Insider Pages Reviews for Cultural Care Au Pair

4 Stars: Cultural Care Au Pair Support is awesome (by samantha e.)

samantha e. — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:21:00 GMT

I have been a host family for over six years now and am disheartened to see many of these reviews posted about Cultural Care Au Pair. I have found the agency not only responsive to my family's requests and needs but supportive of us when we had questions about our matches or needed help once an au pair arrived.

When two of our au pairs did not work out (back to back) Cultural Care Au Pair was very supportive and understanding about the stress this kind of disruption causes families and really took the time to help us work through our concerns and single in on finding the kind of au pair who would be a good match to our family. We realized we had rushed through the process when rematching with both of these au pairs and hadn't really listened to our internal concerns as they came up. Cultural Care took the time to hear us out and help us find someone who could help restore our faith that this childcare choice was the right one for us. We matched with a younger quiet au pair who came from a strong family background and got more than we anticipated. She was kind and sweet and just loved our son to death. We saw her blossom before our eyes from a shy Swedish girl into a stunning grown up girl ready to head off to medical school. We benefited from the experience tremendously as did she.

We have since had four additional successful years and believe it comes down to personality, flexibility on both parties part and level headed communication. This year four of six au pairs called to wish the kids a happy birthday and sent them gifts. Sadly, many family members weren't even as good about remembering.

1 Stars: Abysmal Agency- can't we give negative stars?? (by Julia I.)

Julia I. — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:19:00 GMT

We have had au pairs work with our family for 13 years. During that time we always tried to work with Au Pair in America (excellent organization!!) but twice before had to work with CCAP when we needed an infant qualified au pair and APIA did not have any in our time frame.
Both times the girls were good the agency was horrendous. Last time after calling the office in Boston at least 10 times to inquire when the girl's flight home would be (she had completed her year all went well but we both needed to plan for the future) and getting nothing, I sent an email advising them that if I did not get the simple piece of information I would be contacting Homeland Security and taking all steps possible to have CCAP investigated. They finally called.
I swore I would never work with them again. Then, for the first time in 13 years my family went into rematch with APIA and I was introduced to a CCAP au pair in rematch who was and is lovely. CCAP happily moved her into my home without any set date or amount of payment. I received a bill the day after she arrived that was due to be paid in full the day before she arrived. In several phone calls to the agency I advised them that I was awaiting my reimbursement from APIA (which would occur in the first month- keep in mind that we are well within the standard time frame for which an extended payment plan would operate with a start date of the girl's arrival in the US) and I offered to immediately pay $1,500.00. The response- "no it is all or nothing". This was repeated to me in no less than 10 obnoxious snarky phone calls during which offers to make an immediate payment with promise of complete payment within the month were dismissed with "we will come and take the girl".
So here we are a family that has twice had au pairs form CCAP paid in full and now has an au pair who we have offered to pay 1/3 of immediately and the remaining t2/3 within a month of her arrival and have been told NO and we won't work with you.
Today- by certified mail, we receive notice that are coming to remove her from our home. How that jibes with their extended payment plan is a mystery second only to why I believed the LCC who said she knew they had a bad rep. but they had changed. NEVER AGAIN.

5 Stars: Good so far. (by Eleanor T.)

Eleanor T. — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:59:00 GMT

We currently have an aupair, who is very nice and takes care of the children well (She is 22). It has been two months. I know that she was screened properly and her experience was right on the mark. She is from Argentina, this is a very nice culture. Price wise the rate is closer to $375 per week when you account for extra food, driving etc...

The negative is that the hours are not as flexible as perhaps promoted for a working professional in a metro area. My communications with staff has generally been good.

The matching process took a few months, as we reviewed about 8-10 Au Pairs, contacted 2. A couple were not matches, looking for more of a vacation (I got the impression), One was superb but decided to go to university instead, One turned us down for consideration (wanted warmer weather) - at last I got the country I had requested. Certain countries at certain times of the year are more readily available.

Anyone who would like to contact me can certainly do so for experiences/recommendations. Eleanor.E.Thompson@gmail.com

1 Stars: Cultural Lack-of-Care (by Stop The Harm N.)

Stop The Harm N. — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:44:00 GMT

Shame on you Cultural Care for putting our children in dangerous and harmful situations with poorly screened and completely false applicants! It's amazing that more Louise Woodwards have not been identified. How much longer will it be before another child is harmed by your unethical and illegal FOR PROFIT ways?!

We have hosted three au pairs and each has been a disaster. One almost burned our house down smoking, another became physically violent, the police have been called to our home twice to deal with these girls. The final one quit w/o notice leaving us with her bills. One threw parties in our home while we were at work and left the infant and toddler unattended in another room (our oldest child told on her!). Our infant had unexplained bruises that were said to have been there "before". Our youngest began having nightmares, crying spells and meltdowns during their time with us. Is this childCARE???

Our local coord and program director have been inflammatory and downright rude. NO ONE has called to f/u with us after all of this. When we initiate calls and get a rep, we are told they will research the situation and get back to us. We're STILL waiting. And don't even ask for a refund...we've been told that they have 30 days to process this and had the nerve to ask if we wanted to "hold" in case we changed our minds!!

I am sorry for their treatment of both host families and au pairs but let's not forget the real victims of their unethical practices...our children.

1 Stars: LCC ROCKS/CORPORATE STAFF IS NON EXISTENT (by Doris K.)

Doris K. — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:08:00 GMT

My au pair's work performance has been slipping over the past few months and her lack of interest in work has become obvious. Now that I am trying to go through the process of replacement, the agency advised me to keep her for 3-5 more weeks, knowing that I have safety issues with my current au pair. No one calls me back despite numerous calls and messages. Local rep doesn't seem to have all the answers but does what she can. Considering the importance of children and the need for support in these concerns, it doesn't seem to be unusual for this company to keep parents waiting.

1 Stars: Poor child care - steals your money (by Allison L.)

Allison L. — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:10:00 GMT

I joined the Cultural Care Au Pair program and received an au pair who created more work for me than help that she gave. I had to clean up after her as well as my children. In addition, she came home drunk often and couldn't perform her duties the next day. I withdrew from the program and expected a refund of a portion of the monies paid, but they refused to process a refund. They said I didn't deserve a refund according to their calculations, which penalized me twice for withdrawing from the program. After many emails and ignored phone calls, I gave up. They provide inadequate childcare and then steal your refund.

1 Stars: Find childcare elsewhere! (by Sapana P.)

Sapana P. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:29:00 GMT

This was the worst company that I have ever dealt with. First they sent us an au pair who was listed as "infant certified" who couldn't handle kids. This girl tried to find another family in Miami (since she wanted to live in a warmer climate) behind our backs. The agency ended up sending her home. The next girl had her visa declined which I was told was rare, but I'm finding out that isn't actually very common. We were matched with a girl in country who said she was interested but kept blowing us off for an interview. The final girl we picked was supposed to arrive to our home from Pittsburgh. We were told we would be contacted about making a flight that would work for us. Instead, the flight was made and emailed to us (I repeatedly told them I do not check email consistently) the night before her arrival. However, this girl just disappeared. They believe she "left the program."

They recruite incompetant candidates who are just trying to come to the US and whose applications aren't true. Their customer service is atrocious. They never return calls. After my last missing au pair, I left them numerous messages to call me back and its been 4 weeks and no response. I wrote an email to Natalie Jordan (the person who responsed to all the negative comments on this page and asks people to call/email her) and I got no reponse.

Don't waste your money here. Just hire a nice local person from down the road. At least you can check her work history and references.

3 Stars: Host Family (by Daralyn H.)

Daralyn H. — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:50:00 GMT

I have had a great experience with my Aupair. She is from Germany and although her english was not great at first on the phone, we wanted her for her application and experience. My kids love her and so do I. I think this match is successful mostly because I screened her application carefully. I refused several aupairs prior. I can teach someone how to drive, what needs to be done around my home, how to take care of my children; my way. I was not looking for a housekeeper,professional driver, or expert in child rearing. These girls are young. I wanted my three young kids to be safe and cared for. I took initiative to fully explain what I expected. I treat her like a family member not an employee. She knows what is expected re: nights out, drinking, respect for my home, driving and company. We have a super relationship and I even made her the godmother to one of my twin infant boys. The only drawback is the attention you receive from the agency.The time it takes the service to return phone calls is unacceptable. You would expect phone calls to be returned the next day. If I did not return phone calls at my job I would be fired. I was told "Oh, you need a little more love?" I expect for a $6800.00 fee to be called back and informed that day or the next. It is a business after all and it is not free.
The education these girls receive in New York is minimum from what I hear from many aupairs,this is also true for the LCC meetings held in the middle of their day, on a sunday, once every month. I had my local Fire Dept come to my house and give first aid/cpr. I had to fully explain how to get a driver license, social security card and what was needed for car insurance from Germany. You have to do your homework and be an advocate for your children and yourself. Your kids are the most important people in your life next to who cares for them. I would not hesitate to use this company however,you have to do your homework on your perspective aupair and ask the right questions to compensate for what the company lacks.

1 Stars: Deceitful, Au Pairs not qualified (by Liz M.)

Liz M. — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:06:00 GMT

Getting an au pair is like rolling the dice at Vegas. Hope you're a lucky person. The best applications can result in the worst au pairs and vice versa. The agency's screening process is obviously not good enough. I'm am currently on my sixth au pair. I had to send two back because they were so horrible. One almost struck a pedestrian with our car. She could barely back out of the driveway after saying she could "drive" on her application. Of the six, we've only had one good au pair who knew how to take care of children and was responsible. Four of them have been so incredibly lazy.
Here's the best story-- the agency publishes fake articles in the girls' home countries saying how great being an au pair is and all you do with your "rich american families" is travel to exotic places all year round, like the Bahamas, Mexico, the Grand Canyon, etc. I've seen the articles that my au pairs have shown me. They fabricate quotes, statistics, everything, so they can attract au pairs. UNBELIEVABLE! Not to mention completely unethical!

Most of the girls who come over here just want to socialize and have little interest in truly taking care of your children. It's also much more than $300 week. STarting in July, the weekly stipend increases to $177.00 bringing the average weekly cost to about $330. That's before you calculate food, car insurance, a third car (if they're driving your children).

I've gone through so many headaches dealing with inadequate au pairs over the past 7 years. No mom wants to worry about the care her children are receiving.

My recommendation would be to go with another agency that does a better job of screen their applicants.

"extremely dissatisfied"

1 Stars: CC poorly screens families & offers Au Pairs insufficient support (by Anon y.)

Anon y. — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:53:00 GMT

I joined Cultural Care this year and was matched with a host family immediately. I am infant qualified, have been working as a nanny for many years and have excellent references. The family I first went to live with misrepresented themselves on thier application and I was very disappointed that I had spent so much money (over $2,500) for what was supposed to be a wonderful experience, and was left with no support from CC while on the other side of the world. The family changed my schedule constantly, did not honour any of the things they claimed they would provide in thier application and CC did not care. I talked to my LCC about what was going on and had asked to be placed with another family and when my host family found out they kicked me out of the house giving me 15minutes to pack my things.
My second family was worse and treated me like a slave. I was worked longer than 10hour days, did more than 45hours in a week (still being paid the stipend of $158 a week), was expected to do cooking, cleaning, washing, errands, grocery shopping, taking the car in for services, taking the kids to doctors & dentist appointments and was constantly expected to do things with the kids that were unsafe or illegal (sometimes both). The host father left the children unattended in the home while I was supposed to be having time off (his passive way of making me work more hours) knowing that I would not leave the house knowing they were alone (the youngest was 1year old) and I often had to use the money I earnt to buy food for the kids and myself, never being re-imbursed for it. My LCC did not find any of these things to be "in breach of the contract" and tried to force me to stay with the family and "work it out". I left the program and returned home 4months into my stay having to borrow money to buy a ticket home. This company is a joke and is a waste of money.

1 Stars: opinion from an au pair (by J K.)

J K. — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:26:00 GMT

First of all to all those who complained about the English speaking abilities. The families have the oportunity to have phone interviews with the au pair before they even leave their country and go to the au pair school. That is one of the purposes of this phone interview. Anyways also the company should do better screening, and the teachers at the au pair school should notice the real proficiency level of each girl or boy. I remember that there were numerous girls at the au pair school while I was there who simply could not speak a single word of English. Their peers had to translate for them constantly. How are these girls going to make an emergency phone call when something is wrong with the kids they are going to watch, Cultural Care? As you can see, I am perfectly capable of communicating in English; so it is not every au pair that doesn't know English. Next, I would like to mention that I expected a whole lot more from the au pair school in NY. Here are the things I was exspecting: CPR, Infant CPR, USEFUL tips for the life in the US, a list of things we would have to do when we first arrive at our new home. I understand that every family, every kid, every city etc is different, but a general idea would have helped some au pairs to be less frightend. I have lived in the US before, so I know about certain thing. Instead we made "happy posters", groupworks, learned that we need to wash our hands after changing diapers-HELLO we needed to provide hours of childcare experience. I think we knew about bacteria etc. Besides that the housing was terrible. There was no hot water, the heaters didn't work: I arrived sick at my hostfamily! What a great start. Also, I had mentioned that I had a certain food allergy. One other girl who was in the school at the same time had the exact same and there was no extra food provided for us, we had no choice but to eat what was there which was mostly junk food and of course due to allergic reactions, my body weakened over the period at the au pair school.
Also I would suggest, besides better screening of the au pairs, to screen the families a whole lot better, as well. I was with the first family for about 6 weeks and it simply did not work out. They had triplets and a baby on the way, and the kids had no rules, and there was no support for me from the parents, instead when I gave the boys rules the parents said INFRONT OF THE BOYS that they were allowed to do certain things, even if I felt unconfortable with it. Anyways, I have been with the second family for almost 1 1/2 years now. and it works out fine. Yes, there are some problems, but that is life. But the older child has a couple problems: anxiety, ADD etc, which are ignored by the parents and I did not know about before. And for which I have not received special training pr any other hints by CC at the au pair school. The parents are almost never around. And aparently they weren't around when the older one was growing up because she has no rules she needs to follow and simply has no respect and doesn't listen. I can see how this is an individual problem, but the parents very rarely address this issue. Even the LCC saw her behaviour and we talked about it, but she didn't mention it to the parents.
Althoug, it is a program regulation, the parents make it really hard for me to attend the local college and basically told me for the fall semester I could not go. For example I chose one class on a day when both are not working starting at 7pm, once a week class. And I can't go.It is hard to talk to the family about anything because there is always this certain degree of unconfortableness, because you a living with them and they make your life hell. Also the dad never shows up when he is suppose to, leaving me with having to work overtime. My vacation from the first year, I was not allowed to take as a whole week, but had to take days at a time, which frankly was not a vacation for me. The contract they signed states that they have to find childcare for my vacation time.
Also, my family never attends any of the family meetings which made me feel left alone many times. Generally, I am missing support from my hostfamily. I do not feel like a part of the family. They seem to think they are somewhat superior. I do a lot of housework, which I am not suppose to do, but sometimes I have to clean up the kitchen so I am able to make food for the children. I also found out that their cars are neither registered nor insured. They did not tell me and let me drive with the kids. This is illegal and goes on my record and not theirs. When I found out I refused driving them unless the car I was driving is insured and registered. Now, I have to use the car I had to purchase to drive the kids around. I bought it to be mobil and go to school initially, because they did not provide me one, or let me use one of theirs.

1 Stars: Look elsewhere, this is a very unprofessional company (by Ken S.)

Ken S. — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:33:00 GMT

The reason that I only gave them one star was because I couldn't leave zero. My wife and I are both surgeons and were relocating our practices to a new area. We had used nannies before, but decided to try an Au Pair for a year. Cultural Care did almost no "screening" of the applicants, and the information that they provided to us in terms of applicant experience, command of the English language, and driving abilities was absolutely false. The Au Pair we received could speak almost no English, could not navigate a vehicle out of a driveway, and had almost no childcare experience. She ended up breaking the contract and leaving after less than two weeks, having only watched the children for one 90 minute interval, during which she took a shower and left the children unattended. After she left, we put our membership on hold and hired a nanny. In the interim, Cultural Care Au Pair stopped providing services in out area. We have requested a refund, but they will not return calls or emails. We will be filing a federal lawsuit, likely within the week to get our money back. Remember folks, unless you live in MA any lawsuit would have to be federal, but the benefit it that you can also sue for court costs and attorneys fees.

I cannot leave enough negative feedback that would do this awful company justice. I have filed five federal lawsuits in the past and have won them all, and this would be the most cut-and-dried of any of those, being that they stopped service in our area. My lawyer estimates that it could cost them triple what they owe us when they lose, due to attorney fees and court costs. I will post the outcome after I crush them in court.

1 Stars: couldn't possibly be worse (by mom2ellib P.)

mom2ellib P. — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:55:00 GMT

This agency is the worst. They take the easiest possibly way out of a situation that often does not benefit anybody but themselves. They charge the host family a very high fee and they charge the au pair as well. Then they provided little to no support when you need them to help when issues arrive. Most au pairs arrive in the USA with little to no driving experience and then are supposed to be driving your children! In addition they don't return phone calls and the staff has a super high turn over rate so you never get the same person twice.

1 Stars: DANGEROUS,DECEITFUL,DISHONEST- (1 star is too much-neg # apply (by Jeff L.)

Jeff L. — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:45:00 GMT

I strongly recommend against the use of this company and hope they are put out of business for the sake of the children, the host families, the au pairs, and the industry, for I believe that the concept of cultural exchange is a good one. Any cost savings they claim are being lost by the increasing fees, and having cars destroyed and insurance rates go up doesnt help in this respect, either.

I have quit this company after three + years of experience with them. I am a single dad physician and am in need of an au pair as I have my kids 50% of the time and leave too early in the AM and return too late in the PM to reliably accommodate my own needs. The first three au pairs I had were acceptable, except that one was a lesbian and she took that relationship far more seriously than her job for the last three months; one stole money from my kids piggy banks (and probably from me as well); and one admitted, that her application was a complete fabrication written by someone else, six months after she was here. She also crashed my car 2 days before returning to her native Poland, leaving me to pay the bill and increased insurance costs. While these experiences were not great, they were at least acceptable. I still mutually get and send frequent emails from the first three girls, who also send me and my daughters birthdays and holiday greetings, as despite any negatives, they were truly treated as a part of my family.

In the past 6 months (since the third yearlong au pair left in 11/07), I have had 3 au pairs who stayed less than one week cumulatively. One was so asocial as to not venture out of her room in the two day period she was with my family over Thanksgiving, instead just constantly on her laptop to her friends; one totaled my Lexus SUV by leaving the car in reverse instead of park on a steep driveway without using the parking break, taking out a telephone pole and my neighbors tree at the same time, and the final one, who was from S. Africa declared after 1 day that she did not do house work as she has a servant at home to do that for her and that I should hire a servant for her to clean up the messes the children made, even though the children were not even at my house at the time!!!

Cultural care did nothing to help me with my child care needs during this difficult approximate 6 month hiatus, while they looked for a new or a defective au pair that some other family rejected, which is quite common, according to them. Cultural care is giving me a hard time about refunding my security deposit ($7000 agency fee), claiming they provided six weeks of care, when in fact, not one day was supplied, and trying to blame me for the car accident "because I allowed her to drive the car" when she had an Austrian license and they knew my requirements were high for a good driver which is primarily the reason I needed an au pair. I have tried to speak with the president of the company 7 times, but have not been put thru. Since I only had my kids 1/2 time and this was not a split situation, the au pairs averaged less than 20 hours /week of work, which did include the extra job of doing my laundry (the first three au pairs were not required by me to do this, they did it as a matter of practicality) as my kids slept with me half the time and my and their laundry and mine were mixed together.

The local representative was completely unhelpful, always referring me to someone else in the company with any problem, and never made one phone call to see how the girl who totaled my car was doing. I was promised my auto deductible deposit back for this more than a month ago and have not been paid.

Reading all the complaints on this list, I think it is time for a class action suit against this company, which I would gladly join in. Every friend of one of my long term au pairs had driving accidents, and the amount of turnover in families is incredible. It is hard to piece this sham together until seeing something like this, but it appears that the company does next to nothing regarding the screening of the applicants, assumes no responsibility when things go wrong, and lies to the applicants as well as to the host parents. Ive been told by one of their former au pairs that they had to change their name in the past from EF Au Pair to Culturalcare Au Pair for some sort of wrongdoing, and had my children been in the car during the two auto accidents that occurred in my vehicle within 6 months (a 60K Lexus SUV so things would be safe), the company would be looking at a wrongful death suit.