Maid Agency Frustration

We're currently looking for a maid. Well, her main role would be as a nanny when I'm at work. Then of course there are the normal housework such as ironing, laundry etc. Nothing too strenuous.

However, getting a good maid is seriously a trial that is heavy on the mind. There is of course the extravagant costs of actually obtaining one... this is just to get the passport and medical documents from the place of origin (the most common and easiest is from Indonesia). I think it's due to the problem of immigration for the agency or whatnot, it seems we still have to settle the immigration part ourselves. If it comes cheap, it's ok... but it seems we're paying the full price of an agency intervention. -sigh- Since this is our first time doing this, I am quite frustrated and frankly stressed out.

We actually found a good agency that I have no doubt will probably handle everything for us without exception. Unfortunately they are not offering Indonesian maids. Instead they only have Philippines maids (highly recommended) and Cambodian maids. Now I would love to get Philippines maids, except they are super expensive and a Muslim one is hard to come by. Cambodian on the other hand would probably drive me nuts as they can't speak English. I can't even negotiate terms with an Indonesian agent who's language is close to BM, can you imagine me trying to communicate with someone who has no understanding of English or BM? Goodness, I'll probably hyperventilate and be admitted to the hospital for high blood pressure! Not good...

Now some might wonder, what happened to the other maid agency that we chose before? Bad news there... to make the sad story short, the maid that they had so called processed for us was rejected by the immigration. Imagine my shock when I was told that the maid was registered under another employer in Malaysia. Needless to say, I was so angry I cried for a good hour after that. It was lucky that we were able to get back our deposit money.

So now, hubby had vetoed and chosen another agent... though he is actually from Pahang. I must say that after the first debacle, I am a bit wary especially when I can't even go visit the office. There are no proper brochures, no proper listing of expenses and basically no business card.   :(

But we've paid the hefty deposit, as I place my faith on hubby's judgement. This week will determine it all since the agent reassures us that the maid should be on a flight over to Malaysia by end of this week.

Could it be the ending to our search? We'll see.

Take away from the lesson learnt above:
1. Always ask for a business card
2. Request a list of all the costs
3. Should check for any guarantee/exchange should the maid be unacceptable
4. Should check what's the additional costs should the maid fail in obtaining the working permit or fomema exam
5. Pay by cheque and request for official receipt