My experience with Bright Horizons Back-Up Care has been appalling and has left me questioning how this service can be marketed to employers as reliable back-up childcare for working parents.
First, Bright Horizons arranged a caregiver through Jovie San Mateo named Rolanda. She arrived at our home with a runny nose and cough. I specifically asked whether she was sick, and she assured me it was allergies, that this "happens all the time," and that she had medication for it. I trusted her reassurance and allowed her to care for my baby.
Three days later, both my baby and I became sick. The fact that a caregiver with active respiratory symptoms was sent into my home with no warning to care for a young child is crazy. I contacted Bright Horizons because I wanted an explanation of their illness policy and, more importantly, reassurance about what safeguards would prevent this from happening again. I never received any meaningful follow-up.
After spending three days sick while caring for a sick baby, I had another caregiver confirmed through Bright Horizons/Jovie for a full 10-hour day so I could finally return to work: KeAvionne (Key) White. Key and I had already spent approximately 40 minutes on an "onboarding" call the previous week.
The morning she was scheduled to work, she never arrived, I repeatedly called and texted her, but her phone was off.
When I called Bright Horizons, I was initially asked whether I wanted to cancel the reservation or request a replacement. I explained that I urgently needed to work and asked them to find someone. I then spent approximately ONE HOUR on the phone, while simultaneously caring for my crying baby, only to eventually be told that they could not find a replacement.
Only later was I told that Key had actually cancelled the previous evening and that a manager named Cassandra had called me and left a voicemail. My phone shows no missed call and I received no voicemail. This is particularly difficult to reconcile with the fact that when I initially called, Bright Horizons asked whether I wanted to cancel rather than telling me that the reservation had already been cancelled.
After all of this, Bright Horizons offered me $100 to obtain "equivalent care."
I had booked TEN HOURS of in-home childcare in the Bay Area. That amounts to $10/hour to find a professional nanny at the last minute. It doesn't come remotely close to the cost of equivalent care and is below California minimum wage. Meanwhile, this is an employer-sponsored benefit for which Bright Horizons is being paid to provide back-up care.
I would not recommend Bright Horizons Back-Up Care to working parents who actually need to be able to rely on their childcare. read more