I'd like to know

dragonfly8 · Feb 14, 2012

I'm putting together a list of costs per province and territory for car seat checks/inspections.

I'd like one tech from each province and territory (if they even exist) to let me know!

I am in Manitoba, and there are no costs to the parent/caregiver for a check to be done.

Or, is there a list somewhere? I've been so crazy busy lately with family stuff that maybe I've just missed it!

selinajean · Feb 14, 2012

dragonfly8 said:
I'm putting together a list of costs per province and territory for car seat checks/inspections.

I'd like one tech from each province and territory (if they even exist) to let me know!

I am in Manitoba, and there are no costs to the parent/caregiver for a check to be done.

Or, is there a list somewhere? I've been so crazy busy lately with family stuff that maybe I've just missed it!

Do all techs in Manitoba work under the same organization (which covers their costs) ?

dragonfly8 · Feb 14, 2012

selinajean said:
Do all techs in Manitoba work under the same organization (which covers their costs) ?

Yes, we are all certified through SJA and trained by MPI.......
As far as I know, unless something has changed.

selinajean · Feb 14, 2012

dragonfly8 said:
Yes, we are all certified through SJA and trained by MPI.......
As far as I know, unless something has changed.

So when you do a seat check does someone pay you? Or pay for your materials?

featherhead · Feb 14, 2012

selinajean said:
So when you do a seat check does someone pay you? Or pay for your materials?

MPI provides materials, but we don't get paid.

selinajean · Feb 14, 2012

featherhead said:
MPI provides materials, but we don't get paid.

Thanks! I'm just curious.

featherhead · Feb 14, 2012

selinajean said:
Thanks! I'm just curious.

No problem

QuassEE · Feb 14, 2012

I'm about.. -$5000 between checks and training, at this point. Really, provincial MSP should be covering this as Public Health and prevention. I do get free forms...umm..thanks to Washington State, mind you.

-Nicole.

selinajean · Feb 14, 2012

QuassEE said:
I'm about.. -$5000 between checks and training, at this point. Really, provincial MSP should be covering this as Public Health and prevention. I do get free forms...umm..thanks to Washington State, mind you.

-Nicole.

I'm not that far in the hole, but I am certainly out of pocket. I have received a gratuity of $20 once from foster parents that I helped out and I was in complete shock over that. One safety fair that I attended did cover my cost of travel and babysitter but all other fairs and presentations have been out of pocket for my presentation materials, print-outs, travel, day care, etc. I use some of the free bookmarks from ICBC but they tend to advertise the minimums so I am not a huge fan of them. I print my own checklists/forms and all other materials, business cards, etc.

I don't have a set fee that I advertise. A lot of the parents that ask for help can't afford to pay for that and I don't want their child to be put at risk over a few dollars. I tend to say that I don't have a set fee; that I am open to donations but my services will still be the same if the family can not afford to pay.

dragonfly8 · Feb 14, 2012

I'm asking more or less, when you, as a crst, do a private check for someone do you , or are you required to accept payment or a donation?
In Manitoba, we do not and cannot accept anything.

QuassEE · Feb 14, 2012

Who says you cannot? Other professionals in other fields get compensation for their services, and this is no different...if you so choose.

-N.

Shanora · Feb 14, 2012

:yeahthat:

It depends on where someone gets my card from. If its from West Coast Kids, then I say my fee is $25. If its just passed down through word of mouth, I'll say I usually charge $25, but thats negotiable because my first concern is a safe child.

I've usually gotten $25, but I've done a few checks for nothing. I don't charge my friends, but they usually bring me Coffee

If I'm working at an organized car seat clinic, then there is no cost to the parents and its volunteer for me.

ninejr · Feb 15, 2012

Technically on my doula website $25/seat is listed. I generally do it for free. The best was when a friend that knew my "fee" just brought me a $25 Starbucks card

. I think I should list that as a method of payment (cash, check, or Starbucks card).
I do volunteer checks and present to mommy groups at no charge.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

melissainbc · Feb 15, 2012

At work we charge $5 a seat... I work at a high end children's consignment shop. We have gone up and down on the price in the past year trying to figure out what works best for people. Saying it's $5 usually prevents people from canceling last second and covers some of our supplies, too. Most of the time we don't even take payment, though.

I don't charge when I do checks on my own, which happens very infrequently. I have received gift cards as payment before and I love that!

snowbird25ca · Feb 15, 2012

I have a suggested fee of $25 for one seat/one vehicle when I do private checks. Most of the parents I help come to me through referral or else business cards from boutique style stores.

Public seat check events on the other hand are free of charge and everyone there are volunteers. I provide clipboards, pens, forms, and pool noodles for the technicians to use. Thankfully I have had free forms available for my use at the clinics I have done. I still have enough of them to get through probably another 2 or 3 clinics.

I am flexible with parents who may not be able to afford to pay to have a seat looked at privately. My first concern has always been - and will always be - the safety of the child. I would never turn someone away. I have done trades with parents in the past and that was something I was happy to do too.

Quite frequently people give me more than my suggested fee. Since I've started taking money for checks, I'm no longer in the negative for the amount of money/supplies/time off work that I have put out. I'm coming up to 5 years certified though and I'd say the first 2.5 years I paid to help parents - either through using vacation time, dh's vacation time, cost of supplies, travel, or other miscellaneous things. I don't begrudge any of the money I spent - but I also don't feel bad about accepting money when I'm providing a service privately.

Public checks are a different story though. I know some areas have non-profit organizations that parents are given the choice to donate to if they want. I have no issues with something off to the side provided a parent doesn't feel obligated to donate. IMO though, a public check should be free. What technicians do privately is between them and the parent.

bbartlettnfld · Feb 16, 2012

Here in St. John's our group Kids In Safe Seats, does seat checks free of charge. We do take donations though to cover costs. We do have some corporate sponsors who do our printing.

BethAnn

Chila88 · Feb 16, 2012

I'm in SK and like MB we also cannot charge for checks. Tech's here do not have to pay to become certified (we are SJA certified), and in exchange we must do checks as a community service. I also do not pay for any of my own materials, for checks at clinics or that I do privately.

If I were to be caught charging for a seat check, I would lose my certification.

I really like the system here and enjoy the opportunity to volunteer in the community.

snowbird25ca · Feb 16, 2012

Chila88 said:
I'm in SK and like MB we also cannot charge for checks. Tech's here do not have to pay to become certified (we are SJA certified), and in exchange we must do checks as a community service. I also do not pay for any of my own materials, for checks at clinics or that I do privately.

If I were to be caught charging for a seat check, I would lose my certification.

I really like the system here and enjoy the opportunity to volunteer in the community.

I find this interesting that the provincial insurer would take away certification when it is issued based on demonstrated competency levels that another organization has set as minimums.

Not that it necessarily matters for you - but I find it interesting to say the least.

amyd · Feb 16, 2012

I'm in NB. We have no provincial overarching body and each tech is free to charge or not as they see fit when doing private checks. I am the (basically self-appointed) tech/clinic coordinator in my area and we do not charge at public clinics. Up to this point, we have a grant that has covered all our materials. We do also accept donations.

April · Feb 16, 2012

I usually charge $20 for private checks, unless its a friend. If I even suspect that the family has difficulty paying $20, I do it for free. I have no problem doing free checks, but often the private checks I do are for upper-middle class families with expensive seats, and when they ask how much, I have no problem charging $20 for my time. I'm less inclined to charge if someone comes to me and more inclined to charge if I go to them.

Public check events I've always done free except once when we were paid as a group and we all split the cash. (Iirc, someone had committed to run the event and specified their fee and then wasn't able to do it and so we covered for her and got the payment or something like that). I pay for my own business cards, noodles, latch manual, training, gas, etc.

I'd like to know

New member

New member

New member

New member

Well-known member

New member

Well-known member

Moderator - CPST Instructor

New member

New member

Moderator - CPST Instructor

Well-known member

New member

New member

Moderator - CPST Instructor

New member

New member

Moderator - CPST Instructor

New member

Well-known member

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics