Miranda's Daycare

My son started at Miranda's daycare on July 10, 2015. I pay $37.50 per day. She always had excuses why I had to pick up my son early (which then I had to leave work early). Saying he was sick but when I got there he was perfectly fine. August 2015 was the worst. I picked him up early one day because she said he puked. He was fine when I picked him up and for the remainder of the evening. The next week August 12, 2015 her son was sick so I couldn't take him. I had to pay another daycare. The next day I had to pick him up early because she was sick. On Friday I didn't even take him. The following Wednesday August 19, 2015, my parents dropped him off for the day (as I just had back surgery the day before). That day I was texting her and she never responded to me all day when he was in my care. This was unacceptable.....considering she had my son in her care at that time. [redacted]. My parents picked him up that same day and she terminated care. She wouldn't say why just that there was a letter in the bag. My dad asked for my money back and she refused. Said something about her contract. But she never fulfilled her contract. She said uncontrolled and aggressive behavior because that's what it says in her contract. He has never displayed any types of these behaviors she described. My normal daycare also said he has never acted in that way. If he was acting in these manners I have to wonder what kind of care she was providing him. Not once did she ever talk to me about his behavior. Just his eating which we addressed together.Product_Or_Service: 450.00Desired Settlementaccording to my calculations. I pay $37.50 per day. She watched him 4.5 days. I want $281.25 refunded to me for services not rendered. Business Response Here is my response, without prejudice, in regards to Revdex.com Case #[redacted]; I am more than willing to provide any information you need. First and foremost, her son started in my care on Wednesday July 8th, 2015, not July 10th, as she stated in her complaint. She provided her July payment for that month by personal check, which I still have a copy of, and is dated for that same date as he started. She also signed the contract which states that she accepts all the terms of the parent handbook, which I am more than willing to provide her signed copy of, which I have all my parents sign upon the agreement of allowing their children into my care. The handbook states the following:Fees are to be paid in full on the 1st day of each month and are considered a payment in advance of services.If your child/children are unable to attend daycare for any reason you will still be charged for that day. This includes sick days, unscheduled holidays, etc.There will be a late fee of $10 per day for each day that payment is late.Part Time (three full 8 hour days, or less, per week OR five 4 hour days (toddlers and preschool kids)Toddlers $450/monthShe did not pay her July fees on time, and in her eyes felt she should not pay the full amount of $450.00 for that month because her son did not start until July 8th, 2015. Upon trying to negotiate with her, she disregarded every statement and question I asked regarding additional fees, so I felt I had no choice but to deposit the check she provided at that time considering that it was the only payment I had from her to provide for her son and had hoped to work with her to resolve the late fees at a later date, which could not be addressed. Also, according to the contract she signed, she was paying fees on a monthly basis. Her calculations are based on the assumption that she was paying per day. She signed a contract that stated she would pay a set amount per month regardless of attendance. Additionally, the parent handbook states the following:Termination of CareHowever, termination without notice may result for:Non-payment of feesUncontrolled/unacceptable behavior such as verbal or physical violence from the parent or childExcessive late pick-ups of your child/childrenTherefore, in this circumstance, no prior warning would need to be provided. If I feel the parent or the child is a threat to me or the other children, I have an obligation to remove them from care immediately.IllnessChildren who come in contact with the following conditions may not be able to attend daycare:Head liceUnexplained rashSevere cold or cough symptoms with sneezing, runny nose, or feverHigh fever (100+ degrees)Eye infectionsDiarrheaVomitingPink eyeImpetigoAny and all other communicable disease such as strep throat, chicken pox, whooping cough, etc.The child should not return to daycare until they have been on antibiotics or other prescribed medication for at least 24 hours.If your child appears to develop symptoms while in daycare, I will separate them from the other children and will request that you take them home.Based on the above, and in regards to her issues with illness, she brought her son to my care sick, which was in violation to the contract agreement. This is why I asked her to pick him up. In turn, his illness got myself, my husband, and both my son and daughter sick. Wednesday August 5th, she dropped off her son stating he "was up all night coughing and he now has a runny nose". He spent the entire day sneezing and coughing. The following week everyone in our house got sick. My husband had to miss work, which has been documented. On August 11th, I advised her that my son was vomiting, and per the contract she signed, I do not recommend any parents bring their children. The following week she had to pick up her son because I was ill and told her I did not want it to circulate any further. She replied with "Oh, you all probably got it from him", pointing at her son and leaving the house with no regard to discuss the matter further. Our illnesses, I am certain, were due to direct contact with her son, which she was well aware of and seemed to have no regard for.Regarding discussions with her and her son's behavior, I sat down with her July 22nd and discussed his eating habits, and failure to eat, which was affecting his sleep and behavior. At the initial interview with her and her son's father, they both reviewed my example meal plan, which I also provide to all of my potential clients, and she agreed to the meal plan. Her son had been refusing to eat multiple items - upwards of 19 items in the course of a 6 hour day since his initial start date on July 8th. This was concerning to me and why I wanted to address it with her. My husband was present at the meeting and it was at this time she advised that she doesn't agree to my meal plan and only has specific eating habits at home. She also suggested that I "squish his cheeks together and force feed the food to him" because that is what her parents do. I told her I would not do that, as I did not feel comfortable doing so, but would have liked to know more about his home eating habits and diet. His eating issues, or lack of eating, continued until his last day of care. Her son also had issues of lashing out at nap times, which I did discuss with her a couple of times upon pick up, but she disregarded me each time. I would advise her that he cried a lot at nap time, or slept disruptively, shrieking and disturbing other people in the house. Yet again, it went unresolved. My husband was witness to these conversations, as was my daughter and my sister in-law, and more than once made mention to her of it when he was home on a day off. We were both concerned about her son's sleeping habits, as she has also dropped him off on a few occasions stating he "was up all night", or he was "asleep until just now" which was when she decided to drop him off at 9:30am. I tried to talk to her about his sleep pattern and she always disregarded me. One of the last text messages I have from her is from Friday August 14th, where she stated she would drop him off at 9:30. She did not show up. She sent another message right at 9:30 stating that she would be another 20 minutes as she indicated she was at an appointment. At 10:45 she sent a final message to tell me she wasn't bringing him as she took him to the office with her. Her parents did bring him on Wednesday August 19th, to which I provided the letter stating the termination of care. Her parents acted in a threatening and aggressive manner in front of my own children and daycare children, which are also additional grounds for termination as listed in my contract. Once again, she signed and agreed to the handbook upon the initial interview. I am not willing to pay her the amount she is requesting, as she has broken her signed contract on several occasions and in fact owes me 7 days of late fees (July 1 to July 7 - $10 per day - total $70) plus $30 for the month owing for July (she paid $420 of the $450), total owing to me $100.00. She also sent me an email on August 20 stating she wanted $250 refunded, not the $281.25 listed in this claim. I feel it is fair to split the difference and without prejudice, I will offer her $150.00. This is my only and final offer.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)I am accepting the $150. As I had to pay for two weeks of daycare since he was kicked out as I couldn't take care of him because I just had back surgery. [redacted] I do not agree with most things she said. She never once mentioned a late payment and I never once met her sister in law. [redacted]