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I am a fairly new hdcp and I just noticed when I looked online at my bank account that one of my weekly cheques bounced. I don't yet know which family did this but I have an idea! Anyway, how do you deal with this with the parents once I know who it is?
Well I don't accept cheques anymore and this is why but when I used to it was in my policy book that the parent had to pay for any bank charges relating to the bounced cheque as well as a $50 sur charge on top of the the original fees. It had to be paid in cash and they lost the privilege of paying by cheque. I now only accept cash or EMT.
Can you log on your bank account to 'see' which one it is?
My bank scans a copy of the cheque into their system so when it shows up in my account as 'NSF' I can click more info and the cheque shows up .... otherwise it can take 7-10 business days for the actual 'NSF cheque to get mailed out' and I would not be waiting that long to deal with this ~ I would call the bank if they do not have this service and see if they can find out WHO bounced!
Either way IF the client has not already come in with CASH for me cause IME they typically know BEFORE me that their cheque has bounced on their end but if not than I would contact them at work or home and tell them cash is needed TODAY including my NSF fee in order for care to continue ... if they did not than according to my contract their service is terminated and they forfeit their Security Deposit which would be use to cover any care already received and than time to find a new client!
I still prefer the 'paper trail' of cheques for income tax purposes and I am too cheap to pay the EMT and other electronic services charges at this point cause i have not had any issues with cheques .... however you only get one 'shit happens' excuse and if you bounce another cheque on me you become a 'cash only' client!
I allow a cheque to bounce once. They owe me all fees that I had to pay plus $25.00. They also loose their right to write cheques. All payments from there on in are done by cash or EMT. I love EMT!
I've bounced daycare cheques in my past and I've always caught it before the provider and showed up with cash in hand. I expect the same.
I've never had a cheque bounce yet. Only 2 family's pay me by cheque and I don't think they would ever be in a position where a cheque bounced.
Bounced cheque. They pay me a $35 penalty to cover bank charges as well as owing me the fees they bounced immediately. From then on they must pay in cash, at the beginning of the week before care is provided. Also, I may charge them a late fee as well, depending on how ticked I am, because now their payment is over a week late by the time I find out that a cheque has been bounced. Plus, they have to know their cheque bounced before I know, so there is that honesty issue as well. This is all laid out in my contract.
I had 1 family pay me by EMT and there was no cost to me. It was convenient and they would pay it Sunday evening so it was always guaranteed to be in my bank by Monday morning rather than waiting all day for the parent to get round to sending it.
EMT do not cost money to the recipient, ever. Also, I have an excellent record of payment on my bank statement online, that I can print off if need be. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Inspired by Reggio
Alpha .... I have a column on my payment log for EMT reference numbers
Excellent idea :)
I'm about to inform my only cheque paying family that I no longer accept cheques.
Loadsokids, I have a $50 NSF fee for the parents to discourage a bounced cheque and I don't accept cheques once one has bounced. Time to add this to your contract.