Mother Upset After Failed Daycare Pick Up

EL PASO, TX — Monique Gonzalez was terrified to get the call that her six-year-old daughter was not picked up from school on Thursday. She hired The Cottage House Daycare center to pick up her two daughters – aged four and six – just two days earlier. Gonzalez’s four-year-old was picked up on time because she gets out of school earlier.

It was Gonzalez’s six-year-old daughter who was left waiting inside Ysleta Elementary for almost two hours after school. Gonzalez says she didn’t even find out from the daycare center; it was the school nurse who called her after unsuccessfully trying to get in contact with The Cottage House.

“My daughter is only six years old. She could’ve roamed away. Somebody could’ve picked her up,” said Gonzalez.

Daycare Director Margie Espino gave us this statement: “We apologized, but there was nothing we could do to console her. Her concerns were unfounded. At no point was her child unattended. There was a miscommunication on our part, and we did the best we could. It was an honest mistake. We sent two drivers out to see which would get there first. I tried to talk to her, but she refused to speak with me. I can understand why she was upset, but she handled the situation inappropriately. She demanded a refund. I had to explain that we couldn’t immediately give her a refund because she paid with a credit card. I would have gladly given her cash, but she was behaving inappropriately. She raised her voice, and we had to ask her to leave the premises. At the end of the day, the kids were safe.”

Gonzalez had to leave work early to rush to the daycare and pick up her daughter.

“I was furious. I was scared. I work very far. I hired them because it takes me at least an hour to get to her school,” Gonzalez told ABC-7.

Now that she’s looking for a new daycare service, Gonzalez says this experience has made her more cautious about the company she hires.