Mother Comes To Five On Your Side With Child Care Headache

In March she found what she thought was the perfect arrangement. Right Time Kids in Durham provided drop-in care with no appointment required.

"They have a climbing wall and other kids and a huge costume section and my girls were really excited," said Bone.

In April, Bone paid about $187 for 30 hours of care. But less than a month later, she got a letter saying the Durham location had closed.

Bone was still owed $175 in care, so she followed the refund instructions. After waiting for several weeks, she called them. She said one of the owners, Joshua Ford, told her to do it again.

"I sent it all in again and thought, 'Well hey, I talked to the big cheese here. I'm going to get my information quickly, my refund quickly, and I didn't."

So Bone sent more emails and called Five On Your Side. WRAL contacted Ford, as well as his business partner, Jim Chickos, who said Bone's refund had just "fallen through the cracks."

Chickos immediately called Bone, met with her, and within a day paid her $175 in cash. Bone is now happy and said this was about more than the money.

"It's the principle," she said. "It was a service that my children really liked and I hoped to get it. And when I didn't, I want my money back. I mean, it's not unreasonable."

Five On Your Side received another complaint about the Durham location. Chickos has also given that person a refund.

The owners said they franchised the business, so each location of Right Time Kids is independently owned and operated.