Late fee for partial weekly payment

Hope I can get others thoughts on this....

I have one DCF that once in the past and again this week has paid me partial payment for the week. 99% of the time they pay on time. This week DCM was short. She told me she would get paid on Wednesday and give me the balance then. :huh:

I agreed as they are usually good with payments. They have done this once before, but paid me the balance on the agreed date later in the week.

Well Wednesday came and gone, and I did not get the balance. A whopping $27 dollars! Now at this point it is the principle. My contract states a $20 late fee for each day late. Now, considering I've agreed to the late Wednesday payment and it was not paid on Wednesday...Should I charge the $20 late fee on top of the $27 that they owe me?

I sent a text message to DCM last night reminding her that she needs to pay the balance at drop off Thursday morning (today). Did not hear back from her, even to acknowledge that she received text, or for her to say "opps forgot, no problem,I'll bring tomorrow" Nothing.

Here's where I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm very assertive businesswoman, however, I'm hurting for clients now. Have been advertising since August to fill 2 spots and have only had a handful of calls, mostly to ask about fees and inquiries for next September (had 3 calls for next September, great, but does not help me now). So I don't want to peeve this DCF. However, I don't like being taken advantage of. I cannot imagine that they would tell the Hydro, or Phone company that they cannot make a full payment and will pay partial fees, yet it's okay to do this to your child care provider??! WTH!!

I want to include a late payment fee this afternoon at pick up as they did not pay me on Wednesday as agreed. Hubby thinks this is a bad idea because of the situation with trying to fill 2 spots, don't want to risk them getting their backs up.

However, if I don't stick to my contract then what good is it. I know they are very happy here, their son is happy here, etc. But my contract states late fees for NO payment, not partial payment. I'm going to amend my contract to include "FULL PAYMENT MUST BE MADE EACH WEEK, OTHERWISE LATE FEE WILL BE INCURRED" Live and learn.

But...what do you think about a late fee for this circumstance. I'm leaning towards a YES. Hubby thinks NO:no:. What to do ??

What if you try a compromise. I know that we should stick to our guns about late fee penalties (please don't lynch me ladies) BUT I totally understand what you mean when you say that we don't want to drive a paying client away - especially in this economic climate. :) When she comes to pick up her child tonight, mention it to her and express it something like this: "I don't know if you forgot, but you were a little short on last week's dues. We had agreed that you would pay me the 27 dollars yesterday. I don't mind waiving the late fee this one time, but I thought we should touch base about this...." Hopefully this is enough to prompt her and she'll pay you on the spot (who doesn't have 25 bucks in their purse) or at a minimum she'll have the cheque for you tomorrow A.M. Hope this helps !

What was said at drop off this morning ? Or is the child not there today? I get your dilemma! I might be inclined to wave it this time but I would definately say to them " I have a late fee and I will wave it this time but next time I will not be accepting partial payments and I will be applying a late fee for everyday starting with the day it was due. ". Is it ok to just give the kid partial food? Or partial care? I also would not accept the child back into care without money in hand!

I dont think i would charge the fee but i would speak to her about it. I also dont think that a text or email for important issues is the way to go. All they have to do is say they didnt get the message and that buys them more time. I would speak to her in person and say that it was okay this time and no fee but if it happens again there will be a fee to pay.

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Originally Posted by Other Mummy

Hope I can get others thoughts on this....

I have one DCF that once in the past and again this week has paid me partial payment for the week. 99% of the time they pay on time. This week DCM was short. She told me she would get paid on Wednesday and give me the balance then. :huh:

I agreed as they are usually good with payments. They have done this once before, but paid me the balance on the agreed date later in the week.

Well Wednesday came and gone, and I did not get the balance. A whopping $27 dollars! Now at this point it is the principle. My contract states a $20 late fee for each day late. Now, considering I've agreed to the late Wednesday payment and it was not paid on Wednesday...Should I charge the $20 late fee on top of the $27 that they owe me?

I sent a text message to DCM last night reminding her that she needs to pay the balance at drop off Thursday morning (today). Did not hear back from her, even to acknowledge that she received text, or for her to say "opps forgot, no problem,I'll bring tomorrow" Nothing.

Here's where I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm very assertive businesswoman, however, I'm hurting for clients now. Have been advertising since August to fill 2 spots and have only had a handful of calls, mostly to ask about fees and inquiries for next September (had 3 calls for next September, great, but does not help me now). So I don't want to peeve this DCF. However, I don't like being taken advantage of. I cannot imagine that they would tell the Hydro, or Phone company that they cannot make a full payment and will pay partial fees, yet it's okay to do this to your child care provider??! WTH!!

I want to include a late payment fee this afternoon at pick up as they did not pay me on Wednesday as agreed. Hubby thinks this is a bad idea because of the situation with trying to fill 2 spots, don't want to risk them getting their backs up.

However, if I don't stick to my contract then what good is it. I know they are very happy here, their son is happy here, etc. But my contract states late fees for NO payment, not partial payment. I'm going to amend my contract to include "FULL PAYMENT MUST BE MADE EACH WEEK, OTHERWISE LATE FEE WILL BE INCURRED" Live and learn.

But...what do you think about a late fee for this circumstance. I'm leaning towards a YES. Hubby thinks NO:no:. What to do ??

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I agree with M2F Mama and Crayola. However, I would also state that it is very helpful to you if she would return your text messages within a reasonable amount of time. That is just rude, especially since it was about money owed.

Thanks everyone. some great advice here.

DCD dropped of DCB this morning with the balance and next week's payment. I mentioned that I cannot accept partial payments in future. He was very apologetic and mentioned that the $20 late fee was included in the envelope along with the balance and next week's fees.

Guess someone was up last night reading my contract on late fees :)\

Now that is an appreciative parent ....kudos to them !

So glad it worked out the way it did. Sounds like you don't need to worry whether you are appreciated or respected by them, sounds like you have both. Good luck on filling the other spots now! :)