AgingCare

It was an overall bad experience, with the exception of [name removed] who conducted the placement interview and was very professional. But after caregivers were placed with us, there was no continuity of care- it was a different caregiver almost daily: young & inexperienced helpers who did not take initiative with cleaning, cooking or caring. Mostly sat & were occupied with their phones. There were also multiple billing problems that required auditing the bills every week. We were set up on an auto bank draft. After some bills had been manually reconciled with a staff person, their system still reviewed invoices it saw as "partially unpaid" and then re-charged us payments that "seemed" due . This was our experience from [date removed]. It is possible that their business could have improved in the past year.

I would not use this agency again. When talking to the administration, they only wanted to defend the caretaker. Didn't seem to care about the situation at hand. I thought the initial assessment went well and they did their best to fulfill the slots that were needed. My mother has Alzheimer's and she was a little agitated with someone being in the house. The first person they sent did a few things we asked and then just sat there and watch TV and on her phone, so I stopped the sessions with her the second girl they sent Did a nice job, but I don't understand why they didn't try communicating and being friendly to my mother, I guess I expected more from a caretaker than what they were trained for. I waited about four months and then reached out one more time for 27 hours a week. I asked them to send somebody that would be friendly and cook breakfast lunch and dinner. The person they sent said they don't cook supper. She was friendly and tried communicating with my mother. Some days were well and then a couple days they weren't. I don't feel she knew how to handle the situation And she didn't wanna come back. On the last day of the services, I had to come home early and take care of the situation and the caretaker left 2 hours early and they tried billing me for them two hours when I called them and ask him about it. They were trying to tell me that you have to give 24 hour notice. I know all situations don't go well with Alzheimer patients. I don't feel that their staff is equipped for that and I will be searching for other alternatives.

The biggest problem was the last minute cancellations, no shows, and inability to cover shifts. Also, they didn't do 90% of the things they were supposed to. For example....bathing, vacuuming, laundry, wash dishes. They basically either sat on their phone or sat and talked to my mom.

Administrative staff stood out as superior. [name removed], Field Representative and [name removed] [name removed] franchise owner. Both were very helpful in resolving staffing issues we faced during the months we were with Home Instead of Anchorage, Alaska. The home Instead care staff was not experienced or trained to provide safe and effective elder care. There was several call offs with 2:1 no-shows to call offs.

The value for cost gets a 1 because I did not use the service based on lack of fit and schedule. The first person they sent was not a good fit. The second was perfect, but didn't have space in her schedule. I couldn't figure out why they sent her. Then they kept telling me they were trying to find someone. Very frustrating experience. And I couldn't get my deposit back because it was non-refundable. My husband was a difficult dementia patient. And they needed a specialist in dementia which I made clear at the start. They advertised that they had dementia specialists, but it didn't work out.

I fired them because they were not reliable about actually having a care giver at our house.

For the most part the facility/staff was fine, but the main thing that I did not like at all and would not recommend them is the fact that they do not want you to correspond with the caregiver. You're supposed to use the facility / staff as a liaison between you and the caregiver. Meaning I wasn't supposed to call her or text her, and I find that ridiculous!

Everyone was friendly , but they did not keep me informed about when or if I was going to get the help I needed . Then they sent out someone who was physically unable to perform the activities I was expecting to be carried out . The person they sent out was very nice and did the best she could do , but I got the impression they didn't listen to the criteria I had given them.

The check ins are appreciated. They have checked in with me once in awhile so I guess timeliness is good.

Communications with admin regarding scheduling is almost non-existent.

Some of their staff were excellent and some were terrible.

I would not recommend as the assigned staff were not reliable or properly trained as stated in advertising. We were attracted to them because of the cost.

The caregiver would come in late without an explanation and a few times when given cash for groceries didn't not give change. On one occasion it was approximately $100.00 not returned.

Home Instead has dropped the ball many times--they do not pay close attention to detail or schedules; I've offered to help them (pro bono) refine their practices to build their reputation and solve issues so that future clients have a better experience, but they are not interested in that. They are not open to change as the world of healthcare changes--they just provide a cookie-cutter service and individuals have to conform to their business model. This will s not a healthCARE agency; it is a corporation set on making $$ vs. providing a respectful experience for our aging community AND the family that is left to navigate this system. I've been caring for my mom for 27 months now--my dad died 5 years ago; i'm an only child; i'm having to do this alone.

We have had numerous scheduling issues, wherein I have to use personal time from work to cover absences. Communication isn’t always clear and concise. Some days, I don’t even hear back from Care Advantage. We have had a couple of good aides that were a great fit, but didn’t always work out.

No dependable. There were multiple occasions where they would call me the morning of service and say that they didn't have a caregiver. We gave them multiple opportunities but when they continued to call out last minute we switched. Cornerstone had better communication than some we have used, they just couldn't keep providers.

I would not recommend. I picked this community because I needed someone quick & they were available.

There seems to be discord at Corp level, which I believe affected the low scores to a great degree. The level of training is 0. Very lazy caregivers. I've seen them asleep on the job. Mom missed meals because they couldn't understand the dinner and lunch schedules. When I told them about activities available they would say they didn't see any for the day. All the activities are on one place on one calendar. They had Mom sitting on couch for four hours, in PJs til noon and I think they only got Mom dressed because they knew a family member would be there at 1pm. Some nights Mom was never changed and it left for the daytime caregiver. The more seasoned CGs had either left Homewatch and Mom's best caregiver was wrongly fired, due to nepotism I'm the office. There is NO WAY I would ever recommend Homewatch Schaumburg. I deeply regret ever having anything to do with them. My Mom deserved more. Mom paid cash for these "service'." Even if HW offered their caregiver at no charge, I would not let them "take care of" my Mom.

First let me say that Girling kind of screwed me and I guess it was a misunderstanding but I had too much going on to argue with them. I had to pivot and get my loved one cared for. They were suggested by A Place for Mom agent and I went with them. The caregiver they assigned was very nice even though she called last minute a couple of times. Once was an emergency so I understood that.

I stopped using Complete Home Care just over four months ago. They were inconsistent with scheduling and could not consistently guarantee the same home aid. They constantly sent new people, which was disorienting for my grandmother. Overall, there were too many new people for staffing with Complete Homecare of America.