Fees
there should be more incentives for host families who have used the company 14 years. These fees are ridiculous and way too high.
No longer able to hide au pairs from search
I’ve just about had it with this terrible app. The updates and improvements have not happened fast enough, and it is in no way better than the old website. Choosing an au pair is NOT a tinder date. It’s an investment of time and effort and there should be more than a Gen Z app available for paying customers. There should also be substantially more information on profiles should someone want to include it and better search functionality, including keywords.
The number of obviously fake or planted reviews to up the score to 4.7 is frustrating and makes me question the integrity of the company itself. It’s very clear which reviews were submitted by seasoned hosts and au pairs alike.
The number of obviously fake or planted reviews to up the score to 4.7 is frustrating and makes me question the integrity of the company itself. It’s very clear which reviews were submitted by seasoned hosts and au pairs alike.
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Response from developer
We appreciate your feedback and are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. As with any new launch, we’re working through initial issues, and your feedback is instrumental in making improvements. We’re rolling out updates frequently, so please enable automatic updates to get the latest fixes. We value your business and hope you will choose to continue hosting with us, if you wish to discuss this further, please email us at support@culturalcare.com.
Still worse than the old website
The old website was easier to navigate and had much more functionality. It felt easier to filter candidate selection based on characteristics that mattered to me and I felt like the old profiles gave me more useful information. The roll out was very rocky and it really has never gotten to the level of the old website. Really disappointed in this app and the host family experience being degraded. I tried to give it time to improve but really still very annoyed.
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Glitchy app experience
The ap has been horrible for use. I have had notifications that do not come through, if I’m not in the ap I don’t see calls come through either. If I in a chat and I get a text it doesn’t always show up, I have to leave the ap close it and reopen it to see updates. Camera only works in selfie mode which is hard for showing spaces to potential matches.
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Rollback the rollout
Hosting an au pair is a massive investment of time, resources, energy, finances, and love. Catering to TikTokers / phone addicted young adults is just so antithetical to the au pair experience that I want for my family. Even if overall experience is ultimately improved with an app, eliminating the functional website alongside the rollout makes no sense. I am not comfortable with uploading images of my home - that can be shared live via video chat. I have logged into the app and somehow am not able to do so with the same information on the website? My login email is associated with another account? Yes, that’s correct. And I would like to access it.
While I found photo uploads frustrating on the old website, I far preferred that platform to the new app.
Transition documents for au pairs in rematch are not accessible.
Entire bodies of text are eliminated due to shortened characters, which means rewriting entire carefully written sections.
Having hosted for 5 years, including one with another agency for a specific extension match and then returning to CC because I valued the customer experience even at a higher cost, I am sad to say that I will be leaving again and for good at the end of our current term if changes aren’t reversed and upgrades made.
While I found photo uploads frustrating on the old website, I far preferred that platform to the new app.
Transition documents for au pairs in rematch are not accessible.
Entire bodies of text are eliminated due to shortened characters, which means rewriting entire carefully written sections.
Having hosted for 5 years, including one with another agency for a specific extension match and then returning to CC because I valued the customer experience even at a higher cost, I am sad to say that I will be leaving again and for good at the end of our current term if changes aren’t reversed and upgrades made.
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Unhappy with app
Not user friendly, very glitchy
Poor user experience
I miss the old website experience. It should be easy to hide profiles you are not interested in or those who were not interested in you. Would also prefer ability to search for specific ages vs bigger ranges. Also, making video calls from the app is terrible. You have to constantly tap the screen so it doesn’t time out. They should make it easy to share contact info so you can reach out outside the app.
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Better but still a ton of room for Improvement
The App has been improved since the initial debacle at launch, such as the ability to hide au pair candidates. However basic functionality wasn’t well thought out from the beginning.
For example, the fact that chats are not tied tightly to the candidate’s profile, like every other social app, is mind blowing. If you are actively chatting or a chat is terminated, there is no indication of this on the profile or search results. You need to go back and manually remove them from favorites and hide them from showing up on future searches. I’m constantly cross referencing who I initiated a chat with when searching profiles.
Additionally, once a chat is terminated and archived, the link to the profile is lost, you are left only with a small picture and first name to figure out who the candidate was.
I’ve also seen significant delays in chats and chat notifications where they don’t show up for hours or days.
For example, the fact that chats are not tied tightly to the candidate’s profile, like every other social app, is mind blowing. If you are actively chatting or a chat is terminated, there is no indication of this on the profile or search results. You need to go back and manually remove them from favorites and hide them from showing up on future searches. I’m constantly cross referencing who I initiated a chat with when searching profiles.
Additionally, once a chat is terminated and archived, the link to the profile is lost, you are left only with a small picture and first name to figure out who the candidate was.
I’ve also seen significant delays in chats and chat notifications where they don’t show up for hours or days.
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Beware of non refundable fees if your match doesn’t work out
We had an unfortunate experience of separating with the Au Pair less than 2 months into the program. We decided not to bring another au pair to avoid having children adjust to another caretaker. The deposit paid is non refundable however which means we’ve overpaid substantially for the short period of having an au pair (as compared to hiring local help for example). I’d advise you check payment terms and conditions with other agencies before proceeding with one.
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Glitchy app, company has bad priorities
The app is terrible and the company is clearing getting their employees to write reviews. It rarely works, it’s super glitchy, and cases just disappear.
Odd restrictions
The new app sets restrictions on when returning host families can start interviewing au pairs…
But the same restrictions don’t apply to new families in the program?
This transition to the new app has been incredibly frustrating.
But the same restrictions don’t apply to new families in the program?
This transition to the new app has been incredibly frustrating.
Still too hard to use — takes 10× longer than competitor sites
The app is better than it was at launch, but it still takes 10x longer to find just one good candidate via Cultural Care versus other agencies. Just some examples:
• Profiles of au pairs who disconnected from me still appear in searches, and the app doesn’t display our past chat history, making it impossible to know they already rejected me. The app should auto-hide these profiles instead.
• Filters - other agencies let you search with more advanced filters like type of experience, experience with certain ages, new to the platform, experience with multiple children, willingness to work with my kids’ age range, etc.
• There is no clear summary of childcare experience. It’s scattered throughout references (which I can’t swipe through), the au pair’s summary, and the interviewer notes.
• The “Not Interested” link is at the very bottom of the profile and becomes hidden behind the “Chat” when you scroll down.
I shared this feedback with Cultural Care last year. The app has improved slightly since then - but in the time it takes me to find 1 good candidate with CC, I can find dozens with the other agencies.
• Profiles of au pairs who disconnected from me still appear in searches, and the app doesn’t display our past chat history, making it impossible to know they already rejected me. The app should auto-hide these profiles instead.
• Filters - other agencies let you search with more advanced filters like type of experience, experience with certain ages, new to the platform, experience with multiple children, willingness to work with my kids’ age range, etc.
• There is no clear summary of childcare experience. It’s scattered throughout references (which I can’t swipe through), the au pair’s summary, and the interviewer notes.
• The “Not Interested” link is at the very bottom of the profile and becomes hidden behind the “Chat” when you scroll down.
I shared this feedback with Cultural Care last year. The app has improved slightly since then - but in the time it takes me to find 1 good candidate with CC, I can find dozens with the other agencies.
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Response from developer
Thanks for your feedback. We're always working to improve and welcome input from families. If you're open to sharing more about your APP experience, please email me at Christian.Geelan@culturalcare.com to set up a time to speak.
Very minimal info on profiles
There’s very little info provided in each profile compared to the information that other agencies provide. Childcare experience is often a one-lines that’s pretty vague.
Great system for Au Pair
This app has made the search for an au pair very user friendly. I was able to navigate with ease.
Amateur hour
Feels like a bunch of high schoolers developed this app
Great app
The app makes the process easier. We were able to find the candidates very accurately. Happy to be part of this cultural exchange!
No way to exit from watching a video
The most recent update doesn’t let you exit after watching a video so you have to exit the entire app
Do not recommend
My first aupair used my Amazon account and went shopping with my credit card but she did change the address to her new location. Contacted cultural care and they just said it was an honest mistake and did nothing else about it.
Meh
It’s ok. Cultural Care ‘s previous web based app allowed for much more details from the Au pair as well as host family. The filters were more robust and better. And why even try to support video chatting through the app … there are companies that solely devote their app to this, did you think you could do it better? Because I have never been able to complete a call with this app that didn’t sound like I was being attacked by a swarm of cicadas. And I don’t need a bunch of pictograms to figure out if we have the same hobbbies
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Response from developer
Thank you for your feedback, very sorry to hear about your poor experience. We're always working to improve and welcome input from our families. If you're open to sharing more specific feedback about your APP experience, please email me at Christian.Geelan@CulturalCare.com to set up a time to speak.
Recommended Tweaks
Since the app is the only way to search candidates, it’d be helpful for profiles to have a flag if you’ve already contacted them. Hard to keep track without it.
Would also like to be able to see which account is being debited…I can’t find where to access the account info we added forever ago for payments
Would also like to be able to see which account is being debited…I can’t find where to access the account info we added forever ago for payments
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