Daycare randomly debited our account $500; my card was declined buying milk

“I checked the latest statement and I’m up to date and owe nothing! This isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this…” 

Source: iStock

A mother reported on Facebook this week that she was left scratching her head after her card was declined when out shopping.

She thought she had money in her account until she realised a large and un unexpected payment had been taken out by her child’s daycare - with no prior explanation. 

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"Now we will be $500 short until daycare responds"

“I was so embarrassed when my card declined today for a bottle of milk only to look in my account and see a very unexpected $500 taken out from our daycare on a Saturday with no reason/ email as to why,” the mum wrote in the Mums on a Budget Facebook group.

“We pay fortnightly and only paid last week and now we will be $500 short all weekend until daycare responds on Monday,” she continued. 

“I checked the latest statement and I’m up to date and owe nothing! I’m so frustrated this isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this…?”

Source: iStock

"We had no money for food, nappies, bills..."

Unfortunately, it seems like this has happened to a lot of parents as the post attracted over 420 comments. 

“I’ve had this happen so many times, daycares seem to think they can just do what they want when it comes to money it’s so horrible!” one group member remarked. 

“Yep, we had this happen recently, $1400. I hate that that they direct debit whatever they feel like,” chimed in another. 

Meanwhile, this mum said, “I had a similar experience with the daycare, they took $1800 from the card without telling me and the worst part is they return the money as credit!”

Then this woman shared, “This has been happening to me for two weeks. Randomly $682 came out without warning. No money for food, nappies, bills and they still haven't fixed it properly.”

Someone else added, “I had this happen so many times and they would never fix it or explain why so I gave notice and left but they wouldn’t return my two-week bond so we were out of pocket hundreds.”

“They did this to me and took $1000 out and then two days later took another $1000 out that was meant to be paid for bills and food including my rates and I was left with $16 dollars,” shared another mum in the same boat. “No explanation whatsoever. And they put it towards credit instead not a refund.”

Then this woman said, “Mine took more than $3k while I was escaping domestic violence (and they knew the circumstances). It really showed me the priorities of the daycare. I fought and got most of it back through Centrelink.”

"This is why I pay childcare directly"

This obviously seems to be a widespread issue that needs to be addressed, but in the short term - the mum still needs advice. Thankfully, the group members had a lot.

“Anonymous member call your bank and say it was unauthorised and they will cancel the payment and then block them until it is sorted,” said one. 

“On the door of your childcare centre should be a sign with the management/licensee numbers on it. Do a drive-by and give them a call. This is not okay, even for a human or technical error they still should correct it,” mentioned someone else. 

“I refuse to pay by direct debit for this exact reason. I pay by card at the centre,” wrote another.

Then this comment read: “I pay childcare directly each payday rather than them direct debiting so might be a good option to avoid this happening.”

“I BPAY every week for this exact reason,” another expressed. 

Other users suggested having a side account that you use for direct debits so that they can only take what you put in. Another said you can put a limit on payments at the daycare so they’re only ever allowed to take certain amounts. 

Then the original poster shared an update saying: “They emailed me and said ‘For some reason a payment was scheduled for that day, as a result, I won’t be charged for the next due payment’.

“No apology, no nothing.”

Originally published as Daycare randomly debited our account $500; my card was declined buying milk