Piplings nursery

[Hannaah james]

Hi all,

Could any ex clients or current clients please give me any experience they have had or currently having with Piplings, either their staff/management or day to day care

Thanks

Hannah x

[george74]

Hi Hannah.

From our experience of dealing with Piplings, I would stay well clear. Whilst the day care is supposed to be pretty good, the overall management team/owners are truly shocking. We placed a ?1,400 deposit with them to take our son, only to find out a week later that we were pregnant, and could not afford the fees on one salary. 3 months out and with a waiting list as long as your arm, they refused to refund us any monies from our deposit, and I would go so far as to say they were very arrogant about the fact that they could do so. It seems they have a separate income stream from ?deposit payments?, as we were one of several, we later found out..... Would not recommend for sure! Plenty of other good nursery?s in ED, so best of luck.

[holwil86]

George, I am very sorry to hear of your situation however it is unfair to tell others to avoid the nursery because of it. The nursery is a business. You signed a contract that said the deposit was non-refundable. Why should the nursery have to waive the conditions of the contract because they no longer suit you? Any nursery in East Dulwich could have done the exact same thing.

We have had a fantastic experience with the nursery to date and I would very much recommend them. Our child has come on leaps and bounds during their time there and the keyworkers show a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the children every single day. Haven't been able to fault a thing so far.

Please don't let the above poster put you off.

[goldilocks]

But for balance - I'd have to say that in years of using the forum, that's the first whole-hearted recommendation for Piplings I've ever seen! I would recommend searching for previous comments which are generally along the lines of the care in the nursery being fine / good and the management / admin being awful. It may be though that things have changed recently and the glowing recommendation above is the new normal, but would make sure you had understood everything fully before signing up.

[charl]

I am probably a bit late to the table on this one. But I also wanted to add that my husband and I are delighted with the care that our son receives at Piplings. The whole team are so friendly, attentive, professional and like the previous comment, our son really has come on leaps and bounds and more importantly he's so happy and absolutely loves it!

[B&G]

We went for a viewing and I got a horrible vibe. The introductory email says - and I quote - "arrive too early and we will leave you outside waiting, yes, even if it is raining".

I asked a question about child to adult ratios on the tour, mainly to make polite conversation because it was so awkward and was told "we aren't going to answer that now, there is an opportunity for questions at the end".

Then, in the garden, I was quite puzzled to see all the babies in the garden penned in by milk crates, whilst the bigger kids ran around. You'd think for ?1800 a month they could afford to fence off a separate section if it's required.

They are really strict on things like breakfast time (arrive "late" and your kid doesn't get any food), and they always leave the main gate open despite all the buggies being stored in the front garden. A friend had her Bugaboo Chameleon stolen and the nursery initially refused to even tell the other parents, let alone assist her.

I put a post out like this when we were looking and I received countless messages from nursery parents who have had problems. Hopefully some will get in contact with you also.

[motorbird83]

I have friends with children there. The actual staff are meant to be lovely but they've complained the management aren't great. Most recently they changed food preparation policy without informing parents and then were less than forthcoming when challenged about it etc.

Life is too short. I'd avoid.

And to the poster who said all nurseries in ED would behave as Piplings did about the deposit I can assure you that's not true. My daughter's nursery held her place at no cost when I informed them I couldn't start at the agreed date due to unforeseen circumstances they were sympathetic to. They also have a hardship fund for children whose parents fall on hard times. And they are OFSTED outstanding.

[Piplings Nursery]

B&G Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We went for a viewing and I got a horrible vibe.

> The introductory email says - and I quote -

> "arrive too early and we will leave you outside

> waiting, yes, even if it is raining".

>

> I asked a question about child to adult ratios on

> the tour, mainly to make polite conversation

> because it was so awkward and was told "we aren't

> going to answer that now, there is an opportunity

> for questions at the end".

>

> Then, in the garden, I was quite puzzled to see

> all the babies in the garden penned in by milk

> crates, whilst the bigger kids ran around. You'd

> think for ?1800 a month they could afford to fence

> off a separate section if it's required.

>

> They are really strict on things like breakfast

> time (arrive "late" and your kid doesn't get any

> food), and they always leave the main gate open

> despite all the buggies being stored in the front

> garden. A friend had her Bugaboo Chameleon stolen

> and the nursery initially refused to even tell the

> other parents, let alone assist her.

>

> I put a post out like this when we were looking

> and I received countless messages from nursery

> parents who have had problems. Hopefully some will

> get in contact with you also.

Although this is some time after you have posted - it has only just come to my attention and it does need a response. We usually get really good feedback from our nursery tours (and did get good feedback from the other people who were on the same tour as you) and I'm sorry to hear that your experience back in early 2018 was disappointing.

You say that you are ?quoting? from the introductory email but I have to point out to you and other readers that you are completely incorrect. The email actually said:

"If you arrive late we ask you to understand that as you will have missed key information, we will need to rebook you for another date if available.

Can we ask you to avoid arriving too early, as we do not have waiting room facilities and you will need to wait in the grounds until the start of the appointment (even if it is raining, sorry!)."

On all of our tours we ask our visitors if they can save their questions for the end as we have a Q and A session then (in addition to the FAQ you were sent). I?m sorry if you felt this came across badly ?the staff member showing you around was disappointed to hear that as that wasn?t her intention.

The reason we chose not to fence off an area for babies is because we want the flexibility to be able to change the space as and when needed. Freestanding fences are not secure enough for this so staff choose to use our milk crates (that the children use for seating and den building etc.) to create a boundary for the little ones so that they are kept in a smaller area.

Children are not refused food if they are late! We do have a set breakfast time that is packed away at the end. If children do not come during the breakfast time then, naturally it is assumed they had breakfast at home. Very occasionally a parent may arrive outside of the breakfast time and ask for the child to be fed as they missed breakfast at home. We would never say no to this request.

We do not claim to take responsibility for any items left on our forecourt. However, we do our best (our gate is currently locked between 9am and 5pm) and in 10 years there has been one missing buggy.

Your friend has been a valued client of the nursery for more than 4 years (maybe she has told you that her children have been really happy) and has sent more than one child despite the missing buggy way back in November 2017. Again, you are incorrect with what you post here. We informed other parents of the situation the following day. We did not refuse to tell other parents and provided all the assistance that would be possible in this situation.

Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback when we asked you for it. It was welcome and we looked to see what we could learn from it.

[Piplings Nursery]

motorbird83 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have friends with children there. The actual

> staff are meant to be lovely but they've

> complained the management aren't great. Most

> recently they changed food preparation policy

> without informing parents and then were less than

> forthcoming when challenged about it etc.

>

> Life is too short. I'd avoid.

>

> And to the poster who said all nurseries in ED

> would behave as Piplings did about the deposit I

> can assure you that's not true. My daughter's

> nursery held her place at no cost when I informed

> them I couldn't start at the agreed date due to

> unforeseen circumstances they were sympathetic to.

> They also have a hardship fund for children whose

> parents fall on hard times. And they are OFSTED

> outstanding.

I?m glad to hear that your friends are happy with the nursery staff (they are indeed lovely!) It?s a pity though that they have complained to you about the management ? because it would be more helpful if they talked to us so that we can work towards setting right any problems they have had. They probably didn?t realise that you were going to post negatively about their nursery.

You say that most recently the food preparation policy was changed? This was brought to our attention as an issue 9 months before you posted this so I?m glad to hear that 9 months had gone by without further issue. The food provided was fresh, healthy, nutritious and yummy! We could have done better with our communication as not all parents were aware that we were having our food semi-prepared offsite whilst we were without a chef for a while. A break in the communication chain between management and staff where a number of explanatory leaflets were not given out. It was all resolved and we now make our policy even more clear than it was to cover this kind of eventuality.

That was kind of your nursery to hold a place at no cost to you as you had extenuating circumstances. We have also done that many times for people ? but holding a place is not the same as a place being cancelled. This client wasn?t starting later than agreed ? they wanted to completely cancel a place that they had reserved. Bear in mind that the nursery you refer to is a charitable social enterprise comprising of approx. 42 nurseries across London so it would make absolute sense that they had and could afford to have a hardship fund. We are not a large charity ? we a small one setting nursery.

[Piplings Nursery]

goldilocks Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> But for balance - I'd have to say that in years of

> using the forum, that's the first whole-hearted

> recommendation for Piplings I've ever seen! I

> would recommend searching for previous comments

> which are generally along the lines of the care in

> the nursery being fine / good and the management /

> admin being awful. It may be though that things

> have changed recently and the glowing

> recommendation above is the new normal, but would

> make sure you had understood everything fully

> before signing up.

You have been using the forum for almost as long as Piplings has been around! Perhaps you didn?t look back far enough? There are some super positive posts about the nursery. So it may be the first recommendation you have seen for Piplings but they do exist!

[Piplings Nursery]

george74 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Hannah.

>

> From our experience of dealing with Piplings, I

> would stay well clear. Whilst the day care is

> supposed to be pretty good, the overall management

> team/owners are truly shocking. We placed a

> ?1,400 deposit with them to take our son, only to

> find out a week later that we were pregnant, and

> could not afford the fees on one salary. 3 months

> out and with a waiting list as long as your arm,

> they refused to refund us any monies from our

> deposit, and I would go so far as to say they were

> very arrogant about the fact that they could do

> so. It seems they have a separate income stream

> from ?deposit payments?, as we were one of

> several, we later found out..... Would not

> recommend for sure! Plenty of other good

> nursery?s in ED, so best of luck.

George 74 has posted about this multiple times. I don?t think its fair to accuse us of arrogance when we were just asking him to abide by the contract he agreed to. I don?t know what he means by income stream from deposit payments ? most people stick to their contract and get their deposit back. It?s the few who don?t stick to their contract that may not have had a deposit returned ? we do make this very clear in our terms. George may be one of several people over 11 years (and hundreds of clients) that wanted to breach their contract but I don?t think that?s a fair reason to post so negatively. To anyone reading this and feeling any concern, please do ask us about it so we can reassure you around this matter.

[northernmonkey]

Slightly odd that you went back to look at my posting history - also not sure that suggesting 'perhaps i didn't look back far enough, having acknowledged how many years i've been posting on here, is the ringing endorsement you think it is.

Anyway - I'm sure people who are thinking about the nursery are capable of looking through the previous posts and speaking to existing parents to take a view. I don't have personal experience of using your nursery so can't comment on it directly. We did look round but decided to go with another provider.

Piplings Nursery Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> goldilocks Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > But for balance - I'd have to say that in years

> of

> > using the forum, that's the first whole-hearted

> > recommendation for Piplings I've ever seen! I

> > would recommend searching for previous comments

> > which are generally along the lines of the care

> in

> > the nursery being fine / good and the management

> /

> > admin being awful. It may be though that

> things

> > have changed recently and the glowing

> > recommendation above is the new normal, but

> would

> > make sure you had understood everything fully

> > before signing up.

>

> You have been using the forum for almost as long

> as Piplings has been around! Perhaps you didn?t

> look back far enough? There are some super

> positive posts about the nursery. So it may be the

> first recommendation you have seen for Piplings

> but they do exist!

[Sunlover00]

@Piplings. Those who abide by the contract terms didn?t make a difference and the nursery management still retained our deposit despite several emails evidenced the due notice being served.

[motorbird83]

You should initiate a claim. If you subscribe to Which you typically can get legal costs covered. That's truly outrageous.

[Riverthree]

Hello,

Reading this thread and wondered whether apart from the management (and I appreciate that is a big concern) whether people have any views on the actual nursery. I also understand that they have changed nursery manager recently.

Many thanks,

[Sunlover00]

The day to day care was fab - the staff we had no complaints about. My daughter loved it and made many friends

[peckhamese]

Hi, check out the other thread where I posted my experience with them a couple of years ago... not good.

https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,1950367,2038163#msg-2038163

We paid ?1,750 deposit for a spot. We had to cancel 3 months before the start date and they returned ?0. The worst part is that they are within their right because it says so on their T&Cs. So 2 pieces of advice for newbie, sleep-deprived parents like us:

1. Read the T&Cs. Do not rely on email clarifications from the nursery, read the document.

2. Look for another nursery. Who wants to deal with the kind of people that keep ?1,750 they did not earn just because they can?

The whole story is long including an email sent at 9PM on a Friday where the nursery offered to return 50% only if we accepted on the spot: ?That offer requires acceptance tonight, after which we will no longer engage in dialogue on this matter and your full deposit will be retained in line with our terms and conditions?. When we asked for a full refund they took the offer off the table. Does this sound like what you?d expect from where you drop off your kids every day?

[newtose22]

We used Piplings many years ago and honestly unless the owners have changed I would avoid like the plague.