Any Recommendation of a Good Maid Agency
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Hi All
I have some sharings on the maids nowadays. I really think that having a reasonable good maid is 80% luck (personality of the maid) and 20% other factors including the personality of the employers, the profile of the family etc, if not still 100% luck on the maid herself.
I have maids since 1997 (16 years in all), when my first son was born. I only take experience maids …I have 2 boys in sec school now and we have stayed in HDB, Condos and now landed home. So i have alot of silly experiences analysing maids…Till now i have a total of 8-10 maids, 2 maids who stayed 5 years each period (10 years in total) but lately the rest are really "Random" maids (6-8 of them). I have tried Indon, Filippinos, Myanmars. I still contact my that 2 good maids till now and they are married with kids…Random means cannot make it…haha…stayed with us 1 week to 3-6 months types. Very tiring to kanna them…
I found out, not by generalisation, but -the 80% majority rule - that, (of course there are the 20% who are not generalised here) :
1) Filippinos are mostly arrogant (hao lian), vain and tell alot of lies. They like to work for expat ah mohs. Look down on Singaporeans, middle class or lower. They do not like to be micro-managed. Like to talk on phones, even to midnight. Like to have boyfriends and generally lose morals. So rare to find a good one now. Have, but very difficult…They are ok with big houses, kids. But they very talkative and high and mightly. They are the brightest of all. Any other maids they know, they call them cousins…OMG!
2) Indon always blur and tell lies type, must push them, not hardworking, not thorough in their jobs. Not so smart like Filippinos but more humble. But they are not so hygienic. Can cook better only, can micro manage abit only for the in-exp ones. Hardy types Can work in big house, not so good with kids, but better with aged, Tell lies also, steal also. 95% cannot eat pork and mostly cannot handle dogs.
3) Myanmar, mostly are of better character (at least 60% will not steal). English ok, some bad. But character is more impt in maids right? They are very rigid and "one sided" mind, stubborn. IF they have made up mind on certain things, hard to change their thinking…maybe culture, not so much on attitude. Cannot cook well and cannot work in Big house…They do not argue so much like the Filippinos.
Any other sharings on this? I reiterate my findings are on majority maids , not the 2 sides of the bell curve…
Lately, i also found out that :
1)the maids choose us, when they hear babies, small kids and big houses (landed), they all dont want to work for us…why the world is like this? When i was in condo, my status among the maids are the best even my kids are in primary schools that time. Worst is when i stay in landed house, with 2 dogs, no aged, kids come home after school at 3-5pm…they also dont want work leh…They choose us hor…
2) Some agencies , mostly in Far East shopping centres,esp those mentioned as avoided agencies in the various threads in kiasuparents , are "Super" maid agencies which always do transfer maids from local families like us to expat ang mohs. They do not hire from fresh and do proper application. They steal our maids…You can see a stream of maids there interviewing employers on Sundays. Not we interview them hor. Can MOM do something to this? They made us super stressed when after training our maids, the agencies took them to the "foreigners" and we local mummies have to work so hard for a living , on top of the training maids and supervising kids and teenagers and high cost of living. The agencies bosses with maid licences are mostly FOREIGNERS, but now Singaporeans. The maid agencies bosses are from Philippines, Myanmar origins. I saw their licences & i spoke to them…Now these converted Singaporean teach their maids to stay away from local employers and earning my money when our maids transferred out…
3)Now, I gave my maid (recommended by my ex-maid) hp usage, 2 days off (old contracts) and $580 (she only 2 years exp) in Singapore. If not, no maids can work for me. Last 2 years and earlier, $380-$450 for experience maids, 1 day off, now, they are like priced so high by the agents.
4) Why is not govt waive the maid levy and put us employers on par with the HK, Taiwan etc? We Singaporeans employers are not "valued " here by these maids as they seek greener pastures after getting exp here. Those manpower ministries in HK and Taiwan only take experience maids and are paid $800. Why MOM does not look into this? Do u know the maids do not respect us here even we are paying about $800 including levy but we can only get fresh and lousy exp maids for these prices?
5) Do you know the maids in Taiwan and HK cannot ask for transfer? any requests by them are not entertained. They will be asked to pay for their airfares home immediately and come back again as a new hire. So it make them work hard for at least 2 years without complaints & wary of their employers…
Maid and employers do have a differentiation. We are not talking about that they are mere products or whatever. Since uneducated women in those countries can find jobs and money here, they have to earn their respectable income by giving their services, isn’t it? Only a small handful employers here are not good, but majority do know how to treat their maids well as our kids are with them. We are not so inhuman.
Indirectly, our maid agencies will not help us on this becos they also get money from transfer cases. We employers must set up a group or representatives to talk to MOM about all these. Anyone seriously keen in these? -
:goodpost: Totally agree. Tks 4 sharing.
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Personally i make a trip to Bukit Timah Shopping Center and Katong Shopping Center. Have good impression on Bukit Timah's Maids Specialist and Katong Shopping Center Loyal Employment. Quite impress with their customer service , they are helpful which i think will benefit for new employer like me. Still deciding which agency to go to and which nation maid to choose. Now i know choosing maid can cause headache lol. :?:
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Apparently this is a new agency set up in Dec 2012 and yes their agency fees is low but what about the quality of maids being given to employers ? Money is 1 thing, but getting a maid into your house who is totally arriving from the village and not having any experiencce at all is another thing.
There are other small agencies out there who dont do advertising but give quality service. No point going to Crislo, Nation,JPB, ,Budget all just because they are more reputable but dont have time to be with you when you have problem with your maid, so i think going for a small agency is better. Nowadays having to pay agency fees of $1188,1288 is not a big thing. -
wahjinsong:
Hi , this is where you can find a good agency that follows all MOM regulations – A.PRATAMA Employment Agency in Bukit Timah Shopping Centre.
My colleagues read about A.PRATAMA from the following comments posted by employer, Dianneingrid in Nov 2011.
DianneIngrid said :
\" I have tried a few agencies over the last few years and my 2 cents worth \" :
Home/Budget maid...... They give you bio-data, it's up to you to choose. Really depends on your luck and they will not try to match you with a suitable one. .
Comfort ..... But their prices are soooo high I did not get any maid from them.
TM Global - Do NOT ever use them! I got a Myanmar maid from them and it was a NIGHTMARE!!! …over the phone interview. 1st prospective maid, I could hear someone coaching her ..to reply so out. Next one seemingly had good responses to my questions and I confirmed her. When she came, the only think she could do was nod or shake her head and say \"I not speak\". I returned the maid..
A.Pratama....... tel# 62976913. Finally an agency that I'm happy with. They might not suitall though as they do believe in maid rights
But the conditions are what I can work with. They only have ex-SIN maids. Their agency fee is also quite resonable (about 4-5mths of the maids salary) as they don't believe in charging the girls too much. Maids that come in have off days and most have hp but are ok with requests that they keep it to off hours. If you have a problem, they are willing to help you solve it. They do have mis-matches at times but they are willing to sit down with both you and the maid to talk about the problem and help work it out to a win-win situation. Their bio-datas are quite limited but from what I can see, most are pretty good and their salary is not too high either, about $450 + 1 off day for an experienced maid which I thought was quite ok considering what some other agencies are quoting for their inexperience maids. They are also the 1st agency that actually sat down with me and went thru the whole set of documents that I was signing point by point. The rest just pointed to here, here and here and gave you the dox to go home and read. So I can safely say that I'd definately be using them again for all my and my extended families' future maid needs. \"
So , my colleague’s families went to A.PRATAMA to employ Indonesian maids .They were surprised that the fees were reasonable, maid load was only about 2.5 months & their services very good. They introduced to their neighbors and relatives. All of them said that the owners -Desmond Phoon & Susan Phoon are very professional, documentations systematic & did everything law-by-law. They are very fair to both employer & maid and they repatriate \"Bad maids with proven repeated irresponsible& bad attitude\" without transfer & still give employers a free replacement. My families then employed Myanmar maids with loan of only one month's salary deduction. That's why this agency hardly has any transfer maids. Strongly recommended to employ maids from them . BUT All their maids are ex-Singapore, you MUST be prepared to give off-days before making appointment to meet them. Good luck!
WahJinsong
Hi WahJinsong,
I rang up A.Pratama agency. They aren't very helpful. Spoke to a guy desmond & he says we only have experienced maid Salary ranging $500 - $600. Asked me to call another agency. These are the rates I got for an Indonesian Maid. Salary: $470 (basic) + 2 days off + compensation for 2 days( OFF day not taken). Upon being asked- if the maid is given 4 days off, is the salary $470?? The answer was no... Salary is $490-550. Reason being, because maids doesnt want to take off but you force them to.
Strange. Arent't you suppose to pay lesser if maids are given 4 days off per month??
THen, i was asked to contact another agency if I am looking for a fresh maid. Well, reputable yet hopeless. -
Basic salary for Indon fresh is normally $450, and 1 off day, so balance 3 off days will be $450/26 day - $51.92
So for fresh basic plus off day will be about $500. even the sri lankans now is $450 -
A.Pratama, very funny agency, the first time you call an agency ,the person who picks up the phone & talks to you is the one who will either make a client happy or turn off the client.
See i called Comfort,asking for fresh Indon for my friend, girl called Kim answered the phone, sounds like a rude robot…I asked whats the agency fees, she answered 1288, and kept quite ,then I asked anything else… then she answered again. DONT THIS PPL HAVE COMMON SENSE TO EXPLAIN THE WHOLE FEE STRUCTURE. argghghhh
Then I called dear Pratama,i asked for fresh he said we dont deal in fresh only Ex maids.I asked for agency fees 348…nothing after that.i know there is a catch …where got so cheap, then he said all in is 748…
i asked him to email me biota . he answered, I dont even know who you are , i never see your face, you must make appointment,come my office, agree to my terms and conditions and I will show you biota… gosh as though employers are so free…i rather pay higher and get a personalised service. -
chixchix:
Hahaha... I find them strange. U try reasoning out, they'll ask u to go to another agency.A.Pratama, very funny agency, the first time you call an agency ,the person who picks up the phone & talks to you is the one who will either make a client happy or turn off the client.
See i called Comfort,asking for fresh Indon for my friend, girl called Kim answered the phone, sounds like a rude robot..I asked whats the agency fees, she answered 1288, and kept quite ,then I asked anything else.. then she answered again. DONT THIS PPL HAVE COMMON SENSE TO EXPLAIN THE WHOLE FEE STRUCTURE. argghghhh
Then I called dear Pratama,,i asked for fresh he said we dont deal in fresh only Ex maids.I asked for agency fees 348..nothing after that.i know there is a catch ..where got so cheap,, then he said all in is 748..
i asked him to email me biota . he answered, I dont even know who you are , i never see your face, you must make appointment,come my office, agree to my terms and conditions and I will show you biota.. gosh as though employers are so free...i rather pay higher and get a personalised service. -
Tells you a lot about them…i prefer an agency who can listen to me,and see if they can help. but one thing for sure…the type of maids you can get in the 90s are so different from the maid nowadays.
Its not employer choose maid, but rather maid choose employer. by the way how is your friend who lost her baby ?
They should blacklist the maid. -
chixchix:
Ohh yes tell me about same s**t different day. I rang up a random agency earlier & they had a few indon maids... with expected salary ranging $500-600 inclusive of 4days off & \"also off days on public holiday\" :rotflmao: OMG... Now that is something really new to me.Tells you a lot about them...i prefer an agency who can listen to me,and see if they can help. but one thing for sure..the type of maids you can get in the 90s are so different from the maid nowadays.
Its not employer choose maid, but rather maid choose employer. by the way how is your friend who lost her baby ?
They should blacklist the maid.
My friend is much better now. Thank god. God's blessing has been with her that why she kept her for so long... i would have kicked out the maid, if I happen to be the employer.
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