More Fine Print Frustration

I hate contracts. All too often, they bind you into financial obligation for more service than you need or intend. If there’s a line in the fine print that calls for more charges or longer terms, you can bet they’ll squeeze you for every drop they can. They’ll give you a way out, of course, but it will always involve a steep charge of one sort or another.

Why am I ranting about this? For two weeks, my wife and I have been planning to reorganize our lives so my son doesn’t have to go to daycare. We’d save money, we wouldn’t suffer from near-constant illness, and the house wouldn’t be a mess, among other benefits. We were finally going to return to a state of normalcy.

I called them today to inform them that tomorrow would be his last day. Their response was to cite a 30-day notification period. Now, I had read through the contract when we first signed it, perhaps not as well as I should have, but well enough. I wish I had memorized it now. If I had, we wouldn’t have to wait another month to get our lives back in order.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. As a consumer, having my expectations dashed by a contract is infuriating. Because I didn’t read the fine print, they get to tap my checking account for another month and keep my family’s lives in limbo.

I hope they realize what this sort of thing costs them in the long run. Sure, they get another month of income and can plan around my son’s departure. On the other hand, I doubt I’ll ever do business with any of their schools ever again, and I certainly won’t be recommending them to other parents. On the contrary, I’m seriously considering writing a bad review like I did for Tiny Details. Maybe then they’ll realize that one dissatisfied customer can lead to a lot of lost business.

I wish I could say this was the only contract to which my wife and I are currently bound, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve got an apartment lease, a cell phone plan, an auto loan, and a student loan. On top of that, we’re shopping around for insurance and considering the prospect of a mortgage whenever our lease is up. I look ahead and all I see is more of the same fine print frustration.

Is the only option to become a legal expert and glean over every contract with a fine-toothed comb? Is there no business trustworthy enough to believe when they give you the gist of their offer? The older I get, the more I think that no contract is in the best interests of the consumer. It’s a real shame, but I’ll be thinking, “Caveat emptor,” whenever I’m asked to sign on the dotted line again.