Home Instead Arvostelua 

My mother is supported by Home Instead. Although she was initially reluctant to agree that she needed care, she is now very happy and looks forward to her visits. Her carers are kind and supportive, and generally keep good notes which helps me to keep an eye on what is happening with her (she has dementia so is not able to tell me much about what has happened). The relatively new management has been excellent, and I have been listened to and concerns responded to quickly

Unreliable, terrible caregivers and bad billing system. My caregiver was the nightmare from hell. They don't vet their staff very well. She was bi-polar and a jeckl Hyde. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. Ok that's not fair. I had some very good caregivers with them. It was just the last one that was so bad. Not sure why I kept her as long as I did. Had her from abt March thru September.

I applied to work for Home Instead 4.5 years ago and was due to start training but unfortunately my daughter became critically ill. I then reapplied a year later and was due to start training again, but my stepdaughter was killed in a car accident, my daughter was very close to her, as was I, so again I couldn’t do much for over a year as it impacted our everyday life. I went back again, ready to start training and then my puppy had a season. I was honest and as I have no family members that can come into the house to let my dog out, I explained my circumstances and have just gone back again. Becky told me that the manager has concerns about me because of my daughter’s health conditions and also as I’ve cancelled past training. I’m sorry but everyone has **** in their lives and Becky told me that she’d been off for three months …… but that’s ok apparently

I spent five months chasing a refund for a no show by this company. The care for my mother was respite so only provided while I was on holiday. She seemed satisfied with the care but obviously I didn’t see it because I was away. Eventually when I rang to ask for more respite care they booked it in and said they would ring me next day for payment. No one got back to me so I rang them to pay and was told the manager had decided they weren’t doing short term respite anymore! What happened to giving two month’s notice before any changes are made? I went on the website and what’s the first thing that comes up? “We do respite”! I think I was singled out as an awkward customer. I got my mother to write asking for confirmation in writing that the service was withdrawn before she paid another admin fee elsewhere. Unsurprisingly we heard absolutely nothing. The company I use now e-mailed me a rota with who was coming when. What a difference from being abroad to be rung and told the carers haven’t turned up. I’ve read a lot of the good reviews and wonder whether this company varies from branch to branch around the country?

Beware of the fake prophets. Especially in West/North Norfolk.

I am glad to work for Home Instead. Really nice people work there. I have 24/7 support. If I need training, Home Instead provide it. Everyone is nice, kind and willing to help. I am fully satisfied with work conditions and attitude of colleagues, office and managers. 🌺🌞

Awful company incompetent staff that do not get back to you. Training is mainly online. Advertise higher rates of pay than what are paid. Better companies on indeed to choose from.

I give this company a 1 as the care from the local carers was without fault. My concerns are that they are only interested in money. If your loved one is taken into hospital or care, they will charge you 14 days care, ie the carer will attend your home for another 14 days at full rate. Then they have a 30 cancellation fee, so in my case when my loved one went into hospital, I changed the frequency to 0 hours per day on 1. Expecting to pay the full rate for another 14 days, but NO, you cannot change so you get another 44 days at full rate, after an assertive chat they just did me for the 30 days, and then they tried to charge me unsocial hours rate, even though no body was turning up. Avoid this company, write to your MP, inform the care commission so this company gets closed down.

As others have said, this company is all about the money grab. They told my parents that notice was two weeks, which it is for care visits, but to cancel the whole service is FOUR WEEKS! what an absolute rip off. I would caution against using these people as they are VERY expensive compared to other care providers in home.

Home Instead used to care about their clients and staff years ago, but now all they care about is the money. Lucky for some clients there's caring support workers that get things done behind managements back. I wont go in to full detail but I wouldn't recommend this place to work or to care for my loved one.

The help I received from Home instead when I needed it most for my Dad was amazing. The staff were empathetic and caring. They were wonderful when interacting with my Dad.
Can't recommend them enough.
Tracy

We have been using Home Instead services for some time now. We are very pleased with their services & care. Everyone from the admin staff to the care givers are kind, caring & professional. They provide us with a caregiver for every shift requested & the aide arrives on time & provides excellent care. I would recommend them to anyone!

It's a scam....and not worth a penny of the fortune it cost me and my nan.....there's only the 2 of us and that's the way it's been for well over 20 years but tbh it was her social worker who was useless (surprise surprise) as my nan was in late 80s at the time and suffers bonnet syndrome (a hallucinatory condition similar to dementia but its often people who are blind/partially sighted who suffer from it)....I was in hospital because of a SA by overdose but obv was in no condition for business bs (I'm also classed as a vulnerable adult) and so we royally got done over and I wish I'd enquired or done more as we were referred to them not the other way around and so assumed it was a free service and we're never told it would more or less leave us destitute...they did next to nothing when they arrived...

AS PER MY REVIEW FOR HOME INSTEAD UK:
Where to start?! My late Gran's niece caused the initial mess by sticking her nose in where it wasn't wanted, or needed, and tried to arrange alternative care for my then 95-year-old Gran behind my back (without doing any actual legwork!), even though I was dealing effectively with Gran's care already (and had done for nearly 20 years). Furthermore, at the time of these events, Gran was being cared for in hospital but immediately prior to this had been in respite care in a care home, since she had ailments that meant she could not live at home and the outlook was permanent care in a care home, NOT home care. I was Gran's carer/next-of-kin/POA. The Manager of Live-In Care, Home Instead Glasgow, Stirling, Perth, Ayr and Falkirk (whom we'll call S) started visiting Gran without my knowledge to discuss live-in home care, and I only found out about these visits by chance - just in time too. S ended up preying on Gran - a very elderly, weak and vulnerable person - directly with unethical and aggressive sales tactics, and I believe this is because Gran told S that she had money that her late husband AND late son had left her, and because she had been deemed as having mental capacity, even though she did not have the capacity to manage her own financial affairs - I dealt with this side of things as her carer/POA. S hid behind Gran's 'capacity' which became her line of defence. I had to step in to stop the nonsense before it went too far. In the end, I sent a MASSIVE complaint email to the Care Inspectorate who passed it to management at Home Instead. The Group Operations Manager sympathetically acknowledged and apologised that the situation had caused me stress and worry, and though S lied through her teeth about her conduct, he prevented S from continuing to pursue this lead. In addition, due to my concerns about S, I had to ask that hospital staff, care home staff and the social worker alert me should they find S speaking to or visiting Gran. SPECIFICS: S did not feel the need to get in touch with Gran's POA/next-of-kin (me), or do a financial assessment, or carry out a risk assessment at Gran's house, or have anyone witness conversations or join in with meetings, nor was she intending to have anyone witness the signing of any forms/agreements (which thankfully never happened but it was close - my Gran couldn't even see the forms!!) S was hesitant to provide me with information when requested (financial or otherwise), and there was no information left for Gran at the hospital or care home for me to see. From conversations with her, I don't believe Gran fully understood the costs, what having a live-in carer meant for her and her home, e.g. what service she was to receive and what changes had to be made to her home, and what privacy and security concerns this arrangement could cause. What information I did finally receive from S was vague. S was pushing to start the service only a week and a half after I got in touch with her (once I found out what was going on) even though Gran did NOT have an agreed discharge date from the hospital and there was NO agreed plan for her continuing care at that point. S caused great confusion with hospital staff who thought Gran had home care arranged when she did not. S even had the gall to ask me for a set of keys to Gran's house and sent me a Direct Debit form to complete! I was SPEECHLESS. I'd never even met the woman and I was to let her and who knows who else into Gran's home?! Plus, as if all of this isn't enough to put people off, it turns out that carers are not always fully qualified to SVQ Level 3 and are often working towards this - therefore you could end up with a 'carer' who started at college yesterday. Don't worry - you can REQUEST A FULLY QUALIFIED CARER (yes, I was actually told this).
Please be very wary of Home Instead and DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE LETTING SOMEONE LIKE 'S' OR AN UNQUALIFIED CARER INTO YOUR FAMILY'S LIFE. *I have emails to prove the majority of the information I have provided in this review, which were used as evidence for my complaint to the Care Inspectorate. Other conversations with S were by phone. None were in person.

Called tonight to inquire about some rates for my aged mother and was told it was late at night and what did I need. The woman that answered sounded like she may have been drinking or something else. She said it's after midnight what did I want about homecare. I explained where I was was still in Canada and nowhere near Midnight She hung up on me. SUPER BAD CONDUCT very disappointed will never use this company ever!!!! This is how their sales team reacts can't imagine if you had an actual problem wit a loved one. SO SORRY I'm not in your time zone maybe don't offer late hour service quotes. Seems obvious to me this company only wants a quick high priced sell.

Do not use this company
I wish I’d read the reviews before I engaged Home Instead. I too found them charming and cooperative until the contracts were signed, at which point service declined rapidly. The managers claimed to know their carers but in fact got them from a pool, chosen after one zoom interview. One of our live in carers was basically a teenager who’d had no experience of running a home and spent more time on her iPhone than engaging with my wife. Eventually she locked herself out after my wife had had a fall. Another one was rude and insubordinate, telling me she could pack her bags whenever I asked her to do anything she didn’t want to. I once came home and found her sitting several feet behind my wife who was partly dressed, in her wheelchair, not talking to her, because she’d got distressed by the way the carer had handled her that morning.
Invoices were supposed to be monthly. Two weeks after I’d terminated our contract I hadn’t had a single invoice so I added up what I thought we owed and sent an email. This had to be followed up a week later and finally I got a response. Home Instead’s administration, like their level of care, is appalling.

Have worked for this company for a while. Terrible training, incompetent management, badly organised, under paid and erratic hours. Don’t care one bit about their staff and employ half wits who couldn’t look after a goldfish rather than a person. Can’t divide work up properly, move people around clients so they can’t develop a bond and tell lies when a client doesn’t want them anymore or asks for a new cared. I wouldn’t have them near a relative of mine.

Home instead are a shockingly negligent organisation and I do not recommend them.

While they employ some lovely, attentive carers, they also employ carers who don't care.

We pay for 4 visits a day to my disabled mother, including a nighttime visit, to ensure that she is helped into bed each night. Four nights ago, the carer didn't turn up and didn't tell us. My mother tried to get herself into bed and had a fall as a result. We didn't notice until the middle of the night, by which time she'd been on the floor for hours and we had to call an ambulance to help her up as I couldn't reach my sister who lives 10 minutes away. Luckily my sister eventually woke up and was able to go round and help my mother up. The camera in her room saved her life but - shockingly - Home Instead has reported the camera to social services and had it removed.

What happened was that some of the carers were closing my mother's bedroom door - making it virtually impossible for her to get out of the room in the night with her walker. Other carers were not ensuring she went to the loo at night, meaning she would wake up in a few hours and try to get up to use the loo - she had a couple of falls as a result. Other carers were leaving the light on at night, even though we had asked them to switch it off - my mother would wake up in the night and think it was morning and try to get up - she had a fall as a result.

We noticed all this because of the camera and asked the carers if they would leave the door open, switch off the light and ensure she used the loo before bed. One or more of the carers didn't like that someone was "telling them now to do their job", so they retaliated by complaining that we had a camera in her room and had it removed.

The worst thing was that they did this without giving us any notice meaning we didn't have time to put other monitoring devices into place. This means that we can no longer see if she's had a fall in the night. So tonight we are not able to look after her properly since they only switched it off at 8pm.

You can reach your own conclusions about this company based on our experiences.