Daycare bills

February 4, 2020 11:16 AM

My kid's daycare is back-charging us and the late fees are piling up and I don't know what to do.

My kid started daycare in August. Earlier I had put down a $200 deposit to go toward the first week. At the end of the first week I got a bill for $30. Per the parental handbook our rate was $246 so I sent an email saying, is our rate $230 or $246? And I got an email back saying $230.

So I've been paying the $230. One week in november I paid late and got an emailed invoice of our balance which was $230+$25 late fee. No problem, I paid it.

Then earlier this month I got a bill that said I owed $186 because we had been underpaying. I emailed back and said, per or email on x date our rate was clarified at $230. I got no response so I went in to talk to them but the director wasn't there. I emailed again and got no response.

Then on January 7th I went in to talk to them again but the director wasn't there. I told the assistant director that we would like to take three months off and if that wouldn't be possible then we would have to take him out of daycare. I got an email from the director that that was fine as long as we gave two weeks notice. So we did, and in my email back I again asked her about the discrepancy and got no response.

Yesterday I got an email saying that I owe them $1100 with a late fee $25 each week for the past three weeks, even though on January 6 I gave her a check for $230 that is not reflected in the invoice even though I checked my bank account and it went through.

I sent her an email back saying please call me, I want to settle up but I don't believe these charges are correct. I called and was told the director wasn't there.

This morning I was emailed another copy of the invoice and an email that said "attached is the correspondence from August with the parental handbook saying the rate is $246." But they never told me until now that I was underpaying them, no previous invoices reflected that, and when I tried to ask if my rate was $246 they said it was $230 so I don't understand.

I really wish I could pay the money to make it go away but I truly can't afford that. I am pretty sure that at this point I don't actually owe them any money since I paid the agreed upon amount up until his last day which is January 7th.

Am I being unreasonable? I honestly don't know if I'm being fair in this situation. Am I making sense? And not to throw a pity party but my husband had been in an inpatient psych facility for the past month which is $$$$$ and every penny I make is spoken for so I don't know what to do about this bill.

posted by pintapicasso to Work & Money (18 answers total)

are you saying that you've been receiving invoices of $230 every month, and paying them?

if that's the case then I think all you need is a certified letter showing them those invoices and telling them to back all the way up. Standard practice is to pay invoices, not to ferret around in unrelated documentation to see if maybe the invoice was wrong.

Make sure the bank statement showing your last check went through is in there too.

I'd use pretty strong language here tbh. How dare they harass you if the bills they've been sending are for $230.

(It sounds to me like their bookkeeper screwed up, more than once, and is trying to blame you for it.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:19 AM on February 4, 2020 [16 favorites]

I don't know what to do either, but I just want to say that it sounds like it was absolutely their screw up and whoever did it is probably sticking it to you to keep their job one way or another. I would send them one more email with the original email saying the rate was $230 as well as the actual bills you got for $230 and then set up a filter that sends their emails to a folder you don't check and marks them as read.
posted by bleep at 11:20 AM on February 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Reply to the email you got this morning. Specifically cut and paste the email reply you got that said your rate is $230. In your email, advise them that per the email below, your rate was clarified as $230 a week and not the earlier quoted rate of $246.
posted by TestamentToGrace at 11:21 AM on February 4, 2020 [4 favorites]

Respond to the email, cc the director, include the original email and all of your invoices, and a copy of your bank statement showing this month has been paid.

Text should read something like:

According to the attached email dated XXX in which I clarified our rate with the director, the rate is $230. Each of the invoices we have received also reflect the rate of $230. Our most recent bank statement shows the payment of $230 for [week] has been withdrawn, so please adjust our records to reflect that this payment was received on time.

In accordance with attached email dated XXX, our leave was approved, therefore we do not owe any weekly fees after [date].

As we have paid all charges as agreed upon and invoiced, please note that our account is current and we do not owe any additional monies. Please confirm receipt of my email and that our account has been adjusted to reflect these facts.


posted by DoubleLune at 11:34 AM on February 4, 2020 [22 favorites]

You're not being unreasonable. If you have an email that clearly confirms the $230 rate AND every single invoice you've ever received and paid indicated $230 AND your kid is not longer attending there, I would tell them to pound sand. Well, not really, but do email back with a screenshot of that first email confirming the rate plus your previous invoices with the rate prominently highlighted.

I get what they're trying to do, but no, this is 100% on them. If they really wanted to make this right, the director would call you and based on your previous interactions, she does not seem particularly inclined to do so. I would not accept any further communications that don't come from her directly.
posted by anderjen at 11:35 AM on February 4, 2020 [4 favorites]

I don't understand how they got to $1100 even if there was some misunderstanding about the $16 difference between $246 and $230. I don't think you are being unreasonable.
posted by Mid at 11:40 AM on February 4, 2020

Response by poster: Thank you. I printed out all the communication I received and I noticed that specific invoices have been changed to reflect the new amount. For example I have invoice 2143 for $230 from October. But in the email today it has invoice 2143 for $246 listed as a line item. So I think they changed the original invoice?
posted by pintapicasso at 11:41 AM on February 4, 2020

Response by poster: Sorry that's to say - I only received the original one for $230 in October but nowit will look like it was
for $246, which makes it look like I owe them.
posted by pintapicasso at 11:42 AM on February 4, 2020

Is there a legal aid clinic in your area? Do you know any lawyers at all? Because this seems to be a great case for a polite nastygram outlining the facts (you were told $230/week, you have documentation showing that that's what you've paid, you've received multiple emails that contradict what you were originally told, you've attempted multiple times to rectify the situation, and every single time the director was not there), making a polite demand for the daycare to drop the case and acknowledge they've done so and otherwise cease communication, and acknowledging that future attendance of your child at this daycare may be subject to different rates. I know what it's like to find a good daycare, and if this is the only problem, I understand that you'd like to keep them as an option.

Just read your followup. They're changing invoice amounts? Fuck them. It's one thing to amend an invoice initially, and if they'd contacted you at that time and said "no sorry it's supposed to be $246 and that's what it'll be going forward", totally different scenario. Here, this is borderline fraud (in a layperson's definition, at least).
posted by disconnect at 11:45 AM on February 4, 2020 [21 favorites]

It really doesn’t matter what they are trying to do - you likely have a combination of human error, perhaps a poor system that allows people to change things they shouldn’t be able to change and people who are incompetent and/or want to cover up this litany or errors. I’d be inclined to stop with emails. Write a letter, enclose all your information as suggested, address this to the director and make it recorded delivery.
posted by koahiatamadl at 11:48 AM on February 4, 2020 [4 favorites]

They're changing the invoices? That's shady AF, if not illegal. Print out every piece of documentation you have right now for backup. You don't owe them a cent, and don't give them anything.

If they don't respond to your good-faith email/letter to correct your account by cancelling all of the bogus charges and fees, and even after you've provided them documentation they're trying to collect bogus fees, you have some options:
-get a lawyer to write a letter on your behalf
-flat out ignore them (you have the documentation to show you don't owe them anything and that you made a good faith effort to resolve this)
-writing a cautionary but fair review (i.e., "my son truly enjoyed the care he received while he was there and they took wonderful care of him. however I had a post-dated accounting issue wherein they changed past fees after I had paid the proper invoices, and I did not like how they handled their administration")

I would not take my kid back there, and I would not want to deal with a place that had this level of administrative BS.
posted by DoubleLune at 12:01 PM on February 4, 2020 [13 favorites]

Ugh! You're being awesome, they're being awful.

Print out every single email, receipt, and invoice. Put them in chronological order. Highlight the dollar amounts they sent you. Highlight the times you asked the amount.

In particular print out the two changed invoices. Show the discrepancy. Somebody made some mistakes... and changing invoices is NOT ok. I woudn't point fingers, I would just frame is as a perplexing error from your point of view... but whoever changed an invoice is walking the daycare into fraud territory, and the director needs to know.

Make an appointment to go see the director and walk them through this booklet. Make it very clear that you tried to figure out the issue like 10 times and nobody replied. Make it clear you dropped in to ask, and nobody answered (without overly pointing the finger at the director's absence, because directors are gonna be absent and they definitely are less likely to treat you well if you guilt them for that).

If I were you I'd probably agree to pay HALF of the disputed amount ($16 per week is disputed, so I'd pay $8), and on a layaway plan. But I'm kind of a hardass. You might decide to pay the entire dispute amount, but it should be in like 4 installments so it does not inconvenience your cash flow- it is THEIR mistake and it's not fair to penalize you with a sudden surprise amount when you've been trying to pay them since summer.

And under NO circumstances should you be expected to pay one single dollar of interest or a late fee, starting all the way back from day 1, and all the way into the future until the balance is settled. Refuse any late fee. Do not pay it. It's not fair. You did more than your due dilligence to try and untangle their error.

Also... personally, this would be enough for me to leave a daycare, and tell other parents, and leave accurate public online reviews about their shady practices.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 12:01 PM on February 4, 2020 [6 favorites]

Since you refer to the "director" rather than the "owner," is there is another layer of supervision? Perhaps a national office (if it's a private chain), a board of directors (if it's an independent nonprofit), or the management of the sponsoring organization (if it's associated with a school or church or employer)? If so, if this hasn't been resolved appropriately within a week or so, go up the chain of supervision.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:16 PM on February 4, 2020 [3 favorites]

if you have the original dated invoices that show $230, and now they are falsifying them in their own system to pretend they invoiced you $246, that is even worse. (It would be one thing to say "we did screw up by telling you $230, and that was our mistake, as you see in the handbook, tuition went up last year, and we're sorry, but we need to collect the new amount." I would still push back on that, but it would be different than this, which is straight up fraud.)

Whoever's doing this is on very thin ice. No more email. Print out your documentation and include them with the letter you send, certified mail.
posted by fingersandtoes at 12:44 PM on February 4, 2020 [20 favorites]

My wife is a daycare Director. It's inconceivable that the Director isn't there every time you call. That job requires you to be there, all the time. If this is a corporate chain call corporate.
posted by COD at 1:21 PM on February 4, 2020 [7 favorites]

Do you have the email where they said 230? Also, they accepted 230. They aren't being reasonable or communicative. You sound like you're trying to be reasonable.
posted by theora55 at 1:50 PM on February 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

This makes me so mad on your behalf. I wish I could call them and give them a piece of my mind. You are not in the wrong, nor are you being unreasonable. I'm sorry you're dealing with this as well as your husband's difficulties.

Earlier this month you got an invoice for $186 for 'underpayments.' If anything you may possibly owe them $16/week. But $186 is not divisible by 16, so where did they get that number?

Then suddenly the amount is $1100? Where did that number come from?

Gather anything you have that says the cost was $230. Set up an in-person meeting or call with the Director. Be overly nice, but be the squeaky wheel. If the director is not available when you call, ask to set up an appointment to 'clear up a misunderstanding.'

Call back each day until something changes.

While you may have been willing to pay the $246 originally, I urge you to stand your ground on this and pay the $230 with no late fees/back charges. The amount of time you've had to put into clearing this up makes this reasonable. There was no misunderstanding on the $230 cost - that number was reiterated to you multiple times.

If you have trouble being firm with them, I urge you to summon your inner 'someone' who will stand up for you. Maybe you have a friend who wouldn't put up with this b.s. Think of what that person would do in your shoes.
posted by hydra77 at 2:44 PM on February 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Skip calling; they've apparently decided the Director doesn't talk with you on the phone. Ask for an in-person appointment "to clear up the billing confusion."

Bring documentation as noted - everything you've been sent that says $230.

Ask when the rate changed. Ask what documentation they sent you about that. (If the answer is, "It's in the handbook," point out that you asked about that, and got a more recent answer of $230.) Don't agree to pay ANYTHING over the $230 you've been paying. You have several documents from them stating that's what you owe, and you paid it.

You might try to find a lawyer to address the issue of fraudulent billing - where their initial invoice was for $230 but later they sent you a copy with the same number with a higher rate. Keep that original PDF; the metadata will say when it was generated. (Compare to the newer one. Possibly, screencap those details.)

Short version: You are being billed for services you never agreed to. You agreed to pay $230/week. (That you might have agreed to $246 is irrelevant. You didn't.) At some point, they decided that not only should you pay more, you needed to pay more for services already received. Oh, and that you need to pay late fees for not paying the amount they never told you to pay.

This is very, very illegal. And the fact that they're adding late fees implies that either they don't think it's illegal, or they are ready to file some kind of suit against you if you don't pay.

You should talk to a lawyer ASAP.

If they're exceedingly dodgy about trying to set up an appointment, then skip the "try to work things out with them" stage and go straight to "get lawyer; discuss whether file suit for fraud." If they really don't want you to talk with the director, it means they know something very shady is going on. (Possibly including "assistant botched the accounting and doesn't want to explain that to the director.")
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 4:13 PM on February 4, 2020 [10 favorites]