Home Instead Senior Care review: Avoid like a plague 78

I am sorry to hear you had such an unfortunate experience at your office. Please keep in mind every office is independantly owned and operated therefore not all locations operate like your did. I suggest you take your complaint to the BBB to see if you can resolve the dispute peacefully and professionally. As for the agency in our area I can honestly say every reference is checked, all backgrounds are done annually and everyone is paid the stated amount for services provided.

Relative to cost of services, please also keep in mind private pay clients go to people like Home Instead Senior Care because they bear the burden of cost when it comes to hiring, bonding and insuring the caregivers. Out of the $22 or so dollars your agency charged, the majority of it is the employee wage, then the insurance, bonding, rent, office employee wages, admin fees, and other costs of doing business (there are many). After everyone else gets their cut, the franchise owner then gets what's left over. Please don't be misled.

Good luck to you on your next endeavour. :)

Yeah, I agree with the above statement. Sounds like you just had a bad experience. Call the better business bureau people or a dispute resolution place. I've heard good things about this company.

Avoid Like The Plague, I'm so sorry to hear that you had such terrible experiences from this company. How awful! I do know the standards are to get cases filled with any BODY, trained or not, as this is how they all make their money. They are ALL franchises that are spun off from ONE model and they are networked together. Sounds like they got rid of you after you continued inquiring when they knew you were looking to receive what they advertised and what they told you how much you were going to be paid. The old slight of hand trick is what they pulled on you and they probably did this same thing to many other employees who have probably left their employ with the same disgust of this company that you share with them.

File a wage claim with the state and federal government or talk with an employment law attorney. I am not an attorney but one may talk with you (usually a free consult) and agree to help you on contingency (you pay NO money out of pocket but if and when you win your case your attorney is paid from a % of the proceeds that are won that your employer has to pay and then the employer will have to pay sizable penalties, too). If your employer has a fairly large number of people who do the caring work you described, an attorney will probably be very interested in finding out about how many more employees that have not been properly paid as well and a class action law suit could become a reality. Sounds like there seems to be an issue with false advertising as well. Wouldn't want to be an employer when an attorney gets involved in the mess you described. There could even be more issues that you don't know about that can easily be uncovered by an attorney going over things with you.

It is so sad that a company that is supposed to be all about caring for people does this kind of stuff to good caring people like you.

TLCaring sounds like a business owner so don't be misled by what they wrote and Barb4365 could very well also be the very same person or another owner at another location. "Sounds like you just had a bad experience." - ?! Seems like these two posters were only trying to do damage control and to cover this stuff up. The franchise owners all probably stick together and say the same thing if they don't want anyone to know whats really going on. Seems these people all need a reality check.

The BBB does NOT get involved with the issues you talked about above for your pay that they advertised nor are they the ones that handle problems like the lack of background checks, but this is huge concern for safety for the elderly.

To file a complaint on the other things you mentioned, PLEASE do contact your state human services or senior or elder care office or hotline. Until something gets reported to the right people that can and will do something about this company's practices, nothing will change and more people could be placed in harms way, both the elderly as well as the employees.

You may also be able to get unemployment but be sure to document everthing and first check with an attorney before filing. Sounds like the company wil say they fired you for sleeping - as they'll try to say you did willful misconduct though it may not even be true and they will try to say this is the reason (and they may come up with other bogus stuff too) about why you shouldn't get unemployment.

You were right to voice your personal experiences with this company on this board to help protect others.

Thank you for caring to do the right thing here and in future for others as well as yourself. Take care.

I have to agree with the first post. I finished "training" on a Thusday. Was called that night at 9pm to work Friday, Sat and Sunday, 14.5 hour days. I did even though I had put I did not want to work weekends, especially on Sundays. But was afraid to turn it down. I worked 39.5 hours in 3 days. I got home at 8:45 PM Sunday. I recieved a phone call at 9 pm asking me to work Mon-Sat. I explained I could not do that as A: I was going out of town on Thursday, they knew this, as it was ON my avaliablity schedule I had given them. B: I had just worked 39.5 hours in 3 days and I needed a break to get some things done and spend time with my family. They were not happy. Kept saying you can do this. You can do this. If I had worked even part of those days I would have worked 65 plus hours in 6 days. As it is now I have heard of employees working 106 hours in a week. WHO IS MAKING the money here? They pay us $7.00 an hour. Sure isn't us!
I rarely get advance notice on working. I many times get a call on Sunday night after 8 PM to work at 5;45 am on Monday. This past time the hours I was quoted to work were totally wrong. Once I got to the clients home, she was surprised to see me, she thought someone else was coming. I was told by the client what she needed and it wasn't the hours I was quoted she asked me to call the office and relay the message. She stated she would do so as well. I did so. I spoke with 2 people in the office telling them what the client had said.
I was "scheduled" according to the office to work on Wed, but the client told me I was not needed. On Wed I recieved a call from the office asking me where I was. I told them I was told by the client I was not needed. THE office said who did you talk to. I told the person calling that the first person I talked to WAS HER! She asked if the scheduling person ever called me, I said YES she did. She said well you are needed so go on over there now. I said I could not! Since I was told on Monday by the Client I was not needed I made other plans!

The final straw was according to our handbook if pay day is Monday then payroll is processed on Thursday, making direct deposit availabe on Friday. Well, no money in account and office says no wasn't processed on that day. We can't pay you on Friday, Payday is Monday. I explained that is NOT what your handbook says. Which is it.

When ever this office staff calls about jobs they are rude and don't understand if you say no you can't work, you can't work.

It's all about the money for them. NOTHING ELSE. I will never recommend them for anything.

I am wondering from a family member's perspective, what happens when the senior no longer needs the same level of service. My parents had 24/7 care due to my mom's condition and my father not being able to handle her on his own anymore (they did not want to move into assisted living). My mother passed away a couple of months ago and there has been no effort made to reassess my father's needs for in-home care. He will need perhaps several hours a week, but he has regained his independence and his health. I cannot pull the plug on the amount of hours as he signed the contract, but I have questioned the actual need. A live-in housekeeper would cost less and all that is being done now is what I would call companionship care and I don't think my father really understands that aspect. For some reason, he seems to be under the impression the 24/7 care is still needed. I have requested that the team and the manager do a reassessment of his needs now that my mother is gone and I am now waiting to hear back from them as to when or if they will do that.

One Awesome Broad-

It sounds like you need to talk to your dad and have him change his own schedule. I know that offices will only schedule what a client requests. It sounds like he just wants more care than you think he needs. That really isn't Home Instead's fault though. They are just doing what their client wants, and unfortunatly you asking them to do a reassessment will not do anything unless he wants one too because it is HIS service and he is getting what he requested. You should just have him call to reduce his number of hours and that will solve your problem. I hope this helps :)

I would love to hear all sides of this story, sounds like an employee that is acting out for possibly not fufilling his job duties in full. Such as remaining awake while on overnight shifts. Perhaps instead of pointing the finger people should cleary try and see how they can be better at their job. I work for a HISC and I love it, i am always treated decently and FAIRLY. I guess the reason being is i do my JOB, when i screw up i take fault. I dont push it back on the owner.

I work for Home Instead Senior Care and you need to check your facts. We are a franchise each office acts independently and the office i work in does training. I know this because i am the Recruitment and Retention coordinator. We also run background checks, 2 different kinds. you need to study a little more before you start slandering companies.

I believe the way HISC operates, I was employed as Recruiter and I saw many bad things. The only training is reading the training books and the info u get at orientation. I always told the owners the staff needed more training, they said it is Corporate rule. When I reviewed Caregiver files they did not have background checks. This is corporate America, it is for profit, the money is what counts. I believe the founder has a big heart for this business, but some owners do not. I witness the owner call a client to collect a payment and the client said My mother is passing away . let me say goodbye. The client died a few hours later. I could no longer work in this office, I resigned.I do believe there are offices that do operate the office with thorough training and with a heart, do not get me wrong. The rates are outragous, especially if the Caregiver is with no experience. I need care for my parents while I was on vacation, I did not hire HISC, I called a competitor.

Wow...seems to be some honesty ffrom Nicole about the training as she also was a Home Instead recruiter and the "G" word that stands for greed about what she has witnessed while working for a Home Instead and this seems to have been repeated by others here that have also worked for this company as well as others that have used their services. Can't get a change in the schedule or get less services when they are not needed seems like a greed situation on the company's part and this does not make sense about this company really serving the person's need, now does it?! For Anonymous1985...the person who originally posted and shared their personal experiences clearly stated that they did not fall asleep when caring for their client...clearly sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder, can't read or both -maybe you were the one who promised the original poster all of those bonuses and then didn't pay them - or you are an owner?! for knb815knb...of course your answer smacks right to the point that you clearly have a vested interest and cannot speak for all offices and the best learning part thats been stated here has been others that don't have a favorable point of view about Home Instead's practices based on their own personal experiences as they've used their services. I do find it interesting that these past employees will not use this company or even recommend it to anyone. For anyone considering any home care, do you checking and if something does not seem right or you or your concerns are not getting taken care of - please file a complaint. Do not be afraid to tell of your experiences so that things can either be made right or you can make the necessary changes. Others here will be grateful for knowing about your personal experiences and you deserve the best.

I worked for HISC for about 6 weeks in Albuqueruqe, NM. It was the worst experience of my life. They were the most poorly run operation I ever encountered. I was sent out on assignments 2 days after I was hired and before my "training" (what a JOKE) was finished. All I was, was a warm body. Their claims of being the 'best' is a crock. Thankfully I am a competent person. I quit after HISC screwed me over out of 3 ongoing assignments. I wouldn't hire this company to take care of my relatives if they were the last Senior Care givers on the planet. I literally told them to f*** off when I picked up my last pay check and I'm the most professional employee anybody would ever hire. Unbelievable.

FURTHERMORE, I was sent out on assignments for clients who clearly needed more highly skilled caregivers than HISC had to offer; ie. bipolar clients who were manic, clients who needed help with "bathroom clean ups" which was clearly outlined in the handbooks that we were not supposed to do. I had to notify the staff about several clients who needed assistance beyond the scope of what the caregivers were legally not supposed to "help with." There was one person in our office who was willing to help me and truly listen. He had to go over the head of my supervisor, who clearly did not like that at all. The franchise I worked for was so poorly run it was a joke. It has been a year since I quit and I still have bile in my throat thinking about the experience.

They have sent us people who can't shower my father, lie about showering, can't change a diaper (put on backwards) and sit around and watch TV instead of working. I found out that one caregiver was doping my father with Benadryl so that they wouldn't have to deal with his dementia. They don't do any background checks and when you complain about something they act like the Client is the problem. Horrible, horrible experience as well. There has been one caregiver whom they've sent us who has integrity and works hard.

I have been a proud employee of Home Instead Senior Care for 6 years. During my time with this company, I have had the opportunity to meet hundreds of owners, staff persons, caregivers and clients. With hundreds of international franchises, it would be impossible for one company to satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. So, to the credit of the previous posters, I am sorry that your impression of our organization is poor. That being said, of the hundreds of people I have met that are affiliated with this group, I have yet to meet one who valued the bottom dollar over the company mission which is to treat others with dignity and respect and to build value in our service to others. Home Instead Senior Care and it's huge network of owners and employees strive day in and day out to help seniors remain independent and in their own homes for as long as possible and to enhance the quality of life for those we service. I can only speak to the hiring/training practices of the franchise that I work for, but I can assure you that in our office every caregiver candidate is thouroughly screened, exceptionally trained and is afforded on going support from people who truly value the service they are providing. I have experienced the services on a personal level myself, having used HISC services for my own family a number of times. If you are reading these posts, please understand that in every business, there will be times when someone for whatever reason had a bad experience but know that the overall nature of this business is to provide the highest possible level of care to every senior who needs help in his/her home.

The business model of HISC is such that, for a very modest start-up, business men and women can "buy into" the trust and reputation earned by other franchises. What will naturally result is a wide variety of competency levels, concern for employees, and greed-as-motivator. It surprises me that those who are defending HISC on this board are not more concerned to do something about the poorly run fanchises that give the whole corporation a bad name. It is because there are really more than a few of them?
Several of the complaints are serious and convincing. It does not make sense to me that someone who cared about the company and about seniors would be willing to dismiss such serious complaints merely as "not satisfying 100%" of people, or as a "bad experience." If the overall nature of the business is truly to provide the highest possible level of care, then allegations such as the ones made on this board would be taken seriously and investigated. The willingness of HISC employees and owners to be dismissive of such complaints and allegations is a very bad sign to me. It reeks of cover-up.

After reading all of these posts, I am sorry to see that I am not alone. I too had no experience, and was put out into the field with zero training which I was extremely hesitant about especially since I was dealing with Alzheimers patients. In the couple of months that I did work for them, all of my paychecks were missing hours. After months of being told they were looking into it, the check was in the mail, etc. I could not take it any longer and left. The final straw was them lying to me, and saying that there were several shifts I did not show up for which was an OUTRIGHT LIE. The ironic thing is that my client was billed for these hours, and was nice enough to share their statement with me so that I could legitimately and legally support my case.

I realize that every office is different, but the one I dealt with was terrible. People that go into this line of work do so because they truly enjoy it, and not for the money. To take in excess of $22/hr from the client and then refuse to pay the caregiver less than $9/hr for their service is pathetic. Although it is easy to find a job that pays minimum wage, it is not easy to find exellent caregivers, which I consider myself to be. I'm sad that the high turnover at places such as Home Instead hurts the clients who truly need consistent and competent care.

People that go into business to take advantage of the elderly and their families are the lowest of the low, and we all know what they say about kharma...

I am just learning that Home Instead (who we have employed for the last 14 months) has not sent anyone to my mothers home for almost a month. They did not call us, or anything. The director stated "until you are ready to up the hours, we will not be going out there because we can't accomplish all that we need to do in that amount of time" Not once did anyone call us with that information...just stopped sending my mothers caregiver out. The only reason I found out is because I called them to see if my mother was okay because her phone just rang and rang. (I live 500 miles away) This seems to be a bit strange from an agency that is designed to "take care of the elderly" I will be taking some advice from another post and reporting this to state agencies.

This has me so angry that I am not even mentioning the previous "double billing" (my mother wrote a check for her groceries, then they billed her on her statement, like they had paid for them! Over 500 dollars...lucky we caught it) Also not mentioning the many other mistakes on bills and time, always being told that they had a bookeeper problem! I am so ANGRY, but also very sad that the Home Instead sevice that we trusted with my mother, has let us down...let us down EXTREMELY!

My advice...look elsewhere for your lovedones care.

Home Instead does not pay well. When they charge you $25/hour the caregiver gets $10. In 2010 in California that is not a living wage. Also, unless the caregiver is willing to do 24/7 work they are given only part time and HI actually has the nerve to be upset if you supplement your income doing something completely unrelated. They want you to be totally reliant on them.

By the way, if you want 24/7 help, hire more than one person! Come on people, imagine living like that. You never get to go home from work. And sitting there watching tv with them is NOT a break. It's still work. You would rather be home relaxing watching what you want or going out somewhere (not grocery shopping). You can not relax if you are at work. I suggest 2 caregivers so they don't get burnt out.

Also, if they don't find the caregiver work, they tell you that you can't file for unemployment insurance. Lie! They also refer to being fired as "self-termination" in an effort to keep caregivers from filing.

Why do I work for them? Considering that I have a college education you'd think I could find something better. Nope. I'm desperate.

in response to the 2nd entry by TLCaring: you stated that home instead senior care gives "most" of their hourly cost to the employee, which is the biggest lie i've ever heard. caregivers typically make about a third of what the company charges AND there isn't even a guarantee of a raise after one solid year of working! they make a very vague statement about potential raises, saying that it depends on your annual review, which to me sounds like an easy excuse to never increase the pay.
a majority of franchises pay their employees LESS than 10 dollars an hour, and they charge the families at least 24 dollars an hour. do the math! many families would benefit from hiring an individual with excellent personal references. this person would charge 15 dollars an hour, and everyone would benefit: customer pays less, and worker makes more. merry maids operates the same way: they charge a horrendous amount per hour for the client, and yet their employee pay is horrendously low. it's just another corporation ripping off both parties.

If you are so brilliant you’d understand that they pay you so much less then what they charge do to the fact they insure and bond you. They have to pay for a background check, among other things.

If you were in a nursing home I highly doubt you had to wing it – the nursing home has a staff, you should have asked one of them what to do. To work in this type of field you need to have the ability to work independently. If you need a supervisor over you 24/7 telling you what to do and when to do it find another job.

How is you going in on a weekend being a model employee? You could have said no when they called – you chose to go in and you got paid!

Good luck with the lawyer thing – last I checked places had to do something wrong to get sued.

What an absurd post. It’s people like you that make these agencies life hell – always have a drama and can’t do anything on your own.

Good luck in life, I think you'll need it.

I was just hired yesterday... I have orientation next week and they seem fully prepared to train me and match me with a good fit to work with. I am not relying on this as a full time job, just a supplement to my 32 hour a wk job.

Keep in mind that each location is an indepently owned and operated franchise.

I currently work for Home Instead in Massachusetts. I have been with them for a year and I have been through hell and high water with this company. I was hired on a Thursday, they did not do a background check or check any of my references. I called about the opportunity, was asked t0 come in and hired on the spot. With only experience working for DMR. The very next day, I was called and asked to work that night, Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday day, for a HOSPICE CLIENT! I have never done hospice before in my life. At my interview, she had clearly stated that I would NEVER be put into a hospice clients home without the proper training and she would also come with me to every clients home the first time for an introduction. This has never happened. In the past year, I have had several hospice clients and no training in that area of care. I have had other clients as well, however I have never had a set schedule. I sit around at home and wait and wait and wait for phone calls regarding work. Half the time I get the phone calls the day of and cannot take the shift because of something I have planned prior to the phone call. Then they have the audasity to get irritated that I declined a shift. They expect you to sit around at home and not have a life for days, even weeks at a time and then jump when they offer you a shift. These people are truly [censor] artists and all they care about is making their bankroll bigger, screw whatever you have going on in your life because they could honestly care less about you and your personal needs. You don't get paid nearly enough for the work you do and when you bust your [censor], you get entirely no appreciation for it. I have been called and asked to do an 18 hour shift and accepted it, then a half hour before I am supposed to leave they have called and told me my relief called out and there is nobody else to relieve me so I have no choice to stay for another 8 hours and then be expected back within 2 hours to do another 18 hour shift I had already accepted. You tell me how the hell you are supposed to do a 44 hour shift 100% effectively with only a 2 hour break in between? [censor]. These people don't give a [censor] about you. My uncle passed away and I had to call out of a shift for his funeral and I didn't even get a "sorry to hear that". Nope, instead I got an attitude. I bet if the tables were turned and someone in their family passed away it would be a completely different story though. It's pretty sick. Home Instead could care less if you dropped dead tomorrow, the same with their clients. I have had issues with my pay and they always have some excuse. I swear the have an excuse for everything. There's probably a protocol for every problem an employee or client calls up with. Home Instead is a joke. However, they are not very funny. One day they will get what they deserve when they're in the position their clients are in. Karma is a [censor] and I truly believe that all the wrong you do will eventually come back to bite you in the [censor]. It's just a matter of time.

easily said, HOME INSTEAD [censor]ING SUCKS AND SHOULD NOT BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS IN ANY STATE. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYEES, THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CLIENTS. [censor] HOME INSTEAD. I RECOMMEND NOBODY GETTING ANY SERVICES FROM THIS COMPANY.

I went on jobvent.com and all of the bad comments that use to be there about Home Instead Senior Care magically disappeared.

I want to tell everybody about my experience, very short experience. The area was in Riverside, California.

A lady name Joyce had called and left a message telling me to call her back so that we can set up an interview. I was excited because I've always wanted to work in a nursery home, I love to help others who can't help theirselves. So I called Joyce, told her my name and the postition that I applied for and she didn't remembered who I was.
That was a red flag for me. Then she begun to tell me a little bit about the company. After she was done, I told her that I was still attending college and that if it was possible if I could have most of my clients near the Moreno Valley/San Bernardino area. Like I said, it was just a question, and if that was a problem then I would had accepted it. INSTEAD, she got really arrogant and told me; "Well, it sounds like you don't want the job". She said in a really nasty way. And before I could say anything, she almost dismissed me and hung up the phone.

I was shocked! I can't believe that she re-acted that way. I was going to try to work things out, but then I asked myself; "Why would I want to work with someone like that?". So then I told her nevermind, said bye then hunged up.

Geez, it's no wonder they're always hiring! I wouldn't suggest anybody taking their loved ones there. My impressions of the HIC in Riverside is not good.

p.s- I should had said HIC Riverside and surrounding areas. Moreno Valley/San Bernardino is part of the surrounding areas.

Thanks for reading.

I work for HISC right now and I have to agree with the majority of the people on here. One of my clients is charged $29/hour and she is currently with hospice as well. Very very sick woman. I was NEVER trained on how to take care of her. The only training I got was from a 5 page booklet and a DVD. I got a call for the shift, went in, and had to get training from the other caregiver that was there. He told me all the things I needed to do for her and how to do them. The client is 100% dependent on a caregiver. She is to sick to get out of bed so we need to give her a bath, feed, her, change her diapers, change her bed (with her still in it) and give medication (which we are NOT suppose to do). HISC makes $29/hour from just this one client who is a 24/7 client. Out of that $29/hour... I make $7.25/hour! HISC will call at the last minute and expect you to fill in for somebody else and if you cant you will get attitude. What do they expect when they call you at 12pm and want you at a clients house, whom you have never been with, at 2pm? I have also had problems with my check. They are suppose to pay you client miles when you take your client places. I have a reader on my car I reset everytime I go to my other clients house so I know the exact amount of miles and I report them accordingly but on my check they are always wrong. When I asked about this I was told "we will look into it" but it is still going on. I dont have a problem with the clients. I have grown ver attached to the ones I have on a regular basis. My problem is with the company and how they treat the clients and the employees. If it wasnt for the attachment I feel with my clients I would leave the company.

I am a college student in the process of being hired as a care giver at HISC... now I wish I had seen this thread sooner.
I indeed DID have a BCI background check done, I know this because they made me pay the $40 for it myself. I was put on the schedule the same day I had that done, which was also the same day I did my drug test. They didn't even wait for the results of either one before scheduling me to meet with a client! (I know they'll come back squeaky clean, but how do they?) They never actually did an interview, either. This is by far the quickest hire-and-get-to-work process I've been through, which raised some red flags and made me look into the company further.

I've been a care giver in an assisted-living facility and currently work in a hospital, so at least I'm confident in my own experience and ability to properly care for people. But man, something just doesn't seem quite right here. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. The whole reason I contacted HISC was because I missed taking care of older folks- which is a good thing, as they offered me less pay than what I made at my first job as a fast food cashier in high school. Maybe I'd be better off posting a craigslist ad for my care services.

I don't think that you are alone in your experience with Home Instead. I have worked there and know plenty of people who have also worked there. Every employee I talked to shared some injustice they were going through with the company in passing (mostly shift transfer). The turnover in the office is frequent, and I personally as well as know people who have run into previous Home Instead Staff and held discussions about the inner workings of the office. Although specifics are not disclosed, there is a common overtone of something fishy or unjust going on in there. I have myself been sent on assignments where I was totally unprepared for the situation I was walking into. The lady in the office told me "All you have to do is show up". The situation was horrible! The office apologized and said they would never put me in that situation again. This instance was totally unacceptable on their part. I could go on and on about how horrible this business is...give me some time to gather my stuff and I will present to you a better organized account of why this business is awful!

Do any of you in California factor in the cost of insuring these caregiver's? There are laws and California's Workers Comp is among the highest in THE NATION! So that is one cost you may want to factor in before criticizing. Obviously the care of the seniors are the most important as HISC has to cover their clients and their employee's. The profit is not so much the money these companies make but the profit of being able to help where they can. Some folks just have no common sense but God makes us all.

One more thing about someone saying WE don't do background checks...are you kidding me? We most definitely do and much more thus factoring in more expenses to insure quality people. I do my best to make sure everyone is happy from clients to caregivers. This is such a bashing site that it's sickening. All bitter competitors and more than likely past bitter employee's whom were let go.

All franchises are independently owned and operated. We never make anyone pay for background checks. That's absurd in our office. You also deal with individual people some whom are nice and some not so much. I mean, this is a world of individuals. You're experiences are unfortunate and some I would dare to guess a bit over-inflated.

As it has been stated these are independently owned and operated. I am sorry to hear of the misfortunes that some had experienced. This has not been the case for me. I am lucky to have a great staff and work with other caregivers that truly care about the clients. They know who I am and appreciate my hard work. The pay, well it's healthcare the pay is never what it should be. I'm under paid for my experience but I don't care. I thoroughly enjoy what I do and the company I work for. Better luck to those in the future. Please note again that not all of these franchises are bad. Be specific about which ones are to give an accurate and helpful complaint about a company to potential employees or clients.

I also worked for a home instead and it is absolutely ridiculous. It's just a money making scheme, yes every office is different and I'm sure some of them do care. Obviously something is going on here when so many different people have complaints. But for my experience, the first thing was I was told that I would be getting reimbursed for my background check, that never happened. So then I watched a few videos, but did not get any real training, and I was supposed to start a shift the next day in the evening. It was a VERY simple shift so I, along with anyone else, was capable of that. But then they called me and asked me to do a shift in the morning also. This shift involved personal care, I felt very uncomfortable because it was my first shift ever, I had no introduction (neither did I with any other of my clients). Overall, I was able to do it. Also, apparently you're supposed to have on the job training with PC (they tell me this after six months of working there) and still I never received PC training. The first time I was ever seriously upset was when I was scheduled 1 to 9 then at 5:00 in the morning (after working til 10 the night before) I started getting phone calls. I was called ten times because they wanted me to come in earlier. I agreed to come in earlier after I did things I had to do that day. Then I wasn't even paid for my extra time. This has happened several occasions, and I've told them, showed them on my pay stub and they tell me they'll pay me and then never do. I see other people say they charge the client 22-30 dollars, I'm guessing these are different states because I think our clients are charged 14 to 18. I've seen their pay stubs but I can't remember. I don't care about how much we get paid. We're caregivers, unless you're actually certified I don't think you should be paid more than 9 dollars. But I disagree with the fact that they charge clients if they cancel a shift when they don't pay us anything at all out of it. I also worked New years eve, I did not realize that was considered a holiday until the client showed me her bill and she was charged double, but of course I was not paid time and a half. They also tell you that if you need a ride, they will provide you one. They won't come and get you regardless if you call way ahead of time. Even if it snowed 3 feet. In honesty though, I do like my job (not the people I work for) but the clients. You do get sent in with very little training, but once you're on the job it gets easier. I was in two situations where I had difficulty but that's because it was more physical labor and I am not very strong. But in a lot of these situations I think that the clients should be in a PC care home or a nursing home. They would get better care, specially since one caregiver is not strong enough to hold up an elderly person and change their diaper at the own time. The office people can be nice, but I have had experience where they were rude. I would not let them take care of my own parents, unless they only needed companionship or very simple care. I wouldn't recommend the job to anyone looking for full-time, a good paying job, or a normal schedule. If you do get the job, don't agree to work anything other than your normal schedule because most likely those extra hours you worked won't end up on your paycheck.

Oh, also, they didn't check my references til after two weeks of working there. And a girl I know that worked there, she never received her last paycheck. I do not know a lot about this, because she told someone else this not me DIRECTLY. I don't know if anyone else has had this problem or not. If I do, there will be problems.

Having a parent with Alzheimers or dementia is one of the most difficult situations one will face in their life. The agencies who attempt to provide care are taking on a monumental task. Providing 24 hour care at home is an almost impossible. Of course we all would like to have our parents in their own home during their final years, but this is not always the best solution and in most cases fails. If you can afford 24 hour care it is most likely that an Assisted Living or Memory Care Facility is the best solution. My father has dementia and my mother has alzheimers and we've gone through the entire process of home care, assisted living and memory care. Make the hard choice early and move your loved one to one of these facilities. In the long run it will be better for your parent and the entire family, both mentally, physicaly and emotionaly.

for anyone interested. If you have an issue with the utility company...file a complaint with the PUC of Texas. The PUC monitors all deregulated electric companies and phone companies. Utility companies do not like to have complaints filed with the PUC, because they can receive large fines and/or be shut down completely.

These comments are very useful to me at this ponit. As a potential owner I truly know how not to run a business where people families depend on caregivers to take care of there family members. It is shocking that some owners neglect to see that caregivers are the backbone and fondation of their business. If owners do not take a personal apporach about this business and only look at the financial gain they are lurking with complete failure. It turly is rewarding to gain the trust of family members and to know that there will be someone there to help with the care of there love ones. As an owner giving personality test will be critical to my own business. Not everyone has what it itakes to step outside themsleves on a daily basis for the benefit of others and it takes special people to do this kind of work. My experience in hospitals and nursing homes I see people come thourgh the doors whom I can look at and tell that they are not right person for this kind of work. So I wait eagerly to start my own Home Instead Care Business.

There terrible we hired them to come sit nights and one whole day my mother has a broken leg and not suppost to put weight on it they found her in the kitchen walking around (they were sleeping ) and did not see her get up there not quilfied to be doing this kind of work they at least need to have some kind of nursing training there dealing with people who have alzhimers and need medical care awfull don't hire them go to care.com and find liscined caregivers great people

Home Instead in Orlando FL dismissed 2 disabled srs, one was 94yrs old, the other was 61 with MS, both on oxygen, one with walker, other in wheelchair due to lies told by nurse called by former health care agency nurse and other lies told by owner of franchise of HomeInstead. Srs 1st would not let srs make appeal, now they are stranded and have not means of getting around, sad situation, both on pensions, no money for cabs, owner has no feelings for his clients only wants money. srs have tried to be signed up with Lynx by srs 1st haven't heard anything, no one is helping them.can anyone help? Dee and Adele

I worked for HISC in Milford Ohio for 3 years. I really, really loved my clients and that is why I worked for them as long as I did. The pay is awful for what you are expected to do. My expereince got bad when another caregiver on a client I worked on started sabatoging me, going behind my back and undoing thing I had done, making me look bad to the clients, contacting the clients by phone and email, doing work for them off the clock, and coming to relieve me but almost always being late. When I called to tell my boss, the franchise owner, he accused me of competing with her for the clients love. He also told me that the clients daughter called and accused me of having a "breakdown" and" leaving the client unattended to the point she was wandering around the house." This was so totally untrue, but I felt so badly that I emailed the daughter to apologize. She emailed me back telling me she knew nothing about it. My boss emailed me that he was "incensed" that I had emailed the client's daughter. I thought that since the other Caregiver was able to contact them and he knew it, that the least I could do was email an apology. All of this led to me being terminated. He actually tried to say I quit, but I said I would be at work on Monday and he said he would call the police. I told him that would create a scene that wouldn't be good for the clients and then he accused me of saying I was going to create a scene at a clients house. This has been the worst working experience of my life. The brochure I received when I got hired says we receive 24 hour support, but we would get in trouble if we called after hours. The only training I received was to watch a couple of DVDs in the beginning, although I have to say they did pay for me to get certified in CPR and First Aid a few months ago. I feel so horrible because I have always been very professioanl and a great caregiver. My boss had even told me that before. At the end though, I got no support or understanding. I think that this franchis plays favorites, is in it for the money and was not at all interested in my concern for what was going on in the clients house. I am concerned that he will say bad things about me when I try to get another job. He seems very mean spirited.