Bubble - Babysitters On Demand

This app is great to use. Sometimes it’s a little slow to load, but otherwise fine. My only issue is not being able to differentiate the sits. As you have to pick the same rate for everything. On most nannying agencies or babysitting companies you would not pay the same rate for school runs, as a sit in the house, or an outdoor excursion, or late/overnight sit. It would be helpful to have these categories when booking or accepting a sit to help sitters and parents have a service that matches the traditional nannying and babysitting models. Sometimes I’m forced not to accept a sit that are overnight or involves going out because it simply is not viable cost wise, or I would be out of pocket or drastically underpaid. Having said that the families I’ve sat for are really friendly and welcoming, and I’ve enjoyed most of my sits... just think the aforementioned is an area needed for development.

I’ve used the app a few times to find a babysitter and have always had a great experience. The app itself is easy to use. Choose the date and time of your required sit. Sitters apply for the job. You choose which sitter you like the sound of/hourly rate of. You get their phone no from an email confirmation so you can confirm things directly with the sitter. They turn up at required time and place. And they take over while you work/go out/whatever. At the end of the session you pay them through the app too, and it pays them to the penny for their time so no awkward scrabbling around trying to work out what you owe or looking for change 😉. Simple and effective. The sitters tend to be fantastic. I say tend to be, as of 5 sitters I’ve booked, 1 did not turn up at all 🤬, 1 was an average personality and preferred talking to me than playing with my kid, and 3 we’re so tremendous I would move them in.

I was a huge fan of bubble, as it’s incredibly convenient and I think what we’ve all been looking for in an app for mums and babysitters. It’s a great way of connecting with families and building up a work profile, and for me I love the ability to be spontaneous and flexible which the app greatly enables. HOWEVER, I’ve been incredibly disappointed with their recent decision to charge babysitters- I understand they are a business however there is no other ‘agency’ that charges the sitter/nanny, parents are happy to pay for the service, but I am not happy to pay to work, especially as we don’t get paid travel. It should be the investors who should be approached to help out financially and not the babysitters- you don’t pay to work in other professions and I feel this was an unfair and poor decision by the app. They did send an explanatory email however I do feel it will cause parents and sitters to come off the app after meeting and book jobs privately.

App isn’t too bad. Hard to start of with. But as you get more sits the more likely you are to be accepted for a future sit. So definitely good for people who work part time. The platform fee is a bit much but that’s my opinion. When parents send multiple requests for sitters they should choose within 24hrs and not leave us sitters waiting. Just like when a parent sends a sit request bubble text you to accept or decline if you don’t reply quickly. Sitters should be able to see their reviews & parents should have to pay straight after a sit, there should be a penalty like a sitter gets blocked if they cancel a sit. Payments should be made straight away not processed a day or 2 or sometimes even 3 days after. You don’t go to Sainsburys and pay a few days later, you pay straight after your shopping. Overall, good idea. You should be able to see other sitters profiles too.

This app has helped me gain steady work and extra money since joining. It really is a great app which I think all parents can benefit from! It’s easy to use, navigate and paying through the app is genius. However, I’ve given 4 stars because they charge the nannies/babysitters to work. They should be charging the investors, especially since we do not get paid travel time. Speaking to parents, they have told me that sitters have suggested that they just text each other after so they can avoid this charge.. also, when a babysitter cancels, it affects our rating however when a parent cancels nothing happens! This really annoys me as sometimes life happens and you have to cancel. I believe this app should find the balance between helping families AND sitters as it seems to be purely beneficial for the families at the moment.