PLEASE! Need help with very difficult parents!

[cfred]

Sorry to hear this. They sound like real gems! It's a tough call. Personally, I'd likely stand my ground. They signed the contract, they knew what to expect. Why on earth would she wait 5 days to tell you of the termination??? In the future, if you don't already have it in your contract, you may want to address the issue of when to leave notice. My contract states that I require 1 months written/paid notice of termination. This notice may NOT be given in order to coincide with my vacation time. It must be either made 1 month before I go on vacation or on the first business day after I return. Sadly, sometimes people suck and it's good to cover that.

The fact that she actually yelled at you in front of the kids is bad enough. To send her husband to (in essence) intimidate you is appalling. Depending on where he posts bad reviews, you can choose whether or not to show reviews (here for instance). You could always rebut his reviews as well, in a professional manner. If he wants to take you to court, I don't see where they're going to get with that....they signed the contract agreeing to your terms. I'm not sure how all that works, but I would almost think that if you had to take time off work for court dates, the judge would possibly rule that they have to pay your expenses if you win. But really, would anyone with a teaspoon of brains actually take someone to court over $159??? That's just nuts.

Don't sweat this too much and chalk it up to a really sh&%ty family trying to strong arm you. DO NOT ALLOW THEM ON YOUR PROPERTY AGAIN!!! Oh, and any (I mean ANY) discussion about this issue with them should be via email so you have 2 sided documentation. It would be quite helpful to you if you could correspond via email with the mother and get this whole mess in an email. That would be pretty damning evidence if it ever came to a court situation.

Sorry to hear about your mum....I hope she's on the mend