Childcare.co.uk

[claire250182]

I just have the free profile at the moment, would you recommend upgrading to Gold membership? I have just had a look and I get the impression Gold is more for parents looking for childcare to enable them to send messages. Any idea? xx

[JCrakers]

I paid for 3months I think as there were a couple of parents needing childcare in my area.
After paying, I contacted the parents who didnt even reply so It was a waste of hard earned money for me.
Now I just have my details on there and if they want to contact me they can. I wont pay again.
But I know there are a lot of people on here who have had some good business from the website so its really a personal thing :D

[kellib]

I personally think it's worth it because I got my current 3 mindees through it :)

[rosebud]

I have contacted parents and had parents contact me through it. I think it depends where you live and I did a search to see how many parents there were in my area before paying. I live in a city so there are quite a few but it might not be so worth it if you're in a rural area.

[Zumba-mum]

I got gold as it was on offer but i have to say i've posted to over 10 parents and only two have replied. If i had to pay the full amount i wouldn't say its worth it for me anyway. Some people might not have paid either so they cant message you.

[jane5]

I have paid and I have had lots of enquiries and a couple of present mindees from there.

I message any parents that live near me which I wouldnt be able to do if I hadnt paid.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I have paid for a group so 22 of us pay £80 for the year - well worth it from our point of view. Parents look and email me and I search and email/phone them

After all £80 for a year is recouped within a week with one full timer or a couple of part timers

[rickysmiths]

I wouldn't pay.

The parents I have had inquire so far are complete time wasters. Come with their ideas, love what I have to offer, promise they think you are the best thing since sliced bread, make an appointment to come and sign all the paperwork because they want the one full time space I have, don't turn up.

Most don't call and I bumped into one this week. 'oh no Nursery is best, more children and they are all xxxx age and they do lots of activities and crafts!' or they decide they are not going back to work after all! Its a joke, don't they listen to what I tell them at the interview, don't they see the pictures and photos on the wall of all the children having FUN taking part in a wide variety of activities and crafts that they apparently look at and are amazed at the range of things I do? What to they think I do, stage the evidence with friends kids!! :angry: I don't think I will follow up anymore from there I have had 6 of them since Sept and I'm fed up with them.

[LizzyT]

Is it ok to advertise on there before I am registered and as long as I point this out. I have had my pre-reg visit so just waiting for my registration certificate.

[EmmaReed84]

I did pay for 3 months and got my first mindees from there. But be careful because it is subscription based which I didn't realise and they took another load of money from my account. I wrote to them and they kindly refunded it and cancelled the gold member, since then I have had several queries about childcare from them... I would only pay if I really needed something and was struggling finding mindees

[sarah707]

Is it ok to advertise on there before I am registered and as long as I point this out. I have had my pre-reg visit so just waiting for my registration certificate.

You are in a difficult position because you cannot promise parents you will be available for work... but it is hard sitting on your hands doing nothing when your registration is close to completed.

I always suggest waiting until the certificate is on its way but I am sure others feel differently.

Hth :D

[sarahjane]

I do pay and have got business from there, by paying it enables you to message parents and also to access more personal details such as email addresses, so even if they cannot message you you can still contact them.

It is very expensive in my opinion for what you get from it, especially as I am very low on numbers, but if I gain from it long term I will carry on with my Gold membership.

My main grumble is that they automatically take the money from your account with no notice the next time it is due, an email from them would be good at this time to prewarn the money is leaving your account.