retainer for half days/alternating

[banana]

hi,

just a quick one. the meeting i have with the parents today is for a wed and thurs. half days but on alternate hours. one week it will be wed thur morning and the following will be wed, thurs afternoon. just wondering because i cant fill either my mornings or afternoons with someone else as it varies fortnightly, shoud i charge a retainer or a small additional fee. obviously i dont want to lose the work by saying this but didnt knw if its common practice if the minded hours change from week to week?? they have had other minders before, does anyone ever ask what they were paying at their last minders??

thanks

[Pauline]

I never ask what they were paying at a previous minder but you could say "I don't know what your other minder charged but I charge....... blah blah blah"

Then you could see what they say.

Some minders would actually charge for the whole day, some would be happy to just be paid for the hours and not worry about losing the half day,it depends on whether the parents can pay that much and how much you want the work.

At the end of the day it's up to you but perhaps you could charge a little more on your hourly rate rather than having to mess around with retainers.

Also some minders have set sessions - Full day, Morning session, afternoon session and charge a set fee for each. The full day offering a discount on the two half day fees added together, if you get what I mean.

Hope that helps.

[angeldelight]

I think Pauline`s advice is good and spot on

I do not do any childminding for any less than 8 hours a week it is not worth my while these days with all the children I do have so I can afford to turn people away

8 hours is only 2 hours a day or a full day so for any less it is not worth it really because it stops me having more children sometimes if you know what I mean

I would never ask what another minder charges ( even though sometimes I would like to know ha )

I would imagine you are getting ready for the parent about now so I hope it all goes ok

Angel xx

[banana]

yeah they are coming at 3 so im just having a quick snack while kids are eating their lunch and then im off to get sorted.

thanks for the advice all

i'll let you know what happens later
x

[banana]

well what a quick meeting that was. they came in, had a quick chat and gave me the shift patterns (all printed out nicely ). 12-5 one week and 8-2 the following. i decided that im just going to charge my normal rate cos after having a think i'd feel a bit bad charging for care they werent using and after all the are trying to earn a living too and i might as well have that work coming in on those days rather than not having it.

so she said she's going to read the prospectus and then she'll give me a call to come and sign contracts. it went well and they seemed happy and the little girl was playing lovely in the garden and didnt want to leave - threw herself on the floor when she had to go ;D was very amusing!

so maybe i've made a good decision, or maybe i've made a wrong one but im quite happy with it at the moment. who knows how long it may be before i have another enquiry for those specific days - i thought i was going to be stuck unbale to fill them and then this turned up so really its worked out well.

so i'll let you know when they call back. (now im thinking 'what if they dont call back' ) lol, i tell you i'm a sandwich short of a picnic sometimes.

[angeldelight]

Well done I am sure they will call back

I never follow the rules and I always think about peoples work pattern etc even though every one says I'm too soft

I would have done the same as you and not charged any extra

Angel xx

Let us know when they get back to you

[Pauline]

I think you have done the right thing Lana, I always say at the end of the day so long as YOU are happy with what you are getting then it doesn't matter what anyone else would charge.

It's when you feel bitter about your pay that you need to change things.

[banana]

have not heard back from these parents.

they seemed to be definate that they would be coming back to sign contracts

oh well. we'll see if I hear from them. they wanted the care to start on the 12th april so maybe there is time yet.

[angeldelight]

Yes they may be waiting to contact you the week before?

I hate it sometimes when parents act like they think you are the best thing since sliced bread and spend hours at our homes drinking our drinks and for us to entertain them after we have talked business then their children running wild and us watching them whilst mom and dad sit back relaxing.
Then they get up to leave and say "oh we can not wait to see you again the children / child are going to love it here "

Then you never hear from them again it is always the ones that you really think love your setting too

Hope you hear from them soon

Angel xx

[Pauline]

You could always give them a ring and say that you have had some enquiries and wanted to make sure if they wanted you or not, as you would like to give them first refusal on the place.

[banana]

I wish I could Pauline but i didnt get a contact number for them

They made their calls on a witheld number so it didnt come up on the phone and while they were here I forgot to ask - so thats my own silly fault!

[Pauline]

Ah........what you need is a 'general enquiry sheet'

Make yourself a small sheet for, phone number, care required, age of children etc. then when someone phones fill it in and you have all the info you need

[banana]

now that is a good idea!!

Used to use them all the time when I was a travel agent!

Im going to get some typed up today!!

[Bella]

It Is always a good idea to take a contact number of a potential new parent when you arrange the first meeting, then, if you have to cancell for any reason ,eg. illness, etc, you can let them know.

[banana]

They called this morning and signed the contracts this afternoon!!

Woo hoo!!!

So not all bad news today hee hee ;D

[Pauline]

Well done Lana, that's great news. When do they start?

[banana]

she starts on thursday!

its usually a wed and thurs but only thurs this week.

I really hope ofsted dont come on monday, as I also have the little boy starting back that I used to mind and he took so long to settle last time that I could do without the inspector here on his first morning!

[Pauline]

Well if she does come that day make sure you explain that it's his first day back and you will be able to show how you deal with it etc.