Non-Refundable Deposit

[Alwaysgreener]

I toured a family last Tuesday with a 4 month old that wouldn't start until I returned from vacation. They said they wanted to sign as they were leaving. I sent them the paperwork and requested they sent it back within 4 days, Saturday. Then I sent them the contract with payment information. They sent the payment in the contract yesterday. I have everything printed out and I started setting everything up for him to start after my vacation, on the 11th.

DCD sent the payment /deposit he acknowledged it as a non-refundable deposit.

DCM just sent a text message this morning asking if they could cancel with me because the local center just called with an opening and was there anyway they could get their money back.

I don't want to give it back, sorry it is non refundable. If I do, I going to deduct my time and supplies.

[GirlMomma]

No, don’t send it back. Non-refundable is non-refundable. They knew and agreed to it.

I’ve found this is a common practice, especially among families with infants. This is the exact reason I now require a deposit 24 hours after a tour.

[Alwaysgreener]

It says non-refundable in the email I sent, in the invoice, and on my website policies, and he wrote it in his email to me.

I ask for the deposit to be given with the contract and my letter states that the spot is not theirs until the contract is signed and the deposit is made.

Maybe I should split the deposit and make 1st half due within 24 hours.

So tired of this, granted I felt the last tour was high risk but they waited to tell me that they found a closer dc, (they lived pretty far away and could not find a dc near them until after they toured.)


How do I professional say no?

[GirlMomma]

CH said it best 😊

If you split the deposit, I would make sure it’s like $50 or more. While I wouldn’t want to kiss any money goodbye, to secure a spot in daycare, I could part with anything less than $50 without “hurting” if I changed my mind. KWIM?

[Alwaysgreener]

Currently I do 2 weeks but I was thinking maybe I should do one week to lock in care but as soon as the paperwork was completed another week with due for their first week of care.

My thing is if they don't have a sign contract and what does that mean for the non-refundable deposit? When you take the deposit do you have them sign anything?

[Cat Herder]

"I will be glad to cancel our contract, effective immediately. As previously stated, deposits are non-refundable as I have already invested time and energy in enrolling your family. I have also turned other clients away and will have to begin the process again when I return from vacation. I enjoyed meeting your family and wish you great success in the program you have chosen. Have a great week."

Then don't respond further. You are on vacation.

[Alwaysgreener]

Thanks CH, it is sent.

On the positive side I just got to families contact me today. Both with older children.

[Pestle]

The nonrefundable deposit is there so that families can't reserve a space with six different providers and then withdraw from five of them at the last minute, leaving five people without the income they projected.

The fact that they even asked leads me to suspect that you aren't the only person they reserved a spot with.

[Alwaysgreener]

Here is dcd response

Hi!

This is DCD (DCBs dad). I wanted to reach out to you regarding our current situation. I hate to bother you on your vacation, but I'd like to discuss our current situation. Is there anyway you can help our family out? The program we really wanted DCB to go to opened up today for us which will provide education for him as well. My wife and I are now finically hardened and hope you can please help us in this situation.

My wife and I can't afford to send him to this provider until the following month now do to the financial situation we are in.

DCM response

I understand deposits are non refundable, but is there anyway to get the $160 for the first week back?

Thoughts?

[GirlMomma]

Is the provider they want a Montessori school or something?

[Alwaysgreener]

Nope - this is the online description

Faith-based center providing care and education to infants, toddlers, preschool-, and school-aged children. Curriculum focuses on Christian values, self-discovery, and adventure. Daily lessons include story time, scripture, songs, dance, computer lab time, and movement. Outdoor play provides fresh air and exercise.

I have Christian music on my kitchen radio on 24/7, if we watch TV it's educational or VeggieTales, I have my curriculum listed on my website, I talk about God and my Christian values, and we talked about how we go outside.

In my opinion their decision to choose center over a home daycare or even my daycare is a blind decision because they never intended on using a home daycare long time and never even invested anytime and learning who I was and what I did.

[GirlMomma]

I agree. It seems like they needed a buffer until a spot opened up at a center.

It’s probably a blessing. I was ticked off when someone did this to me recently (an hour after the tour, decided to become a SAHM) but I know now it was likely for the best. I know if I have patience, I will get my last spot filled.

[Pestle]

"My wife and I can't afford to send him to this provider until the following month now do to the financial situation we are in."

And you couldn't afford to operate if you held spaces for free. They want to shift the financial effects of their choices onto you.

"The non-refundable deposit holds a space for your child, making the space unavailable to other paying clients. This space was reserved for your child, and the reservation will not be refunded."

You have already done what they paid you to do. Now they retroactively want your services for free. Not okay.

[Pestle]

On the plus side, you dodged a bullet. Anybody who would make this request would be a terrible client who would end up screwing you over even worse than this in the future.

I've had I think three clients who would have pulled something like this and they all just oozed disrespect for the work I did. Imagine signing a contract with, say, a manufacturer, and then coming back later and saying "we decided we wanted to go with one of your competitors, so give us our deposit back." Or paying for Netflix and then calling them and saying "turns out we just wanted to watch Hulu, so can you refund us for the month we didn't watch anything?"

[Alwaysgreener]

So I use Venmo for payments but I never send money out via Venmo, for no other reason than I do not want to. Anyways, if I had sent them money back, I would have created an invoice printed it, and written a check, then mailed it to them.

I want to write a blimp in my policies that say I don't use Venmo to return payments but do not say that I return payments. (hope that makes sense)

So how does this sound

Electronic payment methods are used for accounts receivable only.

[GirlMomma]

Looks good

[littlefriends]

I always love those parents that think their problems are somehow your problems…🙄🤦♀️

[flyingjewels]

You have already gotten good responses but I just wanted to chime in, that education line would have ticked me off too.

I actually had a friend for years, about a 8 year friendship, we became much closer the last 2 years. She called me all the time, hung out, etc. anyway I started watching her son for her here and there. Then it got a little more consistent like twice a week. I asked her to pay me since it was getting consistent and he was 15 months old so it was work for me with all the other kids I watched too. anyway she agreed and paid the reduced friend rate I gave her for a while and then started only paying me when she wanted to. 🙄 I didn’t say anything for a while until finally I did. It blew up and she stopped talking to me. She found a new center and her husband called mine to brag about how great this new place is and they actually do stuff with their kid and teach him things. Lmao. I did too though. Took videos, pictures, etc. 🙄🙄 it was very insulting and really hurt my feelings to be honest. It let me know further that she had zero respect for me and what I did. Some people really do think because we are in home we just do nothing. 🙄🤬 yea I sit and eat bonbons all day while your kids run around feral. Sounds about right. 🙄

[Alwaysgreener]

So today I got an email from Venmo that said one or more of my transactions have been flagged. It said that I was the requestor at 530 this morning and that it had been solved.

I only use this for my child care, so it has to be someone that paid me for something. Hmm.

The app let me close my account, so I am assuming all is well.

[Alwaysgreener]

I am not sure what happened, it is a possibility that he was trying something or it could be a coincidence that my account got a random search for key business words and they sent me a warning. Either way I closed it and got my vacation to come up with an alternative way to take electronic payment.

[flyingjewels]

Wait you had to close your entire Venmo account?? So you can’t use it anymore??

[Alwaysgreener]

I didn't have to, I choose to as a preventative measure. It was an old account that was created before biz accounts were available, so I was breaking the rules.