Cultural Care Au Pair3513

I had an Au pair who was not qualified, who made false statements to the agency, the agency pulled her from me and failed to return a greater portion of my program fees, here's a part of a follow-up I filed with the Attorney General's Office in Massachusetts:

They wanted me to wait until my son was three months old and they would select another Au Pair.

Yes, I left him ONE Day without me; however, I had family and friends who stopped over to sit with the Au Pair that same day! They have in their mind that I totally left her alone with my son all day long and THAT was NOT the case. They failed to interview my witnesses when they conducted their investigation. As a matter of fact, they did not speak with any of my friends or family who would have refuted the Au Pairâ??s false Statements.

Furthermore, the Au Pair NEVER WORKED over her required hours! That is a false statement. She had more time off then she worked. I was home all the time. I was on leave from my employer at that time.

The extra funds came to play when she and her Au Pair friends would come over to my home and stay the night, I paid the Au Pair for attending to my son if he got up, she asked! I was NOT aware it was a violation. The local coordinator told me it was OK!

I ended my relationship with Cultural Care because of how they conducted their investigation. It was not fair or impartial. They never spoke to any of my witnesses to the Au Pair behavior and actions.

They failed me when I reached out to them at the beginning because I was concern that the Au Pair did not have the infant experience that they told me she had. The Au Pair arrived to my home several times drunk. She was climbing out my window at night to meet people she met online...the list goes on and on but they never addressed those situations.

Yes, they paid me what they chose to pay. I was told by Ms. Tyre that a "special refund" could be requested and when I do so, Robin asked me if I wanted another Au Pair and when I said no, she denied the "special refund" to me.

This agency was unprofessional, they failed me by conducting a mediocre investigation, failed me when I reached out to the local coordinator - she would NEVER return calls. Even many days prior to when this situation occurred, I called her and she never returned the call until the day she called me to tell me that she would be pulling the Au Pair the next day from my home. This whole situation was flawed.

This agency comes across as being so helpful and delightful until they get your money and send you an Au Pair that is not qualified and then when you reach out for help â?? they donâ??t bother with you! They tell you to have them attend some local child care classes! This is not right!

I truly feel that I am entitled to more of my program fees back due to the fact they provided me with an Au Pair who was not qualified, their lack of professionalism, and support.

I have reached out to other families who have had a similar experience.

This agency cannot continue to take our money on false pretense!

I encourage everyone who has had a problem to contact the Massachusetts States Attorney's Office, the United States Department of State, and the Better Business Bureau in Massachusetts and Your Local BBB to file complaints.
In addition, contact me as I have an attorney who is researching a possible law suit.

Cultural Care offers a "$300 Pre-Arranged Match Discount" for finding your own au pair. We offer a service to find an au pair for about $10, so $290 in savings for you. Check www.aupaircircle.com

I have been a host family with the company for over three years now. They have always been responsive to any needs I have had or any of our au pairs have had. It is amazing how seriously they take customer feedback that the host families provide in the the twice a year surveys and how responsive they are to those suggestions and the implementation of them. As a result of the continuous positive interaction with CCAP, I decided to also become an LCC when I saw there was an opening in my area. Now I am not only impressed as a host mom, but as an LCC as well. Very resopnsive.

Cultural Care Au Pair offers a wonderful and unique combination of childcare and cultural exchange. The recruiting, screening and training is excellent and the au pairs have continuous education during there stay. This company provides quality childcare for American families and the program is carefully regulated by the US Department of State. I would highly reccommend this program to anyone!

Absolutely loooooooove the company I work for which is Cultural Care Au Pair. Can't tell you how supportive they are in anything I ask for. As well as the au pairs that we have been getting are so highly screened that the outcome has been super successful. As for the families, I've had nothing but happy families and if ever any issues arise, we work things out to take care of the families as well as the au pairs within 48 hours time. It's been a win win situation for everyone as far as I've seen it. I have families and au pairs that are so happy with their match that they are in tears of happiness just talking about it. If it's not a match, it's not a match. We are all doing our best and our best is working! Happy childcare!

Cultural Care is a wonderful agency! I have hosted many au pairs. My local coordinator is amazing and I have found the screening process to be excellent.

I asked for references from the company and I spoke to multiple families before we joined.

Our consumer clearinghouse on the au pair industry rates and reviews all au pairs agencies in the USA. We just revised our Top Three Picks for 2009 - we did drop Cultural Care from our list due to the high number of negative comments from our surveys. Check in with us and read our new report on the au pair agencies, get tips and advice, use our Family Forum to share experiences, read our complaint page and comment on our blog. Www.aupairclearinghouse.com, the nation's first and only consumer website on the au pair programs!

Edina Stone
Fouder & CEO
info@aupairclearinghouse.com

Poor screening, inferior service (if any), a delinquent au pair, a child at risk and no money back. That was my experience with Cultural Care Au Pair. I wasted my hard earned money and valuable time just to have problems, never solutions. What I regret the most is having put my baby in harms way. I hope one day I can forgive myself for using Cultural Care Au Pair.

First of all, the program fee is $7,095, not $7500. You can get a refund if you cancel before 30 weeks of childcare; things are definitely not as bleak as the below reviewer claims in transition situations. We DO care about our customers; I am a local coordinator myself and do everything I can to be helpful, responsive, and solve problems wherever I can. I think the au pair program is excellent--it's a great opportunity to expose your kids to another culture, have flexible, live-in childcare, and have a fantastic experience for less than the cost of a nanny and many daycare situations. If you would like to learn more, please email me at brandi.mcnally@lcc.culturalcare.com.

The aupair idea is great and if you get lucky it works fine. I was lucky once. SHe was wonderful and loved my three kids although she missed her flight home and CC would not change her ticket or issue her a new ticket. I had to pay $1300.00 to get her home in addition to the $7500.00 fee I already paid the agency. They did not even credit me any funds when I took the second aupair. I wanted to leave the company but the loss was too great as I already paid the $7500.00 fee. Read the fine print if you get an aupair and it does not work out and you want to leave the program you will lose $4,000.00 if it does not work out in the first two weeks. Then you are obligated to house the unfit aupair for another two weeks. Very uncomfortable depending on the reason it does not work out. Your next match may not come in two weeks and you may have to wait 6 weeks. If you try the company please diligently check references and ask the aupair alot of questions.I would strongly suggest to speak to them over the computer. Mannerisms,appearance, language and responses to your questions will help you decide. The aupair is really is a super childcare possibility and super convenient. I do not feel the company really cares about its customers or the aupairs for reasons to lengthy for this space.That is shameful because this really could be a great company with the right leadership. Good luck in your search.

Cultural Care has been a fabulous company to work with! We've had such a great experience with our au pairs. It's such a great way for our family to experience other cultures; we love to travel and learn about other countries and that's been pretty much impossible with little ones around. However, the au pair program has allowed us to still give our children that cultural exposure. Cultural Care is really great to work with, too--I've always found the staff to be helpful and having an LCC is such a benefit. Ours is very friendly, responsive and knowledgeable. Highly recommended!!!

I had 7 wonderful years as a host family with Cultural Care aupair. There are lots of benefits and some things to be concerned about but the benefits of an aupair certainly outweigh anything negative. If you want my opinion, feel free to email me at david13@mindspring.com

I chose Cultural Care for our child care needs. We have a German Au Pair who is wonderful! She is so good with our daughter, keeps her happy and is so helpful in general. I could not live without an Au Pair anymore. As for Cultural Care, I would not use any other agency. They really go above and beyod! Great service. One to one matching is great! Great ongoing support.