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Need some advice..
Happy Tuesday everyone!!
Question for all you wonderful day home providers. I have been running my day home for 6 successful years now and have had very low turn over. I like to keep my group small as we are a busy day home that likes to do lots of fun outings.
My daughter starts school In September so I will have a full time spot open. I have had my ad posted for a few months now but sadly haven't found the right family and haven't had many interested. It's so slow in my area (alberta) with the oil field down turn and the recession we seem to be in.
My question to you is I had a referral and decided to set up an interview for today with the mom. She was scheduled to come at 10:30 and finally at 11:30 she phoned and said she's running late and needs to reschedule.... I have never had this happen before, I feel so upset with the situation. We had plans to be at the splash park today but changed them so we would be home for the interview, not to mention the extra cleaning and organizing I did last night.
I need advice what would you do, Would you reschedule her because it's a friend of a friend or walk away?
My gut is saying walk away as lateness to me is a BIG sign of disrespect..
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Life happens and it's nice to be given 2nd chances ourselves so I think I'd likely give her one too.
However, if lateness is a deal breaker for you, that is understandable! If you think it will bother you than I'd just say move on and keep looking.
Good luck! My husband has friends in the oil field in AB and a few of them have been hit so hard!
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Hmmmm tough one. My gut says move on. Parents who can't be organizes drive me nuts. If she would have called at 1030 saying she was running late the sure reschedule but to phone an hour late.....says to me your appointment wasn't too high on her priority list.
You can always meet and see what she is like. Just remember that hindsight is always 20-20
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The Following User Says Thank You to mickyc For This Useful Post:
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Expansive...
I'd move on. If she called at the time of her appt or before or even ten mins after saying she's late and can't make it then yes reschedule. She showed respect by letting u know she didn't forget about u and is still interested. But an HOUR.....no. That's disrespect. To "forget" about ur meeting. I'd say sorry but I will not reschedule as I had to move a lot of things around today to fit our meeting in and I won't do that again, best of luck in your daycare search.
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I have decided that for the most part, meetings with parents are best done right after the close of daycare. That way I am not interupting my day with the kids or being interupted by the kids. And since daycare is closed at 430, if they are late, then it isn't interfering with my evening too much. I also don't schedule meetings on weekends or my holidays. I agree with 5LM, getting a second chance is nice. I would suggest trying it again with her. If she's a no-show again, then you have a pattern.
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I would give her another chance for an interview because she was referred from a friend, but right at the beginning of the interview I would explain how important punctuality is in the families you are looking for. I would tell her how it disrupted your day when she had to reschedule. I would also explain to her that consistent late pick ups won't be tolerated. If she gets defensive and is not apologetic or understanding, than I would end the interview with "I have another interview and I'll let you know by such and such a date". Hope that helps
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The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to fivelittleones For This Useful Post:
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Depending on what happened, she may not have been able to call/text/email until she did. Being a friend of a friend, maybe it's possible to find out what happened?
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I had a family no show once and not even a call...i called and left a message when she was about an hour later ......she sent me an email a day or so later and profusely apologized saying they had a family emergency and asked if it was possible to reschedule .....i did and they showed and i ended up accepting them into care and they were one of the best families i have ever had .....i found out many months later that the dads brother (late 20's early 30's)was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo surgery ...that was the family emergency .....give them another chance......but think about maybe doing your interviews after daycare hours.....for security reasons i personally never do interviews when the day care kids are there and my families appreciate that i don't bring strangers around their children
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Thanks everyone for the advice! Normally I don't do interviews during the day, she had requested that they come while I was open so she could see how her daughter would interact with the other kids.
My husband even took the day off so he could be here (I never do an interview without him around).
When she did finally call her reasoning was she was busy running around doing paper work with the bank because she put an offer on a house...
She wants to rebook for Thursday morning, I sent her a email today telling her It will need to be in the evening, I also explained to her that we rearranged the morning and I wasn't wiling to do it again.
I can totally understand that sometimes situations come up and we miss or have to cancel appointments, I'm all for second chances BUT this in my eyes was just rude!!
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The Following User Says Thank You to Tania For This Useful Post:
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I would not give new appointment.
If she had contacted before her appointment, that would be different. But for my daycare children to have missed out on outing due to her lack of organizing and poor manners, that would be it for me. My current client always my priority not some wishy-washy person who can't get their act together or have basic manner to call in timely manner.
You already bend rules to allow her come in your business hours. I would not been happy. If she busy due to her house offer, she knew that before your appointment time so no excuse for not calling earlier.
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