Dubai: Two mothers are running from pillar to post to get their money back from a nursery school their children used to attend.
Maya Al Alem, mother of Hani, a six-month-old toddler, said her baby stayed at the nursery for one month only because she became worried about his welfare there.
She said she had paid all fees in cash and sent the principal four cheques worth Dh2,500 each. "I was shocked when the principal told me she would not be able to return my cheques," she said.
Al Alem claimed her baby suffered from an allergy at the Montessori Nursery in Dubai because of what she thought was a lack of cleanliness.
She said sometimes the nursery would call her to pick up her son because there was nobody there to care for him.
That is the reason why she took him out.
Maya paid Dh500 for registration, Dh250 for activity fees, Dh100 waiting list fees, Dh7,000 in cash, and she also posted four cheques for four months' infant fees.
The school principal, Fatima Bahjat, denied Al Alam's accusations, and said it was her right to keep the cheques because they were for schooling offered.
"Our nursery is the best one here," she said.
Ramia Eisa is another parent who had the same experience at the nursery.
She said her daughter of one and a half years stayed at the nursery only two months because of illness.
The principal again refused to return a cheque worth Dh2,500.
According to Dr Khalifa Rashid Al Sha'ali, lawyer and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Ajman University for Science and Technology, the mothers signed the cheques, so they had to pay. "Signing a cheque is a commitment to pay."
She advised the mothers to go to the courts.
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter