Cultural Care Agency Cover Up - Host Father Arrested for Sexual Assault of 20 year old Au Pair
Hey. I was reading your article on the Bhatti case and did some research online about it and I found a message/comment left on a site regarding this au pair! It was from a friend of her's who says that Cultural Care has not done anything for this au pair and does not want her to come back for the trial. Don't they have some responsibility for this girl and why aren't they on trial? If it is true that they placed her there and knowing that the previous 6 au pairs where assaulted, are they not liable for some kind of damages? This au pair should really sue them! Here is the link if you are interested: http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2009/02/07/news/doc498d325982b8b... and this is the comment that I copied from that link: " I am a friend of the au pair who was assaulted by Mr. Bhatti. Cultural Care, the agency that placed her there, told this au pair they would help her with counseling and legal fees when she returned to Slovakia. They have not done anything to assist her. She did not receive any counseling nor has she had any phone conversations with Cultural Care. They say one thing, and do another. If you are going to be an au pair, DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THIS AGENCY! They told my friend they would fly her back for the trial, but now they don't want to - they don't want her here for the trial, so they don't have to be liable for placing her there. There was at least 6 au pairs placed there before her, and all au pairs were sexaully harassed and one girl, a German girl, was threatened by Bhatti, who said to her if she said anything (about his advances) he would kill her. My friend is very upset and scared that the judge allowed him to travel to Europe as he knows her address. She is in fear of her life and Cultural Care has done nothing to help her. " And, my question to you Edina is, why with all of this bad publicity (I have read the many complaints on insiderpages.com on this agency) do you still rate this company Number One??
Cultural Care is the Opposite of Quality
I had a terrible time with Cultural Care - they do not screen their au pairs and when there is a crisis, and after they take your money, they look the other way. My counselor was so disgusted by this agency, she quit. In one year, I had three counselors. It is a terrible agency and I cannot believe you think that they stand for quality. Do you have an au pair with them Frances? If so, for how long? Maybe you are a new host family and have not had a situation where you need help.
I do believe this girls story where Cultural Care abandoned her - it would be just like them - it is their "MO!"
I switched to Au Pair Care and I just love the service, the au pairs are screened carefully and my counselor is great. I do feel this site should readjust their rating for 2010. I think this is a great resource and Edina, you are doing a wonderful job, but Cultural Care's rating has to be changed.
Look at the insiderpages.com - once they removed all the bad reviews, they are starting up again - in large numbers already. The State Dept. should investigate this company before someone gets hurt.
Patty
Don't Use Them
If you really don't like the company, just pass on them. There are many au pair agencies out there - use this website to find one. I did and I am very happy with my agency!
Don't spend another day thinking negative thoughts. Enjoy your life and your family.
Thanks Edina for the resource and the information you give to host parents every day!
A Grateful Parent!
I agree with Patty and George
Everytime I go online and look at au pair blogs, complaint pages, etc., there is Cultural Care - yes, it is a "leading" agency, in the complaint department!! I never see complaints against your number 2 and 3 picks Edina - Au Pair Care and Au Pair in America. Doesn't that tell you something?!!
My sister-in-law had a crazy au pair from Cultural Care and when she got into the liquor and was drunk when my sister-in-law came home from work, the local counselor wouldn't come over and get her out of the house. They told my sister-in-law to throw her out of the house if she didn't want her in the home. What kind of service is this??
It is true, that once they have your money, they turn away and leave you stranded. It is terrible for the girls and for the families. I guess they have some success, but overall, all I know and read are about failures.
Arlene
Thanks for the support, Arlene
Hi Arlene,
Sounds like you know Cultural Care all too well. They have some nerve, really - they spend so much time (look at all the time Natallie Jordan takes answering each complaint on line for Goodness Sake) instead of DOING something about the company's service. It makes me so mad to see her answers - she does more harm than good trying to "make nice" and she ALWAYS pretends not to know the case situation - how can that be?
Either she is so out of touch with what is going on there at that agency, from day to day, or she pretends not to know, implying these complaints are bogus. Her responses are like placing salt in these host parents' wounds and they are an outrage!
Patty
There are Postive Comments on Cultural Care
Hi Arlene,
I know your frustration and I wanted to show you that there are postive comments out there on Cultural Care - here is one that I found from an au pair (from Complaintsboard.com):
As a repeat au pair with this company i find a lot of these stories hard to believe. Even as an applicant who had already completed her au pair year in 2004 and been back in my home country for four years i still had to complete the full screening process again. All my references were checked and i was in constant contact with my home office providing extra information and basically confirming what was written in my application.
While i know from experience that there are some au pairs who lie on their applications or mislead potential host families do not assume that all au pairs do!
As an au pair who went into transition during my first yer and was successfully rematched for the remaining 7 months i can honestly say that the misleading goes both ways. While working for my first host family i was constantly working 12 or 13 hour days and being asked to perform duties not within the scope of normal light tidying and cleaning up after the children. When i finally got the nerve to talk to my Local Childcare Coordinator about it - not easy for a very shy 18 year old - she immediately made a time to talk to me face to face about my problems and to talk to the host family and when it was decided that i would go into transition both she and the Boston office were in contact with me helping me find a new and wonderful host family.
So yes, there are a lot of complaints about this company. But there are also a lot of positive stories too.
Cultural Care's Rating
Hi George,
Thank you for your feedback. It is true that there is a pending legal action against Mr. Bhatti. I was not aware of this comment that you posted from a "friend" of the au pair in Slovakia. We are waiting for the legal system to wind it's way and will report the outcome when it occurs. We don't have any information regarding Cultural Care's involvement here, except what Ms. Jordan (VP of Cultural Care) gave us in an interview (see her Rebuttal). Until then, our rating stands as is.
Edina Stone
Cultural Care's quality sets them apart
As a host family myself, I have found that Cultural Care is always improving and innovating as an au pair agency. In the past year alone, the company has rolled out an impressive array of improvements for both host families and au pairs. I only know about this case from this blog and it seems to me that the agency took the time to speak to Edina about the case and offer some additional information. Also, any rational person knows that there is more to every story than is presented on comment boards and blogs. This case is old news, George. .. move on! Ask any au pair agency if they have had cases in the news over the years. . .
I know why Cultural Care is number 1 - quality, quality, quality!
Mr. Bhatti's Case is Still Pending
Hi Frances,
Thank you for your comments here. We agree that there is more to any story than is presented on comment boards and blogs. As for this case being "old news" it is still current, as Mr. Bhatti has not gone to trial yet on sexual assault charges, so the legal action against this host father is still pending.
We are holding off making any judgments until the case is over in court and Mr. Bhatti is tried and either convicted or not. We have total assurance from Cultural Care that they have been in touch with the victim and they are prepared to pay for her flight to the USA for the trial. Let's wait and see what happens before we pass judgment at this time, okay? We do try to be unbiased and factual and we are not going to speculate what will happen before it actually occurs!