Visiting Angels Portland, OR

We had used Visiting Angels before which lasted about two weeks, but we weren't at all pleased with them. When the kindly lady arrived at our door, she said, "I'm 77 years old and I'm recovering from back surgery. Now what do you want me to do?" She was a good companion but lousy for the rest of things that needed to be done. Several times she walked out saying she didn't do this or didn't do that because she couldn't. Originally they said they were going to send a different person each day for the first three days, therefore we can choose the person we want, but they sent the same person for the whole time. When I questioned them, they said, well we sent you the best we had to start with so we didn't think we needed to send anybody else. They also didn't check in to see how it was going.

The service from Visiting Angels Portland is about the same as everyone else. I have been happy with one of the caregivers who is very good. I chose them because someone I know recommended them to me. They do a little bit of light housekeeping, meals preparation, showering, dressing, and putting me on the commode. The only thing was that if my caregiver was sick, they had difficulty finding a replacement.

We hired Visiting Angels for a couple of weeks. They did a great job and did everything we asked them to do and more. I would hire them again. They did a great job in billing and refunded everything we didn't use.

We’ve been using Visiting Angels since December. Initially, it had been very, very good. Lately, it has not. I found Visiting Angels for my husband who has dementia. Visiting Angels was the first to respond to my inquiries and sent us a very nice home assessment gal who found us a very good caregiver. She no longer works for them, however. Then, I ran into problems. The gal in charge of scheduling now said they couldn’t provide us with the caregiving service that I needed. They sent a woman for a couple of days who was very bossy. My husband didn’t like that at all and made a very valid request to not have a female caregiver because he didn’t want to feel like he was being babysat. At first, they sent a really good guy from Mondays to Wednesdays, but they refused to put him into my other empty slots where I had a need even though I know for a fact that he some time open on Fridays or Saturdays. Still, they refused to put him in those slots. They also cancelled on me at the last minute four times in three months, leaving me scrambling when I needed to get to work. When I asked what compensation I would get when they call to cancel at the last minute, they said they would send a substitute, but I’d have no idea who they were sending. It’s common courtesy to tell me the person they said was coming wasn't coming because I would tell my husband that a certain person was coming and then that’s not the person who showed up. With his dementia, that’s very upsetting. The fourth time it happened, they assured me that the caregiver they had scheduled was the one who was showing up. An hour later, they called me up to say he won’t be coming out here after all, and they don’t have anybody to cover for him and they can’t help me out. Later in the week, they called to say they can cover me for three days of the week but not the other two days because, according to the gal doing the scheduling, we won’t take any female caregivers. This request we made is not just for my husband; it’s also for the well-being of the female caregiver because they don't need to be subjected to the unfiltered comments my husband might make to them. I asked if they had an option for me or if I was supposed to go look for another agency, and they said yes. I don’t have any problems with their billing; that part has worked very well. I think they need a lot more professionalism from the scheduler who told me, "I’m sorry, I can't help you because you won’t take a woman." That’s just very unprofessional. She didn’t want to work with me because she can’t meet my requirements.