Bubble sitter app owners are cheeky fuckers exploiting the sitters

[Yessiryessirthreebagsfull]

I'm fuming.

Been using them for years and always made a point to stay on the app and pay the fees as I appreciate how easy they made it for me to find sits.

But today they anounced that sitters will have to pay a 25% fees (or 20% for super sitters) for every 1st sit?

Cheeky greey fuckers!

Knowing that most sits through the app are a one time thing. And Bubble managed to get most of the bbsitting jobs going through them. And I pay taxes on what I earn on Bubble.

I hope it ends up making them lose a lot of money. I sure as hell won't use them again. They can get stuffed to get any fees on my regular families, we're going off the app.

I'm fuming.

It’s interesting that even the big nursery chain Bright Horizons stopped working with Bubble. Dodgy as and I totally agree with you OP.

I would feel too guilty paying that little to be honest. I don't pay anyone less than £20/hour.

Sadly businesses do this

youll have to get a second job. Work in a shop would earn you more than babysitting right now

This! Put your prices up

That's what I thought she meant but surely parents don't do that? Children need to build a relationship with their carers.

Yeah. This

sorry but you’ve been quite defensive and it comes across quite aggressively .

You'd be scared how much (some) parents don't care.

You say you’re in London, so am I. I live in an area where the majority of families have one or more nannies (me included) and I know people who use Bubble - they are completely different services. People use Bubble for ad hoc babysitting not for full time nannies. Maybe some wfh parents do this with daily babysitters but that isn’t the same as a full time nanny. I understand that you don’t want to work as a full time nanny but I also wouldn’t say that part time/ad-hoc babysitting/childcare has ever been a lucrative or long term career option?

In my area there are many people looking for an after school nanny and part time daily nannies and seem to find it very difficult to find a nanny who doesn’t want full time hours. Maybe you should change the area of London you’re working in? Some families are also happy for you to bring your baby along with you. You could also look into working at nurseries or crèches within gyms etc there are more part time hours.

I understand your frustration at the app price increases but I don’t agree that Bubble has replaced the need for genuine, qualified nannies in London. And it comes across as though you feel you should be able to live comfortably through babysitting gigs on an app which, unfortunately, is just not possible especially if you’re going to have a baby. Everyone would love to work less hours and on their terms but the majority of people don’t have that option and it seems like neither do you

Have a look at the nanny agencies websites. If they post one job a week that is a lot. Childcare.co.uk went down the hill. I have nonidea where you are in London but here, people have started to ask to pay less gross per hour because of Bubble. Even whem they offer an employement. They want to pay gross and jot pay tax and paynless "because I can just use Bubble". Of course tehre are still nanny jobs. But way, way, way less.

It's funny, you are the first nanny I know who think looking 8 hours after a 4 month old should not be paid as well as working as a nanny because it is through a babysitting app. Bubble is a platform for self employement, there is no reason to treat it as badly paid alternative to nannies and babysitters.

The problem is not if I shoulld feel worthy or entitled to be paid enough through Bubble (I am), the problem is paying 20 to 25 % of what I earn everytime I work with a new family (which is often). That is a lot.

It was perfectly fine to work part time (35 hours a week is hardly being a lazy princess btw) and Work 10/15 extra hours. But the new fee means I lose a huge portion of my earnjngs, and I am sorry, 25% fee is insane, I don't care what anybody says.

Lots of people work less hours on their terms. Why should I feel ashamed of doing it because I am a nanny? Also, working 45/55 hours is hardly working less or part time. I work a lot, part of it is employed, part of it is self employed.

My thoughts too… classic defensive poster when people disagree with them.

I would be similarly outraged if I had to give up 25% of my wage as fees too. I just hear frustration, upset and desperation from the OP.

Firstly, your language is shocking. I’d also be concerned about how you’d react to a misbehaving young adult if you can’t keep your cool on an internet forum.

Don't be fucking ridiculous. As if we need to behave (and speak) on bloody Mumsnet the same way we do at work. Get a grip.

You're a complete neurotic if you think OP snapping at goadiness here tells you anything whatsoever about her professionalism.

Sorry to hear it OP. It's uberisation.

I mean, I can see why bubble would do it. They're suspicious that the high number of one-off sits aren't truly one-offs and they're losing all the repeat bookings to private arrangements made qfter connecting through the app.

In your shoes, I would charge a surcharge for first time bookings and explain why. I'd pay it if I understood the reason. Childcare shouldn't be cheapened by gig economy practices.

I'm really shocked by that too.

I’m actually finding it quite refreshing watching you stand up for yourself OP. 👏

As to this bit “Bubble ensured that it had the monopoly of childcare in London then drops a 25% fee on first sits” that does feel dodgy and designed to distort / squash market competition. Businesses quite often try to put unlawful stuff in their terms and conditions (Mumsnetters often don’t realise that just because it’s written down in a contract doesn’t mean it’s legal).

Anyway. I suspect what caused this may be that many sitters are not as honest as you and have just used the app a few times then done loads of private work without paying commission. So the app guys decided to make sure there’s a big upfront fee.

Anyways. It sucks. Not much you can do except pay the fee on new sits or advertise privately. Hope it goes well for you.

@HullaBallu that just made me lol 😄

I too am finding it refreshing that she is standing up for herself. Nurses and Teachers don't seem to get the same level of mockery when they come along to vent about their money/conditions of work and so I'm not entirely sure why you are OP. Aggressive? No. Frustrated? Yes, and I can see why she is.

I can’t believe people are criticising you for being furious at being forced to accept less than minimum wage. If any other employer tried to make you accept this it would lead to a tribunal. Be angry. It’s exploitation - for honest workers anyway. Shame on all of you suggesting she shouldn’t be angry, or calling OP aggressive - I guarantee you wouldn’t accept this yourselves.

I’ve never used bubble. Never heard of it until now and definitely won’t use it now! I’ve used childcare.co.uk and paid the sitter directly, it’s the one I’m familiar with, and I use a nanny/sitter agency in Edinburgh where I pay the agency (at a higher rate than childcare but I’m more than happy to as I know they pay their staff properly).

@Yessiryessirthreebagsfull Try Childcare they are really well established and good!

I was really sad to see how people responded at first to your post, OP, and glad to see you stick up for yourself, and that there are others who've said they understand. I feel your frustration and I hope things get better for you.

I’m in central London. Here it’s very hard to find a nanny who will accept anything less than 40-50 hours with full employment contract/PAYE/pension etc. Very hard to find part time/after school care, as I mentioned above. Nannies here are charging at least £17-18 per hour. Even cleaners are charging £18-20.

Which part of London are you in? Can you commute to work more centrally? There are some good agencies operating in central London for qualified/experienced nannies. There are also Facebook groups I.e Kensington mums etc that I see a lot of posts of nannies advertising services / mums looking for a nanny.

Personally, I would never hire somebody who was charging £9 per hour to look after my child when the market rate is double that. It would be a red flag for me. But I also wouldn’t use bubble to find a babysitter that I’d never met to leave my children with so maybe I’m not the best person to give advice. My point however is that if you’re having the problems you describe and it is possible for you to change the area/demographic that you’re working in, it might be helpful.

And to add, I do agree that a 25% fee is awful. My posts were not disagreeing with you on that point, just that there is a difference between ad hoc babysitting and a nanny and that the former can’t be a sustainable source of income

The problem is not if I shoulld feel worthy or entitled to be paid enough through Bubble (I am), the problem is paying 20 to 25 % of what I earn everytime I work with a new family (which is often). That is a lot.

Without Bubble you wouldnt be working, so they charge what they think they can get away with.

They also know, they cannot stop people going to Nanny/Parents direct after the first assignment - clearly they are losing money after doing the first introduction. Any idiot can see its cheaper for both the parent and nanny to cut out the middle man. And before you start "well I would never do that" plenty do and will.

Its a business model - they are just trying to make it work for them. If you dont like the way they do it, you have 3 choices, accept it, leave, and/or start your own agency if you feel you can do better

How exactly do Bubble have a monopoly?

Simple search in google

Nanny jobs in London - many more, and again when you add in ad hoc

Nannyjob
https://www.nannyjob.co.uk

Childcare.co.uk
https://www.childcare.co.uk

Little Ones London
https://littleoneslondon.co.uk

Hampstead Nannies
https://www.hampsteadnannies.co.uk

Indeed
https://uk.indeed.com › jobs › q=Nanny › l=London

The London Nanny Agency
https://www.london-nanny-agency.co.uk

Thanks for proving my point!

Look at the websites you linked! Hampstead nannies : last jobs posted were March 21. 7 days ago and most of them are reposts (I know, I check every day).

Nanny jobs post all the jobs of all the agencies and they post a few jobs a day. It's London FFS. A few nanny jobs a day? And most of them are reposts too.

I know people would love to think I am justs tlstupid and entitled. But I have been doing it 15 years. And it has never been this bad.

OP it does sound awful. Same thing is happening with tutoring which like ad hoc childcare is traditionally something done by qualified professionals (teachers) as an income top up. Websites are taking a bigger cut and tutors are advertising to do jobs for less than minimum wage. I sometimes wonder if some of the listings are plants because no one wants to work for £9 an hour minus commission.

Could you do a big mail out to people you have worked for? Tell them that you're not using Bubble because their model has become exploitative but if they want to book you, trained, qualified, insured, DBS, they still can, by contacting you directly.

It's got to be worth a shot.

Ignore the people here telling you to find a different job and rewriting your posts - they need better hobbies.