Care.com
reviews and complaints

I have tried numerous times to receive help from the careteam@Care.com regarding a very large "Costimate" banner that inaccurately shows an exaggerated weekly rate for my business. The problem is that this rate is far higher than my rates. I have paid Care.com to help me attract potential clients. I have no idea why this "Costimate" banner appears on my business, but it is the first thing that comes up on my account and it appears again when potential clients scroll down the screen to check my rates. I am very upset because I believe this false rate is preventing me from attracting clients.
A customer service rep from Care.com by the name of Julieta keeps submitting my help request as "CLOSED", stating that my problem has been resolved. But it has not been resolved.
You cannot use the online "Help Chat" because you will wait for hours and no one ever comes on to help you. You cannot call Care.com because they only advertise a phone number with a recording that tells you to contact them via email.
I am furious. This is a joke. They put information on my business account without my permission and that is false. It appears that the "Costimate" banner that appears on my business account is just another way that Care.com is earning money. "Costimate" is trademarked and appears to be another business that Care.com is contracting with.
Below is the most recent case # I received today after filing another "help" request.

[Care.com case tracking -- do not delete or modify text below]

ref:_00D708kOO._5005Y23JOes:ref

2021-10-22-[protected]

Hidden fees and charges totaling nearly $900.00 for a service I used for a little iver a week. Requested to cancel my account immediately and have a prorated refund issued. Care.com refused ny request. I will be disputing charge for full refund through credit card company.

Care.com charged me $77.00 per quarter from 10/11/16 - 7/11/21 totaling $1, 167. I signed up for a 3 mos premium membership only. The description on the charges in my account on the Care.com platform support it was only a 3 mos membership. There was no email notification of any of the charges in the last 4 years which is incredibly deceiving and I believe unlawful due to a settlement Care.com reached in CA (see link to that case below). I do take responsibility for not catching this in my own credit card statements, but because it was quarterly charged, it was easy to miss.

I contacted the company demanding a refund several times and was told they can only refund me charges less than 30 days old. They said the renewal information is stated in their terms of service and is cleared for members to see, which is a lie. Below is my experience trying to resolve this matter.

The customer service phone number on their website is a recording only. You can't reach a live person. I contacted my credit card company for help and to dispute. They informed me this is a known issue with Care.com and gave me a customer service number that is not public, but Credit Card companies have it. My credit card company gave me tips on what to say in my dispute with Care.com
On 9/1/21 I called the number given for Care.com's secret customer service line. I reached rep Jofie. I explained that I had not knowingly continued the subscription past the trial period. I had not used their service after that point. The customer service representative stated that there was nothing they would do as there is a statement on the website allowing them to engage in ongoing charges until the customer cancels the subscription. I asked for a supervisor (as my credit card rep suggested). Jofie hung up on me. I called right back and received Claudia. I went through everything again and asked to speak with a manager. She stated that the Manager Brenda will only correspond via email, she will not talk on the phone. I left that conversation very flustered. I then went to their online portal and emailed my complaint asking for a manager to contact me via phone. I received a call 20 min later from Claudia (not a manager). I emailed again requesting a manager. Brenda finally responded to me via email stating they will not pursue my complaint.

I have since been in touch with a law office given the number of complaints I have come across when searching "deceitful auto renewals for Care.com".

If anyone has been a victim to this deceit, please respond.
Link to settlement in California:
Care.com "failed to: sufficiently disclose that memberships were being sold on an auto-renewal basis; obtain their customers' affirmative consent to auto-renewal terms; and provide a simple mechanism for customers to stop the recurring charges."
https://www.pymnts.com/legal/2020/care-com-pays-1m-settlement-over-auto-renewal-background-check-allegations/

I have happily used Care.com. Loved it. Great tool. Paid for the background check last Oct. and was about to renew it. I have all 5* ratings. The other night I repeatedly tried to edit a couple of my profiles via the App, which wasn't working.

Next am - email stating my account has been closed. No explanation.

I have submitted an inquiry, AND replied to the email stating my account was closed. It's most troubling reading all the complaints of having no recourse.

In 2018, I had a very brief membership with Care.Com. The other night, I was on my phone and a pop-up came from the company. I had not thought of them in years and clicked to enter their website. I immediate saw that they still had an active profile for me, though I had not been a member in years. I clicked on that and briefly looked through it before leaving the site. The next morning, I have pending charges on my AMEX card for a membership. I never signed up for one; never gave them my credit card. I called AMEX and they said they could only help if it becomes a real charge--it was currently just pending. I immediately went on their site to see what was happening and saw I not had a "pending account". I cancelled my account online and got a notice from them that "on 9/1/2021, your account will be permanently removed from Care.com". I then wrote to Care.com and stated all of the above. Days later, their charge became a real charge. That same day, I received an email response from Care.com stating I was charged for a "background check". I have no account. I have a screen shot from them stating my account was permanently removed 9/1/21. Why would I need to pay for a background check when I have no account? AND why would they take it upon themselves to charge my credit card which they have had on file for three years? I immediately started an investigation with AMEX. I had AMEX put a block for future charges on my account. And I am taking to social media to share with my followers Care.com's horrible business practices.

I clearly want to join for one month, and I was charged for an entire year. I don't need that. I don't want that and I cannot afford that. I am not looking for a position. I was interested In hiring someone for a small job. No reason on earth to join for one year.

I am unable to contact you. Any company that makes it so difficult to contact is hiding something.

Please refund my money. The Attorney General of CT has a working phone number.

I paid for an account last week. They charged my credit card and then closed my account. I was in the process of interviewing caregivers for my grandmother that is needed right away. Now, I have no idea who responded to me and have no caregiver. I have tried contacting them through 5 different outlets and can't get a response.

There is no live customer service. This is so unethical to do this to people at a time when they need help the most!

Ive been a member with with yall on and off for several years and this year is just horrible. I joined then after a few days it signs you out and I can't get signed back in for nothing. I've tried every email I have to reset the password and it says for all of them email not found so now im a member and can't even use the service to find a job and I desperately need one right now. SO why did I spend money to join and now I can't even get signed in? There's no number to call so I emailed last week and no response yet so emailed again today. I better not dare get charged again next month when I can't even log in. This is absurd and very frustrating. Please fix this. When I was logged in the other day I could not get a photo to load so no one knows what I look like. Please figure this out because I can not.

I was going through my bank statement and noticed a recent charge for over $300 from care.com. I never once received a notice for authorization or even a renewal email prior to or even after being charged! Completely unacceptable! I signed up as a trial and have been billed unknowingly multiple times! To make matters worse, I never hired a full time care giver through this site as none were qualified!

I logged in to see my "membership". It states to check subscriptions in iPhone app, nothing there! It says to check privacy & settings, nothing there either! I look at my account and it says I joined in October 2018, so why are they charging me for another wasted year in June?! TOTAL FRAUD! I will be reporting to my bank unless I receive a full refund from care.com

Hello, I signed up 4 months ago, $12.99 per month has been deducted from my account. The latest deduction June 11. I have asked them to contact their account ting department, got no response. I have never been able to sign to get work, have done nothing to help after 4 emails. I want to cancel this membership, I cannot do this through my bank as its a membership and has to be cancelled through care.com there is no phone contact with a live person.
I am paying for no product. This must be considered fraud.

I signed up through Facebook to care.com, and purchased the monthly subscription. Since signing up it states I can't login through Facebook as care.com doesn't support it. Therefore I can't view applications to my job, nor stop subscription. There is no phone number to contact customer service, I emailed and haven't heard anything I'm 7 days(sites says response in 48 hours.). I need to have access to my applicants and/or cancel and get a refund.

As a result of the background check company I was removed from the site due to its service. The items were more than 10 years old and I had been using the site for 4 years prior to this backgroumd check. Initially I had gotten one when I signed up and was able to work. These past 2 years I have had to work job
s that doesn't necessarily work with my schedule as I care for my elder family members. Throughout the pandemic it was even more difficult to find employment and now that its coming to an end there is still no work for someone who has to earn a living while jugglimg other responsibilities. I was black balled and even clients that I had through them were notified and I was fired as a result. Something should be done.

I paid for 3 month membership to look for child care for my child. After just a few weeks, I received and email that my account was terminated. No other info. No refund. My job post was a standard child care job. Nothing violated the community guidelines in any way whatso ever.

I have been emailing every day for a week, attempting to "chat" online, and calling the phone number which is a recording to go online and then disconnects. No responses at all! No way to contact anyone and no way to get any response. This site is a scam!

Hi,

Thank you for taking this complaint. I didn't know I was subscribed until I was reviewing one of my credit card which auto pays and for 2019 and 2020 I was charged annual fees, but I never received any emails about renewals. Typically, with the serviceslike this (BJ's or Costco, and even credit cards) with any annual subscription-based service, you are notified that the subscription is renewing on a specific date and such a charge will be incurred. I reached out to them and they did get back to me within the two business days they said they would, and told me that they were going to downgrade my account. However, they would not be refunding my money because they try to be upfront with their fees. I give them kudos for responding back to me, but I disagree about the upfront fees comment. They would email you if it was upfront, and they also emailed me from an alias with no reply, which suggests to me that they get a lot of negative feedback on their renewal fees. I received emails saying that the subscription would renew, I would not be disputing these charges. They need to change their renewal practice to be more transparent, or at least email their subscribers when they see no login activity for more than a year.

Account: mark.[protected]@gmail.com

Less than a week after creating an account, paying almost $80 for a premium membership, and posting a job, I received and email from Care.com stating that my account had been terminated with absolutely no reasoning. I have emailed the company, and 4 days after receiving a confirmation of my email stating that I would hear back within 48 hours I still have heard nothing.
I expect a reason for the termination of my account and/or a full refund for the membership that I paid for. I am in desperate need to find a caregiver for my fiancé who is newly a quadriplegic from a recent motorcycle accident.

I've only been a member on care.com for about a month now and today was the first time I received two responses from two "Special Needs" jobs I really wanted! We had planned to have a phone interview later this week and about two hours later I get a notification saying my account is closed. I tried numberous times via the app and website to log in but it said my account doesn't exist. I read through my email and the reasons given why an account may be terminated and none of them have any good reasoning behind why my account may have been canceled. I am SO bummed. I really wanted to work with those individuals. I feel for any of you who may also be researching for any possible reasoning for the termination. I've lost so much respect for this company.

My account was terminated while in the process of looking for a replacement nanny. I had hired, fired a nanny through their site, and was in the process of finding a replacement. I always follow the guidelines and pay for my membership. It just seems crazy that they wouldn't even give you a reason and have no method of contacting them about it. Especially for paying customers in good standing... I'm confused.

My membership was cancelled on 1/23. No reason was given, and no opportunity to appeal.

I get that care.com has the right to cancel my membership for any reason. It's a private site.

However care.com does not have the legal right to send an email to all prior contacts essentially destroying my reputation and causing significant long term financial harm without hearing both sides of the issue.

Whether I pursue it not it's legally actionable.

Oh yeah...snd care.com continued to bill after my account was closed.

Review boards are loaded with these same complaints.

Last night, I changed my name on my profile because I am nonbinary and have been going by my new name. My legal name is still on my account because it has to be. I woke up to a termination email. I have gotten several jobs from this site from babysitting to tutoring and even house cleaning. This was especially convenient with the pandemic. I hate that there is a policy that states they don't have to provide a reason for termination. How can I improve upon myself if I don't know what I did wrong? I'm a full-time student who makes their living through these jobs. I would like to know what mistake I made. Thanks

Kayden Allen
(Karissa)