We make significant efforts to ensure that babysitters keep their profiles up-to-date and respond to parent inquiries in a timely fashion.
How we do this:
Our system automatically sends out a notification to each babysitter on a regular basis. This notification requires the babysitter to verify the information in their profile. The profile is suspended if the babysitter does not verify the information in a timely manner.
Parents have the ability to report the babysitter if they have an issue with a babysitter not responding to an inquiry or keeping an appointment.
A report card reflecting any reports from parents is displayed in the search results for each babysitter. This information is made available to parents before they provide payment.
We will suspend a babysitter’s profile when appropriate, based on the reports.
To make searching for a quality babysitter successful, we ask parents to do the following:
Don’t focus on a single babysitter; pick several babysitters to interview.
Keep in mind that while every sitter profile is reviewed by our All-Mom editorial staff, you should perform your own screening. Sitters.com provides parents with tools to perform their own screening of sitters - reference checks, background reports, report cards, feedback from other parents, and our Mom Approved Sitter program are all tools that you can use to find the sitter that is right for your family!
Give yourself plenty of time to conduct a thorough investigation before hiring a babysitter.
Most babysitters are happy to work around parent’s schedules as long as they are given advanced notice.
The Babysitters Pledge
Sitters.com was created especially for people like you who are interested in providing parents in your local area with quality childcare. Parents don't expect babysitters to always be available when needed. However, they do expect a prompt and courteous response -- whether or not you are available. Not responding causes frustration and diminishes trust among parents that use Sitters.com.
As such, we want to ensure that the site includes only babysitters who are actively searching and totally committed to providing childcare. In order to keep Sitters.com a valuable source for parents looking for babysitters, we ask that you pledge that:
I pledge that...
I will suspend or cancel my account when I am no longer available or stop accepting new babysitting jobs from new families.
I will promptly respond to all email and phone inquiries from families.
I will keep all appointments unless it is absolutely impossible. If I must cancel an appointment, I will promptly contact the family.
If for some reason I do not abide by my pledge, a family may choose to use the Sitters.com Report Card system. My profile on Sitters.com will be permanently deactivated after three reports. However, Sitters.com does evaluate all reports and I have the right to appeal any complaints against me that I deem unfair.