Cultural Care, Inc.

The au pair was removed from the home following this incident and at no time were her whereabouts in questionWe are very sorry for the situation that has occurred and are so very sorry that Ms*** child was injured While we can appreciate the host family's perspective and opinion, a full refund will not be issued

We are disappointed that the family chose to depart the
program and have such a negative impression of their experience. We have always treated the family with respect and have tried to work with them regarding any concerns or questions they have had. However, this complaint
misrepresents the
events that occurred in this case. The family
chose the au pair with full knowledge of her experience a significant amount of
time prior to her arrival. The au pair
had valid references and when the family raised questions, they were checked
again and reconfirmed. While we dispute
the claims made in this posting, we do recognize that this family was
frustrated and we were disappointed when they chose to depart from the program. At the time of their departure, a senior
member of our team spoke with the family and in recognition of their time with
the program, two customer gestures were offered. First, the family was informed that they would
receive the standard refund per the policy outlined in the host family
agreement and the remaining credit would be available to use should they return
to the program. Second, the family was
provided with their standard refund and an additional refund was offered and
any remaining credit would continue to remain for future use as well. These represent significant exceptions to the
policy but the family has not accepted this offer. We wish them the very best moving forward and
our offer remains available should they wish to accept it at a later date

We regret that circumstances were such that
we were unable to move forward at this time and we are hopeful that their child
will have a full recovery from her illness.
We recognize that this is a difficult time for this family and apologize
that recent communication has added to an already
stressful situation. The au pair was not comfortable moving
forward and it is important that we respect her decision. As with any placement, when someone chooses
to leave we must evaluate whether we feel comfortable immediately moving
forward again. We recognize that this
situation represents an exceptional set of circumstances and we’d like to have
the opportunity to speak with this family directly to review their perspective
and to walk through their account. A
member of our management team will be reaching out today in order to have this
conversation and review a possible exception to our refund policy. We are hopeful that we will be able to find a
mutually agreeable resolution

On November 1st we received the following email from the program director: "Your refund will be processed todayPlease expect payment to be reimbursed to your credit card in three installments of $100, $1000, and $for a total of $1,978.68." To date (more than a week after the email) the program has not refunded any money! This continues to speak about the lack of professionalism from Cultural Care. Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ***Please add your rejection comments below.
[If you are rejecting the business's response please enter your rejection comments here.]
Regards,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ***
Nothing that I have stated in my claims were false, and I have multiple witnesses to back me up. Regards,
*** ***

We will certainly reach out to Ms***'s alleged legal counsel to try to clarify this discrepancy

We recognize the frustration on the part of the *** family and regret their decision to not continue with the program. While the match with the aforementioned Thai au pair was not successful, upon sharing their concerns regarding her level of experience, we reached out to the
team overseas. They confirmed that the reference she listed was verified and that reference confirmed her experience. There were many details provided about the care she provided and her responsibilities so her alleged claims otherwise are confusing. When we informed the family of our outreach, Mr*** confirmed that there was nothing further we could have done to verify the reference. While we were prepared to move forward with finding another au pair for the family, they decided to leave the program. As such they are subject to the standard refund, however, we offered the family an additional $in consideration of their frustration. As this is outside the scope of the standard contract, it was necessary that they sign an additional agreement confirming this amount. They have maintained that they want a full refund and have not signed the additional agreement. We have made an exception to the policy and will continue to honor this offer but a full refund will not be possible

Cultural Care’s Vice President of Customer Relations, ***
***, is in touch with Ms*** regarding her request for a review of her
refundMs*** has informed Ms*** that we will contact her by the end of
this week to address her concerns and financial requestCultural Care
looks
forward to finding a mutually agreeable resolution

The offer of the additional two
weeks was made in an effort to resolve this particular issue of concern to Ms
***. This was a customer service
gesture, not a confirmation of an error that had taken place. Additionally, these two weeks were provided
in full rather than through the standard refund rate which represented a
significant increase to this credit. In
an effort to bring this matter to a close, we have offered $above and
beyond the standard refund and the additional two full weeks of credit which is
very close to the $demand she has made in her rebuttal. This is a significant exception to our policy
and no additional refund beyond this will be possible. Ms*** has the paperwork that she can
submit to the attention of Ms*** in order to process this final
payment. We wish the family luck moving
forward and, again, regret any disappointment experienced during their time
with the program and in trying to bring these matters to a close

We regret the disappointment and
frustration expressed by the family and appreciate the opportunity to respond
to these claims.
We were unaware as an agency of
the au pair’s infection until the au pair was already into the host family home
for several weeks and was well into her
cycle of antibiotics. We would have been happy to have provided
assistance prior to that point, but by the time we were informed we were told
that she had responded well and it looked like it had cleared up and no further
action was needed on our part.
The au pair and host family
indicated an interest in making a change but then changed their minds and
worked to remain together. At no time
was a full refund offered, however, Ms*** did indicate that there may be
some adjustments that could be made to the account in consideration of their
frustrations at that time.
With respect to the son’s
condition and a request for information, we require that host families provide
an accurate overview of their home and the care needed for their children. If a child has any medical needs or
considerations, it’s important that these are fully disclosed so that an au
pair can have a clear understanding of their responsibilities while being a
caretaker in the home. We were informed
that the child suffered from a condition which would make him sensitive to
infection and would require immediate attention. While the host mother was adamant that she
would disclose this verbally to a potential au pair, it is important that this
be accurately reflected in the host family file. As a matter of protection for both the au
pair and the family that proper disclosure has taken place prior to placement,
this information must be disclosed in these materials and cannot be relied upon
as a verbal discussion between parties.
We are unaware of an outstanding
warrant for this au pair and will be contacting the police to inquire further
The au pair left the home without
notice, however, stated that she felt so uncomfortable, intimidated and
frustrated by having her payments withheld and tension in the home that she
felt it was in her best interest to leave the environment
At the present time, the family
has not paid their full program fees and, in fact, had program fee payments due
while they continued to host this au pair.
The family signed an agreement committing them to the financial
obligations of the program and, pursuant to this agreement, no refund is due
based on the fact that they had only paid a deposit thus far. They did not pay $as implied in the
opening of their letter. They do not
meet the threshold for a refund per the policy outlined in this agreement. Further, Cultural Care cannot be held
responsible for any damages or losses associated with the au pair’s use of the
family car and phone. We regret that
these issues remain outstanding for both parties, however a claim of unpaid
stipend is a program violation which we sought to investigate thoroughly and
provide the family with an opportunity to refute through the production of
receipts which they were unable to do.
While no refund is contractually
due, in an effort to bring closure to this situation, we will reach out to the
family for one final conversation to discuss what may be possible in terms of
any kind of special exception

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ***Please add your rejection comments below.
Of course no further refund will be made as your response is as scripted as it gets. I am sure you reply to over a dozen of similar correspondence daily since your organization is in the business of scamming families. I will make every effort to notify all friends, family and coworkers and make it as public as possible what Cultural Care is "all about" and that no one uses your service (or lack thereof) as you are nothing but a SCAM!!!!
Regards,
*** ***

Message to Cultural Care Au Pair:I sincerely appreciate your responsiveness to rectify this issue. We have always had a great experience working with Cultural Care so it was unfortunate that this situation occurredThank you for the refund and hopefully this kind of situation can be avoided in the future
Regards,
*** ***

We apologize for the delay, the refund has been processed on our end and may take a few days to be processed on the side of the credit card company for which we have no control. We encourage the customer to reach out to her credit card company to confirm that this credit is pending or may have already gone through on their end

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ***
We are aligning with an attorney and are exploring a Consumer Protection Act claim as well as fraud if Cultural Care is unable to provide an acceptable reimbursement planOur expectations of Cultural Care were to provide a long-term au pair that would remain with our family for at least a yearWe adhered to the program guidelines in addition to providing our au pairs an abundance of amenitiesNevertheless, at no fault of our own and completely out of our control, we had two au pairs leave in a very short amount of timeThis is not the type of program we consented toRepeated Au Pairs was not contemplated by you and is not covered in the agreement. Per Cultural Care’s terms, it refers to a single au pairThis can be found in parts 6b as “after au pair”Then 6c states that Cultural Care will make a good faith effort to replace “an au pair”…”if the au pair.” Another reference to a single au pair is stated in part as “a change in au pair.” Therefore, Cultural Care’s terms does not indicate more than one.Considering Cultural Care provided us au pairs, who both left, this situation does not trigger the agreement’s appendix B: Appendix B is triggered when only a single au pair leaves, not twoIn summary, we expect a full refund of the program fee we paid, which was $7,Cultural Care did not provide the au pair nor the protection of services we agreed to
Regards,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ***
It would be most amicable if we can settle this dispute outside of the legal system although still willing to engage council if mediation is not successful Cultural Care Incfailed to exercise reasonable candidate evaluation in placing a mentally unstable au pair in our home which can be deemed child endangerment Taking this matter into the hands of the legal system will become a more macro issue than the refund of the remainder of our initial payment Please let me know if you insist I engage council and I will immediately do so
Regards,
*** ***

The au pair's qualifications were clearly stated in the application when they made their selection. There were no infants in the home at that time. The au pair's willingness to obtain additional experience prior to arrival is something we understand was requested but this was not a commitment made by Cultural Care. The au pair they welcomed to their home had the same experience reflected in her application which was confirmed and those references were verified prior to arrival and a second time upon request. The family has proceeded with a legal filing, therefore, we will defer to the legal process for any further communication regarding this matter

What you are requesting at this time would need to involve legal counsel. Please have your attorney contact me at ***@culturalcare.com and we can put them in touch in order to discuss any proposed modifications to the agreement further. However, the initial financial offer is all that we are prepared to provide upon execution of an agreement. We will not be providing any further refund. We find it disappointing to have not been able to resolve this upon initial discussions and what seemed to be an agreement that you have since reconsidered and now rejected

We regret the disappointment expressed by the family,
however we disagree with how they have described what has transpired during
their time on the program and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. All screening was completed including all references
checked and reconfirmed with
the host family when they raised concerns. Additionally, the au pair’s English was also
reviewed and members of our team spoke directly with the au pair and can
confirm that she was able to understand very clearly. We take the safety and well-being of all
program participants very seriously and all concerns were thoroughly reviewed
and discussed with the family including that the host mother was in the room
when these alleged incidents occurred and the family’s decision to continue to
have the au pair remain on duty after they took place. Staff continued to be available and
responsive to all of the family’s outreach including providing our legal
counsel’s information upon their request who has, to date, not received any
contact. The family was provided with a
refund pursuant to the host family agreement signed by the family when they
joined the program. No further refund is
due

We regret that the family was dissatisfied at any point
during their experience with our organization.
We appreciate that their placement experience was not a success, but we
investigated all claims of inexperience and safety concerns thoroughly at the
time they were brought to our
attention.
References were re-verified and the au pair made it quite clear that she
did have independent infant experience, but that there were some cultural
differences that made her a bit unsure initially. She was intimidated by the host mother and
felt that there was a lack of patience given to her as she acclimated to the family’s
preferences. The au pair denied many of
the allegations being made with respect to her oversight and care for the
children. The family continued to have
her work throughout all of these various incidents up until the last day in the
home and requested that her departure take place after she had completed her
work day.
The family claims to have been waiting since November
of and it’s important to clarify the timeline. They applied in November of and began
matching right away. They selected a
candidate on 12/1/who arrived on 1/12/and departed on 2/6/15. The statement made by the family is a bit
misleading so as to suggest that they have been in the rematching process
during that entire time. They have only
been matching since they officially went into transition with this au pair
which was at the very end of January 2015.
The family gave us weeks to find a replacement au
pair and stated that if we were not able to do so, they expected a full
refund. Their program director explained
that this was not something that could be guaranteed. They would only consider au pairs already in
the country and refused to allow our search to include overseas au pair
candidates. It is simply not accurate to
state that no matches were presented. Between
1/and 2/there were candidates placed in their account for review. candidates rejected the family and the
family released candidates stating that they were not the right fit or did
not have enough experience for them. The
program director maintained either phone or email contact on a daily basis during
the two week transition period. When
this time came to an end, they informed us that they no longer wanted us to
continue matching their familyThey demanded a full refund and sent a letter
on 2/10/formalizing this request.
Their case was reviewed and it was determined that an additional refund
beyond what the refund policy outlined in the host family agreement they signed
when joining the program would not be possible.
A contractual refund is being processed at this time and will be sent on
2/27/
Cultural Care fulfilled all responsibilities to this
family and it was the family’s decision to depart the program. While it can take some time to find the right
replacement candidate, this process was not compatible with the family’s needs
and they made the decision to terminate the contract. This is their right to decide, but does not
mean that the policy is negotiable

We have been in contact with legal counsel representing Ms*** and have reached a resolution on this matter. As there are attorneys representing both parties at this time, it is not appropriate to comment further outside of counsel