Childcare.co.uk Reviews

[LittleLegsCM]

Hiya,

does anyone know how long it takes from a parent posting a review on your childcare profile to it actually hitting your profile???

I only ask as one of my parents text me around midday saying she had done one and asked me to check it had gone through OK. Checked it but nothing showing so she tried again but now its saying she cant leave a review as she already has even though nothings there!

Does it get checked before posting, a bit like when you update your profile???

[Richard]

It takes up to 48 hours. I will have a look now and see if there is one outstanding for you and will process it if there is.

Richard

[LittleLegsCM]

Ok thanks Richard

[Babycat]

hijacking this.. Richard is it possible to make it mandatory for those looking for care to at least write something? far to many empty but looking/active profiles!! x

[FussyElmo]

hijacking this.. Richard is it possible to make it mandatory for those looking for care to at least write something? far to many empty but looking/active profiles!! x

How can Richard do that? Yes it annoying but it's up to the person who posted. It took me ages to fill out my profile didn't know what to write etc .

[Babycat]

Profiles are monitored but even easier have you ever filled a form in online and there is an asterix next to bits that are mandatory and it doesn't let you press enter without puting something in that field? I don't mean a song and dance maybe minimum 10 characters so they can write something! Im a paying customer and it gets a bit annoying when a lot of local parents have filled in their name and nothing much else on profile. It is really a simple admin thing tbh but I don't know if the ideas behind it are complex as its not been done already.

[Richard]

Thanks for your suggestion. Parents can select the type of childcare they require by ticking one of the tags in their profile.

Some parents choose not to say anything in their profile as they prefer to search for childcare providers rather than childcare providers finding them in the first instance.

I think you have a good suggestion but the problem is that it could lead to less parents completing their profile as it is better that these type of parents say nothing rather than not creating a profile at all.

[Babycat]

Surely to those that pay for their profile fair enough but if you are getting something for nothing you are more likely to put '10 characters' in teh box if you get that far into making a profile. Also if you are that far into making a profile you would be serious enough not to stop?

Its honestly driving me batty the amount of people on my profile not leaving and message (unpaid profiles) that are completely empty of anything. Also when Im searching for new parents its not very informative with a username and distance. Maybe its just my area thats bad?

[Richard]

It's a really good suggestion and perhaps one that we might test out to see if it does lead to a increase in people completing their profile more fully.

Could you possibly please PM me with your postcode so that I can see the search results for parents seeking childcare that are being returned for your area?

Richard

[EmmaReed84]

To be fair, when parents have a blank profile I have in the past messaged them just saying that I have noticed they have created a profile and just asked what their care requirements are... Don't ask, don't get

[Babycat]

Thats all i seem to do though its constant!! And many dont reply at all!

Ps my problem is not with childcare.co.uk- I love my membership and have sent others over and voted on all the awards! Looking a bit negative here with no need to be!

[LMC76]

Richard, while we are talking about Childcare.co.uk, can I ask, if I message a parent (I have paid membership) and the parent I message hasn't paid membership, can they still read your message and reply to you? I'm only asking because someone had put on their profile that they couldn't open messages or reply to them.

LMC76

[LMC76]

Richard, while we are talking about Childcare.co.uk, can I ask, if I message a parent (I have paid membership) and the parent I message hasn't paid membership, can they still read your message and reply to you? I'm only asking because someone had put on their profile that they couldn't open messages or reply to them.

LMC76

Has Richard answered my question as I can't see some posts?

[Richard]

Sorry for the delay in replying. Any member is always welcome to PM me for a quicker response to any questions.

I can confirm that free members can read and reply to each message that they receive.

Richard

Richard, while we are talking about Childcare.co.uk, can I ask, if I message a parent (I have paid membership) and the parent I message hasn't paid membership, can they still read your message and reply to you? I'm only asking because someone had put on their profile that they couldn't open messages or reply to them.

LMC76

[LMC76]

Thank you

[mamamoomin]

How do Parents post reviews? Mindees Mum wants to do one for me but she can't work out how to...do I need to request she does it or something? x

[Richard]

A parent can leave a review for you if they have an account with us. They simple view your profile whilst logged in and then follow the instructions under the Add a Review section.

[bunyip]

Richard, I don't mean to 'have a go' especially as I realise you've had a lot of unwarranted aggro recently.

But is there really any value to these unvetted reviews? You know even better than I do just how many malicious and harmful reviews are posted and have to be removed. And frankly, even just one piece of nastiness is one too many. It is good of you to remove them. But I do wonder why a CM should be subjected to potentially business-wrecking damage in the time that an untruthful review spends up there, visible to a worldwide audience, before you are notified and able to act. I also wonder if the hosting website might not be found liable for carrying unsubstantiated stuff, irrespective of any disclaimers: it certainly wouldn't be the first. Don't the subscribers deserve a reliable system, in which reviews are checked for authenticity before being displayed?

OTOH I wouldn't be the least surprised if some advertisers got all their friends to post good reviews to make them look better than they are. Frankly, I don't trust any of these review/feedback systems on any website or online marketplace, and just wonder why people persist with them.

That said, thank you for your continued support for this forum, and for your regular contributions.

[Richard]

Hi Bunyip

I think on balance it is better to have a review system that to not have one. Any review system could be the subject of abuse but it is very rare on our website. For example we receive about 300 new childcare provider reviews each day so over 2000 per week. We receive a 'complaint' from a childcare provider regarding a review they have received on average once every 2 weeks. This means only 1 in every 4000 reviews are 'disputed'.

99.7% of the reviews we receive for childcare providers are postitive and thousands of childcare providers have benefited from having a postive review on our website.

It is very common for market place style websites to have a review system and I don't think anyone believes every single review they read on any website but they are a useful guide when making a decision as part of other forms of research. In any event all reviews are subjective and there are often two sides to a story. In this day and age even without a specific 'reviews' website companies are constantly talked about online. We ourselves are often discussed online in other forums and on facebook and often the comments made are untrue.

We have various security procedures in place designed to stop the reviews system being abused and always listen to complaints about reviews, investigate the allegations and take appropriate action where necessary. Also once a childcare provider has received a review they can also respond to the review and the response is published alongside the review.

Childcare providers are in complete control of their profile and can hide it at anytime which also causes the reviews to be hidden.

Thanks for your kind comments regarding the forum.

Richard

[bunyip]

@Richard

Thanks for the facts and figures - and for always being so open to comments.

Very interesting.

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