Notice period

[TheChestnutThing]

Searched on here and can’t find the answer…

If the yard you are on offers everything from DIY to full and you have given notice and are leaving can you offer to pay the DIY rate for the stable rather than be forced to pay for hay/straw/feed/services you will not be using?

Basically I’ve given notice, done 2 weeks already (paid for) and want to leave two weeks early for certain reasons.
I’ve been asked to cover the remaining two weeks on a full livery basis. The yard has to order in hay/straw/feed regardless of if my horse is still there or not and the YO does the services and will be there anyway regardless of whether my horse is there or not.

There is NO CONTRACT. I was only on the yard 2 weeks before I gave notice telling them it did not suit us.

If one thinks that I cannot offer the DIY rate then will just have to suck it up and stay there as I can’t afford to be paying double livery.

Thanks everyone. Got enough answers and general consensus.

 

[ihatework]

Immaterial, notice is notice. Just pay it

 

[webble]

You can ask and they can always say no

 

[Roxylola]

Are you on full at the moment? I think if you're on full and you're choosing to leave early you should pay. If you're on diy and they want you to pay for full that seems unreasonable.
I guess it also depends how much leaving on decent terms matters to you.

 

[Surbie]

There is a contract, based on your regular payment schedule - you've given a month's notice on the basis of what you were on. Doesn't stop you asking to pay the DIY rate if you are leaving early, but they may well say no.

 

[AmyMay]

There is a contract, based on your regular payment schedule - you've given a month's notice on the basis of what you were on. Doesn't stop you asking to pay the DIY rate if you are leaving early, but they may well say no.

This.

 

[Abacus]

There is a contract, based on your regular payment schedule - you've given a month's notice on the basis of what you were on. Doesn't stop you asking to pay the DIY rate if you are leaving early, but they may well say no.

Agree except that there is a slight difference between services (which reasonably they are expecting to provide and be paid for, and can't offer elsewhere as there isn't a new livery in your place), and hay etc which they can keep and use. You could offer as a compromise to pay for the services but not the consumables.

 

[ycbm]

I think you can reasonably withhold payment for stuff that will keep and be fed to another horse or used to bed down another horse, but all the rest you must pay. Staff can't be laid off just because your horse isn't there for 2 weeks.
.

 

[ycbm]

There is NO CONTRACT

There is, it's just not written down.
.

 

[TheChestnutThing]

I think you can reasonably withhold payment for stuff that will keep and be fed to another horse or used to bed down another horse, but all the rest you must pay. Staff can't be laid off just because your horse isn't there for 2 weeks.
.

The yard owner does everything, so there is no staff.

I’m happy to pay the DIY rate (so the stable rental).

 

[TheChestnutThing]

Are you on full at the moment? I think if you're on full and you're choosing to leave early you should pay. If you're on diy and they want you to pay for full that seems unreasonable.
I guess it also depends how much leaving on decent terms matters to you.

I’m on full but was only on the yard for 2 weeks before realising it really did not work for us. So gave notice after only being there for 2 weeks.

 

[ihatework]

The yard owner does everything, so there is no staff.

I’m happy to pay the DIY rate (so the stable rental).

The yard owner is the staff then, or are you saying they don’t deserve to earn any money for shovelling your horses

 

[Roxylola]

I’m on full but was only on the yard for 2 weeks before realising it really did not work for us. So gave notice after only being there for 2 weeks.

Definitely unreasonable to expect to just pay diy then in my opinion - probably more so if you've only been there a couple of weeks

 

[ycbm]

The yard owner does everything, so there is no staff.

I’m happy to pay the DIY rate (so the stable rental).

There is no reason why she should take a pay cut because you want to leave early.
.

 

[ycbm]

I’m on full but was only on the yard for 2 weeks before realising it really did not work for us. So gave notice after only being there for 2 weeks.

OK then I think you need to pay up in full for everything, because unless you were lied to, you've messed them around and prevented them a month or so back from from finding the right person who would have stayed and not given them the hassle of having to find someone new all over again.
.

 

[TheChestnutThing]

OK then I think you need to pay up in full for everything, because unless you were lied to, you've messed them around and prevented them a month or so back from from finding the right person who would have stayed and not given them the hassle of having to find someone new all over again.
.

There were a few things that were missold and a few things that a full livery would expect that most definitely are not being done.

Missold and not being done would be the words I would use rather than lied…if that makes sense. And that’s purely because I don’t want to say the word lied…

Basically what I was told I would get, many of the things I am not getting…

 

[criso]

There were a few things that were missold and a few things that a full livery would expect that most definitely are not being done.

Missold and not being done would be the words I would use rather than lied…if that makes sense. And that’s purely because I don’t want to say the word lied…

It's difficult because livery services vary so much in what different yards offer and what's included. You may have been under the impression you were getting a better service than you got but unless they promised a specific which then was refused, it's difficult to prove.

Assuming you don't want to get into a big disagreement about mis-selling, then in terms of what you technically owe, then yes they can ask for the full.amount.

I've had yards after give me a refund as they filled the stable but they weren't under any legal obligation to do so.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Be a moral person and leave no ill will behind you and pay the full livery price for the duration of your notice. So many people get accused of leaving yards owing money I would pay and leave with no bitterness or rancour.

 

[Surbie]

I’m on full but was only on the yard for 2 weeks before realising it really did not work for us. So gave notice after only being there for 2 weeks.

In that case I think you're unlikely to get a reduction - but it's worth an ask, you never know. YO is the staff, so your livery is paying their wages.

I do empathise about wanting out. I left one yard 10 days into my notice period because I just wanted out, double livery charge or not.

 

[throwawayaccount]

Leave on good terms & paid up, not worth damaging your rep over it.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

IMO you're not paying for the service during the notice period, you are paying for the opportunity cost of the stable (depending on the set up).
My yard has say 20 boxes, 50% full, 50% DIY and the YO will have set up their business to get the respective income from each in order to stay afloat or make their money.
If I leave a full box empty the cost to the yard isn't that of DIY it's that of a full livery not being able to be in it.

 

[Bobthecob15]

We did this and left a week early. Paid our normal rate. They did actually get another livery in early so they effectively got 2 lots of livery for that week. Just the way it goes but was happy to pay our regular rate

 

[Ratface]

Pay what is being asked of you. Reputation is all, the horse world is, in my opinion, notoriously gossipy. For a relatively small financial difference, it really isn't worth losing it.