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Cultural Care - what is the lastest news on this agency??Hi. I have not been on your site in some time and I was wondering how Cultural Care au pair agency is doing? I heard that their president left (did he resign?) and that they have been trying to improve their services since then (one of my co-workers is also a Cultural Care LCC). She said there are many changes at the company and I was wondering if you could confirm this. If I switched to Cultural Care my co-worker would be my LCC and I would love that since I like her very much and I think she is very responsible and on top of things. I am happy with Au Pair Care but my counselor is not always around (she is very busy) as much as I would like her to be, and I don't have that kind of relationship that I have with my co-worker/Cultural Care LCC. I am hoping that other host parents would chime it too!
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News from Cultural Care
Cultural Care is still the industry leader, and I will stick with them. The President did resign and I frankly think this was a huge loss for them. I met him at an event in my area, and believe he was a big impetus for some of the positive changes. It seems, though, that there is a good team in place. I have spoken at length to Natalie Jordan, and she seems to understand the needs of host families. I recommend this agency and stress that they do listen to customer feedback. This has been my experience.
IMHO the local coordinator is
IMHO the local coordinator is the more important factor. The informaton comparing the various agencies' policies is definitely something I would also consider (what happens if your au pair doesn't work out being a critical one; what the refund policy is). This stems from my personal experience in trusting more in my own instincts and having positive results when I have solid references for the people I will actually be working with.
So, if you have this colleague you really like and trust, then I'd go for it (with the usual caveat that mixing business and pleasure can be difficult if things go south on a business item, but I assume you've reflected on that). But if you have the time and inclination it also wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you called other area agencies and asked if you could learn more and perhaps meet the local manager who would be assigned to you.
Give them a second chance
NR, give them a second chance, you may be very happy and pleased with the care that you and your au pair receive this time around. Staff at Cultural Care are making a real effort to make their company the best it can be. It will start to show, so, yes, give them another go round.
Survey Results
Hi NR,
Cultural Care recently released their bi annual survey results and here is an e-mail that was sent out:
The results from the 2009 Host Family Survey are in ... and the consensus is that our host families are overwhelmingly happy! To share a few of the stats:
- 96% of host families are satisfied with the quality of childcare that their au pair provides
- 95% are satisfied with the support provided by their Local Childcare Coordinator
- 97% are pleased with the choice they made to use the services of Cultural Care Au Pair
- 96% would recommend the services of Cultural Care Au Pair to other families
Thank you to our current host families for participating and for helping us to further improve our program! Host family feedback gathered through our customer satisfaction survey has contributed to several changes at Cultural Care Au Pair including an improved host family and au pair matching process, increased new and repeat host family discounts, new payment plan options, and better online and phone support for host families. In addition, host families are able to provide direct feedback to senior management at face to face meetings held throughout the country, and they may participate in an online forum (www.community.culturalcare.com) created just for program participants.
We're thrilled with these results, which are certified by independent survey company Discovery Surveys, Inc. In fact, our participation rate (52% of active host families this time around) and the results themselves have improved each of the four times we have administered the surveys (spring and fall of 2008 and spring and fall of 2009). For more detailed survey information, visit our website."
Yes, Edina, it is all in how you "tell" your story
I work in the biz o surveys, data and reporting for a major company. Edina is correct. Any company can hire a third party, who designs a survey and then collects the data for advertising purposes. The agency gets the data summaries and then decides, "how do I best use the data to promote my compamy in the best light possible?" The results they release does not mean it reflects what is actually going on in the company. Sometimes, it is just "words" or advertising "spin."
Let me give you an example. My wife and I used to be with Au Pair in America, au pair agency. After many false starts and difficult matches, we switched out to our present agency (not Cultural Care).
Soon after, Au Pair in America released their survey results:
90 Percent Satisfaction Rate for Au Pair in America
Parents Select Au Pairs for Cost Saving Child Care
<!-- start story body -->
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Au Pair in America, the nation’s largest provider of live-in child care, released its 2008 survey results, revealing more than a 90 percent satisfaction rate for its host families.
“Having an au pair gives our three children the most consistent care at the best price”
The three largest reasons cited were Au Pair in America’s affordability, customer service and cultural exchange experience for their children. While of note, these factors have long been attributed to Au Pair in America since it pioneered the legal au pair market in the United States more than 20 years ago. In addition, the survey found 94 percent of Au Pair in America families would recommend the program to a friend.
Now, there are a few things wrong or misleading about this survey report, but the first thing that jumps out at me, as a former Au Pair in America host dad, is the spin on the costs! "affordability" is in the top largest reasons for the 90 percent satisfaction rate. Now, this report makes no sense since it is the most expensive agency there is today! It is NOT known for its affordability! Quite the opposite. However, if a new host parent saw this, they wouldnt' know, and they would be taken in.
So, you see, companies can and do slant the data they collect to show themselves in the most flatterin way that will increase revenue.
thanks Edina, for pointing that out.
Thanks to Michie, Edina what do you think?
Hi, thank so much michie for sending me this survey. Very impressive results, as you say. I am a bit confused as the other readers make good points, I think, not knowing anything about surveys.
Edina what is your opinion as we roll into 2010. I read your survey results about this agency and I wanted to know, has anything changed in your new survey about Cultural Care on these dimensions that you posted in 2009:
Dear Edina, it is hard to figure out who is right, what report is wrong, etc. What do you think about this agency at this time? I read your comments/survey that you posted for 2009:
Cultural Care (www.culturalcare.com)
Cultural Care has the highest percentage of negative ratings ("Fair - Poor"). They also have the most negative written comments.
The comments reflect host parents' frustrations with the following areas:
1. Poorly Screened Au Pairs: (ex., "They allow by policy, au pairs to use family and friends as references. They rated our au pair as a 7 out of 7 {the best} for written and spoken English but she was unable to understand anything except hand signals")
2. Poor Customer Service Once a Match was Completed: (ex., "Cultural Care is Very aggressive 'selling' an au pair to you, but after you pay the ENTIRE fee up front, their customer support disappears. When you need help or have fairly serious problems with your au pair, the LCC and Home offices of Cultural care are extremely slow to respond. VERY Poor customer service")
3. Difficulty Getting Refunds: (ex., "After having a poor experience with my au pair, the hassle it took to get my refund has made me swear I will never host a cultural care au pair again")
4. Staff Turnover: (ex., "Their staff turnover is endless. It is so sad;" "We had a revolving door of LCCs in the 5 months we participate with Cultural Care. Our last LCC told us she quit after working with CC for 2 months because it "felt so dirty working with this agency because they constantly recycle dangerous au pairs to family after family")
I wanted to know - have any of these issues changed since your 2010 survey???
Please share this information with the rest of us!!!
Not a high rate of return
Just so you know, 52% of participation is very low and can not be used to make generalizations about host families at large and their opinions! If you have 2000 host families and only 1000 answered the questions, what about the other 1000? That is half of your sample size and you don't know what they are thinking or what their experience was like. That is huge!
I would bet half of Cultural Care's families and au pairs were very dissatified and or dropped from the program and these individuals were not sent a survey or they refused to participate because they were unhappy.
The bottom line is when you only get half of your survey group to respond, you have to go back to the drawing room and start all over. The survey results have to represent the majority of the group that you are surveying - at least a 75% rate of participation is needed!
The fact that the agency would release these stats under these conditions is, at best, misleading.
wait a minute
Hi Updike,
Well, now, what you are saying depends. Depends on the sample size (or population) that they were trying to survey. If they said how large their sample size was, then you could really make sense of the data. But, a 52% rate of completion is not bad at all. Depending on the size of the sample they chose to send the surveys to. If it was all families ( and most companies would not do this for cost reasons), then we are talking about, what, 40,000 families? So, that would be around 20,000 families that answered the survey. That is a good rate of return. However if the agency only chose, at random, say 1000 families, and only half of them sent their surveys back in, that is only 500 host families and their opinions and would I care what 500 of them said out of 40,000? No! It would not give me a good representation of what host families experienced overall during 2009.
only half is not that great, but...
Okay Updike,
I see what you are trying to say, the group that did participate is only half of the 2009 families at cultural care - that is a significant percentage (and most families do not really understand stats, survey results, etc., and that is why companies can report what they like, and 'fiddle' with the numbers and so on). But, I do see changes at this agency and I think 2010 may prove to be a turning point for this troubled agency. there are some very good, reliable LCCs out there, struggling to make a real difference in parents' lives and they do care about their au pairs very much. So, I hope that they can get it right, because there are a lot of good things about cultural care.
Survey's
I'm with Cultural Care, and every year when the survey gets out my LCC calls me to make sure that I got the survey and that I've responded. She says that she is evaluated on my response and it helps her do a better job... I've had one every year (this is my 4th year) and so I think they mail to everyone, and not a select few. I also had a transition this year, and I got a special survey from them as they wanted to know what kind of service I got during the transition - and I told them both the good and the bad. Interestingly, I got a phone call from someone high up on one of the negative comments I made, and they seemed sincere in wanting to fix it. I'm lucky because I do have a good LCC - especially when I hear stories about bad ones (from all agencies..). If they work well, they are worth their weight in gold. If they don't - well - economy is bad and someone else would probably want the job (just my two cents)....
Good follow-up
Hi Chinamum,
This is good follow-up from Cultural Care! When a company actually calls a dissatisfied customer about a negative survey, it shows that the company cares about their program and wants to make things right. Cultural Care is on the right track if they continue in this vein.
Edina
Not Believable
Wow, I would say "kuddos" to Cultural Care if I believed the percentages here. If they were, say, in the 80s, maybe, but 90s? (for example, 96% would recommend this agency to other families?). I don't think so, not with all the bad news coming out of this agency in the past few months (or has it been a year or more)?
What is my reference since I am not a cultural care host mom? I belong to a play group, and most of the moms have au pairs and some of them are from Cultural Care (or were) and we spent way too much time talking about this agency and the problems the moms in our group have had (some of them dropped from the au pair agency, as a result).
Finally, the group had to place a ban on any talk or mention of cultural care, since it dominated the conversation and got moms heated up. very bad vibes. So, I cannot believe what I am reading.
Also, this website performed a survey and Cultural Care got knocked off the Top Three List so, I am not sure you should believe what you read.....or you should read this with a grain of salt!
So you think they are lying?
The survey was conducted by an independent survey company (contracted by Cultural Care), not by Cultural Care itself, so I really don't think there's any reason to not "believe" the percentages. As far as I know, the survey was sent to ALL active CCAP host families, so I think that a 52% participation rate is actually pretty good. (And it's a higher participation rate than in past surveys.) As others have noted, because the survey is directed to "active" host families, it would not include former host families, but isn't this pretty typical of a "customer satisfaction survey"? If a company wants to know how they are CURRENTLY doing, doesn't it make sense for them to survey their CURRENT customers? (And CCAP does this survey twice a year, which gives them a chance to monitor changes in customer satisfaction over time.) Do other agencies do any kind of satisfaction surveys, and if so, is their methodology any different? What are their participation rates? What kinds of results do they report?
The fact that there may be "a lot" of internet complaints about CCAP, and/or that the moms in a particular playgroup have complaints doesn't mean that the percentages reported in the survey results are wrong. It just means that the people who are complaining are either (1) among the 3-5% of survey respondents who were dissatisfied with aspects of CCAP's customer service; (2) among the 48% of host families who did not respond; or (3) past host families who were not included in the most recent survey, but likely had the opportunity to respond to past surveys when they were still with CCAP. Just because people decide to complain loudly at playgroup or post numerous complaints (possibly duplicative, and not necessarily based on personal experience or even fact) on the internet doesn't mean that they represent a majority or even a significant percentage of a company's customers. It just means that they are the ones who have chosen to be most vocal.
I also think it's important to remember that, with any survey, there's a certain amount of self-selection in terms of who takes the time to respond to a survey. So that may also explain the apparent discrepancy between CCAP's survey results and the results of the survey on this site. (And arguably, there is more self-selection in the respondents to the aupairclearinghouse survey, since in order to respond, a host family needs to first find this site and then decide that they want to participate in the survey. I'm also not sure if the survey on this site has any safeguards against multiple responses from the same person, and I note that there is not any verification that respondents even have personal experience with the agency(ies) they are rating. This is not to say that the survey is not a very helpful tool -- it most certainly is -- but like any survey, its results should also be taken with a grain of salt.)
As a current CCAP Host Mom, I have personally experienced mainly good customer service from CCAP, and have been extremely happy with my au pairs. Just as importantly, when problems have arisen, I have been pleased with the response from the agency when I have raised complaints or concerns. I am among the 96% of survey respondents who would recommend CCAP to other families (and I have done so numerous times). This does not discount or negate the bad experiences that some people may have had with this agency, but neither do their complaints negate my positive experience.
Lying and Reliability of Surveys
Hi, I am not sure that Jake thinks Cultural Care is "lying" but rather I think what he is saying that perhaps the program may be skewing the data in their favor. Many companies (and not just au pair agencies) will "play around" with the data so they have a favorable outcome. It is done all the time in business!
I am not saying they change the numbers, I don't think they would, but they may decide only to report the positive data (and not the negative data). Once a business gets the survey results from an independent source (who actually administered the survey) it is up to the business leaders to write the reports and make them public. It would be a difficult choice for any agency to report both negative percentages along with the positive and it is really up to the company to use the data in any fashion they want to (and since they paid for the survey).
However, on our site, we report all survey results - both! Since we are an unbiased and third party, we don't have to debate whether or not to report the negative results. We don't lose anything by reporting negative results. As for our surveys, we do have a third party collect the results and yes, they do restrict multiple surveys coming from each household (as registered by the IP address).
I have spoken to and received many emails from Cultural Care parents who are very happy with their experience and you are so right, a negative experience from another host parent should never negate your match with Cultural Care! Enjoy and good luck!
Jake, I have to agree with you
Dear jake, I have to agree with you. I hear the same about this agency and we have a pretty large contingency of host moms on my street in my large development and I think the all have dropped from this agency at one time or another. Standing at the bus stop, with our kids, we hear the "talk" and it ain't good for cultural care - but we never hear anything negative about another agency. Doen'st this mean something? Shouldnt these survey companies get out to the real folks and just call some of the host moms at random and really talk to them? this seems more real and personal compared to a form that one has to fill out and send. I really do not like to take surveys but I would speak live to someone who I thought really cared about what I felt!
Cultural Care Host Moms get Nasty, Don't They?
Boy, Cultural Care host moms get nasty, don't they? I saw the forum topic before it was taken off the site (thanks Edina, you did the right thing, it broke all kinds of your user content policy rules)! I meant to address it then, but got distracted by something else online. I know what you are saying here about local moms talking negatively about this agency, I hear the same things about Cultural Care - it is really dramatic - you either really love this agency or you really hate it! It has been suggested that some "host moms" that are chiming in here (and elsewhere online) are really local coordinators that work for Cultural Care. They do seem to have "inside" information all the time when they post and they seem overly invested in supporting the agency and/or providing evidence to counter a host parent's complaint.
I am not sure I would be so invested, as a host dad, to get in there and attack another host parent who had a complaint against my agency. What is it my business, know what i mean? Besides, I would want to hear about the other host parent's experience and issues they had with my au pair agency. Information is KING!
Don't let Cultural Care host moms/LCCs get you down when they go on the attack, just report the news, filter out the spam and the inappropriate tirades and you will be fine!!!
Doesn't sound quite right
Hi Michie105,
These results appear, at first glance, very impressive. But, how do they "fit" with the Cultural Care debacles of 2009? It seems like it was one of the worst years for this agency since they had multiple lawsuits and complaints by host parents registered all over the Internet. Just google "cultural care complaints" and you get multiple listings/websites.
You are not stating how many people took this survey either and how it was given (was it a random selection of all cultural care families?). Also, one of my friends, who was a cultural care family and dropped out and switched agencies in 2009, said she never received a survey so she was unable to register her comments (which would have been negative). So, all the host families who were dissatisfied and dropped from the program were not included in this survey. How reliable is their survey then? Not very.
Sorry, but that is not good survey implementation. If you don't include random selection of ALL participants, whether or not they dropped from the program, the results are then skewed (in Cultural Care's favor) and, of course, remain biased.
I was with cultural care 2008 - 2009
My wife initially chose to go with Cultural Care in both 2008 and 2009 and she said we never received a survey from this agency. So, even though we were part of the program, they never included us in their survey.
Where we happy with the agency? Not really. The au pair was not so bad, as was the lack of service we received. Even my au pair was not happy and she did have several issues and problems she needed help with, one was a medical problem, and the LCC was not there for her.
Once our au pair, who extended for a second year, left, we switched over to Au pair care and are VERY happy! They are so different and the orientation there is, you are first, you are the customer and their goal is to make your life easier when it comes to childcare and your au pair.
Our au pair loves the program too, and we are now happy as part of the larger au pair care family.
If I did receive a survey, I would have been honest and told the truth - service is poor and I would not refer anyone to the company and I was not satisfied at all.