You might have seen my last posting, re. the 3am phonecall. Apparently, the dad in question thought he wouldn't have to pay, as I have a 24 hour cancellation rule. I pointed out to him that 3am to 6.30pm is not 24 hours, and he did pay - end of story. But today i have had another extremely inconsiderate parent:
Me on Phone: "I'm ringing to remind you that X has a lesson this Tues at 4, as you didn't turn up last week."
Mum: "X had his SATS last week."
Me: "Yes but you didn't cancel his lesson. Sorry you will be liable to pay for it. See you Tuesday."
Mum:"I don't think he'll be coming this Tuesday."
Me;"Why?"
Mum: "i can't afford it."
Me: "You can owe me the money. Look I have a waiting list and you're taking up a place."
Complete silence at other end.
Me"See you Tuesday.Bye."
I must add this is not the first run-in I've had with this unbelievably rudemum. Any more messing from her and her son loses his place, can't say fairer than that.

Errr...

I don't think you will be getting your money nor will the pupil be turning up next Tuesday. Despite a few of my pupils sitting SATS they all managed to turn up for their lessons last week.

Don't chase her up again.You can't afford not to be paid. Write a polite letter ( no more phone calls ) asking for payment within 7 days,stating you will have to write again outlining steps to recover the outstanding monies if the debt is not paid.If she doesn't respond,sue her. It will end up costing her more.

Good Luck...

QUOTE (Semele @ May 15 2005, 07:02 PM)

If she doesn't respond,sue her.

except that you'll have to pay the court issue fee to bring your claim, and then try to recover that along with your one lesson's fee (assuming you win) not to mention the hassle, and the time taken if you have to attend court for which you will not be reimbursed.

I'm not saying the above advice is necessarily wrong, but I would at least think carefully before commencing litigation over such a sum of money.

Furthermore, even to threaten litigation over fees may send out a message to parents - whether that is a message that you think needs sending out, or whether it might do more harm that good is something you should consider before writing such a letter.

Other teachers have posted info about various schemes such as contracts, coupled with taking fees termly in advance. My son's violin teacher did this and we were only too happy to comply, as we recognised that these were her chosen terms to conduct business and keep on an even keel.

QUOTE (Madge Woollard @ May 15 2005, 06:51 PM)

You might have seen my last posting, re. the 3am phonecall. Apparently, the dad in question thought he wouldn't have to pay, as I have a 24 hour cancellation rule. I pointed out to him that 3am to 6.30pm is not 24 hours, and he did pay - end of story. But today i have had another extremely inconsiderate parent: Me on Phone: "I'm ringing to remind you that X has a lesson this Tues at 4, as you didn't turn up last week." Mum: "X had his SATS last week." Me: "Yes but you didn't cancel his lesson. Sorry you will be liable to pay for it. See you Tuesday." Mum:"I don't think he'll be coming this Tuesday." Me;"Why?" Mum: "i can't afford it." Me: "You can owe me the money. Look I have a waiting list and you're taking up a place." Complete silence at other end. Me"See you Tuesday.Bye." I must add this is not the first run-in I've had with this unbelievably rudemum. Any more messing from her and her son loses his place, can't say fairer than that.

If pupils and parents intend to behave in this way, then I would simply remove them from your list. If they turn up, say you have given their lesson to someone else. Some parents seem to find it hard to understand that teachers make a living from teaching. If I had milk delivered everyday, I wouldn't go out to the milkman one day and say "actually I don't want it today and I'm not paying for it" - you've already been allocated the milk, in the same way you allocate pupils lessons.
David

I have found over the years that charging monthly in advance has virtually eliminated problems such as these.

The trouble with sacking the parent is that the child gets sacked too, and they might not have wanted to stop lessons. So what does the parent tell the child? "I messed up so you've been sacked"? Hardly. This parent is far more likely to tell the child that you've sacked him/her, and for no apparent reason.

The child then feels rejected by you, etc etc. I know that's not your problem, but it's a point worth considering. It's also the reason I've never banned a pupil, even when things like this (occasionally) happen. As somebody above points out, far better to avoid this sort of thing happening at all by insisting on a half-term's fees in advance. Or be philosophical about it, as long as it only happens very occasionally.

Violinia

One of the reasons I belong to the ISM is the assistance they provide in such cases as these if you do decide to proceed to legal action.

If you think this sort of thing may happen to you it's worth having something behind you as security (be it a union, a professional body or whatever).

Nobody likes "sacking" a student and there are ways to reduce the likelihood (some of which have been mentioned already) but it can help to have professional advice to drawn on.

If you have a contract with the parent, your terms for dismissal should be quite clear. I agree with Violinia about the possible harm to the pupil but, sadly, if you need to earn a living you cannot always be as compassionate as you might like. One pupil messing about over a period of time (sorry, correction, one pupil's parent(s) messing about...) can be very costly.

I hope you get this resolved easily and to your satisfaction Madge.

Sorry to hear about this situation Madge.

I have one who behaves a bit like this from time to time.
If the child misses a lesson, mum claims unclear information re lesson dates, despite letters sent (which she claims she doesn't have time to read ), and refuses to pay.

When she is displeased about something, she phones me, and starts by saying she knows nothing about music, then proceeds to tear to pieces what I'm doing with her child.

The pupil is good value, however, making good progress (grades 1-3 to date, all with merit, and is well-motivated, so missed lessons don't happen that often). I think if this were not the case I would have lost my cool with mum ages ago!

I think there does come a point when frustration overrides concern for the pupil, although Violinia's point is a very useful one to bear in mind I think.

I too hope you can sort this one out satisfactorily, Madge.

Maggie

Thanks for all your advice - I would never intend to sue a parent, certainly not over such a small sum of money. I do now issue contracts to parents when they start, but this child started last year before I did the contracts and so never got one, although i have always told all parents verbally about my 24 hour cancellation policy. I have considered charging monthly in advance for all pupils, but most prefer to pay cash weekly and to be honest I prefer it too (never have to go to a hole in the wall.) 98% of them are very reliable, and some I'm sure would not be able to come if i insisted on £36 up front (cost of 4 lessons) as I do not live in a wealthy area.

QUOTE (Madge Woollard @ May 16 2005, 04:15 PM)

Thanks for all your advice - I would never intend to sue a parent, certainly not over such a small sum of money. I do now issue contracts to parents when they start, but this child started last year before I did the contracts and so never got one, although i have always told all parents verbally about my 24 hour cancellation policy. I have considered charging monthly in advance for all pupils, but most prefer to pay cash weekly and to be honest I prefer it too (never have to go to a hole in the wall.) 98% of them are very reliable, and some I'm sure would not be able to come if i insisted on £36 up front (cost of 4 lessons) as I do not live in a wealthy area.

Mmmmmm.....

Well here is a letter I sent to a pupil`s parent very recently.I received no reply..

"Re: Termination of *****`s Piano Tuition.

Further to Mr *****`s phone call last night. I`m very sorry to hear that ***** has decided to give up piano lessons.

However I need to discuss the outstanding fee as a matter of urgency with you both.I have enclosed another copy of my Terms of Tuition which was given to you when ***** started the trial period. Please may I draw your attention to the Notice period?

The last time I saw ***** was on Thursday 24th February and I enclosed the bill for March lesson fees totalling £**…3rd March to 31st March. (5 week month). Last Thursday-3rd March, [pupil] phoned me herself, at very short notice, to cancel her lesson booked at 6.30pm.As you know fees are payable at the first lesson of the month.

Last night Mr.*** phoned to say **** not longer wished to have lessons.

I`m sure you appreciate,under the terms of my contract,that ****`s lesson time is not available to anybody else until I receive notice. [Quoted notice term]

Being a self employed teacher the notice period gives me the time to perhaps fill the vacancy,otherwise my sole income drops immediately.Once the trial period has ended this contract is in force if lessons are to be continued.

The 3rd March lesson is classed as a cancellation.

I would be most grateful if you would let me know what you both wish to do.**** is more than welcome to have her remaining lessons with me until the 31st March or if I don`t hear from you after receiving this letter,I`ll take it tuition is to be terminated forthwith and I will expect payment for £** within the next 7 days. Otherwise I will have to write again explaining steps I will take to recover the outstanding fee.

2nd letter:

Re: Termination of Piano Tuition

Having received no response to my letter dated 9th March I hand delivered to your address.

Notice of intended Court proceedings through **** County Court-Breach of Contract.

Take notice that the sum of £** is overdue for payment.Unless payment is made to my address above WITHIN 7 days legal action to recover the debt will be taken against you both without further notice.

No response to this either,but when they received the summons they responded by phoning me.I said I do not wish to discuss this verbally. They then ignored the proceedings,so I got a default judgement and simultaneously issued instruction for Baliff service. They paid up.

It is extremely rare that proceedings go this far. It is not a lot of hassle going to Court and if one pupil gets away with not paying you then others may follow suit, plus the fact the original pupil will try it on again in the future.

Zoda : Yes,but all costs are paid by the defendant. A teacher may be exempt from Court fees.

I agree with Oboist, Jpiano and DCMBarton.

As for the pupil's welfare,the parent is not thinking along the same lines as the teacher then. Sorry Violinia,I appreciate what you are saying.

Monthly charging doesn't always work - parents that don't want to pay will simply make excuses for a couple of weeks about why they couldn't bring the money today, then stop anyway, knowing full well that you are unlikely to proceed any further. It happened to me a few times when i was teaching.

Liz

Monthly charging has worked well for me for many years.I did revert back to being paid weekly for a while and it was a pain.I suppose it depends where you live.

I charge half termly in advance, which works well.

QUOTE (elidatrading @ May 17 2005, 09:30 AM)

Monthly charging doesn't always work - parents that don't want to pay will simply make excuses for a couple of weeks about why they couldn't bring the money today, then stop anyway, knowing full well that you are unlikely to proceed any further. It happened to me a few times when i was teaching. Liz

Nothing's ever 100% foolproof-but certainly for me, monthly charging has prevented abuse of my goodwill and time in the vast majority of cases, and has helped to keep my income stable and reliable

QUOTE

Nothing's ever 100% foolproof-but certainly for me, monthly charging has prevented abuse of my goodwill and time in the vast majority of cases, and has helped to keep my income stable and reliable

Same here.
You get the money up front and if they choose not to turn up they know it is not refunded or credited. (except for genuine emergencies and at my discretion).
Most people get their money monthly these days anyway so paying monthly save having to remember to keep that money back each week.

I forgot to add as well that I would hate the hassle of being paid and having to deal with money every single lesson-as well as the constant trips to the bank or having to carry all that cash around!

Semele, you were wrong, the student DID turn up for his lesson yesterday, and on time as well which is a first for them. The mum paid me 1 week and i said she could owe me the other, on the understanding that if there is any more messing about her son's place goes straight to someone on my waiting list. Maybe i'm too kind, I don't know??

QUOTE (Madge Woollard @ May 18 2005, 04:52 PM)

Semele, you were wrong, the student DID turn up for his lesson yesterday, and on time as well which is a first for them. The mum paid me 1 week and i said she could owe me the other, on the understanding that if there is any more messing about her son's place goes straight to someone on my waiting list. Maybe i'm too kind, I don't know??

I'm glad I was!:)

Excellent to hear this,Madge. Perhaps you have taught the mother a firm lesson...???