Silver Angels Elizabethton, TN

We never know if someone is going to show up or not. They never call to say they aren't coming. Quality of aides vary from very good to sitting on the sofa more than they work. Office staff are always courteous when we call with complaints (at least once a week) but the problem is never fixed.

We had scheduling issues from day one. I was assured by the office contact that we could get respite care by the weekend. When I didn't hear back, I was told to contact the scheduler, which I did. She told me that she would have someone for my mother either 12-6, or 1 to 5 and that she'd call me back and let me know. She didn't call back, so I assumed that there would be nobody coming that Saturday. Lo and behold, someone came at noon. We had planned to be at home, so we were scrambling trying to orient the worker and make some plans to take advantage of the respite time. I had no problem with the worker. She was very nice. I decided to give the place another chance and called the scheduler to make a schedule for respite care for the next several weeks. No answer, so I left a message. There was no return call so I called back. The woman said she'd just been handed my message. I felt like she was scattered, but we discussed a schedule and I thought it was taken care of. Late Friday evening, I got a message to call her back and she inquired if I wanted someone for Sunday, so I went over AGAIN that I needed someone for Saturday from 12-4. My family and I made plans to go out together and take the kids for something fun. Everyone got ready so. Noon arrived. No worker. I called the scheduler at 12:10. She advised that perhaps the worker was coming from another job and was held up, and told me to call back in 15 minutes if the worker did not arrive. She didn't. I called back at 12:30 to the scheduler. No answer. I called the office line that was listed on the message and spoke to a different person. She said, "Oh, I think that they were having trouble finding someone to cover that shift." This was AFTER multiple calls with a scheduler who never once mentioned they were having trouble finding someone. By then it was 12:40, and I told her to forget it and to take my mother off the schedule that we would not be using the service. Today (Monday), I called the GM. She was not in, and I left a message to be called back. I am so disappointed. This was the first time that we had tried to have respite care from an agency.