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CB Employers Review of A Place For Mom - Eldercare Advisor
A Place For Mom - Eldercare Advisor

A Place For Mom - Eldercare Advisor review: Bad Hiring/Employment Practices 17

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Author of the review
10:55 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

This is, by far, the worst job I have ever had, or even heard of. this job has stolen valuable time I should have spent looking for a real job! You will spend your first three months (at least), responding to internet inquiries. Of course, the majority of them, perhaps 90% are poor leads and not even in your geographic area. In other words, the leads weren't really looking for assisted living or nursing homes, or they can't afford anything you can refer them to, or the contact information is incorrect. However, you must follow a very specific protocol to document each attempt to contact the lead. This takes time. Lots of time. You end up feeling like a data entry operator. The Market Advisor position is a "Sales" position, but you do nothing but administrative work. The only "sales" aspect of the job is convincing people to tour the facilities you refer to them. The biggest problem I encountered is that it was very difficult to find the type of facility a family was looking for in the area they needed. Even if there were providers in the area, if they were not under contract with A Place for Mom, so I couldn't refer the family to them. Families are not stupid. A simple Google search would help the family find other facilities themselves, so they had absolutely NO INCENTIVE and there was NO BENEFIT to working with me. In order to resolve the problem of not enough providers in the community under contract with A PLACE FOR MOM, they expected you to go out into the community and make presentations to new facilities to get them to sign up. Makes sense, right? Expect that they DO NOT PAY YOU for doing this work. They expect you to take time away from income producing activities to do this. Their argument is that it will benefit you in that you will now have a new facility to refer families too. YEAH, RIGHT.
Also, the commissions, when you do make a sale are terrible. The commission structure is based on where the lead comes from and/or how the family will pay for their care after you do refer them. The commission will be as little as 15% of the sale or as much as 47% of the sale, with the only difference being where the lead came from. And to make things worse, they DO NOT ALLOW you to prospect for the types of leads that make you the 47% commissions. Does that even make sense? I've never heard of a sales job that doesn't encourage you to prospect, prospect, prospect. THIS JOB IS AN ADMINISTRATIVE JOB DISGUISED AS A SALES JOB because they pay commission instead of a wage or salary. I don't know what they're smoking at headquarters, but my guess is that they've figured out that they can get labor for less than minimum wage by hiring people who will quit as soon as they've figured out it's a losing proposition. Yet, they got all the free administrative and data entry work out of you in the process. DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER WORKING AT THIS COMPANY.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

17 comments
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Linda Stanten Beresford
, US
Jul 05, 2017 3:19 pm EDT

Does anyone know if there is a way to remove yourself from A Place for Mom once you have signed on?

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M.T.72
, US
Jun 21, 2016 5:40 pm EDT

Been working at APFM for 6 months now. I have a FT job and APFM is my second job. I see no scam. What are you talking about? Sure there are bad employees at every job who give their employer a bad name. Are you just people who just could not pass the tests in training or got low QA scores and stats when you started to take live calls and found out you were not good enough for the job?

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Christine Partin
, US
Sep 19, 2015 10:12 am EDT

APFM is a joke if you are unable to spend at least $1000 a month or more of your own income on a facility. I filled out an inquiry form online about Rehab options in my area for my spouse. The online form didn't say APFM was being contacted about the particular facility, so I thought I was directly contacting the facility only to get a call shortly afterwards from APFM. This is very deceptive and misleading.
The representative said she would have someone reach out to me about other resources, but I'm not holding my breath! The last time I was called by APFM a few months ago, she said the same thing, but nobody called me back about alternative resources. I go to the APFM website and click on Resources only to find out that I have to give them my personal contact information again. I have been sent around in circles with APFM and no assistance has been given on numerous occasions. This leads me to believe that APFM is a joke, and they are only after one thing, "Money, " at the expense of vulnerable families and seniors. You are better off contacting ADRC or your Managed Care agency for assistance than APFM. Beware!

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Frustrated Care Home
Rocklin, US
Apr 29, 2015 7:25 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We own a care home and I would like to share my very negative experiences about A Place For Mom. This is an unethical, greedy company. We have had an agreement with them for about 7 years. We have been struggling in the care home industry to stay in business these past few years. It has been difficult finding residents, and APFM has taken advantage of us care homes. When we first started with them, their rate was 100%, which is already outrageous. But, we just found out the hard way that their rate is now120%. They have only placed 2 people with us in all these years, despite being overwhelmed with hundreds of residents who were not a fit, either because of their required level of care, budget, location, etc. We paid our 60% and expected the second bill for 40%. To our surprise, the second bill is for another 60%. I called them and explained that I thought it was 100%, and they basically bullied me, and wouldn't work with me on the rate. They said I have to pay it. Apparently, in 2013, they sent an email and that was considered their proper notice, despite us not signing a contract that we would pay 120%.

Additionally, they do no work for the money. They give you a name, and that’s it. They send out a name to many care homes, hoping it will stick so they can collect money. They earn thousands of referral fees for just giving you a name. When they referred our new resident, they did nothing at all to prepare our lady for what was required to move in (physician’s report, TB test, etc). She was unprepared and confused. Instead, we had to scramble to inform the client and coordinate with the doctors before her urgent move in. The agent did not do 1 thing to assist with move in. One would expect that an ethical agent would make sure they are properly matching the resident, and then assist them with preparing to move in. Isn’t that what their fee is for?

This service is impersonal and APFM are vultures. Their main goal is to get the referral fee. They don’t care about the residents or where they are. It is a crime that they get away with this. We are terminating our relationship with this unethical company, but I would like others to be forewarned. Beware!

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BarbDesigner
Kearny, US
Dec 26, 2013 10:49 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

As a potential consumer for APFM, I "smelled a rat" almost immediately after signing up on their website. I had barely left my computer, and they had sent two emails. The following morning, a woman called me at 8:15 AM. Hey, isn't THIS the reason for the whole "Do Not Call" legislation? I don't think this is helpful...this is harassment! I decided that I would have absolutely nothing to do with them, just on the basis of their overly-aggressive behavior. Boy, was I right! And something else that gnawed at me, was a feeling that I had that they were only referring places that paid them, because when I did an initial search of an area I was familiar with, I got a very selective list of nursing homes; it definitely did NOT represent all of the homes in that area. So basically, the clues are there. But there are so few real resources for finding nursing homes that I can see how frustrated families decide to trust these people. I've decided to bite the bullet and do the research/legwork myself. Also, medicare.gov has a listing of nursing homes covered by medicare that they have inspected, and it is a very good starting point. I hope this information helps someone out there.

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Proud ERC
Seattle, US
Mar 05, 2013 8:02 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

>>Virtually every "pro" comment I have seen here or anywhere else (other APFM review sites) comes from "Company" people

Well duh, this is a thread about hiring / employment practices. Do you expect people that have not worked for APFM to have opinions on being employed by APFM? And no, I'm not being paid for this, I work in the Contact Center as a Reporting Analyst these days, not in PR.

>>Far less than 1% who join even make a living that is if they last!

So you are saying that 99% of current employees are not making a living by working for APFM? Where did you get these numbers if I may ask? A few *facts* about working at APFM.
- I started at the lowest rung when I was hired in 2010. It was a living wage then, and I now make 50% more hourly than when I started.
- Senior Living Advisors are no longer pure commission. They have a generous annual salary (which I would be envious of, but as I said before my strengths do not lie in sales) with a performance based bonus system. They also get to work from home and have flexibility in their scheduling.

I'm not trying to recruit anyone to work for us, just shining some light on the shrill accusations of some disgruntled sales people holding a grudge.

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APFM-WHORE
Miami Beach, US
Mar 05, 2013 5:56 pm EST

Virtually every "pro" comment I have seen here or anywhere else (other APFM review sites) comes from "Company" people paid to put out BS P/R...Talk to any of the thousands of people they've churned through (average stay about 90-120 days) with the heaviest turnover I have seen ANYWHERE and they'll all tell you this is one giant SCAM ! ALL are grateful for the day they left or got the boot. A class action and several individual lawsuits demonstrated just how horrible (and corrupt) this place is to work for.

RUN-RUN-RUN IF YOU'RE EVEN THINKING ABOUT WORKING FOR THIS OUTFIT...Far less than 1% who join even make a living that is if they last!

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Proud ERC
Seattle, US
Feb 29, 2012 1:23 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I work as an Eldercare Resource Coordinator at APFM, essentially one of their Call Center employees. In regards to both quality of work and quality of pay/benefits, A Place for Mom, Inc. is the most rewarding call center I have worked at. I have empathy for those that cannot make it as advisors, it’s a difficult job and not one that I would consider for myself (but I am not the type to consider any full commission sales job, I know my strengths and that is not where they lie). However, the Eldercare Advisors that do succeed with the company make much better money than I do, and regularly share their satisfaction at assisting families with us on the phones at corporate.

"A Place For Mom is not following 1494, a Washington State law. They are a corrpt company that needs to stop harassing older adults and their families."

That's entirely false. I worked as part of the team that contacted all 1400+ partner communities in the state of Washington to update our partnership agreements and database to be within compliance of HB 1494. Every new family that contacts us must acknowledge and return the disclosure agreement as required by HB 1494. We no longer share assessment information with partners per HB 1494, but instead compile it in a convenient format for families to share with any referred community that they wish to work with.
Please show me the evidence that we are breaking the law. And if you can’t check your facts, at least check your spelling.

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Disgruntled about APFM
1708 NW 82nd St, US
Feb 19, 2012 5:41 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

A Place For Mom is not following 1494, a Washington State law. They are a corrpt company that needs to stop harassing older adults and their families.

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eldercareadvisorAPFM
College Park, US
Aug 30, 2011 8:19 pm EDT

I have worked for A Place for Mom for three years now and absolutely love it. It is like having my own business with all the tools given to me to succeed. A Place For Mom invests an enormous amount of money in technology and marketing to get me, the advisor, families that need my help. I, in turn, invest in my busines by getting out to parnters, meeting them, understanding their strengths, weaknesses and costs. I spend time getting to know my market, signing up partners and meeting other professionals. This helps me to grow in knowledge in order to help the families I talk to. I love the reporting tools that A Place For Mom provides me in order to understand my own productivity, or lack of productivity. I am only helpful to my families if I am spending the time and energy where it needs to be. Now, do they, meaning corporate, want a return on their investment into the market place. Of course they do, just as hospitals, nursing homes, geriatric care managers and any other "business" that is working with families wants a return on their investment. Doctors, nurses and any other professional out there is doing this to make a living. So I don't subscribe to the ideology that only certain people care about families and others don't. Everyone who works expects a return on their investment, either through a pay check or profits. A Place For Mom spends a lot of time training and providing resources to make the advisor successful. They are very clear, up front, before they bring anyone out for training what the expectation is. There are no surprises.

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Caring Advisor
erie, US
Aug 23, 2011 6:24 am EDT

Also, one of APFM's eldercare advisor boldly posted on his Facebook account that he is in favor of legalizing marijuana...doesn't matter if I am for it or against it. But, as a professional it is not something I would want people to know about me.

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Caring Advisor
erie, US
Aug 23, 2011 6:21 am EDT

APFM...is definitely a racket and most of the partners that are reputable will agree. I left there over a month ago and was supposed to have no less than 3, maybe 4 move ins, waiting to see if I ever get paid. I am betting on I won't. They have until the end of September per their contract. My nazi coach was Debra who also the same day I left, she was also asked to leave. Odd, very odd. I am surrounded by many elder care options in my area, in my 50 mile radius over 200. Yet there was only 23 signed up. The fools at APFM are more worried about getting that dollar from their partner, they left all those potential partners go to waste. Well, they all know now about the dealings of APFM. I am a former job recruiter and still had contacts at all of them. Most of them were shocked at the tactics of constantly harassing the families. It is one thing to make contact and another to keep harassing a family in crisis. To the elder care advisor that posted we could not make it. Maybe we care for our families and not the dollar signs, since you never mention how gratifying your job is to work with the families...just that you make more money than any other sales job. I know my area is tired of their constant turnover of employees for no good reason and I am sure that there are contracts that will not be renewed in the future. I am a seasoned sales professional and should have looked into this "job" better. Since my departure from APFM, I have made two permanent placements doing free lance recruiting. Which by the way, will net me more money than reaching "gold" 3 months in a row at APFM. I will stick to what I know...job recruiting. As a recruiter I advise people NOT to take a job with A PLACE FOR MOM.

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eldercareadvisor
, US
Jul 22, 2011 8:58 pm EDT

This is not true. Have worked for the company for over 4 years and make more money than I would working another sales job. Apparently the comments above are from people that couldn't make it. Sorry.

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dancer 210410
Scranton, US
Jun 22, 2011 11:08 pm EDT

thank you all for sharing. i am an elderly advocate. i wanted to work for a company who really really cared about these people. i currently take care of my 86 year old mom with the starting of dementia and her 2 sisters who do not live with us. if all this is true, and i believe it is, i'll take a different path. really really sad. sounded so good.

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sheek
Birmingham, US
Jun 01, 2011 7:45 pm EDT

I worked for A Place For Mom and I agree 100%. They initially come across as very caring people, but once you leave MomU Training and head back to your area, they turn into total Nazi's. Its sad. They hound for being on the phone all day, and will start transferring leads from you if you are not calling your leads within 3 minutes. They fail to consider you are taking time to generate good refferals for the partners. Also you have to spend a great deal of time educating yourself on several areas of healthcare and reimbursement. You have to do this inorder to gain creditablity and good dialgoue. Lisa W., early Sucess coach is a complete b&%ch and doesn't give a ### about you. Considering all the admin stuff, dialing, talking with families, referral letters, educating, conference calls, and getting harrassed by cold hearted people like Lisa W, you make a $1700 draw. F that. thankfully I am out.

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scorcho
, GB
May 29, 2011 7:01 pm EDT

I worked at A Place for Mom in Seattle as an "Eldercare Advisor." Worse job I ever had. I was a glorified telemarketer and we were pushed to harass the families even if they told us countless times they were no longer interested. It was very sad and depressing as sometimes people would cry and say they just wished we would stop calling. A Place for Mom doesn't give a rats ### about the families. They just want to shack them up with a partner community who will pay them. They don't care where the family ends up as long as its with one of the partners. People should find places themselves because if you register with APFM you can expect nothing but pushy phone calls.

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Jen2da
, US
Apr 20, 2011 3:35 am EDT

OMG ! I'm so very glad I checked for complaints before I applied for one of their "supposed" sales jobs. Thanks for sharing and saving me from this type of job disaster.