Independent profile — not affiliated with Care.com
Care.com
Care.com is an online marketplace and subscription service where families find caregivers, operated by Care.com, Inc.; IAC says it sold Care.com to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners on March 16, 2026. This page covers cancellation and refund terms from its own pages, the FTC's 2024 case and $8.5 million order, BBB and Trustpilot figures, and 32 archive posts about billing.
Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints
USAComplaints currently maintains 32 historical complaints about Care.com, published between 2008 and 2013. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.
- Credit card charged without authorization, refund demanded
- Billed monthly for almost two years after premium signup
- Unknown $39 charge on bank account, no way to contact
- Billed continuously after buying one month membership
- Charged twice a month without permission, no explanation given
- Charged $35 monthly for months on free trial, only last credited
- Charged card monthly after signing up for one month only
- Cannot reach customer service to cancel, only busy signals
- Charged $37.45 monthly after signing up for one month only
- Unauthorized debit overdrew account, explanation and compensation demanded
- Billed monthly after trying to cancel service
- Auto renewal not disclosed and charges without email notice
- Be prepared to pay for information!
- Charged monthly for seven months without authorization
- Billed my card with no permission
- Charged monthly after signing up for one month of service
- Membership fee not disclosed and account would not cancel
- Free job post required paid upgrade to reply to tutors
- Billed second month without authorization after one month signup
- Recurring charge a year after one-time sitter search
Complaint Themes
Independent Sources
Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.
Contacts
- Care.com website: https://www.care.com/
- Care.com Help Center: https://help.care.com/families/s/
- Privacy requests ([email protected]): [email protected]
Locations
| Type | Address |
|---|---|
| Mailing address | 2801 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1150 Dallas TX 75204 |
| Mailing address | 816 Congress St., Suite 800 Austin TX 78701 |
Care.com complaints, cancellation, refunds and how to reach Care.com (checked October 14, 2026)
Care.com is an online marketplace where families post jobs and caregivers apply. Its Terms of Use (last updated October 14, 2025) say Care.com offers a free basic membership and paid memberships, and that it provides background checks through third-party consumer reporting agencies. Billing is the subject of most complaints on this page, so the steps below start with the company's own written terms and then list the outside routes.
Cancel a paid membership. Terms Section 8.2 says: "You may cancel your paid membership subscription at any time by following the instructions on your account settings page." It also says paid memberships "will automatically renew at the end of your chosen term period" and that if you chose a term longer than one month billed monthly and then cancel, you "will continue to be billed for the subscription on a monthly basis until the end of the then-current subscription term". The Help Center lists an article titled "How do I cancel my family’s paid plan or membership subscription on Care.com?" under Payments. Section 8.2 also says that if you cancel a paid subscription you "typically will be permitted to use your subscription until the end of your then-current subscription term"; cancelling a paid subscription is therefore described as a separate step from closing an account, and Section 8.6 says closing an account does not by itself produce a refund.
Refunds. Terms Section 8.6 says that, except as set out in the Terms or on the site at the time of purchase, payments "are non-refundable" and there are "no refunds or credits for unused or partially used subscriptions". Section 8.4 on free trials says a user who does not want to continue "must downgrade or cancel their subscription, and request a refund of the subscription fee within thirty (30) days of being charged"; it adds that on cancellation the card is refunded the most recent subscription charge "so long as he or she has not used the subscription after the expiration of the free trial period". Section 8.6 also says there are no refunds or credits for unused or partially used subscriptions "even if you close your account or cancel your membership, subscription, service, or product in the middle of a term". The Help Center also has an article titled "What is Care.com's refund policy?".
If a charge is disputed. Keep the dates and amounts of each charge and your cancellation confirmation. You can contact your card issuer or bank about a charge you did not authorize, file a report with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, contact your state attorney general, or file a complaint with the BBB. Terms Section 13 contains an arbitration agreement and class action waiver with a 30-day opt-out window and requires a written notice of the dispute to Care.com, Inc., Attn: Legal Department, 816 Congress St., Suite 800, Austin, TX 78701, before arbitration is started; read that section for the exact conditions.
Screening and vetting. Terms Section 1.3 says Registered Users "are solely responsible for interviewing, vetting, performing background and reference checks on, verifying information provided by, and selecting an appropriate Care Seeker or Care Provider for themselves or their family", with a stated exception for certain Backup Care Service selections. Section 4 says "even the most comprehensive background check offered may not disclose the existence of all criminal records in all jurisdictions" and that results should not be taken as "complete, accurate, up-to-date or conclusive" of suitability.
FTC refunds. The FTC's June 2025 refund programme for Care.com payments is described in the regulator section below; the FTC page gives the administrator's phone number for questions about those payments.
Regulator action: FTC v. Care.com, Inc. (2024)
On August 26, 2024 the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Care.com, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (No. 1:24-cv-987) under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. The complaint alleged that Care.com (1) advertised earnings rates for caregivers that were not based on actual wages earned, (2) inflated the number of jobs on its platform by counting postings from families that had not purchased an auto-renewing subscription and so could not hire providers, and (3) made cancellation of auto-renewing memberships difficult through a multi-page flow. The complaint said about 2.9 million U.S. consumers purchased at least one auto-renewing membership between January 2019 and March 2022. These are the FTC's allegations. The complaint concerned earnings claims, job listings and cancellation practices; it did not address background-check accuracy or caregiver safety.
Outcome. The same day the FTC announced a settlement. The stipulated order was entered by the court on August 30, 2024. In it Care.com "neither admits nor denies any of the allegations in the Complaint, except as specifically stated in this Order" and admits only the facts needed for jurisdiction. The order entered a judgment of $8,500,000 for the FTC, restrains Care.com from making earnings claims unless it has competent and reliable evidence, restrains it from misrepresenting a number of jobs available unless all such jobs were posted by users permitted to communicate with applicants, requires disclosure of material limits on communications before billing information is taken, and requires a simple cancellation mechanism that is "easy to find" and "at least as easy to use as the method the consumer used to initiate" the subscription.
Refunds. On June 24, 2025 the FTC announced it was sending 194,207 payments totaling more than $8.1 million to people who paid Care.com. The FTC page says check recipients should cash checks within 90 days and PayPal payments should be accepted within 30 days, and that the refund administrator, Epiq, can be reached at 1-888-867-6151. The Commission says it never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a refund.
Who operates Care.com and who owns it
The Terms of Use name Care.com, Inc. as the provider of the site and services. The FTC's 2024 complaint describes it as a Delaware corporation. The company says it has served families and caregivers "since our founding in 2006"; BBB's raw page data lists a business start and incorporation date of October 27, 2006.
Care.com, Inc. was a New York Stock Exchange-listed company until February 11, 2020, when, according to its Form 8-K of that date, a merger subsidiary of IAC/InterActiveCorp merged into it and it survived "as a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC"; the 8-K states aggregate consideration of approximately $626.7 million. In its first-quarter 2026 report, IAC says it "completed the sale of Care.com to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners" with net proceeds of $296 million received on March 16, 2026, and reports Care.com as discontinued operations. Care.com was therefore owned by IAC from February 11, 2020 until March 16, 2026, according to those two IAC-side documents; IAC's Form 10-K for 2025 (filed February 20, 2026) predates the sale. This page did not locate a Care.com or Pacific Avenue statement about the transaction. Care.com's About page lists other brands under it, including HomePay, which it says is provided by Breedlove and Associates, LLC, "a Care.com company".
Addresses: the Privacy Policy and Terms list a Legal Department address in Dallas, Texas, and the Terms list a separate Austin, Texas address for dispute and arbitration opt-out notices. The FTC's 2024 complaint gave Austin as the principal place of business. This page does not state which address is currently the headquarters.
Care.com complaint record: this site's archive, BBB and Trustpilot
This site's archive. usacomplaints.com has 32 approved posts about Care.com, Inc., written between August 2008 and August 2013 (the later ones under the billing descriptor wording "CCI Care.com"). The posts are consumer statements, not findings. Counted by keyword in the post text, 22 mention unauthorized or continued charges or auto-renewal, 12 mention cancellation or difficulty reaching customer service, 5 mention refunds and 5 mention background checks or screening. Posts are old, and the company's cancellation and billing practices and its Terms have changed since.
BBB. As displayed on October 14, 2026, the BBB profile for Care.com in Dallas, TX shows an A+ rating and BBB Accredited Business status (BBB's page data gives the accreditation date as October 6, 2025), "771 total complaints in the last 3 years" and "189 complaints filed in the last 12 months", and a customer review average of 1.93 out of 5 based on 541 reviews.
Trustpilot. As displayed on October 14, 2026, Trustpilot shows 3.7 with 6,388 reviews for care.com, a claimed profile since April 2015 with a paid Trustpilot subscription, and states that it does not fact-check reviews.
These three figures come from different sources with different methods and are not combined or averaged.
Court cases that name Care.com, Inc.
FTC v. Care.com, Inc. (W.D. Tex., No. 1:24-cv-987) ended in the stipulated order described above, entered August 30, 2024.
Toussaint v. Care.com, Inc. (D. Mass., No. 1:19-cv-10628) was a securities class action filed April 3, 2019 against the company and two of its officers. The court's docket shows a motion to dismiss the first amended class action complaint, a hearing on February 7, 2020, and, on September 25, 2020, a memorandum and order allowing the defendants' motion to dismiss and an order dismissing the case. Whether any appeal was taken was not checked.
Other federal dockets naming Care.com (employment, patent, telephone-consumer-protection and privacy matters) exist in CourtListener; they are not summarised here because their outcomes were not verified from the dockets.
Is Care.com Legitimate?
Care.com, Inc. is a registered operating business: it is named as the contracting party in its Terms of Use, it was a publicly listed company until its 2020 acquisition by IAC, and IAC says it completed the sale of Care.com to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners on March 16, 2026. The FTC alleged in 2024 that its earnings claims, job counts and cancellation process were deceptive, and the company settled without admitting or denying the allegations and paid $8.5 million that the FTC used for refunds. BBB shows an A+ rating and Accredited status alongside 771 complaints in three years, and Trustpilot shows 3.7 from 6,388 reviews (all as displayed on October 14, 2026). Readers should compare those records with what the membership terms say before paying.
Court & Public Records
| Case | Authority | Dates | Type | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Trade Commission v. Care.com, Inc. Docket 1:24-cv-00987 | U.S. District Court, W.D. Texas | Settled | Settled Stipulated order for permanent injunction and monetary judgment entered August 30, 2024: $8,500,000 judgment for the FTC; Care.com "neither admits nor denies any of the allegations in the Complaint, except as specifically stated in this Order"; injunctive terms on earnings claims, job-count claims, disclosures and cancellation. The FTC announced payments of more than $8.1 million to 194,207 consumers on June 24, 2025. | Source | |
| Toussaint v. Care.com, Inc. Docket 1:19-cv-10628 | U.S. District Court, D. Massachusetts | Dismissed | Dismissed The docket's nature-of-suit label is securities fraud. The docket shows a memorandum and order allowing the defendants' motion to dismiss the first amended class action complaint and an order dismissing the case, both entered September 25, 2020. Whether an appeal was taken was not checked. | Source |
Company Relationships
- Acquired by: Pacific Avenue Capital Partners
- Affiliated with: Breedlove and Associates, LLC
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Care.com?
IAC says it completed the sale of Care.com to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, with net proceeds of $296 million received on March 16, 2026. Before that, Care.com, Inc. had been a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC since February 11, 2020, according to its Form 8-K of that date.
How do I cancel a Care.com paid membership?
Terms Section 8.2 says a paid membership can be cancelled "by following the instructions on your account settings page". Memberships bought for a term longer than one month and billed monthly continue to be billed until the end of the then-current term if cancelled early. The Help Center lists an article on cancelling a family's paid plan.
Does Care.com give refunds?
Terms Section 8.6 says payments are non-refundable and there are no refunds or credits for unused or partially used subscriptions, except as set out in the Terms or on the site at the time of purchase. Section 8.6 adds that this holds even if the account is closed or the membership cancelled in the middle of a term. For free trials, Section 8.4 says a refund of the subscription fee must be requested within 30 days of being charged, and that the most recent charge is refunded "so long as he or she has not used the subscription after the expiration of the free trial period".
What did the FTC allege against Care.com?
The FTC's August 26, 2024 complaint alleged deceptive earnings claims, inflated job counts and a difficult cancellation process. Care.com settled and, in the order entered August 30, 2024, neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The order includes an $8,500,000 judgment.
Did the FTC send refunds to Care.com customers?
On June 24, 2025 the FTC announced payments to 194,207 people totaling more than $8.1 million, sent as checks and PayPal payments. The FTC's page lists the administrator, Epiq, at 1-888-867-6151.
What is Care.com's BBB record?
As displayed on October 14, 2026, the BBB profile for Care.com in Dallas, TX shows an A+ rating, BBB Accredited Business, 771 complaints in the last three years, 189 in the last 12 months, and 1.93 out of 5 from 541 customer reviews.
What does Trustpilot show for Care.com?
As displayed on October 14, 2026, Trustpilot shows 3.7 with 6,388 reviews for care.com, a claimed profile since April 2015 with a paid Trustpilot subscription. Trustpilot says it does not fact-check reviews.
Does Care.com require arbitration?
Terms Section 13 contains an Agreement to Arbitrate and class action waiver. It says a user can reject it by mailing a written opt-out notice, within 30 days of first using the site for new users, to Care.com, Inc., Attn: Legal Department, 816 Congress St., Suite 800, Austin, TX 78701.
How do background checks work on Care.com?
Terms Section 4 says Care.com offers background check services provided by third-party consumer reporting agencies, regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Section 11.2 says Care.com does not provide "training, supervision, or monitoring" of care seekers or providers and "cannot guarantee" that interactions will always be safe and respectful. Section 4 says even the most comprehensive check "may not disclose the existence of all criminal records in all jurisdictions", and Section 1.3 says Registered Users are "solely responsible for interviewing, vetting, performing background and reference checks" on the person they select.