Frequently Asked Questions - Care Centres
What is swapple.me?
swapple.me is a new online childcare booking and swapping system that can help make your childcare centre more efficient, improve customer satisfaction and increase your revenue.
What does swapple.me let you do?
- Book spots at your childcare centre 24/7 (if a place is available); and
- Anonymously notify other parents registered at your centre if their child is going to be absent on a particular day. This gives another parent the opportunity to take that newly created vacancy for their child.
Can anyone book and swap places at your childcare centre?
No. You have complete control over who can book and swap places at your childcare centre with swapple.me. Only parents who are registered with your centre and who you approve are able to use the service.
What is a “Reward”?
As part of setting up your swapple.me account, you will have to nominate a “Reward”. The reward represents the incentive you are offering to parents to encourage them to offer their place to other parents when their child won’t be attending. If another parent takes the newly created vacancy, you will reward the first parent with whatever you nominated as your Reward.
What can you use for a Reward?
A Reward can be anything you wish it to be such as a partial refund of fees, gift vouchers etc. We suggest you nominate a reasonable Reward to encourage parents to use the service. The result will be increased occupancy rate at your childcare centre. This will lead to increased revenue, even after paying the Reward.
Won’t I lose out if I have to pay a reward?
No. On the contrary, swapple.me can help increase your revenue. A Reward is only paid out by you when a place offered by a parent (whose child can’t attend) is taken up by another parent. The incoming parent will pay your usual daily childcare fee.
How much does it cost to use swapple.me?
Swapple.me comes with a 30 day free trial. No sign-up fees, no regular fees. After the free trial you will only be charged a small transaction fee if there is a successful booking. If you have no extra bookings you will not be charged a single cent.
Many childcare centres are divided into different rooms. Does swapple.me take that into account?
Yes. swapple.me lets you set up your account so that it reflects how your childcare centre is arranged. If your childcare centre is arranged into different rooms, swapple.me can make sure parents can only book places in the room their child is currently allocated to.
Is it easy to set up a swapple.me account?
Yes. Setting up a swapple.me account takes minutes.
Are there any costs in setting up a swapple.me account?
No. swapple.me is completely free to set up and no credit card or bank details are required.
What do I do once I’ve set up a swapple.me account?
Once you have set up a childcare swapple.me account, all you need to do is let all the parents that attend your childcare know. We recommend you send them an email asking them to set up a Parent swapple.me account and select your childcare centre as the one they attend. It is extremely simple for a parent to set up an account and takes less than 5 minutes.
What do I need to do when a parent enrols in my swapple.me childcare account?
You will receive an email when a parent requests to join your swapple.me childcare centre. When you receive that email, you need to go to the Enrolments section of your account, verify the enrolment days and allocate the child to the correct room. Once you have confirmed the enrollment, the parents of that child will now be able to book and offer their spots at your centre.
Can I cancel swapple.me?
Yes. There are no ongoing commitments and you can cancel your account whenever you like.
Who can I contact if I need help with my swapple.me account?
You can always contact the swapple.me team on info@swapple.me. We are always happy to help in any way we can.