Parents of Preschoolers  Discussion Forum

Good post sushmita. Good information from Saheli and Poonam, thanks.
Does anybody know if any laws are there for these agencies? My agency charges more from me because I am from Gurgaon, and I wanted to know if this is correct.

Then i came across one gurgaon based agency and when i called them up they said they drop the maid home. They were charging more and when i asked why, they said rates are high in gurgaon and we will not have to reavel to delhi so its almost same.
I said ok but I want to pick her from your office. Initially he denied. After discussion distributed in 2-3 days he finally agreed to let me visit his office and gave his address.
The office was in nehru place!
and he was just fooling me with gurgaon name.

I am looking for House Maid agencies in Gurgaon.

name of this agency is " Aaliya" something. He generally adviertises through cable TV.

I am going next ..
I once was fooled by one agency who takes advance. They took 1000Rs from me as booking amount and promised me a maid in 7 days but never gave one.
Most young maids from the agencies need to be strictly kept as they do an affair with someone around. My 3 out of 4 have done that and I have seen most others also doind same. Finally, women in our society got together and are informing each other when they see others maids talking to boys.

I´ ve burnt my fingers with Anju placement, they are one bunch of unprofessionals and unethical people who run their shop by fooling people, just take commission and speak rudly and even use abusive language with ladies. The maid they have are only from Nepal and cannot be verified by the police. From some known sources they bring the maids ILLEGALLY.So my request is avoid Anju Placement near Bhikaji Cama place

Right said Sushmita and Saheli.
The agency who fooled me was

Anju Consultancy

or also called as Mrs. Anju

its in Bikaji Kama near Safdurjung.

I too had similar experiences with the agencies. And they are so dirty always, first time i visited one, i couldnt tolerate. But kya karen, we are helpless and have to keep maid.

I can talk for hours about this! Before that. Sushmita, you have put up a very good question and this kind of information was also something I was looking for, even though I have my share of experiences with the agencies. I am sure your post is going to help many. I am adding my experiences in terms of what we should be looking for when choosing an agency ...

- Avoid agencies who ask for advance booking and promise to provide maid in a week or so.
- Avoid agencies who only drop maids to your home. They should have a office. Visit their office atleast once. (one of my friends when visited an agency, she felt that that was also a place to \" provide\" girls!)
- Agency should be a registered one, check their registration
- Check if they do the police verification, ask them where do they get the maids from. Check if they perform any medical tests on the maids, and what do they do when a maid falls sick.
- If the maid they are providing you has worked in delhi earlier, ask why did she leave earlier job and see if you can talk to the previous employer (for maids who have good feedback, they provide the contact number, this is what i hv experienced)
- Check advance, comminsion, registration, salary amount with the agency. They generally provide categories of maid (trained, untrained, semitrained). Ask them clearly how to differentiate and when a maid is available, ask same qs to the maid to make sure they are not fooling you.
- Ask them about their clients in your area, meet them up and collect feedback. Preferably, approach agencies through reference of someone you can trust.
- Check their ' leave' policy. Some agencies ask for 1-2 days leave per month and you are required to srop/pick them (all the way to delhi!), or provide taxi charges for the same!
- Untrained maids may not know hindi. Check for that.
- Check duration of contract
- Read their terms and conditions and check with them what u r supposed to do if maid falls sick (minor or major)
- some agencies may request your passport/electricity bill/etc information. Make sure you are passing information to right people.

- Check terms and conditions for replacement and ask them \" what if you are not able to provide a maid for more than X duration?\"

- Make a list of your requirements for which you need a maid and tell it to the agency
- Combine this list with other things that you would like to ensure about the maid
- When a maid is available, talk to her on a phone and ask questions referring to your list
- name, place, age, language, experience, if she knows hindi, her family, whats making her work
- education,
- if she can dial a number
- overall health
- tell her job profile in DETAILS and ask if she is willing to work (for eg, some maid may be ok with feeding the baby but not with cleaning baby' s potty)
- check her skills, right from making tea, to feeding a baby, cutting veggies, making rotis, first aid, everything that comes to your mind
- Tell her your rules and regulations of the house if needed
- check her previous experience, what was exactly her job profile there (a semi-trained maid means she knows hindi, knows operating a cooking gas, is professional enough to know that tea-cup should be brought in tray and not in hand, but the agent may call a maid as semi-trained who has served an old patient for just 2m before and doesnt know how to make tea)
- if she is willing to work

- The agencies sometimes trick the clients like this -- A maid is NOT available. An already appointed maid at some other place finishes her contract and is waiting to go home. They send this maid to your place, that maid works for 3-4 days and then throws tantrums or says ' i dont like the place' . Now you are stuck. They dont have a replacement and you have paid them already.
CLEARLY ask the agent if they are doing anything like that.
Ask the maid then and there - ' are you willing to work? Would you not refuse after 3-4 days?'

- If a maid is married, enquire about her hubby and check if she is pregnant. I once got a maid home and realised next day she was 4m pregnant!

- Once the maid has arrived, get her medical checkup and police verification done. Take her snaps and video and let her know that you are sending this for police verification (even if you are not)

- If possible, talk to maid' s family/parents and store their number with you

Thats all i can remember for now. Will post again if anything comes to my mind.

Who' s going next ...?

Oops.. I was about to hire one from an agency today. The guy had the same modus operandi as detailed by others here... asking for advance, promising for girl in 10 days.. etc. etc.
I am thankful to this form for alerting me. I would now look for a maid only through referral.
WHEN WILL INDIA RISE ABOVE SUCH PETTY FRAUDS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES ? WHY DOES ANY ONE NOT WANT TO MAKE MONEY THROUGH HONEST MEANS ????

Thanks Saheli for the wonderful tips. I wish I had a chance to know these before 
Here is my experience:

After our second child we needed a maid and got in touch with an agent, who provided us a maid in a day’s time. She was good at her work but on the 5th day she said she needs to go back to her village........ she lost interest in work...... began to complain of many ailments. I tried to contact the agent.......but he wouldn’t answer. We took her to a doctor and were advised to let her undertake very many tests and medicine. We got her the medicine. She wouldn´ t take it...but started weeping and refused to work. All these while we kept calling the agent and he wouldn´ t answer..... at times his mobile was busy....otherwise no response. Now there was swelling on her legs! reading all these together my wife, a medical professional, got a UPT Stick and were shocked to know that the girl was carrying! This was known to the agent and to the girl! (that’s the reason he was not answering the phone). That day we took her to the agent´ s office. I found him comfortably sitting there.......he told me that he was too busy with the meeting so could not answer my phone and was sorry about it! He promised to meet me the following day to return the money he had charged (Rs. 4000). He never came....doesn’t answer the calls still. I visited his place and was told that he no more operates from there!

Part II
I got in touch with another agent recommended by a friend. He came home promised to get a girl the following day, but needed the ´ fee´ in advance, having heard about his wonderful service I gave him Rs. 3500! This happened on 27th June ´ 07. Until now the maid has not been provided. He is better in a sense that he answers the call.....but is busy in arranging one!!!! I spoke to him last evening and he promised to return the money by 10 am today & it is 3.30pm now. When I called up at 2pm he asked me why I am so worried that he would not run away with my money!! It is more than 40 days already and I have lost hope of getting my money back. Although we need a maid urgently, I do not dare to approach one more agent! I feel angry, sad as I am cheated . I wish to get these guys booked. But do not know how to go about it ….

Please be cautious about “Kirti Domestic Service” & “Heera Domestic Services”, both are south Delhi based.

Thanks to you too, for putting up such a topic. These days when some people curst progress technology, I really appreciate topics like these being put up. We should be using such forums to solve our problems for which we generally dont know where to go! Nothing like it! Poonam, pam and shriya have added good info, thanks to them too!

Dear Saheli,
Thks for your reply.Its really informative.
We all get harrased by the maids once in a while.But its always them who portray a sorry state and we come out to be the tyrants.Hence its better to be careful and practical in selecting them than feeling sorry for ourselves.Your info therefore is very valuable.
Please do also share the address and number of the agency you appreciate or disapprove of.
And I sincerely hope others would also pitch in.