Helping Hands - Lewiston, Maine

Michael H.

My advice would be to avoid Helping Hands if at all possible.

First, a bit of background. I had a disabling stroke a few years ago, and since then I've had a need for someone to help me a few days per week with shopping, cleaning my house and bringing me to doctor appointments. I've had a PCA (personal care assistant) for much of that time, but recently we had a schedule change. So I began looking for someone to assist me for 4 to 5 hours per week.

I contacted Helping Hands on October 22, 2014, and spoke to a woman there named Claire. I explained some of the above and asked, among other things, if her people could take care of my cat's litter box. She told me it was company policy not to take care of pets. Would it be possible, I asked, to check with her workers to see if anyone among them would be willing to do this? She said she'd ask, and we made arrangements for her to call me back a few days later.

I'm familiar with Toxoplasmosis and could understand the policy about pets, cats in particular.

When she didn't call me back as agreed, I called her. And that's when things got strange. No, she hadn't asked anyone about the cat box, it's against company policy. OK, I replied, forget the cat box, I'll deal with it somehow. I still need someone for 4 to 5 hours weekly. No, she said, I think you'll ask her to do the cat box. Besides, she said, it's too small a job for us, and “I have a very bad feeling about this.” We can't help you, she said.

I asked for the number of her supervisor, she gave it to me, and I thanked her. There was no yelling or arguing beyond my asking her, in a civil manner, to ask to her workers about the cat.

I called the supervisor, Kim, and explained the above. She said she would speak with Claire and call me back. A week later, after not receiving a call, I called Kim back. Kim said Claire told her we had a dispute about credit cards—I was afraid, Claire told her, of someone stealing my money. Claire also told her she had no workers who could take the job. Kim took no action beyond speaking with Claire. When I asked why she hadn't returned my phone call for the past week she said the phone system was down.

Claire lied about the job being too small; she lied about her offer to ask her staff about the cat box; she did not call me back as agreed; she denied me services; and she lied to her supervisor about the credit card dispute And evidently her supervisor doesn't much care.

That was my experience with Helping Hands.

Michael Hughes
Auburn, Maine