Chloe came in for a trial interview at our home for stay and play with our daughter. We were interviewing her for a full time position in London.

I thought she was delightful, honest and trustworthy at first glance. I introduced her to our daughter and she got on without any questions. She took our daughter to the nursery room and seemed to have a handle on our daughter. She left the playroom nice and tidy and our daughter was on good form.

She did not bring any documents with her, we would have requested them if we chose to move on after the trial. We didn't get much chance to chat in depth as husband and I were preparing for the bank holiday weekend (very stressful), but I did ask if she'd like to work for us on Saturday and Sunday for the Easter holiday, as we had 12 guests arriving. She agreed and we therefore cancelled a babysitter that we found locally at the last minute. Primarily because we were seriously considering Chloe for a full time position with us in London and mentioned this to the local babysitter (who is 15).

My husband and I had to go out that evening. Upon our return home she mentioned that our daughter went to sleep at 20:45 and did not wake up. All seemed fine and we agreed that she would arrive the next day at 11am.

The next morning when we had guests arriving, I received a text message from Chloe at around 8am saying the position wasn't for her and that she would not be coming to work this weekend. No explanation, nothing. When I asked what happened, her response was, you and your husband had conflicting messages, such as you gave your daughter a napkin for dinner and he said don't use it. Then your husband wanted her to eat something else, which he denies. I asked her if this had to do with our daughter, and she claimed she was a delight and it was down to my husband and I having conflicting messages.

In any case, I respect that it may have not been the right fit for her long term, but she decided to not honour her promise to work over the weekend and left us in a very difficult situation, as we had already let go of the other babysitter and had to bring someone out from London at the last minute that proved very costly. My husband and I barely spoke to her for the entire day as we were getting ready to host 12 people over the weekend and had no issue with Chloe. In fact, her last response was it was lovely to meet your family.

This has never, ever happened to us or any of our friends. So I have to flag this with other parents. She is unreliable and does not keep her word. She says one thing and does another. And when it comes to dealing with children, these are two things I value the most. While the interview process is on both sides and both candidates are interviewing each other, I feel if you accept a babysitting job and you are in a safe environment, you don't just cancel because you don't like how the parents communicate about napkins or spaghetti.

And to top it off, she sends her bank details and says to pay her for the trial and interview, when no money was ever discussed. She even left and did not ask for money. Only after she decided she didn't want to pursue the full time job! It is all a bit shocking. I told her I would pay her, but wanted to talk to my husband first to figure out what to do as we have NEVER paid someone for an interview nor did we discuss money. Within less than 24 hours of telling her we would sort it out, she sends a threatening email saying that she will file a smalls claim case if money is not received by 5pm today (money that was NEVER discussed - no amount provided, no rate discussed, nothing) ... and when she left she didn't even ask for money, knowing that she was not going to return the following day. While I can say she has a nice demeanour and my daughter had a lovely time with her, something just seemed a bit off, especially when asked the reason, she responded with the most ridiculous excuse ever. Beware.