Normal for Daycare to Not Tell You Their Rate Until You Tour?

Yes, but I don’t know why. Is their strategy to show you all the wonderful things they offer and convince you to stretch your budget? That seems wrong. Ironically, every daycare we’ve toured has similar pricing.

Yes. It’s a foot-in-the-door tactic. They want you to fall in love with the school first before revealing the prices.

Yes, it’s the same in my area in New York, Hudson Valley. Just one place had their rates on their website, which was a center linked to a church. This place listed $375 for four days a week and $75 an hour. The ones that wanted you to come in person appeared more expensive.

I just started daycare this month. I called many providers, and they all gave me rates over a call or via email before touring. I wouldn’t waste my time touring somewhere I couldn’t afford.

Don’t play their stupid game. Just tell them you’re not interested and why.

Yes. It’s really annoying.

It’s normal and incredibly frustrating. One reason I love our daycare is they post their rates online!

Yes, and it’s so scummy. A few wouldn’t give me any info until I booked a tour.

I’m pretty sure every place we called gave us rates over the phone.

All the places I looked at wouldn’t give rates until the tour. Even more annoying was that when I specifically mentioned we were looking for part-time care, they would set up a tour and then tell me during the tour that they don’t offer part-time. This happened three times.

They didn’t post rates publicly a lot, but I always emailed or called to ask and never had issues receiving responses. I would just clarify that I would like to tour but not want to waste anyone’s time if it’s outside my budget. If they’re still vague, skip it.