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Below you will find some information and guidelines that we hope you will find useful - they are designed to help you to get the
best from Allbairns, both from the babysitters who come to you and from the agency itself.
>> Getting the best from your Sitter
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GETTING THE BEST FROM THE AGENCY
You can make a booking or leave a message 7 days a week, 24-hours a day, by phone or email or via the Bookings and Contact pages on our website. So that Louise and Kathy can make the best use of available time all phone calls go to our voicemail service, but we do check for messages regularly and will deal with your booking or return your call at the earliest opportunity. The office is manned Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5.00pm and also on Saturday mornings from 9.30am to noon – office hours may be reduced in school holidays. The office is closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays. If you have an urgent problem or emergency outside office hours then you can try and reach us on our emergency mobile phone, details can be found by ringing the office number (01494 793889) and pressing option 4. However, both Kathy and Louise live in areas with problematic mobile reception, so it is important to also leave a message on Option 4 before using the mobile number, as this may actually be seen first or we may need to clarify details if reception is poor. Please only use this service for genuine emergencies involving bookings for the same evening or next morning. There is no emergency service on Sundays and Bank Holidays. When leaving any message please make sure you include your full name and telephone number and if making a booking include the day-of-the-week, date, start time and approximate finishing time - making sure it is clear if the booking is for the evening or during the day. We usually confirm details of your sitter within 48 hours, but if your booking is imminent and you have not heard from us then please ring to make sure we have received your message. Most of all, we really appreciate getting reasonable notice of a booking as it can be very difficult to find babysitters at very short notice - this especially applies to daytime bookings and Saturday evenings. Early booking is also recommended if you wish to request a specific babysitter, we do our best to meet all requests but we cannot guarantee the availability of a favourite babysitter. When we confirm a booking, please check that we have given the correct date and times. To avoid any confusion, all bookings must be made through the Allbairns Agency. We always try our very best to provide you with a good service and appreciate and note any feedback we are given. If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact us. GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR BABYSITTER We will give you your babysitter’s name and telephone number - please keep this safe as you may need to contact her, for example to change the start time of the booking. If she hasn’t been to you before, please call her to introduce yourself and give directions, sitters are often travelling in the dark in unfamiliar areas so it really helps to have clear directions and landmarks. Babysitters do their best to arrive on time but can be delayed for a variety of reasons, so if it is important for you to be away by a certain time please ensure that you tell her and start your booking time at least 15 minutes before your departure time. Please go through your expectations with your babysitter, for example bed times, snacks, story reading etc, all families have different routines so it is important that she knows what suits your children. If there are TV programmes, games or films in your house that the children are not allowed, please make sure she knows. It is very rare for a babysitter to need to contact parents while they are out, but please leave an emergency number - either a mobile that will be left on, or a friend or neighbour’s number, just in case! Medication can only be administered with written consent and we ask that you advise us if the children are ill so your babysitter can be notified. It is preferable that babysitters are not asked to look after sick children. If your return home is delayed and is likely to be significantly later than estimated, please call your babysitter to let her know as she may need to change her plans, or let her family know she will be late. Please ensure there is adequate heating, most heating systems are on a timer and when this goes off, the babysitter can quickly get very cold - even in summer months houses can get very cold during late night bookings. Also, please ensure that all pets are suitably enclosed or controlled, large or lively dogs should be shut away. When a booking goes over a mealtime, please provide a meal for your babysitter and a light supper should be provided for late sits. All babysitters appreciate being offered tea, coffee or a cold drink (but not alcoholic drinks!). While babysitters are prepared to undertake most duties for your children including preparing a meal for them if required, we ask that you do not expect them to do domestic chores like cleaning and ironing.
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