Samantha's Child Care & Kindergarten

We enrolled our 1 year old with Samantha’s Childcare and were really excited for her to attend as it seemed to have a warm and homely vibe. However after attending their 1 hour orientation, we decided this centre wasn’t the right fit for us for several reasons (similar experience to the review below). We were also shocked that parents have to pay a non-refundable $500 bond to secure a spot (before attending an orientation session), which you don’t get back if you decide not to proceed with the enrolment. Most childcare centres allow families to attend an orientation session before asking them to pay a bond so they have a better idea of whether it’s the right fit for them. A $500 bond is excessive and essentially operates as a penalty fee if you decide not to proceed with enrolment. Overall, there is a significant information asymmetry between Samantha’s and parents regarding enrolment, cancellation, payment of fees and childcare subsidy. As first time parents sending our daughter to daycare, we found the overall experience with the centre manager and the centre’s policies extremely disappointing and inflexible. We highly recommend looking around the area as there are childcare centres with more established and flexible policies that don’t weigh so heavily favour of the centre at the expense of parents (and much cheaper fees). We found one that we really love and we are much more comfortable and happier with.