Bubble - Babysitters On Demand 4+

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.

The idea of Bubble is great, and I have babysat for some great families from it. However, I do feel it prioritises families over sitters for a few reasons and needs a few improvements .
Firstly, sitters can’t see their reviews which is frustrating as I would like to know how things went from the family’s end and to see if there’s anything I can improve on. Secondly, the app is not great, you can’t filter by time, and on the ‘regular jobs’ you have to click on each job to see the timings. Then when you come out of it, it takes you back to the top of the list again. Also, parents are allowed to modify the timings whenever they like, sometimes just before the sit, and can also cancel without any repercussions, whereas if a sitter cancels their profile gets deactivated. I understand the fee being taken from the sitter, however I would expect to be treated better as the worker if a percentage of my pay is being taken. The app can also be very glitchy, and sometimes I don’t see a message for days after it has been sent to me. I think parents should have a time limit on accepting a sit also, as sometimes they leave it days and then accept you at the last minute just before the sit. I think if these things got improved, it could be a great app, but it is definitely hard to get sits in the beginning and almost impossible to book an interview with their team!

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.