Childcare.co.uk

[tracycoops]

Hi, I've recently recieved a couple of emails telling me one person has viewed my profile twice and has tried to contact me. Before I commit to paying £19.99 per month, to upgrade my membership to enable my to contact her (and let other non-members contact me), can anyone tell me if these emails are likely to be genuine or fake?

My husband had a similar experience with a car selling site and the people who supposedly were interested in his car didn't exist and he only found this out after paying out money.

Thanks in advance.

[Rick]

If you have received an email that someone has viewed your profile then that is the case. The website doesn't have fake profiles to make you sign up. Good luck

[Simona]

If you have received an email that someone has viewed your profile then that is the case. The website doesn't have fake profiles to make you sign up. Good luck

Rick...are you the previous Knight now with a new name?

[Richard]

I can assure you that the emails are entirely genuine. It would be a criminal act to send false emails of that nature. We are a well respetced and trusted organisation.

[Rick]

Rick...are you the previous Knight now with a new name?

Yes I've gone back to Rick again!

[tracycoops]

I can assure you that the emails are entirely genuine. It would be a criminal act to send false emails of that nature. We are a well respetced and trusted organisation.

Thank you. I had hoped that was the case but you can never be too careful

[Lady B]

And don't forget if you do sign up and pay that fee..... remember that it's an expense so you can offset it against your income for tax purposes

[alwaysright]

i came onto the forum today looking at childcare.co.uk advice as i havent used it for a while as it generated absolutely nothing for me last time i used it, i have also had a mail that someone has tryed to contact me but as im not a gold member they cant do that! i feel this i wrong as it used to be that if you werent member you couldnt contact people but if they contacted you you were able to reply, i also couldnt believe the large price rise! it used to be either 12.99 or 13.99 a month and its jumped up to 19.99 a month! whats that in percentage??

[Rick]

i came onto the forum today looking at childcare.co.uk advice as i havent used it for a while as it generated absolutely nothing for me last time i used it, i have also had a mail that someone has tryed to contact me but as im not a gold member they cant do that! i feel this i wrong as it used to be that if you werent member you couldnt contact people but if they contacted you you were able to reply, i also couldnt believe the large price rise! it used to be either 12.99 or 13.99 a month and its jumped up to 19.99 a month! whats that in percentage??

The person trying to contact you would have been a free member, as you are, therefore you would have to upgrade. You can't both be free members.
If you have received messages in the past when you have been a free member, then the parent must have been a gold member.
The service is there if you want to use it, you have the price, it's up to you to decide if it is worth it. You can get enquiries without paying anything but the parent must be a gold member.

[Richard]

We have added a number of additional benefits for free members and gold members.

Previously free members could read and reply to messages from gold members. This is still the case but now free members can also initiate contact with gold members. We are currently also rolling out a feature to allow free members to access the Profile Plus direct contact details of gold members.

We are a privately funded company and not a charity or a government body so can't afford to provide a totally free service between 2 free members just as I would imagine most childminders could not afford to provide childcare for a mindee without charging them.

[SJ35]

I have found nearly all of my mindees from childcare.co.uk and have found it worth the money to be a gold member. X

[LG2014]

I am a Gold Member and so glad I did! It not just being able to communicate there also opportunities to participate in further training opportunities that are free. Money well spent I think! x

[alwaysright]

richard i wouldnt expect it to be a free service, but the last time i was a member i gained nothing from it so decided to cancel my membership and the most i paid was 13.99 a month but for it to jump to 19.99 a month is a big jump! i did notice that it said there was free training etc but i personally dont need this so feel it was a bit too expensive.

[bunyip]

I've had several enquiries recently via the site, plus another couple who "don't remember" where they got my details - so they could've come from childcare.co.uk too for all I know.

Just got to filter them down to the most suitable ones now.

Richard: any chance you could make it compulsory for parents to put a photo on their profiles?

.....then I could interview all the prettiest mums first.

[Richard]

We haven't increased our prices for over 3 years and now spend millions of pounds per year in marketing to ensure we have the largest choice of childcare providers and parents seeking childcare on our platform.

Over 45,000 childminders use our service to help fill their vacancies and most find it excellent value for money. You can get a year's gold membership for £99.99 which equates to just £6.94 per month + VAT.

richard i wouldnt expect it to be a free service, but the last time i was a member i gained nothing from it so decided to cancel my membership and the most i paid was 13.99 a month but for it to jump to 19.99 a month is a big jump! i did notice that it said there was free training etc but i personally dont need this so feel it was a bit too expensive.

[Richard]

Lol bunyip!

You can filter the search results by 'Photos First' which puts all the ones with photos at the top of the list

I've had several enquiries recently via the site, plus another couple who "don't remember" where they got my details - so they could've come from childcare.co.uk too for all I know.

Just got to filter them down to the most suitable ones now.

Richard: any chance you could make it compulsory for parents to put a photo on their profiles?

.....then I could interview all the prettiest mums first.

[alwaysright]

richard i have actually just been looking at the site and noticed a parent whose profile said "age-hidden" can providers also have the option to do this?

[Richard]

Yes any member can hide their age from the Privacy Settings page.

richard i have actually just been looking at the site and noticed a parent whose profile said "age-hidden" can providers also have the option to do this?

[alwaysright]

Yes any member can hide their age from the Privacy Settings page.

thankyou very much!

[Shamai]

No the emails are not a scam, I received a couple of emails saying "someone is trying to contact you" - once I paid the fee to contact the parent and the other time the parent upgraded to contact me! I just wish parents would put more details of the hours they require etc. instead of just "looking for a Childminder". I have got two families from Childcare.co.uk so, in my opinion, well worth £19.99 for hopefully 3/4 years of security for me