AuPairInArgentina.com Scam

[sesamosinsal]

Nope, the first family I was offered was about a week before my arrival in Buenos Aires. It was for a family that needs someone to watch 2-year old twins and 8-month old toddlers for 12 hours a day, in Uruguay.

I mean, I had to decline. I've never been alone with a baby before. I don't know how to hold one, even. I wrote that in my application. I said that in a Skype interview. I don't know what this agency was even doing offering me a position like that. Forget me- that actually puts children and the families at risk.

And well, that's Uruguay. It's a different country.

Most organizations who cater to foreigners in Argentina are like this. They promise you the world, but couldn't careless about you once they have your money in their hands.

And their fees for the families are astronomical. For 6 months, they charge a $455 USD fee, and the families have to pay $400 ARS per week. For 6 months that's $2,227 USD. Total: $2,682 (455+[400*24/4.31]), divided by 6 months: $1,926 ARS per month. That's the average salary for a month in Argentina.

No wonder the company can't get any clients.

 

[Davidglen77]

You should notify the US and UK Embassy about this as this AuPair operation has NO BUSINESS offering employment in Argentina. There are very strict laws that protect employees here from abuses such as what happened to you and NO decent or respectable employment agency charges money to a possible employee.......for anything!

 

[jp]

I've known Anna and her company for years. She's a hard working person with integrity.

I don't know the full story behind this particular case. But neither does anyone else here.

 

[steveinbsas]

I've known Anna and her company for years. She's a hard working person with integrity.

I don't know the full story behind this particular case. But neither does anyone else here.

Dinister may sincerely believe that she has been mistreated, but at this point this is just one persons word against another on an internet forum where nothing can be resloved.

Nonetheless, posts like Davidglen77 made about an hour ago raise important points, especially if the business is illegitimate (not registered to hire foreigners in Argentina).

If that's the case I would not want to be in their shoes now...but only if they were actually in Argentina.

If Dinsiter "worked" for less than a month she may not prevail if she takes legal action...and she was never an employee of Anna's business in the first place if Anna is only running an aur pair referral service on the internet from another country.

 

[sesamosinsal]

Well, I don't know if you can say she's illegally operating in Argentina. Would Clarín be liable in cases where classified ads resulted in bad business deals?

AupairInArgentina is not offering employment to anyone. If anyone is employing anyone, it's the family employing the au pair. The family is paying the au pair. All AIA is doing is linking up the families with the au pairs. For their service, they charge a fee, which I think is fair to do. The fees themselves seem a bit outrageous, but hey, I'm not running the company.

I'm not sure how the Argentine government could go after them. If the owner of the company is based in the UK and reports her income to the UK, then she shouldn't have a problem. After all, she's selling a service to two different people in different countries. If I design a website for someone in Australia, why would I be liable to pay any sort of taxes in Australia?

To the OP: Why did you book a flight to BA without having a family nailed down?

 

[Fabe]

Its an evil world out there. No shortage of shucksters.
Caveat Emptor

 

[dinister]

@BradlyHale You bring up a good point, but the agency isn't comparable to a classifieds section.

In its own self-promotion, it claims: "The reason we charge a fee, where some au pair agencies don’t, is because, unlike other agencies, we don’t want to just introduce you to family and then desert you." They are responsible for the first 3 weeks, as outlined in their terms & conditions:

Templeton said in an email: "...There is a guarantee period of 21 days, where the host family or the au pair can chose to withdraw from the scheme. Only in that period would Au Pair in Argentina be under any obligation to refund the deposit. On expiry of this period it is agreed that the engagement is satisfactory and that all agency obligations have been fulfilled."

"If there are grounds for considering either breach of Contract by the Au Pair or the Au Pair behaviour to be unsatisfactory, no refund or replacement will be offered. The Agency’s decision will be final in this respect. No refund will be considered or made after the Guarantee Period."

Templeton and her lawyer were happy to point out that in the first three days of living with the family, the mom complained that I left my clean clothes piled on a chair in my room (instead of the malfunctioning dresser) and left the marmalade outside the fridge, and for this, I was truly a terrible au pair.

Mom was actually entitled to a new au pair since she complained within 21 days and hadn't signed a contract with me. When she was offered a replacement, she declined. If I was so terrible, why didn't she just "fire" me and go with a new, better one? Because she wasn't able and willing to pay. She hasn't contacted the agency for any services since. (I'm a family friend now.) Templeton can confirm that for you.

Additionally, here's the au pair pay scheme: "We also require a Signing Fee of U$250 to be paid by you at the time of accepting a placement with a Host Family. (U$50 will be returned on completing your contract with the family and orientation)."

I was actually charged the full fee soon after I sent in the application in August. So I actually paid them way back in September way before any "placements" with families that can't afford au pairs. Yea yea, hindsight is 20/20.

It's a scam.

 

[TheBlackHand]

I honestly can't believe anyone is taking this thread seriously.

 

[sesamosinsal]

Additionally, here's the au pair pay scheme: "We also require a Signing Fee of U$250 to be paid by you at the time of accepting a placement with a Host Family. (U$50 will be returned on completing your contract with the family and orientation)."

I was actually charged the full fee soon after I sent in the application in August. So I actually paid them way back in September way before any "placements" with families that can't afford au pairs. Yea yea, hindsight is 20/20.

I asked the same question elsewhere. Their TOS clearly states that the fee isn't charged until they find you a family. I guess you ended up accepting a family at some point, but maybe you would have never came if you hadn't paid the $250 in the first place.

Clearly, there were quite a few missteps, and the so-called "gag order" doesn't help. Who has to sign something like that when requesting a refund?

However, they still offered you a refund of $170, which is more than the $150 you would be guaranteed after their $100 administrative fee in the TOS. Very tacky, considering all of the promises they made and failed to keep. (i.e, transport from the airport, finding a family in a month, etc.)

 

[Lclc23]

Wow!! I am so sorry that you went through this! I worked as an au pair in Sweden but actually found the family through an au pair website and worked out my contract directly with them, no agency

I definitely think they should have done a better job communicating with you and encouraged you to not book a flight or come to BA until they had a family ready for you and had given you the opportunity to speak with the family on Skype or email with them

Hopefully things turned out ok for you. Did you end up finding a family to work for?