28 - 42 Clements Rd, London, Ilford, lG11BA
Complaint 321475 Details

I applied for a Nanny position on Gumtree located in Wimbledon originally advertised for July start. I emailed through Gumtree and expressed interest in starting earlier if the parents required anyone earlier as I have June availability. Saida Mohamud contacted me via telephone and briefly interviewed me and said "based on your CV it looks like you would be a great fit" and that I have been short listed with two others for the position. I have never had any previous direct nanny experience. She asked me if I had a CRB check and CPR and I told her yes; but not from the UK. She said I was required to get my "Paediatric First Aid" which would be provided through the company because I "had to have my certificates present for the interview and if successful in obtaining the job, the family has agreed to reimburse the course fees." I thought that was great of them and she asked me to provide my bank card information to do a £20.00 transfer for the deposit. She sent me a confirmation email using the recruitment name "You & I Care" and said that she would telephone me on Friday before the course to brief me for the interview and remind me about the course. However, in the confirmation email, it said there was an additional £10.00 admin fee added to the original £99.99 fee of the training. There was NO mention of how to provide payment on the training day.

Saida called me Friday and reminded me about the course; and said that the parents would be available Wednesday next week for an interview - but that she would have to call me again on Monday AFTER the course to confirm when the interview would be. Therefore, she would answer any questions I had on Monday.

Saturday: the "Course" day.
I had to train + tube in from Bristol for a 12:00 start for the course and they asked that you arrived 15 minutes early to the Ilford address (as listed in the title) so they could account for admin processing. I arrived at a dingy "benefits" building - as previously described in other similar complaints, where the lift was broken and the entire building was dirty and it didn't feel like a location a "reputable" CPR trainer would select. I headed up the 6th floor, to find others filling in paper work and I went to the office where a large Asian man and his short black man counterpart were working. They gave me a clipboard and asked that I fill in the information - which was now under the name APPLE RECRUITMENT. I thought that was odd and asked another girl taking the course who she applied through - she said Gumtree and that she was dealing with YOU & I CARE originally.

I return my completed forms into the office and they said that their card machine is down; but that I can go to the bank down the street. They ask to hold on to my PASSPORT to make sure I come back with the money. Which they said is £89.99. When I come back, they say they have "ran out of change" so naturally, they round it up to £90.00 for the sum. They also mention that they are running behind schedule, so the class is actually going to commence at 12:30 instead of 12:00. I ask because we are starting later, are we going to be ending later too and they seem confused. I said "We are scheduled to end at 6:00 and I have transportation plans, I am concerned that I will need to make alternative plans" They look at me like I am crazy and say the course ends at 5:00 today or maybe earlier. My suspicions rise.

I head down to the 5th floor where they course is meant to be and I am waiting with the other girls. We all start to comment how uneasy we feel and one girl mentions that there is no VAT number on the receipt. We also note that they are not wearing name tags and did not introduce themselves to us. One of the girls goes back upstairs and confronts them asking for their VAT number. They say they do not have one and give her a "Company Number" instead.

When she comes back down, another girl is already in the process of Googling "scam and the name of the building" and a load of information comes up. That's when 7 of us head back up before even starting the course. We demand for our money back and say if we do not get it back, we will call the police. They return our money very reluctant and defensively try and explain why need to take their course; but cannot directly answer our questions. We ask to see one of the certificates we are meant to receive after the course - and they look photoshopped. They try and convince us that we are never going to get a nanny job without the qualifications and that they have to keep our paperwork. After about half an hour and they telling us to "go down to the first floor and they will come down and get us" - which we do not all agree to, we leave with our paperwork, our £90.00; but they kept our receipts.

WHAT WE HAVE DISCOVERED:
- They claim to have a Facebook and Twitter account which is non-existent
- There are previous complaints all listed under the same building; but different names have been used such as U&I Care, You & I Care, Uniqcare, etc - and they change their names. I have found "Dean" "Adil" "Maruf" "Ali Khan" and "Ozzy Jones" and they do just target nanny's - essentially any position where you require specialised qualifications to get hired
- We have read that you never actually hear back from the job they claim you are perfect for because the job itself is FAKE
- They have a testimonial section on their website where they have literally taken real people from real businesses and said that they have made "successful placements" in their companies - which are not their words/testimonials.

We got out lucky - aside from wasting our time, money to get to Ilford (Which cost me personally £47.50), and trying to uncover our deposits, we lucked out - but there were MANY people collecting their fake certificates or leaving the course and we want to stop others from being conned by this fake business.