Is it worth paying for gold membership on childcare.co.uk as a parent?

[fuzzpig]

Am new to all this - DH has been offered a new job and we are suddenly needing childcare. But I've only been able to message 3 prospective childminders out of the 20+ who seemed local enough etc.

Is it easy to cancel membership once I've found somebody?

Thanks in advance! :)

I'm a bit naughty, but normally if the person you're interested in has their full name or location, you can google / linkedin / Facebook search them

Child care providers on their tend to upgrade so once you view their profile, they get a notification you've viewed it and will pm you. So visit the one you want a couple of times over the next 24 hours, and they may get in touch with you.

Make sure your profile is up to date

*there in second paragraph. I've had wine

Oh, I did use their it right
Ignore me!

I always just viewed their profile then they would contact me...

Oh so can they contact me even if they aren't gold themselves?

I am easily confused (and I haven't had wine :o)

I have a very specific childcare need so might be quite tough to find someone anyway TBH!

Thanks all :)

Think they use paypal subscriptions, so should be easy enough to cancel using paypal site.

Have you already tried contacting childminders via your local authority? Some list online, though you may get a longer list by calling them. Google: (name of local authority) Family Information Service.

Thanks I'll try that.

I got emails saying that some of the childminders (whose profiles I'd viewed) had tried messaging me but it doesn't work because I'm not a gold member. So it looks like you pretty much have to pay. My exact requirements are on the profile page so hopefully it means they have those hours available.

Happy to pay for a month but couldn't really afford it long term!

Will try FIS first though thanks :)

right they aren't open today but I've emailed them with my address, requirements etc so hopefully they'll reply tomorrow.

Fuzz u should be able to go into your messages n reply once to any there for free.

Also look on gumtree some advertise there

If you do pay just remember to cancel it! It's not a one off fee, it's a monthly subscription.

I would echo would NomDeClavier said. Once you've found your nanny, make sure you cancel your subscription in writing. I didn't and they charged me again!

Thanks, it was the cancelling bit I was worried about!

Looks like no need to worry at the moment anyway, have been put in touch with a CM via a friend who has spaces :)

Thank God for this thread - just realised that I've been paying for membership for the last four months! I didn't even find any childcare through them FFS!

That is so so annoying.

Oh no missrose, what a pain :( hope you can cancel easily.

I upgraded to place a full ad - just for a month and got the super nanny I was looking for ... quite happy to pay a reasonable fee for a good service like that.

I think it's worth it, on the assumption you will only pay for a month or two at most and then cancel. There is high demand where I live and I think CMs know they can just post their availability and wait for people to get in touch with them. Even though I posted my requirements I only ended up meeting people I was able to contact directly due to having membership. I didn't have much luck trying to track down people via google based on the info I could see about the and our local authority list is very thin. According to it there are only 6 CMs in my area which is obviously not true. In short, I found my CM through it so it was worth it.

There are lots of FREE options out there
Such as googling childminders for your area (even checking google maps) - many minders now have their own websites
searching on FB for childminders and childminder groups in your area
yell.com
your local FIS - who will have a list of ALL minders (not just the ones registered)
Free Range Childcare
Childcarenow
ukCare.com
findababysitter

Thanks everyone, I've got a cm now so glad I didn't pay, but I'll keep my profile on there (for free) as I'll need more childcare in school holidays. But I have feelers out elsewhere (including FB, friends and family information service) so definitely won't bother paying :o

I have joined childcare.co.uk, I have had lot's of people look at me, but no contact- in this instance i am the nanny offering services do you as parents believe it's in my interest to fork out?

As a nanny I've had to pay the monthly fee as no parents bothered to upgrade and pay. I feel a parent should pay out the fee for £20 for a month. Where as if they went via an agency they could potentially be paying thousands for them to find them a full time nanny.