Sittercity / scam
I went to this website thinking it would be an easy way to find a job. They offered a background check for 9.99 so I stupidly took the offer. The 'results' said that I didn't even exist and never actually finished processing and were never even made available on my profile. I contacted customer service several times for a refund but they said that it had been completed (which it hadn't, it was still 'processing'), each email was stock, impersonal and uncaring. When I tried to call there line I sat on hold for several minutes before being hung up on each time. Then, several days and several emails and phone call attempts later I get an email saying that my account has been terminated. Not only will they NOT put you in contact with parents, or anything of the sort, but the services they offer are complete scams. DON'T USE THIS WEBSITE!
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Date
Hey Cassandra -
I'm with Sittercity and am sorry you have experienced issues with the background check process. Because we use a third-party company to run our background checks, Lexis Nexis, all issues that arise within the process need to be resolved by them. I am happy to put you in touch with the company to get it resolved directly. You can email me at partners@sittercity.com and I will make sure to put you in touch with the right people.
Sincerely,
Melissa
Cassandra -
The same thing just happened to me - I am unable to re-enter my information and I am also being told that my background check is accessible to parents, while it meanwhile is saying my social security number doesn't match my name and that I, therefore, have several "risk indicators". meanwhile I've lost money and have given both m credit card information, as well as my social security number (!!!) to what seems to be a scam website. I'm researching online now to see if others have had this issue and if it's worth a class action suit - this is awful!
Kate,
Sorry that you had this experience. As Melissa mentioned above, Sittercity uses Lexis Nexis to run our background checks, so we'll have to work with them to get this issued resolved. If you contact Jerome, who is our Manager of Member Services, he can definitely help and walk you through this process. He can be reached at 312.428.4670 or emailed at jderradji@sittercity.com. (We also received your email, so I'm sending this information to you there as well.)
You can also contact us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/sittercity) or reach us via twitter @Sittercity.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks,
Ashley, Sittercity.com
Same here... For my surprise after a family trip with my husband and my mother in law, came back and found out my account had been terminated. I obviously contacted the customer service and the lady told me to call Lexis Nexis... well, short story, the last say information is not accurate... how is that possible? Still my husband warned me to be careful to release any private information specially related to SSN. So I contacted my former host mom who is lawyer and she said Lexis Nexis is a reliable company, then I sent my info. Hopefully, hopefully... I will get this fixed. I used this website (sittercity.com) because a friend recommended it to me... If I would recommend it, I would give a 4.0 from 1 to 7.
Sittercity is a scam, Babysitting jobs are false advertising, they lie and say they are matchmakers, but they are not, Parents dont even know you exist if you are not on the first page results. It sucks, save your money, before using them and protect yourself from Identity Theft. Complaints keep coming and coming from my friends. Do not use sittercity.
I live in California and Sittercity Chicago charges are popping up on my Mastercard now multiple times. I have never even heard of this place. This place is a total scam. I will be reporting them to the better business bureau. Sittercity is one guy, and he should be thrown in jail.
Hi William,
I'm very sorry you had this experience with Sittercity. The company is nationwide, but we're headquartered in Chicago so perhaps that's what you are seeing. Either way, we would love to take care of this immediately for you. Please call Jerome with Member Services, and he can absolutely help you out. He can be reached directly at jderradji@sittercity.com or 312-428-4670.
Thanks,
Ashley, Sittercity.com
I stupidly payed for the background check on Sittercity only to recieve an email days later that my accout had been terminate due to false information. Everything I had entered as my information was correct, however "Lexisnexis" insisted that I am not who I say I am. I do believe that LexisNexis is a scam and I would not advise anyone to do their background check. As a result of my account being terminated, I lost the babysitting job that I had. I would go argue this with LexisNexis but I do not have the time to deal with a company that cannot perform its job.
Hi fellow people screwed by sittercity,
I will be suing sittercity with a class action law suit. Anyone that would like to participate, please feel free to comment on my comment, and we will get the ball rolling and this site taken off of the internet. Hope you all have a lovely day.
Becky
I also had an AWFUL experience with sittercity. just today i received the "results" of my background check. It said that i was using an alias and all my information was wrong. Meanwhile, they said my real name was my mom's name and that's why all of my information is wrong. i have no idea how they even KNOW my mother's name. I am furious and want a refund or a CORRECT background check.
I joined Sittercity after hearing nothing but praise about it. I soon found out that I was very wrong. Not only did it never let me contact families, but when I finally gave in to the background check it failed me! Saying I had questionable areas and that my name didnt go with my social security number. I have never had so much as a ticket in my life and I get my account terminated!Also, Sittercity made many random charges to my bank account at various atms in Chicago where the headquarters is located. When I contacted the corporation of Sittercity not only did it take forever to get any response back, they took absolutely no blame, saying they do not handle anything with the background checks, but it is Lexis Nexus. All responses I got back were similar and heartless.
DO NOT USE SITTERCITY! IT IS A HUGE SCAM!
I also have been scammed buy them .Even thought the background check company I gave them y full name and they new exactly who I was and said I passed everything .sittercity said that they were failing it because could not verify who I was seen as i didn't write down all of my names.in reality every name was there either on my app or what I put in my background check .I asked them even with my full name which is five names plus a divorced name.( Which have no places to put down other names) .That with out ID they could not be sure if that was me . She did like that.So she said they were going to terminate me .I told them not to bother. I was canceling my account and reporting them . They are making 13.00 a person concocting "problems". Funny thing is I worked for the government in child and youth services and passed an FBI background check . I am also reporting them to the BBB.Also there are several social sites we could my groups on to make others aware. I should have known better I have never had to pay for a background check for a childcare job its always be provided in the job.
I have been using Sittercity for about 3 years without a problem. Today it wouldn't let me log on. (it kept saying my username & password was incorrect) Finally after several attempts it said my account has been terminated. I call them up to find out that it was because I "someone how was in violation with their terms of service" She couldn't tell me what I did. I looked through the terms of service & couldn't figure out what I did wrong. I don't believe I did anything wrong. I spent a lot of time on that site & had a bunch successful jobs from that site as well. I'm very upset. Their customer service is a joke. We deff should do a class action suit! I as well payed money for a background check!
While I wouldn't necessarily accuse Sittercity of running a "scam, " I would be VERY CAUTIOUS when applying for a background check. My background check came back squeaky clean but my membership was terminated due to a discrepancy in my name (legal vs. married). I understand that this might raise a red flag, but so far it has been impossible to sort out.
Sittercity customer service has been extremely ineffective. IF you can FIND the contact information in order to communicate with a CSR, it will take days to get a response. I have yet to be able to contact a SitterCity representative by phone, but have received some short responses by email which, while polite, were completely useless in helping me to resolve the problem. Sittercity refuses to resolve the issue - they will only refer me to Lexis Nexis to resolve the problem. Because there is no problem with the actual background check, Lexis Nexis can't resolve the issue. Lexis Nexis DOES have very good customer service, and is attempting to contact Sittercity to resolve the issue.
I see that I am not alone, and even Lexis reports that they have experienced difficulty dealing with SitterCIty customer service.
I feel that my reputation has been compromised and I've wasted hours of time and energy trying to resolve what should be a very simple issue.
Bottom line - Sittercity is great when things run smoothly. If you do experience a problem, expect to waste a lot of time and energy trying to get said problem resolved. Background check?? Definitely not worth it, avoid it like the plague.
I signed up for Sittercity looking for a babysitter and after a few bad experiences with sitters on the site I found a great babysitter through my husband's coworkers. The next month sittercity charged my account after I was sure I had signed up for only one month. At that time I went in and changed the setting to not automatically renew and requested that the account close at the end of the time that was already paid for. This month I was charged again. Not only have they not responded to my email complaint but the phone lines are not working so I have no way of contacting them directly to assure that my money is returned. I don't want to have to cancel my credit card and report it to the BBB but they are leaving me no other options...
I joined sitter city two years ago in hopes of finding a job since I lost mine. I am a college educated woman, and I was hopefull about the site. I hadn't signed on in a few months because I felt as if it wasn't working for me, but I was still looking for employment. They then deleted my account and when I emailed and asked why they simply stated I violated TOS. Which I find strange since I haven't logged on to that site in six months. And that wasn't in the TOS. So when I called the place the woman was rude and curt and told me that the company could delete accounts just because they want to. And also that it's their policy not to tell you what TOS you broke. I found that rude, and unethical. If something is going on I have a right to know and to clear my name.
I had a customer service guy trick me into revealing my password (he said he needed it to activate my account) when I kept getting an error reading. Anyway nearly a month later when I checked in to see a message I was frozen out. I called CS service who informed me that I had written them a nasty letter -of course not true and they were disabling my account. You are pretty much SOL trying to prove your innocence. I still got updates from them so what gives? I usually go to a competing site as I have had better luck there. Sittercity needs to get their act together but I doubt it. They dont care about their jobseekers.. I have gotten more responses at least. Wow the fee 120? No wonder. To be honest you might have better luck on Craigslist as sketchy as they seem sometimes.
Sittercity my friends, is all about the people who are looking for sitters...either for their baby or their dog, and in some cases, it's the same thing! They are not here to serve people looking for sitting jobs! Although we are pressured to pay for a background check, it is not mandatory.You can get your own background check for much less outside of the company they chose. My personal gripe is with the system of how those looking for sitters get to determine how much they are going to pay for said service.I am a Pet Sitter.I have been working in the Pet Care field for over 25 years.I am insured and all that, certified in this and that.(I know you don't care about my resume').My point is, I get emails for pet sitting jobs, and these folks think they're going to get someone to take care of their dog Fluffy for $5-$10 a day? Are you kidding me? Go hire the 12 year old down the street if that's all you plan on paying. I have bills to pay.Will not be renewing my membership.Pet Sitters, give PetSitters.com a try...real leads..and you only pay for the lead if they use your service!
Sittercity Chicago charges came off my debit card!! Who is this company?
I, too, am having problems with a background check. I ordered and paid for one for a sitter I'm trying to hire, and the Sittercity website says the report is "Complete" but neither the sitter nor I can access it! What's more troubling, I've emails Sittercity customer service twice, with no reply, AND their phone number is not working!!! I also tried to call "Jerome" the customer service manager referenced in Sittercity's replies to all these comments, and his number is not working either. I am not happy with this site and will never use them again.