ComplaintsforHope 4 Kids Preschool

• Initial Complaint

  09/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The buisness is charging me for a month that my child did not attend childcare.

  Business response

  09/26/2023

  The correspondence was sent to J****** and E**** on 9/22/23. J******'s response was that they gave notice, but they did not give 30-days' notice, which (again) is in the Admissions Contract they signed and in the Family Handbook. They have not paid any money towards their outstanding balance. We are very patient, but we have the right and may choose to take them to small claims court if they continue to fail to make any progress on this outstanding balance.

  Sent 9/22/23:

  
  
  We went through your account and have attached the updated statement. It's important to read this entire email so you are aware and can be informed about your account history and repayment options.
  
  You left in November of 2021 without submitting the 30-day notice [which is included in the Admissions Contract you signed and the Family Handbook you received]. We wanted to be kind and make an exception for you, so we waived the 30-day notice requirement and added the credit that your APP [alternative payment program] paid on your behalf.  In December of 2022, the amount you owed was high (since the APP did not pay as much as you expected), so we agreed to allow a payment plan so you could pay the balance due. You made some payments, but did not make the June 2023 payment. Then in April of 2023, you left again [after reenrolling] without giving a 30-day notice and we were unable to waive the 30-day notice period for a second time. Because you did that, the APP only paid $62.38 on your behalf.
  
  Also, we have only added ONE late fee in the amount of $100, but in reality, your balance would be significantly higher if we had been adding the late fees to your account since you left (again) without notice in April (as noted in the family handbook). This represents a savings of $814.25 and that's without compounded late fees (so it would actually be more than that). We literally did this out of kindness to your family. We hope you will understand that we did not have to do this, but chose to do it in an effort to help your family.
  
  We have added all credits including your holding fee and your outstanding balance is updated to $1,628.49. As I have mentioned many times, we have tried to work with you in paying this back and have even offered to accept $25 payments, which is much lower than we have ever accepted. Your options remain the same as mentioned before and I will include them below for your convenience with updated dates and amounts. Please note that, if you choose option 4 with payments of $25 and do not make these payments in full OR if any payment fails (bounces for non payment), we will have no choice but to assess the late fees noted in your Admissions Contract and the family handbook and take steps to bring this matter to small claims court.
  
  J****** and E****, we have been very patient for months. We have held this balance due for months and have continuously offered numerous ways to pay it back, yet you have not made even one payment. Hopefully you can understand our position and our kindness to your family, and begin making payments immediately so that we can avoid having to deal with this matter another way.

  1. Pay the balance due of $ 1,628.49 in full by 9/30/2023 and you will not incur a late fee of 10%.
  2. Pay 75% of the balance ($1,221.37) in full by 9/30/2023 and we will waive the 10% late fee of $162.85 scheduled to be added to your account on 10/03/23.
  3. Pay 60% of the balance ($977.09) in full by 9/30/2023 and we will waive the 10% late fee of $ 162.85 scheduled to be added to your account on  10/03/23.
  4. Make payments on time every two weeks on the 1st and 15th starting on 9/30/23 in the amount of $25 and your account will incur a late fee in the amount of 10% of the total unpaid balance on the 3rd of each month.

  Please "REPLY ALL" no later than 5pm today so that we are all included in the option you choose to repay your balance due. If you choose options 1, 2, or 3 and need time (like a week or two) to pull this money together, we will work with you on the date you can make a larger payment BUT you will still need to make payments of $25 beginning 9/30/23. There is no penalty for early repayment. 
  
  You will need to update Brightwheel with your current banking information. If you choose option 4, we will not charge you more than $25 on the 1st and 15th of the month, unless you reply with two dates you prefer other than the 1st and 15th.

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