A female daycare assistant helps children do crafts. Scene is illustrative and does not depict actual individuals or events.
A dad was convinced that he had uncovered a scam that was being run by his daughter's daycare. The place charged $1 for every minute after 6 PM that a parent was late to pick up their child. Although he always tried to be there by 5:55, the daycare clock, by which lateness was judged, often seemed to say that he was late.
After getting $93 in late fees for the month, he challenged management on this issue. They offered to let the parents split the fees, but refused to change the clock.
Four children sit in front of a male daycare assistant. Not actual story subjects.
A or B: My daughter's daycare charged me $96 in late pickup fees for September. Their lobby clock runs 8 minutes fast. The director says "the lobby clock is the official time" and it's in the handbook I signed
My daughter is in the toddler room at a daycare we were waitlisted at for 14 months. It's right by my office and she's obsessed with her teacher. Pickup is by 6:00, after that it's $1 a minute.
Parents sign kids out on a clipboard under a big owl clock in the lobby. Its eyes move back and forth every second and my daughter waves goodbye to it every night.
The thing that tipped me off was a night in the middle of September when I signed her out at a few minutes after 6 by the owl, even though my car had said 5:56 when I parked. The next day I held my phone up next to the owl and it was 8 minutes ahead. I told the girl at the front desk and she said she'd let the director know.
From then on I took a picture of the owl next to my phone every time I signed out. That's 11 pickups and the owl was ahead by about the same amount in EVERY one of them.
The October invoice came a few days ago. It had the usual tuition plus $96 in late fees for September, itemized by day. They had me late on 19 days, mostly by a few minutes.
Honestly I cut it close. I leave work with just enough time for the drive and most days I walk in around 5:55 by my phone.
A female daycare assistant and four children sitting at a table wave at a laptop. Image for illustrative purposes.
I emailed the director the photos. Her reply was "The lobby clock is the official time for the center. We can't adjust fees based on personal devices." She also pointed me to the parent handbook. It does say sign-out times are recorded by the center clock, and I signed that handbook in July.
She offered to "split it, one time only" if I pay $48 this week. Nobody has fixed the owl either. It was still fast when I checked again.
The part I can't back up is the first half of September. I don't have photos from before I noticed, so maybe the owl was right back then and I really was late on some of those days. I doubt it but I can't show it.
My husband thinks we should just pay it and I should leave work earlier. "We waited over a year for this place. Don't be that parent over a hundred bucks."
A) Pay the $96 or take her $48 deal, start leaving work earlier, and stay off the director's radar so we don't lose the spot.
B) Pay the tuition but not the late fees, send the photos again, and ask them to fix the owl and credit at least the 11 days I have pictures of.
A group of young children sitting on the floor in a daycare. Stock photography for depiction only.
If the owl is ahead it’s a business plan. If they are doing this for you, imagine the dollars they are saving while you are not there. I’d pay the $48 , leave early n find a new center. I believe they would reduce the sauce on the pasta, reduce the amount of pizza per kid, reduce the non water beverages, reduced the Lysol wipes used to clean, reduce the hours of people when they can get away with it.
Question: if the Owl is in charge of timekeeping and is, by default, always correct then could you reasonably expect to arrive to drop your daughter off at 8 minutes to 7 in the morning and find that the centre is open and accepting children at that time (assuming an official opening time of 7am is in operation per the handbook)?
If yes, then bow to the Owl and s**k it up. If no, they are scamming you and everyone else. Worse, they know they are using the Owl to make bank on all those minutes, and it’s intentional. Determine your course of action accordingly.
A. Take the $48 in the spirit of compromise, and in the spirit of compromise ask them to adjust the clock to ‘accurate’ time per the director’s cell phone. If they fail to adjust then you know this is an intentional strategy, and plan your next moves accordingly. But as a parent I know that you have to pick your battles if you like this daycare. Might not be worth it - just leave work 10 minutes earlier (and if the ‘official’ clock is 8 min fast, make up that time by dropping your child off 8 min earlier - and if they complain, tell them you are just following the handbook).
C) Complain to whoever administers your local equivalent of your consumer guarantees act, and your education department or whoever oversees childcare centres.
Then, CC your complaints to your local media tipline.
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