Originally Posted by Mommy2One:
As a parent, I wouldn't appreciate this kind of tactic. I would feel like I was being played games with and I would hate to waste my time (and the potential providers) with an interview only to learn that her rates were outside our budget. I've seen full-time rates for a 3 year old as low as $75/week for recently established home care and as high as $200/week for preschool-style centers so my "norm for the area" and the provider's could be very different.
Unless I was very impressed from our emails/calls/recommendations I probably wouldn't schedule an interview with someone who refused to give me a ballpark estimate (or answer other reasonable questions).
A compromise may be to give a rate range with a note that it depends on age, number of hours, needs of the child, etc. so parents know whether you're close to the same page.
I agree with this.