Complaint Against Becky, American Family
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Complaint >> Posted: Jun 22 '06 by Amanda in Arizona, United States |
| I was with this family just over 3 months. In the beginning it was great! I was the only nanny and was with the children all day, everyday. (4 kids for $140/week...always working 6 days) (at the time there was a second family living at the house) This was all okay for me for a while. Then I started meeting friends outside the "business" and family, and I never had time to have a social life. My time was their time, their kids were my kids. It was very difficult. I was struggling with my own finances, trying to survive off $140. It was also impossible for me to get a second job, outside the family because I was working from 8am-9, sometimes 10 or later at night.
The family owns some real estate businesses and they are using this site to recruit young, attractive, naive girls for their business. He wants as many girls from this site, and others, as possible... because that means more money for him. He is not looking for nannies. If you tell him you don’t want to be a part of the business, he sends you on your way. I know this because I was his "nanny finder" for a while. But everything that Kurt says is not true. Once you succeed in the "business", as the second family that lived there did, he demands outrageous things and if you don’t comply, he kicks you out of his house. You speak to him on the phone and he is sweet and makes everything sound amazing, I fell for it! But he doesn’t bother to tell you the entire story. He waits until you are there and have already wasted a good portion of your life on him. There are contracts that he wants you to sign, deals that he wants you to make. If you agree to what he has to say, then you basically sign your life away.
After being the only "nanny" for this family for a month, over time 4 other "nannies" came. All in one day, me and 2 of the other girls left them. One of those girls had been there for a week, and the other about 4 weeks. We all left the same day that he kicked the other family out. When one of the other girls told him she was leaving, he belittled her, called her a failure, and told her she wouldn't succeed in life. A 35 year old man, calling an 18 year old girl names. Since then, he has made up lies about me and the entire situation. (I have talked to the other girls that stayed, and also other "potential nannies" that he is trying to get into his home, I told them what is going on there). He is trying to persuade any new girls to join them, and he is doing everything in his power to do so, even if that means lying. I have also learned, since I left, that he has been losing a good portion of people that work for him. So, of course he is desperate. So desperate that he has told 4 "nannies" from Mexico, that I was a racist, and just didn't like them, and when I found out that another Mexican nanny was coming, he told them that is why I left. Kurt is always talking about drama and how it is not welcomed in his home or business, but this man creates drama. He thrives on it.
The kids are wonderful, they just need their parents... who can't seem to make time for them. Becky is sweet and you become her friend, she really is a great person. The situation is just sad. The business is real and what he says they do, Becky does. It is to all benefit Kurt. There were days when you wouldn't even see Kurt. He would stay in his room, literally all day long. Not even coming out to see his kids. He tells you on the phone that you could potentially make thousands of dollars a month. Which is also not true. He doesn't bother to train you and just throws things at you. He expects you to do things right the first time, but in no way prepares you for them. And when things are complete, and not perfect, he gets obviously upset, and belittles you.
As someone who has experienced this, I feel it is my obligation to help you. I would want, and expect someone else to do the same for me. |
Comment >> Posted: Jun 27 '06 by Becky in Arizona, United States
There is so often another side to any story. This story is not complicated. Amanda enjoyed the first part of her stay with us, even according to what she wrote. The reason she initially enjoyed her stay with us is that she felt the love and attention that our family has to offer. Becky and I love each other very much, and we love our children, and we love people very much.
I have two offices, one of which is at home. There are days that I spend all day in my home office, working, so that I can be near my family. Even after everything Amanda has said about us, we still think she is a good persion, but lets her emotions cloud her logic. For example, $140 was not how much she was paid, it was about $1200 per month. We realized that this is not a lot of money, and that is why we offered the supplemental option for her to work in the business in a commisson-only profit-sharing position. We explained it would take many months to cultivate the business to the point that it would make substantial amounts of money, and that the profit sharing would be 90% to her, and 10% to us. She put in her letter that she knows the business is real, but that we are taking too large of a portion of the money. We still are shocked that she felt that us asking for 10% is equivalent to asking for too much. Hmmmm. Anyway, she refers to a contract that we would make her sign. We offered the option to draw up a contract if she wanted one, but a contract was never made for her, nor for anyone else. If anybody would offer me the same deal, and put it in writing, I would take it. And I mean this honestly. We are confident that she had the talent to make it happen if she had stayed with it.
Also, when Amanda arrived, the kids were in school. So, she only had one child to care for during school hours. We promised her that we would get some help for the summer to help her when the kids got out of school, and so she helped us look for nannies too. We had so much interest, that we got two long-term nannies, and 2 summer nannies to help out with the children during the summer. We just had a great response, and we were very happy with great au pair. The problem that arose when the other nannies arrived, is that our attention was now shared among other nannies, not just with Amanda. This meant that Amanda did not get as much attention, and also the other nannies were of other racial backgrounds than Amanda. We are very sensitive to, and hold very positive views about multicultural and racial issues. This was explained to Amanda when she raised concerns. Amanda was never asked to leave, nor was anyone kicked out of our home. If you would like to talk to the nannies that stayed, we would be happy to let you talk to them, and they will let you know we are a very safe and caring family. We love other cultures, as we love other people.
So, the conclusion is that we still think Amanda is wonderful, but just misguided.
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Comment >> Posted: Jul 01 '06 by Louise in California, United States
Um, gee. $140 a week. That's what ALL LEGAL au pairs make. Did you not have a roof over your head and food to eat?
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