Please help!

[Rachael]

I agree. Don't refund anything or any part of the fees, until the cheque has cleared for certain. This is how scammer work - they send a cheque which will never clear and pressurize for a refund before the cheque bounces. Not saying this person is anything more than someone whose had a change of heart but she will have to wait until her money is cleared whether or not she likes it.

In terms of interview times and/or times to drop off paper work/deposits, there are no rules. Do what suits you.

For me, I have teenagers and so at the end of my work day, I am no longer tied to my house and have social events/clubs. After working a 12 hour day, I don't want to spend my evenings and weekends interviewing people. For that reason, I arrange interviews either at 9am (with notification to day care parents that another adult will be in the house) because my crew are settled and not tired or hungry at that time of day plus it doesn't interfere with our schedule. Or I will interview at nap time but the potential clients are told that they will not be able to see the nap rooms. At a push, I will interview immediately after closing so it doesn't interfere with family time. Likewise, paperwork and deposits can be dropped at these times too.

But that doesn't work for everyone.

Other carer's I know, prefer around 7pm time when they've had time to feed their own family supper and their small children are in bed. Yet others prefer weekend interviews when their spouse can take their own children out to the park for a couple of hours and they aren't being pulled in different directions.

It's your business. You determine the boundaries for yourself. But you aren't obligated to interview at times which aren't convenient to you.

I have learned that you can't be everything to everyone. You can't interview people and be available every time they would wish you were. If these potential clients were going to a centre, they wouldn't have the option of going outside opening hours. They would have to schedule a time which suited the facility.

Once you have determined your own boundaries, they are easier to enforce because you actually know them. Fumbling and being unsure when someone wants to come at 1pm on a Sunday essentially meaning you have to remain local for the entire day. goes away when you are clear in your own mind that you won't do interviews over the weekend or will only do them at either end of the day.

As a side issue, I have learned that those who buck your boundaries with "Oh but my husband works 14 hours a day and I want him to come to" especially when they are on maternity leave and have all day, won't be respectful of your personal time throughout the relationship. Sure, I can understand the desire for both parents to come out and see the day care but to expect a really late appointment or a weekend appointment due to his schedule and to have zero consideration for yours, is often telling of their view point where their commitments are more important that yours.