Client Review on Hometown Nannies Plus, LLC

Feedback:

First, I'd like to share that I have never published a negative post before. I was hesitant to do so, but was encouraged by other parents that they would appreciate knowing about different experiences. So, I've decided to share mine. I am a mom who was looking (desperately) for a new nanny before going back to work. Jayne gave me great confidence that she would find a perfect fit for us by the time I needed help. She did help us find someone, but found her 2 weeks later than our agreed-to start date, which caused a lot of scrambling on my end. I did not have time to draft a written, thoughtful contract with the nanny formally because I was going back to work and was already overburdened. Our nanny and I talked about our shared terms, and were in agreement with them. We had a great relationship. Sadly, our nanny had some life changes that led to her needing to put in her resignation with us just 2 months after starting with us. I'd advise to other parents to be sure to read the fine print if you choose to work with this very expensive agency. If you do not deliver a signed contract to them that is between you and the nanny prior to the nanny's start date, the replacement search is void. While the agency did email us twice to request the contract, it was not clear to me why this was necessary, which is why I didn’t prioritize it once I went back to work. We have lost thousands of dollars because of this, despite the wonderful relationship we'd developed with our nanny. I would not recommend this agency. It is very money-driven without focus on delivering customer value. It requires flexibility on your part as the customer (e.g. delivering a nanny later than agreed to), but lack of flexibility on the part of the agency when something goes wrong. As a nanny agency that is focused on family needs, which is a very personal business, I found the lack of empathy and directness to the contractual terms disappointing. Jayne frequently complained to me that she was amidst changing offices and getting a new website, and was working days, nights, and weekends to find us a nanny in our area. However, this is why we'd chosen to work with an agency; we'd had difficulty finding someone on our own. She assured me that she had found nannies in our geography and that the agency was very skilled at doing so. Yet, this particular assignment was one that she said she embraced as a challenge and assured me she would be able to take on. In addition to the burden this particular assignment seemed for her and the agency, I was not entirely happy with the vetting process. She sent someone for us to interview (who we did not hire) that had conflicting information in her application and her resume, and when I did further research on her myself, did not think she was a good fit to be a nanny for us. When I shared this feedback with Jayne, Jayne said that they do their extensive vetting of nannies after a family decides that they want to hire the nanny (not before an in-person interview). I find this odd, since I would only want to have potential nannies to my home that have been thoroughly vetted. I have worked with another nanny agency in the past (in another state) that was far more compassionate to family needs, thorough in the vetting process, spent time with us over the phone to deeply understand our needs and values, and was flexible in helping families during an extremely difficult life phase. I wrote a positive review of my experiences with them. Best of luck to all those families out there; please be careful about what you sign up for and learn from our terrible mistake.