Busy Bees Birlingham

Catherine Wickens

2 years ago

AVOID!! We were told the baby room was closing *indefinitely* 1.5 weeks after my son started with only 3 weeks notice given which goes against their own T+Cs. The Area Manager (who has remained faceless during all of this) LIED and said they gave 4 weeks notice - clearly maths isn’t a strong point or maybe they are trying to cover their own back? We secured a place 7 months prior to my son starting with a £50 deposit. This is a money making scheme as there are no reassurances that your child will have a place come the time they start. We’ve tried to reclaim our deposit to pay for the next nursery deposit - the only people from head office we have heard from are finance chasing the £50. No one has contacted us to give us an update or to see if there is a resolution and that is because Busy Bees have NO HEART - what I should have expected from a chain. POOR MANAGEMENT - what business doesn’t have the foresight to know when they are about to run out of staff?! Or maybe they just weren’t honest and transparent about what was going on? Why did you let my son start? TERRIBLE COMMUNICATION from senior management - a generic email to all parents rather than a personal approach. It’s very telling this nursery is part of a corporate chain as they have lost the human touch - they don’t want to have to face parents and real emotions as they sit behind T+Cs. Then they are shocked and have the audacity to ask why we have found another nursery - we both work full time and we will take any days we can at another provider. They are so caught up in box ticking we had to fill out a leavers form so their records could show correctly… who can cover an indefinite amount of time away from work to cover childcare for the nursery to not give you any indication of when they might open again? You gave us NO CHOICE!!! I cried every time I collected my son for his final 3 weeks (out of 5)… how can they do this to families? How can they do this to children and play with their emotions? They deserve so much better! Why did you let my son start? Was it so you could get a months worth of money from us before dropping your bomb shell? ££££ NEVER RETURNING and NEVER RECOMMENDING!! And I bet they are still showing people around when they don’t have enough staff… staff deserve better too so it’s no surprise people are jumping ship! Updated to add following Busy Bee’s response to this review: I have real issue with their responses to these reviews, in that, if Busy Bees did truly care, they would have the intuition to contact parents rather than asking parents contacting them… why would I waste another second interacting with them when they JUST DON’T CARE!

Caitlin Bishop

2 years ago

AVOID. Terrible communication - unless you are trying to enroll - the minute your registration fee is paid the communication ends. Waited almost a month after querying an incorrect invoice. Received emails from credit control while I waited which was incredibly distressing so I ended up reaching out to head office myself through fear of legal action against my “unpaid invoice”. I have now spoken with the nursery manager, credit control, head office and area director and not one person has understood my complaint. I am baffled how they operate as a business with this (low) level of communication. So glad I haven’t sent my child here, I only wish I had read the reviews before parting with my money. Big corporation that hides behind T&Cs is exactly right.

Molly Edwards

2 years ago

My daughter started just three months ago in the baby room and in that short time the room has been closed on and off each week due to staffing, communication is awful and no development notes each week. One day I got a phone call at 4pm to tell me that the room was closed for the following day and we had to frantically find last minute childcare. The only development report I got was at the end because I asked for one after three months of absolutely nothing. A good chunk of the report was pictures that I had sent in because barely any photos/development notes had been made! We withdrew our daughter from here because they closed the room “indefinitely” from July 10th. This news was sent over an email rather than having the decency to talk to parents face to face and with just 3 weeks to find alternative childcare. Save your money and enroll your child at a quality provider! There’s nothing outstanding about this nursery.

Sacha Wilson

6 years ago

A wonderful nursery and pre-school, my son has been here since he was 1 years old and starts school soon. The staff are dedicated and have really helped with this learning and development.

Orders At Persora

5 years ago

My son has been going here for just short of a year and he absolutely loves it. The staff are wonderful and do so much for you and your children, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend and regularly sing their praises to my own customers and friends