Little Jungle Nursery

[Sunlover00]

I've been trying for the last three weeks to get in contact with Caroline, manager of Little Jungle nursery without any success. I have emailed and spoken to a number of her staff but still no returned phonecall. Anyone having similiar problems getting through?? There hasn't been even an acknowledment to my messages and all I want to do is find out what the status is re the waiting lists.

Sorry for the rant. Just very frustrated Ive paid my ?30 to be added and now feel I should have just spent it on a nice pub lunch!

[Lisleen]

We had exactly the same problem last summer. They had No problem getting in touch to request the ?30 but then took on average 6 or 7 calls from us to get one back from Caroline. The nursery manager kept saying she'd passed the message on but we heard nothing.

We ended up going with another nursery on the basis that even though LJ would have been super handy we didn't thibk it was a great indication of parent contact or like the idea that they would ignore us if we needed to speak to them if our daughter was enrolled there. A few people I grumbled to at the time about it had had the same experience.

[busymum]

hi, Caroline has had a nightmare with her laptop recently. i'll give her a call and let her know you've been experiencing problems.

Little Jungle is a brilliant nursery, we live very nearby and my youngest goes. We are so happy we moved her (from somewhere else no names mentioned). I think they are full though. Hope you get somewhere soon.

[Sunlover00]

Thanks busymum although laptop problems wouldn't explain the lack of phone contact. I've had a few messages that seem to indicate that it's a common experience. A friend informed me that it doesnt matter when you put your name down as other factors determine priority. Wish I was told this at the time of registering!

[Nadin]

Hi there, Have also been trying to get in touch with Caroline as we are in a similar situation - have paid the deposit before the LJ even opened and now actually need to confirm our place. It's September now, surely her computer has been fixed by now. She was very quick to respond before the nursery went into operation, must be getting great response from desperate parents of ED. Clearly now, the nursery is full, the demand is still high, but customer service isn't great unfortunately which puts you off from pushing further... Hope other parents are more lucky than I am in getting through and getting a place...

[oimissus]

we had this problem last year and gave up on them. Looked a lovely nursery but that kind of thing is important.

[patt1980]

Yep we had the same thing, put our daughter on the waiting list and paid ?30 and then could never get hold of them to find out if we had a place. We went with somewhere else in the end too.

[srisky]

oimissus Wrote:

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> we had this problem last year and gave up on them.

> Looked a lovely nursery but that kind of thing is

> important.

Same here...

[KatsuQueen]

hi, I'm surprised to hear this as I haven;t had any problems with Caroline getting back to me (usually after a few days). I usually contacted her by email. This might be a better way of contacting her as I would often get replies late at night. Please PM me if you need her email address.

[nancysmum]

i've had no problem getting in touch with the nursery or caroline. I'm sure it's just a glitch, so do perservere as it's a fab nursery and my daughter loved it there (she's now at school - sob!)

[Tintin]

Dear Sunlover, and anyone else attached to this thread.

First of all, allow me to introduce myself as Caroline from Little Jungle.

Secondly, I would like to apologise to anyone who has not heard from us in the last year. I did indeed have a very big communication problem, first with my laptop and then with our email system, both of which have been fixed for a good few months, so in theory, there should now be no reason for you to not be able to contact me.

Because of the nature of the business and the very high demand in our area, I cannot contact everyone all the time, but of course I will reply to any inquiries within a few days of receiving them, and that is usually done by email, as I tend to get the biggest part of my work done at night (as, like many of you, I am a working mother).

I very rarely go on the EDF, which is why I have only just been made aware of your issues. May I please ask you not to try to reply to this email to contact me, but instead, you can either call me on 07866 441 808 or email me at [email protected].

Best regards to all of you and apologies once again for the communication problems.

Caroline

[pilsbury]

Not going to start a big rant, but apology not accepted.

Like others on this thread I gave up my ?30 with the assurance that "of course in a year's time your daughter will have a place".

Of course now there is no space for her - I can get over being miffed about you just taking mine (and everyone else's) ?30 with zero return, but the lack of communication is really too much to take and incredibly rude.

Like others on here and other friends of mine, it leaves a very sour taste in my mouth and is doing no end of bad to your business.

I don't want a reply I'd just urge you to fix this problem before it makes a serious dent in your business

[VALFR59]

HI

I've applied around one year ago to put my son there, for an entrance in november this year, and I never had any bad experiences about waiting too long for a reply to my questions... I've been in touch several time along this year with Caroline, more by mail than by phone and it has worked well.

I've found this nursery great, dynamic, with a nice environment, modern inside , and I've found a nice staff and happy children to be there.

Furthemore, I had a lot of great feed back as well from parents who put their children at Little Jungle when I was looking for a nice nursery.

Finally we've decided to go for a place at Nellys in WD, closer to our new house and wich was my first choice.

Just wanted to share my experience with Little Jungle, and perhaps to bring a bit of "contrast" on that thread.

Hope all the people here who had temporary difficulties with little jungle will find a fast "back to satisfaction ". I understand completely, by experience, how it's stressfull to find a good caring option for our children in this area, always needed to deal with crazy waiting list and prices for what it is offered finally...

[busymum]

I don't think there will be any dent to the reputation of Little Jungle, it has thrived off word of mouth and everyone I know speaks so highly of it, it is a very nurturing environment for a young child/ baby if parents have to work, you're really unlucky if you don't manage to get a place and incredibly lucky if you do. But like most nurseries in East Dulwich and surrounding areas, spaces are very scare, especially mid week slots (but Mondays and Fridays spaces seem to be more easy to come by). Good luck finding somewhere you're happy with.

[esme]

Me too!

Common problem - as you say money better spent on a good bottle of wine & takeaway. Hey ho such is life, wonder if they spend the "deposit" money on staff outings haha

It was one of my favourites but my son is now at Bright Horizons - no fee to pay to put your child's name down and all in all a fabulous nursery. Well recommended and may have places soon as more kiddies off to school.

Good luck!

patt1980 Wrote:

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> Yep we had the same thing, put our daughter on the

> waiting list and paid ?30 and then could never get

> hold of them to find out if we had a place. We

> went with somewhere else in the end too.

[Monkey]

Ah yes Esme but the Bright Horizons list is one big mess! I gave up on them when they never answered my calls! I am still angry about it three years later.

[czosnek]

I had similar problems with Piplings (on the side of Peckham Rye park)... we have been there in person once, called 3 times, emailed 4 times and had NO reply... each time me or my other half were treated like an unwanted customers (?!?!?)... weird really. You would think they care more about their customers but NO :(

I think the Ofsted report should also include how the nursery deals with the parents as well! Very disappointing. Or maybe we should create a section on this forum listing separately all nurseries and parents giving feedback not only on how wonderful care children get but also how easy it is to communicate with the nursery and they deal with enquiries etc.

Anyhow, we gave up on this bureaucratic nonsense and are in search for a childminder or a nanny now.

[SJK]

V