Just returned after a fantastic 2 weeks in Bali in which we got married and spent our honeymoon. Everything was absolutely wonderful apart from one thing and I feel that people should be aware of this so that they don't find themselves in our situation.
As an avid reader of this Forum over the last few years I have found it an invaluable resource and had seen posts regarding baby sitters. As this trip we would have our 15 month old son with us, who incidentally was "Made in Bali" last time we were there in 2007, I decided to search the Forum looking for reliable baby sitting and saw that a number of people had recommended Rebecca and said that she could be contacted through Smudge. Before we left I emailed Smudge and he advised that Rebecca would be able to assist as she has ladies from her village who are looking to learn English and are great with kids and looking to earn money the cost would be 160,000 rp for the day. It all sounded great so we arranged for someone to come to our villa (The Dusun in Seminyak) on Tues 23 June.
Before I go any further I would like to say that in no way do I hold Smudge responsible in any way for what happened and he was just as devastated as us by the events and was extremely helpful in all our dealings with him.
I was going to go into a lot of detail about the events that occurred but have decided not to as it will be too long a post. Suffice to say, the baby-sitter Wayan stole approximately $800 AUD and a mobile phone from us. When we discovered the theft (the day before our wedding) we told the Dusun that we didn't want a Police investigation or any further action taken as I envisaged Wayan going to jail and her family having to cope without her. However as the Dusun were extremely worried that it could have been one of their staff they undertook their own investigation and questioned all their staff who had access to our Villa and our baby sitter. Wayan admitted the theft of the mobile phone but not the money. The Dusun management made her return the mobile phone and apologise to us, which was a totally humiliating experience from both sides and something that I didn't want but the Dusun insisted on as their manager told me that he thinks she has done this sort of thing before...
I have seen people on this Forum rave about Rebecca and the service she provides but I certainly won't be. When I phoned Smudge to tell him about the events he was extremely upset and said that he would contact Rebecca and let her know what happened. I said that she could contact me if she liked, naturally thinking that she would also be upset and wanting to apologise to me personally for what had happened. I never heard a word from her until I contacted her a few days later to talk to her about what had happened. When I told her who was calling she was very off-hand and it didn't seem like she had a clue who I was. I said that I was the lady who had been stolen from and all she could do was call me "darling" and talk very quickly. I told her that I really needed the money back as it was to pay for my wedding and she said that she would go to the village and talk to Wayan. We agreed that I would call her back the next day at 5pm which I did and all she could say was Wayan says she doesn't have the money. As my husband says, Wayan doesn't have the money as she has already changed it into Rupiah and spent it!
I rang Rebecca again the next day and said that I at least expected the money we had paid Wayan back (about 750,000 rp) as she had stolen a considerable amount more from us and that she could bring it back to us at The Dusun before we left in a few days but I never heard from Rebecca again. It was extremely disappointing to us that it seemed like she couldn't care less about the fact that someone she sent to us had stolen so much from us. Smudge said that Rebecca told him that she would never employ Wayan again but that is cold comfort to us! For all we know this could be some sort of organised theft ring.
In hindsight a number of things Wayan did should have alerted us to the fact that she wasn't above board (telling me that some men had come to the villa when I wasn't there but when I asked her for a description she said it was dark and she couldn't see them, telling me that the rate was 40,000rp an hour instead of 160,000rp for the day, telling me that her father was sick in hospital) but as we were extremely busy organising the wedding and I trusted the source as a lot of people on the Forum had recommended it I brushed aside my doubts. Perhaps I also underestimated that the service Rebecca provides is for ladies who are living in poverty looking for ways to earn income and that temptation may be too great for them. It was especially upsetting as we tipped Wayan 100,000rp a day and gave her 20,000rp for lunch said that she could take all my son's toys home when we left for her children to have.
So people please be careful, whilst you might feel you are able to trust people on recommendations from others, don't! Next time we go to Bali I will definitely only use baby-sitters through the hotel, at least you have come-back that way if anything does go wrong.
BTW even though the hotel did a police report on our behalf we are only covered for $150 through our insurance.