of sessions in a local montessouri nursey when they reach funding age and I didn't need to pay a fee for them but when they have a formal place offer theres a £50 fee each.
I think most places have some fee system like that or all the one I know of have but I am unsure of the legalities of it but I expect as they are private buisness they can charge what they like and its up to us parents if we want to pay it.

Spendless

I had to pay a £40 deposit when I changed my daughter's private nursery. If I changed my mind about her going, I would not get the £40 back, but when she did start, the £40 wa knocked off the first bill.

Is this what the nursery is doing?

Number16

Yes I know. I am ok with it if they are providing a service but upfront non refundable fees just to get on the waiting list? That's like saying you have to pay to get into the queue for the cinema and when you get to the front of the queue you still have to pay for the tickets. Now I wouldn't have a problem with it if then I decide to leave the queue and my money is refunded because technically they have not provided me with a service. Don't forget at the end of the cinema queue I get to watch a film whereas if they cannot provide me with a space at the nursery I lose out on the money AND the place (not to mention the inconvenience of having to go through all this again with more expense!)

C'mon anyone still think this is legal? Martin?

Woby_Tide

whats to stop someone signing on to the waiting list at every nursery and paying nothing though. Then the next person does that, and the next. Then someone comes along and is told there are 3 people in the queue ahead of them so they think they won't bother putting their name on the list. then the 1st 2nd and 3rd people on the list all choose to go to one of the other nurseries they went on the waiting list for. The nursery then has no-one lined up and loses out. Making people pay a fee shows some commitment at least, when you say you may not get a space, I'm not sure how thats valid unless they shut down, at some point they would offer you a place if you were on the list. They must surely have given an indication of when a space is available i.e. each year kids leave to go to school creating space, in our experience most nurseries can give a latest date you are likely to get a place but often have a space come up earlier as people move for other reasons.

it's maybe not 'fair' but it's a business model used in lots of places, you pay a holiday deposit, you choose not to go you don't get the deposit. Your only analogy that they don't provide a service seems not really plausible, they will offer you a place, maybe not when you want it though.

JimmyTheWig

I think it's fair to charge a fee and not refund it if you decide to leave the waiting list or don't take up a place that's offered. (As long as the fee wasn't too much. I think £30 tops.)
But what I would object to is if they didn't refund the fee if they _didn't_ offer your child a place. I.e. if you'd paid your fee to wait in the cinema queue only to find out the cinema was full - then I would definitely want the money back.

daphne_descends

Of course it's non refundable, otherwise everyone would join every waiting list going and it would sort of defeat the object.

vikingaero

Woby_Tide wrote: »

whats to stop someone signing on to the waiting list at every nursery and paying nothing though. Then the next person does that, and the next. Then someone comes along and is told there are 3 people in the queue ahead of them so they think they won't bother putting their name on the list. then the 1st 2nd and 3rd people on the list all choose to go to one of the other nurseries they went on the waiting list for. The nursery then has no-one lined up and loses out. Making people pay a fee shows some commitment at least, when you say you may not get a space, I'm not sure how thats valid unless they shut down, at some point they would offer you a place if you were on the list. They must surely have given an indication of when a space is available i.e. each year kids leave to go to school creating space, in our experience most nurseries can give a latest date you are likely to get a place but often have a space come up earlier as people move for other reasons.

it's maybe not 'fair' but it's a business model used in lots of places, you pay a holiday deposit, you choose not to go you don't get the deposit. Your only analogy that they don't provide a service seems not really plausible, they will offer you a place, maybe not when you want it though.

Agree 100% with Woby.

My daughters Nursery does this as do most other decent Nurseries. The biggest cost of a Nursery are the staff wages and they need to charge to cover admin fees and all the printed stuff you receive. Deterring timewasters is also the primary objective as they need people to be serious about committing to a place or they could be left with a serious shortfall in their funding which could affect the Nursery places of all the other committed attendees.

I don't see how this is unfair? The T&C is clearly outlined. If I don't like the way one business operates I take my business elsewhere.

If you're going to haggle over £40 or so then maybe it's better to put your offspring into a public pre-school group?

hectoriess3000

My daughters nursery charged a £20 registration fee which I was fine about. I discussed at the time of registration what days I wanted her to attend and they say that was fine so I had no problems writing the cheque there and then.

Ahhh she starts a week on Monday how will I cope. No daughter and back to work.

Clive_Woody

fac73 wrote: »

Of course it's non refundable, otherwise everyone would join every waiting list going and it would sort of defeat the object.

Absolutely, it's not uncommon for parents to register at a first and second choice nursery to ensure they get a place (we certainly did). Nurseries know this happens and have to cover for the potential of not filling all their places so cover for this with a reservations fee so if parents head elsewhere they cover some of their loses.