Parents in a Pinch

For the second time in as many months I have received a cancelation call the night prior to my previously reserved sitting service. After Parents In A Pinch was purchased by
it has become extremely unreliable. Tonight in speaking to the person from the office who canceled on behalf of my previously arranged caregiver, she said «Try someone in your personal network.» IF I HAD SOMEONE IN MY PERSONAL NETWORK I WOULDN’T BE CALLING YOU
These people no longer seem to have any understanding or empathy that the service they provide impacts people’s jobs and lives.
If you need a reliable service you can count on, this unfortunately is no longer it.

Would have given ½ star if i could — we joined
(i.e. Parents is the Pinch), paid first month 39 $ fee and 79 $ nanny background check fee, i could not register otherwise (118 $). No luck with nannies. We decided to cancel membership after being members for just 25 days, i called them and was notified that i can not get my 79 $ for unused nanny background check as it is «non refundable» (i failed to read 50 pages of small print), but it would be «credited» back to my account should i ever decide to join them again. Are you kidding me ?! Join them again ?! This is rip off and dishonest to retain money for something that was not even used ! Very angry. Bad business.

Using the «long term» placement option at PIP, we got the the second worst «nanny» of our child’s life, and paid a hefty fee for it, too. (by the way, the second worst turned out to be an illegal alien who stole money and jewelry from our house.) Thinking we’d find a better person through an agency, we approached PIP. The ‘nanny” we got was irresponsible (e.g. fed the child junk food, until he thew up, and didn’t stop stuffing him with donuts even when we specifically asked her not to), lacking in basic social skills (e.g. casually used foul language when speaking to us) and a chiseller (charged us «extras» for driving from her place to ours.). PIP did nothing to help us with this situation while we were paying them. Once they were assured of their fee, they moved this person to another family, where they collected yet ANOTHER finder’s fee. No recompense, of course. They move these people around like pedophile priests. I feel sorry for the other family.
On another topic, I agree, that they usually have a rigid «corporate» feel. One exception: They bitched me out severely over the phone thinking I was another client who had broken one of their «rules.» When the mistaken identity was cleared up, there was NO apology. An organization with a true «corporate» ethos would have expected their staff to make an apology, even if it was insincere.
Don’t ask me why I am giving them 2 stars rather than 1. Perhaps because the sitter they sent was legal, and merely chiseled us rather than stealing outright.

I used this company on several occasions but each time had a geat deal of difficulty getting reimbursed. The sitters seemd to have been ok for the short periods of time I used them but they were actually contracted through another company.
Parents in a Pinch have an agreement with my employer and that is where they fail. Multiple request would get ignored and they would claim to have received an email but not the attachments but still not follow up. I think they just hope you give up and they won’t have to hold up their end of the deal. My last request with them took 2.5 months to resolve and countless emails and they still short changed me by 25%. They win, I give up.

My wife and I needed a last minute babysitter when I was offered a pair of tickets the Patriots/​Texans game. We called these guys and they had a babysitter at our house before we knew it. Our 4 years old, Lennon, obviously missed her regular babysitter but Parents in a Pinch filled in perfectly.
Go Pats!

Worked great for me. Nanny was on time and great with my baby. Several co-​workers also use this service and have had good experiences.

Awesome service from Parents in a Pinch. Our provider was prompt, great with my son, and made me feel very comfortable about having to go to work when my son was a little under the weather. We were going to have a different provider today (didn’t need her after all), and she didn’t sound nearly as professional or competent on the phone, but since I didn’t meet her, I’ll give PiP the benefit of the doubt.

Don’t use this service unless you truly have to. I’ve used them several times. The quality of the caregivers varies greatly and the profiles sent in advance are more propaganda than useful information. The biggest problem is the business end of the operation. Payment policies aren’t always clear and even though they’re brokering the services of the sitter, they make the sitter collect the fee, which the sitter isn’t always clear about. If the sitter collects the wrong fee, they make it her problem to rectify the situation. So, they’re really more of a referral service than a service provider themselves. The attitude of the staff is nonchalant. That makes me wonder about how committed they are to being vigilant and making improvements where needed.

From the placement specialists, to the caregivers themselves, this is an absolute first rate organization of very high quality professionals. I will never hesitate to use this service in the future.

This company was great on finding us a nanny fast but the person they sent us was not that great.
We were in a high end hotel, the nanny took things from the mini bar without our permission, I did not like that therefore would not trust this company again.
Also when we got back from dinner, the nanny was sleeping on the coach of our hotel suite with her legs on the coach, very unprofessional…

I’ve used this service on 2 separate occasions. The first time, a nanny who was in-​between jobs came over. She was late and more painful was that her idea of child care was to put my infant on the floor while she sat near by and read a novel. (I know this because I was working from home). Thinking I just got a bad apple, I tried the service again. The second time I needed back up care for 3 days. This time the nanny who came over was late all 3 days (I’m talking 20 – 30 minutes late), she refused to clean up after the baby, and she complained about my expectation for her to clean up the baby’s things that were used. I don’t know how PIP screens their nannies — but I’m not willing to try their service again. Two bad experiences is enough for me. I can’t trust the approval process. It seems PIP is great at placing nannies who can not hold down regular nanny positions.

My wife has calls them whenever our nanny is sick or takes some time off. They have always sent us very professional and dedicated nannies. Its not the cheapest place, but I felt so comfortable with the whole process that it was definitely worth it.

Parents in a Pinch has been a life saver for my family. I had a crazy week at work and my daughter came down with the flu. The sitter they sent was on time, professional and took great care of my daughter. My husband got home before me and I saw a nice note of the days activities from our sitter. They experience was fantastic and they are my first call when I need care for my daughter.