A Place for MomReviews 2,329

If you have begun a process, do NOT use these folks. They get paid by taking the first month or 2 of rent from the facility where your loved one gets placed. YOU pay nothing, but the facility makes nothing for several weeks. I had applied, and got A Place for Mom when I called the 800 number listed for the facility instead of the facility. I had been working with the facility, and once A Place for Mom got involved, the facility backed out and all my efforts were worthless. I had to start over. Trying to get A Place for Mom OUT of my way and off the case was nearly impossible.

As a home agency, we had worked with APFM for 6 years receiving referrals from them for people who are looking in home care. After this company was purchased by Senior Advisor, it become almost like a distortion. They changed from charging $375 per referral to 9% of revenues monthly for all referrals. As if this was not bad enough, they revamped their contract to state that if you don't meet their monthly quotas, your contract will be terminated. In order to meet their quota, it means you would need a certain number of people they refer to sign up for home care services within a certain time frame. This was very disheartening being that our home care agency works with families at their pace and our goal is to help families without adding any pressure to their decision making. We simply care and want to help families. Well, after 6 years of being in a contract with APFM, they followed through with their new quota terms and terminated our home care contract with them because we didn't close on the deals fast enough. Our home care agency knew we were at risk of losing the contract with APFM, but was willing to take that risk to give families their needed time to make decisions. I wish that APFM would go back to the way they used to run their business where home care agencies were not pressured to meet a quota, but rather could focus more on catering to families needs. APFM advertises that they want to help families, but the truth is all they care about is making money.

The old adage "you get what you pay for" certainly applies here. Free of charge it is, but free from harassment it is not. They repeatedly call my mother and father between 8 and 9AM on weekends, scaring them to death.

In my mother's polite world, you only call someone after 9AM, and in her case she prefers, and has told them, never to call before 10am. Well last week again it was closer to 8 than 9. In the polite world you only call this early if it is an emergency. Being woken on a weekend from a sound sleep is disorienting and distressing. More so if you have asked them not to. Apparently for a service making money from working with elders, they do not understand, listen or even realize that as we age it takes us a little longer to get going in the morning.

Do not ever give them your phone number, or give hospital social workers (in her case the discharge case worker) permission to give out your number. You will be hounded to go to Assisted living relentlessly, even if you tell them you are not interested. Understand that it is not friendly checking on you, it is how they make their money.

We are providers of a couple of adult care homes in Oregon. They are residential homes caring for up to 5 individuals. APFM was helpful a few years ago when referring private pay clients to us for placement. At that time, the referral fee from us to APFM was 100% of the first month charges and is now 120%. It is a reasonable fee if the placement would be long term, BUT - If the person has an uneventful death in the first week, the fee to APFM is still due.
As I read through reviews, this can range from 50 to 150 of the cost paid by the facility. This is why many are seeing an application charge on their statements.
Their business model is to send out potential client email and phone numbers to as many providers as possible to collect their fee as they want to be the 'first' in line for a referral.
We occasionally call when we have an opening to the families and often find out that they have been inundated with unwanted phone calls across the various levels of care providers from nursing homes, assisted living, specialized living and others. A 'Senior Living' advisor has never been to our home and really has no idea what it takes to provide care to each individuals needs.
The number of providers in our are who follow the residential model using APFM is declining due to their high costs and level of knowledge for providing care.
I have to give them credit for an aggressive business model in dialing for dollars but from an ethical standpoint, it is something most people would not do.
When a loved one does need care beyond what they are able to receive living at home, it can be stressful on the families. There are resources available if you turn over a few rocks and research were you can. The licensing authorities in each state can provide a list of licensed facilities (assisted living, adult foster/family care homes, residential care homes, full nursing facilities, etc) in your area.
Ask questions of the providers as no question is a dumb one, such as; When my Mothers care needs increase, will she be asked to leave? Visit at a meal time to see what is being served. Talk to other residents in the building if you can... Do you like it here? Good providers want good placements for your loved one and their family. Don't make up stories how Uncle Bob is a really nice guy when it is known he likes to grab at the boobs. It will result in a notice to move or a large rate increase. Not everyone is a good fit in a particular home, but might do better elsewhere.
Lastly, take a big whiff when you walk in the door. If it smells bad...
Do your homework, this is a parent or loved one you may be placing for the remainder of their life.

It seems that many of the negative reviews come from people who do not understand that A Place FOR MOM is a referral agency. If you go to a facility that charges a fee to move in it has nothing to do with APFM. If the companies call you and don't show prices on their websites it is because typically there is no one set price for health care. The price is not solely based on private room or semi-private room rate. The level of care is also added into the pricing so there is no way to have that many different prices listed. Resident A is a male that can take care of himself, very little assistance needed. Resident B is a male that is in a wheelchair, incontinent and has dementia. Obviously Resident B will need to pay more than Resident A. Many of the facilities use an FL2 completed by a doctor to determine level of care needed. The facilities do not simply make up fees at random. APFM charges the facilities a fee if a resident moves into a location. APFM does a lot of foot work to screen potential residents and also screens the facilities to the best of their ability. APFM is not to be blamed if a facility employee calls you and is rude or dismissive. I typically do not reply to other people's opinions but I wanted to shed some light on how the referrals work because I saw APFM getting blamed for things that had nothing to do with their organization. As far as the facilities complaining about APFM and their fees you must keep in mind that you would not have gotten that resident to move into your location without APFM. The fees may seem to be expensive however you do not have to pay for the advertising and the agents screening applicants. Well, I hope this helps someone understand about APFM. Don't expect that APFM has gone to visit the locations that they give you.

Thank you,

LR

Having to find help for an ailing elderly parent, you come to realize how difficult it is to search out resources, while governments convince us that there is plenty out there. I happened to come across A Place for Mom while surfing the net. One call to them had a Co-ordinator calling me within hours and scoping my community for locations and appointments. Very caring professionals who understand how vulnerable seniors are and the attention needed to make them feel that they still matter. Thank you.

A Place for Mom will broadcast your information to all of the facilities in your search area. They are "claiming" you as their client by doing this. I was working with a local Senior Services Consultant who would have been compensated by the facility we chose. The first facility we visited told my consultant that we were clients of a Place for Mom even though I made the call to schedule the appointment and never even talked to one an advisor from a Place for Mom. This is a racket, does not help the family and hurts local independent professionals.

They had great advertising, and wonderful reviews at the website (duh).

Little did I know: they're a database matching service, and not a very good one. They mass emailed our information INCLUDING MY PHONE NUMBER to multiple assisted living facilities. WITHOUT CLEARING IT FIRST.

They are so careless, they even sent notice to my mother's current facility TO WHICH WE HAD NOT GIVEN NOTICE. Fortunately, this did not damage her care, but not everybody stays at an ethical place. Want to take that risk?

Find a place that actually has someone sit down with you for a long interview, then accompanies you to the places they refer. It will cost you the same (nothing), and you'll be far happier. We fired "A Place for Mom (to get abused)" and were fortunate to find Senior Solutions.

The difference is night and day.

Daniel

I accepted a Respite referral from A Place for MOM. The original contracted fee was 20% of monthly rate charges. I received a statement from APFM that charged 30% fee was due. I figured it must be some mistake here. I called the billing department and left a message re: my concern about the 30%. About 5 days later I received a phone call from APFM and was told that the fees had gone up effective Jan 1,2016 and I should have received a letter indicating that change. Was told that it was permissible as stated in the contract as long as notice was given. She stated that she would e-mail me a copy of the notification. I received a notification and the contract. The notification was headed with Attention Executive Director. The contract and any previous communication written or by phone was in my name. I definitely would have remembered this letter. This is just another attempt to squeeze more money out of the facilities. I won't be accepting any more referrals from this unscrupulous company. We are small mom and pops operators how are we to care for the residents if all the money is going to the referral agency? The only thing they will hear is a boycott. It wasn't always like this.

Continuous calling. Anybody that desperate can't be doing anything right, in my opinion. These people labeled a place for Mom call day and night. I don't think that anyone wants to be bullied by these people. I refuse to answer my phone when a place for mom is calling day and night. Thank God for phone monitoring. In my opinion this place is the worst. If anyone is in need of assistance, they certainly do not want to be harassed. In my opinion these people need to get a grip and stop harassing sick and elderly people.

I mistakenly called a "Senior Advisor" number for information about Alizheimers facilities but I was sent to "A Place for Mom". I spoke with Carol Kalmanoff who asked all kinds of personal questions which I refused to answer. She then said she would send me a list of properties in my area if I would give her my home address and I could call if I wanted to make an appointment. In actuality, she sent ALL OF MY PERSONAL INFORMATION TO OVER 20 SALES PEOPLE. I have been inundated with cell phone calls and emails. It's disgusting what people will do to make money. I have called her twice and she refuses to return my calls--what a surprise. Run when you hear this name.

I am writing this review as an owner of a small assisted living facility that contracted with APFM. I urge anyone looking for assisted living not to go near APFM. Their business practices are horrendous and they simply put you on their list then blast your contact information to as many facilities as they can so they can claim a "referral fee" if you move into any of them. You will get harassed by their "elder care advisors" who most often do not understand assisted living and state regulations about who is appropriate. You will get badgered by facilites for months on end with phone calls and emails.

The problem isn't so much A Place For Mom, it's their clients. I've had to look for assisted living twice for a relative and ended up at a place for Mom for one reason: These places hide their prices as if it were a state secret. So I end up with A Place For Mom or other broker because it's just too tedious to call every place in town. I can find out everything else I need online but not the prices. Hey, you prices with A Place For Mom who gives it to your customers. Why not just disclose prices right on your website? I tried emailing for prices and a salesperson called me! Aarggh..