SitterCity
reviews and complaints

As someone deeply invested in the well-being of families and the quality of care they receive, I understand the importance of finding reliable caregivers. Choice Sitter Solutions LLC, operating under the brand Sittercity, has garnered mixed reviews from customers. While some have praised the platform for successfully matching them with exceptional caregivers who have become an integral part of their family, others have expressed concerns about issues with customer service, billing practices, and account management. It's evident that the experience can vary based on individual circumstances and expectations. As you navigate your search for the perfect caregiver, it's essential to approach the platform with a discerning eye, ensuring clear communication and understanding of the terms. Remember, every family's needs are unique, and finding the right caregiver is a personalized journey that requires attention to detail and open communication. Trust your instincts, ask questions, and prioritize transparency to create a positive caregiving experience for your loved ones.

The site appeared to be a great resource

I had an account with Care.com but I decided to try SitterCity and I was overwhelmed with the responses I received. Presently I'm working with a family that I'm happy about. Some of the parents are looking for housekeeping, chef, dog walker, tutoring with a foreign language, babysitting and only want to pay less that $20.00 an hour. Many parents are taking advantage of vulnerable people who are desperate to work. I would advise anyone to make sure you have an agreement of do's and don't. Overall SitterCity is very good.

Sittercity got me the job I currently have now, so from that perspective I really can't complain. Since I acquired that job, I've had 5 other people reach out to me asking for my services which was awesome! I will say though, before all that, I applied to about 4 jobs and never got a response. I feel that you almost have to wait for a parent to reach out to you instead of applying for the job yourself which sounds a little backwards but that was my experience. Babysitters and nannies are in high demand right now, so don't sell yourself short by asking for only 8-10 dollars an hour. You're worth more than that, and most parents on Sittercity offer more than that :) Also, there are several posts on Sittercity that ask for you to be CPR certified. They are usually higher paying jobs so I'd recommend getting it done! I did it and it was just 4 hours of an evening. I think that wraps it up. Sittercity is really a great service! Give it a try :)

You need to be very careful with any of these types of find a sitter or nanny websites but you can find a good sitter if you contact all of their references. I found a great sitter that lives right around the corner. Sittercity really helped me out.

Thank you for the extra money I'm able to earn when I need extra cash by working for amazing families on your website. I was with Care.com and they have been GOD awful worst website ever created it is nothing but a bunch of GREEDY PEOPLE running it.

I received a job from sittetcity Last year in NJ where I live and the person that hired me the daughter in law did a background check on me and, I was hired the following week, my job lasted a year the lady I took care of passed last month
The husband was very good to me. I will use this company again.

I think Sittercity is a great service overall. I was a bit hesitant about letting a stranger in my house to watch my most precious aspects of my life! I felt comforted when I saw so many sitters in my area and the safety "badges" that get assigned to each sitter (for things like CPR and first aid training). I learned about the sign up process from this tutorial about the site who i guess is a nurse and had a similar experience to me. Good luck out there and make sure you interview your sitter closely and always get a background check!

Everyone is writing bad reviews because they paid for a membership & was auto billed... that's usually how it works though, so umm who's fault is this? I've only been on for a day and a half and was already contacted. Maybe your credentials just don't match what the family is looking for. Don't blame the site for auto billing subscriptions & calling the sitters here "fake" or "thugs". Some of us are real & passionate about helping people. If you get so worked up about not getting a call back, then I sure as sugar wouldn't want my child or parent in your care! Not even my dogs! Take a chill pill & just be patient. Good things come to those who wait & whatever doesn't work out just might not have been for you. Good luck!

I Am The Owner of a nanny agency. The type of agency where the nanny comes in my office and interviews with me after completing a 13 page application, submitted references, have been FBI fingerprinted, CPR and First Aid certified, give me permission to contact all personal and childcare references and run her local background check and social security trace. Once that is complete it lets us knows everywhere she has lived over the years. So we can check each state for criminal history. We check her driving record, meth offender and sex offender records and do many other checks. This is all before we ever meet with the nanny. If the nanny is cleared after all of that we set up her face-to-face interview in our office. If she is a minute late we do not meet with her. We know that seems harsh but if you are do not show up on time to make an excellent first impression that is a terrible first start and not the look our agency is going for. We look for things like is her cell phone rings during the interview and if it does what does she do? Does she check it? Or ignore it and apologize? Are her nails clean? Are her clothes clean? Does she come prepared? These are only a few things.
SITTERCITY AND CARE.COM ARE JUST A WEBSITE.

THATS IT!
The owner or her husband probably was a web designer and had this brilliant idea. To ask lots of girls to enter their profiles on the site then started marketing and now they are millionaires.
Of course they can't be responsible. They have never ever met any of these people. So be very, very careful.
There is a big, big difference in a site like care.com and sitter city and mine.

Just do your check, backgrounds, references, pop in frequently, have neighbors stop by, get cameras. If they do not like it too bad and it probably means they are hiding something.

I've been in business placing nannies for over ten years and have never had an incident and have wonderful nanny's.

Just be very careful. It sounds too good to be true it probably is or there is a reason.

Michelle

I signed up for a 1 free month trial and got tricked into deceptive and dishonest billing practices.
I feel like this company violated my trust and na?vety.
I agreed in August 2017 to pay $0 for ONE month of their service and was asked to give my visa info.
I usually avoid any site asking for my Visa info stipulating that I can cancel any time" because I know some companies continue to charge after canceling, but I was desperate to find a sitter for my old little cat.
Not to mention that after spending hours making a profile, writing your add, uploading photos etc., when ou finally get answers they wont let you read/answer them unless you give your bank info!

9 months later, I noticed that they have been auto-debiting $35 from my account every month
A total of $315.
Of course, Im kicking myself that it's taken me so long to notice, I am an auto-entrepreneur, I work hard on construction sites and yes, I can be unorganized with my paperwork
I never received an invoice.
I never agreed to go Premium or to pay anything.
It has been done in my back, without my consent.
What is not acceptable is the lack of communication when it comes to payments.
When we pay our phone, our internet, our electric (etc.), providers send us invoices.
Sittercity, on the other hand, is charging us right at the source without letting us know and that is not acceptable.
So many people get tricked the same way and realize too late Sittercity have been charging them.
Charging candid customers who trusted them and gave them their card # WITHOUT sending them monthly bills is abusing their confidence.
I contacted customer services, my issue was mostly ignored.
They kept telling me like a broken record that the best they can do is to refund 3 months.

They argue that they automatically renew your subscription in order to avoid disruptions, what a marvelous lie!
They tell you that your opinion matter and that they will change their company policy. Of course, they do not!
They just make most of their money by deceiving the poor people who agreed to give their bank info.

Be very careful if you go ahead and use their services!

SitterCity continued to charge me from November of 2021 to August of 2023 after I canceled my account. They did not send billing receipts and they don’t send them on purpose, because they know they are fraudulently charging their customers and hoping they won’t notice. They have a long history of charging people without their consent. I was refunded only for my most recent charge of $73.14. They still owe me $438.34. They are insisting that if I actually canceled I would have received “three emails,” and yet even when I canceled recently, they sent only one email. I do not have the emailed history of my request to cancel because it was TWO years ago. They refuse to refund me what I am owed. They are a despicable and disreputable business and I will never stop telling as many people as possible not to use them. They are scam artists.

They use predatory practices for their billing. They have you call or send an email to cancel your auto renewal, but they do not sending billing receipts (they send plenty of other spam and garbage emails but not bills). They know people will not be aware that they are still paying. We just found out they have been charging our card for 2.5 years after we canceled. They refuse to refund more than a very small amount of the over $500 they charged us without notifying us. The customer service rep is extremely rude and threatening. Never ever pay them. They will charge you forever. And if you look them up online, you will find this happened to so many people.

Last year (July 2022), I signed up for a SitterCity $90 subscription. I used the service to message nannies but found the quality of the applicant pool to be very poor, the information on applicants to be severely out of date and the features of the site to be limiting. I provided feedback that the service was worthless to me and that I no longer wanted to use it. But I did not request a refund because I know they don't issue them. I thought after this that my subscription would be cancelled and not auto renew. This year (July 1, 2023) I was charged $84 for another subscription without any warning that my subscription was still active and about to renew. I was also under the impression my subscription was cancelled. I contacted SitterCity today to request the charge be reversed. Instead, I was issued a prorated refund. I feel this practice is deceptive. I was not given warning that my subscription was still active and would renew, I was charged when I didn't want a subscription and never logged in or used the service in any way this year, and I feel this is not only unfair but deceptive and fraudulent. I would like a reversal of the full $84 charge, not just a pro-rated refund. This business is not only offering a poor service, but is also highly deceptive in its business practices. They are also difficult to get in touch with with no phone support and only one agent available via chat who refuses to help me fully.

I filed a complaint against a sitter with Sittercity, believing they would look into this. I’ve been a site member for over six years since I called. I filed the complaint and was told I would hear from someone from their safety team. Instead, I got an email asking me to explain what happened. I explained what happened and sent my evidence, and still no response. I called, and I was told someone would reach out. I waited a few days, and again, no response; the abuse from this Sitter got so bad that I had to file a restraining order against her. Sittercity didn't Care to reach out to me and resolve this. I got frustrated, and I told them to go F* themselves. I am disgusted by their professionalism. This is my child that we’re talking about, and they did not even care to hear me out. There’s no way this is this sitter's first time doing this to a family. I’m almost positive that she’s been reported before, and Sittercity just turned a blind eye, and shame on them.

The most unethical billing ever. They do very little for their astronomical fees. I can also see there is almost no place to review them. Wonderful how you cannot tell the world about their scams. The bbb has numerous complaints and yet they have a a+ rating. Not that I put much faith in the bbb but how is it you have so many complaints and yet get that rating. They refused to refund me 3 billing cycles after I had canceled. They claim they never received anything. How easy is that to do when you use their site verses you own email? I never received a cancellation so I cannot prove I did cancel. I used to get routine emails as a member but when I canceled (again they claim I didn't and will probably comment here) I stopped receiving any emails. I would never recommend this company as they must make a lot of money doing relatively nothing. The only reason we used them is due to the fact our other service went under. We were very happy with them. With sitter city you do all the work to find sitters, background checks etc. Why would anyone pay this go-between company? Word of mouth is so much better. Do not use them! Just wait for the response. It will follow almost immediately after I post this. I'd bet my life upon it.

I created my sittercity profile in hopes of establishing connections and potentially getting a job position. Unfortunately I have received nothing but SPAM emails and now text messages from fake accounts stating they found me on the site and think it's a perfect fit. They have somehow gotten hold of my phone number and have now started texting me. In addition, the site itself has logged me off countless times and has had me re-do my profile more times than I can remember. I have nothing positive to say about this site.

My daughter applied for this job & this lady has sent my daughter a picture of her family & dog, She said she would be moving to Memphis on Sept 4th, she gave an address of a vacant house.

She texted my daughter & told her she was mailing a check for over $2000 & wanted her to deposit it into her account via Atm or by computer. She gave my daughter a tracking number which is 9405501699320128630816 & the text number she text from is [protected]. She told my daughter this check was for the dog supplies & she would need my daughters bank routing number & account number, Please check these people out. She is paying $25 per hour account to her job ad. in Memphis tn, it looks like she has one under MS too.

I cancelled my account in December 2014. They have continued to charge my credit card after I terminated my account with them and my credit card had expired. To terminate an account, you have to submit a form. There is no email confirmation of me submitting this form so I cannot prove I terminated my account. Also, if you have a recurring charge, your credit card will continue to accept charges even if your card is expired and/or you have changed your credit card number. The *only* way to stop recurring charges is to terminate your account with the vendor (Sittercity) or close your credit card account. Beware Sittercity and carefully check your credit card statements for recurring charges you don't want. I have again tried to terminate my account with Sittercity. This is crazy.

I came to sittercity.com in hopes of a job after I lost mine.A man DAVID JONES emailed me saying I was a great fit and he was relocating back to my area and would love to send me a check to secure the babysitting position. I was weary and almost turned down a REAL job for this one and my saving grace was GOOGLING his ema address ...[protected]@gmail.com and it showed me he is a fake...as your website you should probably do something about this considering all the posts are on this site...

I have been a job-seeker at Sittercity twice. The first time I listed my babysitting/nannying profile for a while but closed it due to lack of real job openings. I ended up joining Care.com instead and found jobs right away. I am still on Care.com but out of curiosity, decided to re-open my Sittercity account a few weeks ago to broaden my chances for short-term/part-time work while I go to school; and with the hopes that this site had garnered more popularity. Well, it is the same situation as before-there are hardly any jobs available, especially compared to the previously mentioned site. The jobs that are posted (at least in my geographical area) are repetitive and the daily emails sent to me containing such jobs are the same-they email you the same positions almost everyday. Each day I log on, and with the exception of maybe one or two new positions added every week, it seems as though there aren't that many parents seeking caregivers on Sittercity. I am disappointed yet again not only in the lack of available opportunities, but also with how NOT user-friendly their website is. I had an issue with one aspect of my background check as well and it was difficult trying to find a customer service contact. I finally emailed (seems to be the only choice) customer service and although their response was prompt, it was very short, and impersonal. I feel as though they market their services to both care-seekers and care-givers very well, yet once you've joined, they pretty much leave you on your own with not much support if you should require it. I just closed my account for last time, and there wasn't even an option to leave a personal comment as for the reason why-I guess they don't really care what people think about them? Not sure. I will stick to Care.com only from now on.

I just received word that my sitter city account was terminated due to the background check. I am a certified school teacher, who has passed numerous background checks far more extensive than what sitter city provides. Plus, I worked for a prominent temporary Nanny service in TX from [protected] without any problems. This is rubbish. What a waste of time and money. I have not had any issues with care.com though. I am not going to try to remedy this problem with Sitter city either, as I bet it would just be more of a time-waster. I advise not using this website. It is a comfort to see that I am not the only one that has been through this. I just hope that my ssn & credit card info will be safe. Be careful when dealing with this company. I really am offended by how I was just treated after spending approximately $35 for the full background check. Be careful!

I'm a Sitter City nanny. Caregivers are not treated fairly and also get scammed out of money. Parents can leave a review and the only thing we can do is respond to the review. If the review is bad because a parent is mentally ill and thinks the world is out to get them then by the time we find out its to late. then we contact Sittercity asking to remove the review and they say they cant . I myself have spent over $130.00 on that site for back ground check and to be on the top of the list . If a parent can post a review I think especially if we are paying for the service to be able to warn other potential care givers of unstable families and parents.

The information posted was not straightforward. I just realized I have been charged $35.00 a month for 7 months for something I did not use -- believed that there was a one time $35 fee for 30 day period. NOT auto-renewing. Wish I had checked my credit card statement more thoroughly, because that is a lot of money!

my account was TERMINATED! First they sent me an e-mail stating that my background check was about to expire ( WHICH IS NOT REQUIRED ON THIS SITE) Then I went to sign into sittercity.com and they stated that my account was TERMINATED due to inaccurate information! 6 MONTHS AGO IT WAS FINE I HAVE NEVER HAD A CRIMINAL RECORD AND YET THEY SAY THAT MY INFORMATION DOESNT MATCH MY SOICIAL! HOW CAN THEY SAY THAT WHEN THE INFO HASNT CHANGED! WHAT KIND OF COMPANY ARE THEY USING TO COME UP WITH FALSE INFORMATION?

Re: WAITING FOR WESTERN UNION DETAILS...
Mon, February 1, 2010 12:37:45 PM
From: May Rein
Add to Contacts
To: >
________________________________________
Ok, its not a problem ok...so pls get back to me as soon as you are back from Bank
Thanks

--- On Mon, 2/1/10, Jackie wrote:

From: jackie
Subject: Re: WAITING FOR WESTERN UNION DETAILS...
To:
Date: Monday, February 1, 2010, 4:48 PM
No problem. I will deposit the check to the bank now and if ever I can cash out the money... I'll go directly to theWestern Union and give you the details. But if ever the check will be cash out after 2 days... I can go to Western Union after 2 days. Thank you so much for the immediate reply Tim.

________________________________________
From: May Rein
To: jackie
Sent: Mon, February 1, 2010 11:34:46 AM
Subject: WAITING FOR WESTERN UNION DETAILS...
Ho thanks so much i really appreciate your care...All you need to do is for you take the check the to the bank now and deposit it, , or they will cash it for you immediately or it may take one or 2days, that is the Bank Procedure, So i will be waiting for western union details today as soon as you are back from western union...
Best Regard
--- On Mon, 2/1/10, jackie wrote:

From: jackie
Subject: Re: YOU ARE UNABLE TO SIGN FOR IT!
To: "May Rein"
Date: Monday, February 1, 2010, 3:21 PM
Hello Tim!

I just received the envelope from UPS and I just want to ask, if I'll bring this check to the bank, will they automatically cash it out? For some checks will take 2 to 3 days before we can cash it out. I'll wait for your reply.

________________________________________
From: May Rein
To: jackie
Sent: Sat, January 30, 2010 1:38:13 PM
Subject: YOU ARE UNABLE TO SIGN FOR IT!
Thanks so much i just check the tracking here too and i found out that the package have been reschdule till Monday cux you are unable to sing for it...i guess you will be able to get that on Monday morning, am so happy to let you know that Am so happy for your consistences, yeah the apartment is closer to you by the way cux my agent will get me a place closer, that is not a problem ok...just relax ok..also i want to know maybe you ve gotten the store to buy the tolietres and necessary things needed, See the details of the fist delivery below:

Your Tracking Information

Status: EXCEPTION
Last Scan: 1/30/2010 10:28:00 AM THE RECEIVER WAS UNAVAILABLE TO SIGN ON THE 1ST DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE MASPETH, NY US
MASPETH, NY US
Carrier: UPS
Service: NEXT DAY AIR
Expected: 2/1/2010
UPS Tracking Number: 1Z906AY94498790372

--- On Sat, 1/30/10, jackie > wrote:

From: jackie
Subject: Re: PAYMENT DELIVERS TODAY...PLS GET BACK TO ME ASAP...
To: "May Rein"
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010, 5:11 PM
Tim, I've just received your e-mail and as I've checked outside the apartment, the UPS has just left an InfoNotice letter posted outside the apartment. They didn't even get inside the building and just left the notice that they will be back by Monday before 10:30 A.M. so I'll just wait by then this Monday. By the way if you don't mind Tim, may I know where would be the address of your apartment here in New York so I have the idea to where I'll be working?

________________________________________
From: May Rein
To: jackie
Sent: Sat, January 30, 2010 7:36:31 AM
Subject: PAYMENT DELIVERS TODAY...PLS GET BACK TO ME ASAP...
Hello Jackie,
I tracked the check package now and it shows it will be delivering to you by today, UPS is the courier. here's the tracking number :1Z906AY94498790372, I want you to go ahead and deduct the money accrues to you from the check which is your deposit for the house help position, I want you to deduct $700 as your deposit and $150 for the shopping of toiletries and send the remaining to our Travel agent by today so that he can get us a flight ticketI guess you have his information with the check seent to you... So kindly get the money sent ASAP cos the arrival date depends on how sooner you can get the transaction done...

Here's my travel agent Info below, kindly get the funds sent to him viawestern union money transfer in cash only as thats what he said he accepts as form of payment for urgent service

Name: Denise Henderson
Address:141 south state street
City:Randolph
State:NJ
Zipcode: 07869

ALSO MAKE SURE YOU DEDUCTED ALL WESTERN UNION CHARGES FROM MY MONEY...
YOU WILL GET BACK TO ME WITH THE FOLLOWING:
1.M.T.C.N number(10digit) gieven to you by wetsern union
2.Total amount sent, after the deduction of every charges
3.Send the money in minute at western union
Kindly get back to me as soon as you've get this done. Hope to meet you in person
Thanks

--- On Thu, 1/28/10, jackie wrote:

From: jackie
Subject: Re: reply: Housekeeper from sittercity
To: "May Rein"
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 1:56 AM
Hello Tim,

I've just got your e-mail and yes I'll accept the offer. I'll just wait for all your instructions and I'll be willing to do it. You can trust on me and I'll just do what I have to do. Here are the information you've asked:

Name to be on Check... Jackie
Address... address given
City... given
State... NY
Zip code... given
Phone number... given

Did you accept my offer? Yes

________________________________________
From: May Rein
To: jackie
Sent: Wed, January 27, 2010 5:43:05 PM
Subject: Re: reply: Housekeeper from sittercity

Am sorry for responding late to your mail, I have been out internet for some days.Am Tim and My wife's name is Rein, she's 5 months pregnant and this is her first baby. We are relocating to the City from The Scotland, I will be coming to there to work on contract basis with United States Environmental Protection Agency on a private research work So i need someone who could help me take care of house by doing some house work while am off to work.Someone that will also help in running some errands. I will be offering you $20/hr, i will be needing your services from for three hours at any suitable time of yours, Mondays through Fridays.. I believe you are fit for this position in as much you will prove yourself to be a reliable and good person, We have a financier that is based in the states and he will be handling the payment and some other expenses, so he will be the one that will be taking care of your the payment, I will instruct him to pay for the
first two weeks before my arrival so as to secure your service, actually i should have paid for more weeks but i will extend the payment if am satisfy with your service after the two weeks.
My financier will be making out a check to you before my arrival, you will be receiving a check of $3, 950 out which you will deducting your pay for the first two weeks and you will be using the remaining to buy foodstuffs and othe things needed in the house, you will getting this foodstuff on the day of our arrival which is 5th OF FEB. Actually all flights from the United Kingdom arrives at nights so you will be getting the foodstuff in the morning and making all other preparations. I will also instruct my Travel agent to mail the keys of the apartment to you so that you can do all other necessary preparations before we arrive, I will also email you the shopping list. You have to get all this shopping before our arrival so that we wont have to start running around when we arrive, So my financier would be needing the following Information to make out the check
Name to be on Check...
Address...
City...
State...
Zip code...
Phone number...
Did you accept my offer?

All i need from you is total honesty and sincerity. I know you will be committed to the work, You will also have a nice period of working with my wife. I will be waiting to hear from you
Thanks

--- On Wed, 1/27/10, jackie wrote:

> From: jackie
> Subject: reply: Housekeeper from sittercity
> To: [protected]@yahoo.com
> Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 2:45 PM
>
> Good day!
> I'm Jackie and I want
> to apply as a house keeper. I worked as a part-time
> companion and baby sitting that includes housekeeping also.
> I have a CPR certificate and I'm a certified nursing
> assistant. I can provide you references attached in my
> resume. Thank you.
> Sincerely yours, Jackie
>
>
>
>
>
>

Sittercity suckers you in to pay for a service, then has you waste your time filling out forms on line where they do nothing but stay on their hard drive. It tells you can advertise the service you need. So you fill out that form and "publish" it also. It doesn't publish the results like the web site says it does. You get no calls, no coorespondance, and the numerous sitters I selected and sent requests to - DO NOT respond. It is a scam to get your money and NOT provide a service. They took my $50 and I got no baby sitter and lousy coorspondance - 3 weeks late in cooredponding - just enough time to pay for another month's membership. The response some how twisted around to put the blame on me that they didn't do their job. This company needs investigated.