A Place for MomReviews 2,413

I would rate them negative if I could. Yes I went to the site. Yes I gave them my information. They were recommended by someone at my MiL's church. However, they immediately started calling me FIVE or more times a day. Finally on about the third day I spoke with someone and asked them to stop calling me. I needed to compile information from family members before I could have anything like an intelligent conversation. Well, they are back to calling me five times a day. No one even bothers to leave a VM. I only know it's them by looking up this second number on the internet. I'm now blocking these numbers, and I wouldn't use their service if someone paid me.

A Place for Mom has great ads but when it comes down to them providing help, guidance or insight they left me cold. In fact, in the end, the retirement home I found was not even recommended to me. Word of mouth from neighbors and friends was a much better resource. The person handling my 'case' even got me confused with another client and sent me an email basically scolding me for my choice! No apology was given until I brought the email up myself and even though the excuse was that she had so many clients... Best thing about A Place for Mom is they don't charge you! I'd recommend just searching the Internet, ask your doctors and caregivers, neighbors and friends; you'll get quality reliable information. On a side note, Visiting Angels is an excellent resource.

Do not use A Place for Mom!

When the web site asks you to fill out a simple form, and a "custom list is being generated" don't believe it. They ask for more information, and more information... none of which really helps to refine or define potential places for Mom.

Do not use them!

You will receive lots of emails - with canned responses. Like a scam always asking for a few more details. If you give them a phone number, you will get lots of calls.

Just say no... go elsewhere.

They will sell or give your information away and you will be called and emailed multiple times by multiple organizations. This is harassment! You tell them to stop and they won't stop! The last thing someone needs when at the point of placing a loved one in a facility is this kind of unrelenting harassment. SHAME ON YOU, Place for Mom, for taking advantage of people in vulnerable situations. And SHAME ON YOU Joan Lunden for preying on people this way! Karma is a b! Tch and I hope she finds you.

I agree with the majority of reviews that A Place for Mom is not the altruistic organization that Joan Lunden makes it out to be. I called when I needed a place for my mom (duh!). I received a return call from a APFM rep who is based 3 states away from me and had no idea about senior living in my area. She was able to come up with 3 listings that turned out to have nothing near the requirements I outlined for her. I did better researching, investigating resources, and navigating "the system" on my own. After numerous follow up calls from her, I finally emailed and told her I no longer needed her help. She is still calling me a year later. Had to block her number. Do not recommend.

Like several who have reviewed A Place For Mom, I too, came to the conclusion that it's all about the money. I called to try to get an idea of what was available in the area where my mom lives so that when the time came I would know how to help my dad Place her. I was very clear that we were not ready. "Oh, we're here for you" the personal assistant said. And then months of relentless emails and calls followed, not just from A Place For Mom, but also from facilities that were on the list. Except for the facility my dad, on his own found by doing lots of leg work. Yet somehow, though I never made the commitment, A Place For Mom was able to charge the facility my dad, who never talked to them, a rediculous amount of money. I think that happened because they called me one day and asked my mom's status. Because this facility was on the list they gave me, and because my mom was there, no matter that I hadn't made the decision to place her there, they were able to get $4800 from that facility. I will be seeking legal action. I can't even figure out how they get the money when I never made the decision to place mom. My dad made the decision, not because I told him about the place but because he went out and pounded the pavement on his own. DO NOT CALL. A PLACE FOR MOM unless you want months of badgering from ypthem and the facilities they give your name to.

I contacted A Place for Mom when it was obvious that my sainted sister in law needed help with my mother in law who had Alzheimer's. They first referred me to the home health agencies in the area who immediately called me and discussed the unique problems associated with caring for a person with Alzheimer's. Even though it was evident that it was time for memory care living, these people kept in contact with us and helped s with the process. Once we made the decision to search, Mike, our senior advisor, contacted the appropriate facilities in the area and set up the appointments with the facilities. We only had to show up and make our decision. We would have been lost without A Place for Mom and the help this agency gave us. I recommend them to everyone.

I needed to move my Mom from Colorado to Georgia. I called a Place for Mom to get information on multiple places that were close to my location. I spoke with Susan who was amazing. She was caring and very helpful... she guided me to several locations that were nearby along with the pricing so I was informed before I went to speak to the facilities. I was very happy with the referral service they offered. Susan followed up a few times to make sure my Mom is happy in her new home. I think they offer a great service... she gave me referrals with pricing so I could interview and choose the place that suited us best.

I echo all the terrible reviews on this site and wish I had never called. Initially the person who received my call was informative and promising but all she did was send me a list and badger me for a year. I had to do all the legwork. When I found me a good place on my own she asked me the name and then sent me a listing with the name on it. And charged the place an astronomical fee when I placed my mom there. I complained and explained but they still charged. The staff person was suddenly curt. Very disappointing and horrible business model. They prey upon your panic and they are the only ones who benefit. They have reviews on their site they claim are from customers but I was never asked to review them. Don't call!

As a Group Home/Assisted Living Home owner I can tell you from personal experience that "A Place For Mom" is all about the money they charge the Assisted Living Homes. They Do No visit any facility, Do Not bother to check out anything! All they do is take the information of the family and pass it on to an Assisted Living Home that will pay their Ridiculous fee of 120% of the 1st month charges. They are not going to provide any person the best places or closest, only the ones that pay their VERY HIGH Fees! I have personally never seen anyone every visit or show up from "A Place For Mom". There agents take internet leads and send them out with the hope of earning a substantial bonus fee at the expense of the Assisted Living Home. A small Group Home/Assisted Living Place has to pay their exorbitant fee for doing nothing! We are the ones that contact the family and try and get them to tour our home, etc. Unfortunately, should the new resident pass away before a couple of months or leave, WE GET SCREWED! It does not matter if is a week, "A Place for Mom" screws the Assisted Living Place! People have no idea what "A FOR PROFIT ONLY" crappy organization they are supporting at the expense of the people that may take care of their love ones!

I sought their help months ago in finding a nursing home for my mother-in-law. Because my mother-in-law is at poverty level with her income, they said they could not help. They only help those who have money. I then asked for references as to who I can seek for help & they said they had no knowledge of who to go to & that I should look online for services for the elderly. So, with all their commercials & ads to go to them for help, they're like everyone else. If you have no money, they want nothing to do with you & you can just keep on struggling. THANK YOU "A PLACE FOR MOM"!

I called this place bc my father is a vet and he would most likely qualify for the pie in the sky va benefit advert'd on the site. Initially when I called everyone seemed nice. I was immediately given to a coordinator but once I talked to that person and she decided on a course of action she believed I should take this place basically put me on the block assist list. Truth was second time I called back everything had changed and I had new resources to consider but the screener lady already had me on the do not help list so I was never going to be getting a call back EVER. So while my father is ultimately going to get his assistance his DAV rep will have to be the one to help apply for the VA benefit if we go that route. It's nothing but click bait to put such claims on a site as you can qualify for VA program and then basically block or make impossible for people to apply for such benefit once aplaceformom's staff determine what you should or should not do. Just just know that this place picks and chooses who they are going to help. If you are in a bad situation look into medicaid.

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.