"We've decided not to pay you this week."

[MrSunshineState]

I agree with Moosenogger. While it will cost over $100 in court and filing fees, I would still take her to small claims to send a message and to get that judgement against her.

[Engmfj]

At first I was thinking that SM was someone who's always had enough money and couldn't imagine how not getting paid could hurt financially. You know, those stuck up people who's never ever had to worry about having enough money to get even the most basic stuff that week. That would've somehow explained her attitude - just explained it, not made it okay. But she did this because she herself had no money that week, so that doesn't quite fit ..

And besides, you should never mess with people making your food or handling your child. Not that I think OP and his wife would do anything to the child, it's not his fault that his mum is a clown, but I hope you know what I mean?

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Wow. Your wife is a saint...I would have told that bitch the first time she said she wasn't paying that she better show up with the extra $100 PLUS the next week's fee the next week, or she'd be turned away at the door, BEFORE dropping her kid off. That kind of attitude infuriates me, and I'm sorry, you just don't get to tell me you're not paying me and then expect for me to continue doing business with you. I'm sorry your wife had to deal with Queen EW and that it happened not once, but TWICE.

[nuthing12]

I told her (my wife) later on that she should have said Junior could come back, but only at double the previous rate. However knowing SM, she might have tried to stiff us on that too, so my wife probably did the right thing.

To be honest, I think she should have told her the kid was welcome back but only if she first paid the money she already owed you, plus every subsequent week's payment UP FRONT. That way you could never be stiffed by the likes of that bitch again.

[bainsidhe]

If I may add, the daycares around here charge a specific amount per week, regardless of whether the child attends or not. Kid stays home with the flu? Pay the daycare. Go on a 2-week vacation with child? Pay the daycare. Because if you don't pay, someone else who is willing to pay will take your spot. So while I agree SM should've kept the kid at home if she wasn't going to pay, that still doesn't automatically mean she didn't owe money. It would really depend on whatever contact was signed.

[XCashier]

I agree with Moosenogger. While it will cost over $100 in court and filing fees, I would still take her to small claims to send a message and to get that judgement against her.

Heck, charge her for the court costs, as well.

Whether or not you decide to sue, you did the right thing. And she's going to have a time trying to find a reputable day care for that good of a price!

[Barracuda]

You could also contact the police if she refuses to pay you for the week you babysat for free. Services were rendered, and theft of services (also called theft by deception in some jurisdictions,) is a criminal offense.

[ShadowBall]

What did she think, that her child was just so precious that his presence alone should have been payment enough? Methinks this lady needs a taste of the real world - the one where if you don't pay for things you use, you get in big trouble. If I up and decided to quit paying my student loans, I could get sued by my lender. Life would be a lot easier if we could all pick and choose what we pay for, and maybe on her planet that's how things work, but her error is that she's on earth.

I'd be tempted to drag her ass to court too, especially if there was a written contract she signed stating the terms of payment. Someone has to kick her in the ass because she'll just keep right on doing this to everyone else. But even if you don't get legal on her ass, good for your wife for telling the idiot bitch to GTFO. Sounds to me like no one ever put said idiot bitch in her place and she didn't like it when someone finally did.

Also, if she decided to not pay you, could that also be considered abandoning her child? I'm not keen on all things legal, but I would so be looking to slap her with every charge possible and then rake her ass-first over the coals.

[MrSunshineState]

Whether or not you decide to sue, you did the right thing. And she's going to have a time trying to find a reputable day care for that good of a price!

Honestly, if I were in this situation and had the money to sue, I would just on principle. Just the fact that the EW was very condescending and used verbiage like "Are you deaf?" and then turned around and tried to be little miss sweetness when she was told her kid is no longer welcome there would have done the trick for me.

I can't count the number of times a customer has gone out of their way to curse at me, call me names, insult my intelligence, etc, and then towards the end of the call ask me to do them a favor like they are my friend.

[2gigch1]

I think your wife played it absolutely right, and I appreciate she made the final call to drop her over the phone at night to limit the child's exposure to the trouble. I am making zero allowances for the mother's behavior, she obviously had a mental breakdown of some sort, and it is likely she will remember this lesson for a long time.

As far as dragging her into court goes, I kinda feel like it's best to cut your losses. Your wife's time is valuable, courts take time & money, and even if she wins the compensation will not be great. She earned her own justice by dropping the client AND NOT ALLOWING HER ONE DAY'S GRACE to get her affairs in order.

THAT was good. You're a lucky man there buddy!

[NateTheChops]

A trip to small claims court would have straightened her ass out. Just the thread alone should have done it, but getting rid of her as a client was probably the better move.

[Dreamstalker]

Heck, charge her for the court costs, as well. :devil

IIRC in some jurisdictions the loser gets to pay those in addition to the original amount.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

My wife thanks you for the words of support.

Yes she does only charge $100 a week. It's a small operation and she usually only watches children of people she knows. SM was a referral from a friend.

We have discussed small claims but haven't made a decision yet.

[Caractacus_Potts]

How much do you want to bet she tries to show up with Jr. anyway. Because "it's your fault she has to find another daycare".

I think that's when you tell them, "If you abandon your child I will have to call the police." And if they do, you do.

We have discussed small claims but haven't made a decision yet.

I was in charge of a small claims case for my company. It was an open and shut case really, we had signed contracts. It was for about $400 my boss could have easily written off but for him it was the principle of the thing.

It took about 2-1/2 years all together. The guy never showed up for the first court date and we got an automatic judgment in our favor but then he had one year to appeal. After a year we had to pay another fee to get an arrest warrant issued but then he had another year to appeal. After two years we had to pay again and go to court again to get the arrest warrant signed. Then we had to pay about $800 to the sheriff’s office to hire two deputies to perform the arrest. After about six months of me calling and them stalling they finally called the guy at his office and gave him a choice of meeting them at the court with a checkbook (he was up to about $2500 by then with court costs, etc.) or they would come to his office and arrest him. He finally went to court one time and paid everything off.

Had he chosen to go to jail instead of paying we would have had to pursue an order to seize his property and sell it at auction which probably would have taken another year or two.

Small claims laws and procedures vary from state to state but I would really recommend you look into it thoroughly before you decide. I have threatened people with small claims court but I'm not sure I would ever actually go through with the threat after my experience.

My wife is a freelance editor. She did a project for Barnes and Noble and after three months of work, with signed contracts and weekly status reports plus coming in right where she estimated the total cost would be, they told her they were only going to pay her half of what they agreed to. A stern letter including copies of all documents and a threat of filing a small claims case if they had not paid in full by such and such a date got them to pay up.

[taxguykarl]

...Or Mrs. CC2 does. Way to handle that SC--fire the

At $100 a week, you won't have trouble finding a new client to replace her that will pay promptly.

Tama's right. I've done plenty of daycare returns and can safely say that your wife's operation is quite underpriced. Or is this some kind of tax shelter with consistent losses?

There's no might about it. she would definitely have pulled it again. and again if she got away with it. Because a precedence had been set that your wife would allow it.

Spot on, T...let them get by once and you might as well do it free for all as the non-SC will see the SC get away with it and sooner or later demand the same deal.

As for small claims, consider also one of those shows as participants are paid to appear with awards being docked from the honorarium...just a thought. FWIW, my niece described her lawsuit as one the most gut-wrenching experiences of her life (a sexual harrassment against a chain restaurant, specifically).