Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Charging late fees & replacement books

I'm sorry to hear that

Another case of "give an inch...."

You and any teacher here may use this wording without attribution! Glad it works for you.

John

PS If you publish it in a text book or something, I actually would appreciate credit! Thanks.

My late fee is $75, and when I threatened to enforce to late fee after two days of not getting it as promised, I got it the day before it went into effect. I have a couple of families who like to pay early, because that's when they receive their pay. You could even offer an early bird incentive to pay early.

I use a registration/materials fee of $125 going up to $150 for new students, but they're getting a lot for their money. They also have the option of going for a package that includes books and materials, which for at least three of my students, saves them money (mainly because they go through very quickly or are at a pretty advanced level where the music is more expensive.

Meri

Just an update:

I contacted MTNA regarding legal advice for bill collections. They sent me 4 collection letters that were written by a lawyer for MTNA members to use. I'm sending out two of those today giving them both 10 days to pay up or to be sent to a bill collector. Now to find a bill collector, as I doubt I'll get payment from these people.

Also the woman I spoke with at the MTNA office was very helpful in giving suggestions. One thing is she recommended setting up a paypal account to receive credit or debit card payments. Actually she has a merchant account, but I think paypal is much easier to work with. I'm still looking into it, but I think it is possible to arrange for recurring payments via paypal where you don't have to physically go in each month to pay. Does anyone deal with paypal and know how this works? I have set up an account.

I tried the Paypal thing for awhile. You will pay a fee for every transaction and it states in the policy that you can't raise your fees to cover it (or something to that effect).

I had only 1 parent interested in it, so I didn't go though with it.

I personally have been using it for about 8 years for various things, but not billing.

Just make sure you read the fine print.

You know, I've heard of a few teachers who require parents write out a whole year's worth of checks, dated the 1st of each month, to be given to the teacher when they begin lessons. Then all the teacher has to do is deposit the appropriate check for the month.

Does anyone do this? This would certainly take care of late-paying parents.

When you receive them, please share your opinion/thoughts on them. Thanks,

John

If you have a personal account, you will be charged 2.9% if the sender of the payment uses a credit/debit card and you're limited to receiving < $500 worth of payments per month (more than that and you are bumped up to a business or premiere account). Business accounts get charged the fee for any payments but will get a discount once the volume is high enough (like $3000 or so). Another important difference in personal vs business accts is that personal accounts can only transfer up to $500 per month from your paypal account to your bank account.

Another option is to encourage your clients to use the automatic bill paying feature many banks offer now. It doesn't cost the user anything (usually), doesn't cost you anything (you just get a check from the bank), and makes it more likely that you'll get your payment on time (understanding that the client can change the bill payment at any time). We do this with our piano teacher and it makes everyone's life simpler.

E&I:
Yes, I'm aware of the cost. Actually, if you have a merchant account where you can take credit cards, you have to pay a fee as well. I think the fees are comparable. And no, you can't charge more for thsoe who wish to pay by credit card. However, you can increase your rates overall to cover such incidental costs.

dum:
I believe in the state of WI you are not allowed to take post-dated checks. At least that is the case of rental laws, not sure about other situations.

John,
Actually she emailed them to me so I have them and already used them! They start out as a nice reminder, the next letter is more hard line, then the last two letters for used just prior to sending an account to collections or an attorney. I used the one for collections, as the dollar amounts aren't enough for small claims court. It basically says the amount, reminds them of the signed agreement or policy (with a date as to when it was signed) stating they agreed to the payment terms but have not responded to efforts to collect the amount owed by mailed invoices or phone calls. It then gives them until a certain date (they recommend either 10 or 20 days) to bring the account current or it will be sent to a debt collector, which may incur further fees for legal action that may be taken.

I think that is is important to give a deadline for things, and list repercussions that may happen should payment not be made by that time. Otherwise, they may say to themselves, "I'll pay it when I get some extra money" or something, rather than making an actual commitment to paying it.