Our family contracted with Above All Home Care (AAHC) to provide live-in care for my mother post-surgery. The period covered was expected to be 2-4 weeks, but would be as long as my mother needed assistance.
As you know, a key issue for families regarding home care is dependability and responsiveness. Unfortunately, we ran into a host of problems with AAHC’s service from the outset. Examples include:
• Care giver #3 was wonderful, but she had other commitments that required her to leave at a certain date / time. Unfortunately, AAHC got the date / time mixed up, and had to scramble to get a replacement.
• Care giver #4 was pleasant but not overly friendly.
• Care giver #5 was extremely pleasant and had a wonderful rapport with my mother, but was expecting to be relieved by Care giver #4 on a certain date / time. However, another scheduling mishap by AAHC forced a search for a replacement person for 1 day. AAHC called to tell me they had been working the phones since 9:30 that morning and did have someone and she would be there at 5PM. Unfortunately, the person never showed up.
• Care giver #5 did not feel comfortable leaving my mother alone, and she told the agency exactly that. AAHC’s response – which was wholly unacceptable — was that her daughter can take care of her for one night.
• Faced with a lapse in coverage, I reached out to Care give #4 to confirm she would be arriving the next day at 5PM. She informed me she would, but she wanted to know who her relief would be on Sunday. I told her she would need to reach out to the agency for that information. She eventually changed her mind and informed me she would not be returning at all.
I couldn’t be more disappointed in AAHC’s performance. AAHC could not dependably ensure coverage as promised. AAHC, while initially responsive, essentially told us ‘you’re on your own’ when they couldn’t locate a replacement provider. AAHC’s failed both its performance expectations.
more