Sittercity...

[mommy*RN]

Has anyone ever used Sittercity to find a babysitter? I logged on using their free 7-day trial and found out that I can't obtain any information unless I upgrade to their membership...to the tune of about $93.00 lump sum for a year or $9.99/mo with a $39.99 start up fee. Seems expensive and I don't know if it is worth it. Anyone used it and was it worth the cost???

TIA!

 

[AKBAFB]

Haven't used sittercity, but I recently tried Care.com. You can see a little about the sitters (and they also have housekeepers, pet sitters) but you have to pay to see much more. They said it was $25 for one month, so I thought, hey why not, I can use it for a month, hopefully find a couple of good sitters and then cancel. Well, they charged me $40 bucks for the month and now they say that if I continue the service, they will discount the next three months $5 each so the first month is $25. I guess I should have read the fine print. Oh well, I've already tried and liked one gal, so even if I just have her, it's ok. I'll definitely be cancelling before the first month is over though. Good luck! I hate trying to find good sitters.

 

[mommy*RN]

Good point! I already found a discount code that takes $5 off. I might have to try it. My kids worth the $50!!

 

[TinkerbEllnor]

We moved to an area where we didn't know anyone so we didn't have anyone to recommend a sitter to us or know one personally. I used Sittercity and had good luck with it and found a great sitter through it.

that said, though, I would still recommend a buyer beware attitude and interview the sitters or do a trial run mothers helper day first.

From what I understand, the sitters do NOT have to pay to register, or otherwise provide any kind of 'proof' of their cabability to care for kids. They can choose to have a background check run on themselves for a fee to attach to their profile, but they don't have to. There is also a parent feedback option, so you can read other's experiences with that sitter, which is nice.

hth

 

[Hensmom]

I have used sittercity.com for probably 5 years, and am totally sold. While it's true that you have to do background checks, I'd do that anyway. I have two long-term sitters that came from sittercity, and have really had only positive experiences. It's great to be able to be very specific when posting a job.

 

[mommy*RN]

From what I understand, the sitters do NOT have to pay to register, or otherwise provide any kind of 'proof' of their cabability to care for kids. They can choose to have a background check run on themselves for a fee to attach to their profile, but they don't have to. There is also a parent feedback option, so you can read other's experiences with that sitter, which is nice.

hth

This is true. I wanted to see how sittercity worked so I posted a "fake" babysitter profile on myself. The sitters can post messages and such to a person without any fees. I deleted the account shortly after I researched it, but I'm glad I know. I've already found a great sitter who had a message posted there and another one at a free site.

I have used sittercity.com for probably 5 years, and am totally sold. While it's true that you have to do background checks, I'd do that anyway. I have two long-term sitters that came from sittercity, and have really had only positive experiences. It's great to be able to be very specific when posting a job.

I know, I LOVE that I can put what I am looking for in the post and not have to worry I'm going to get 100s of responses to people who cannot work the hours I have available. I've found their site to be extremely useful and possibly once I have a steady schedule I will have to join.

Thanks for all the input! I appreciate knowing others have good experiences with the site. I was a bit nervous when within 2hrs of posting the job I had 3 people apply. I thought it might be a scam, but now I realize since it is a free service for the sitters...there are many more of them than us looking for care so it makes our postings competative!!