Country Cousins

My father dealt with Country Cousins directly until he got ill and then I had to get involved. He had a new carer every couple of weeks for many months and in general he was quite happy. Country Cousins were very responsive getting him the carers he needed, however a few weeks ago when he became ill he ended up with 3 live-in carers which was ridiculous and expensive. This was because he apparently needed 2 in the daytime (he needed hoisting) and one at night. The situation was completely over the top. One carer kept complaining that she was overtired (there were 3 of them) and rather than easing the load it was instead incredibly stressful. The carers were falling out with eachother and complaining to me about the others and the situation became untenable. (So we moved him to respite care and then to a permanent nursing home). No care review was made by the agency to properly assess his needs and they were happy to just keep billing my father for hundreds of pounds every week and send in more help when demanded by the carers in situ. When I emailed asking for clarification on the fees charged, I never received a reply. I am still waiting. All is fine with Country Cousins unless you have an issue then I would say crisis-management and responding to queries is very poor.
Mar 18th, 2023

Charged an initial registration fee of 220, which other similar agencies do not. After a few weeks I was given a "new" contact name and email address (but no telephone number) to deal with regarding ongoing care needs. I was told she would make contact with me, but received none. My emails TO her went into her "junk" mailbox for FIVE WEEKS until I started investigating why I wasn't getting any replies. The staff I have dealt with at Country Cousins are a little on the "pushy" side, and they get contractual regarding complaints. Not recommended.
Feb 24th, 2022

A brilliant company to work. It is clear they really care about the carers and their clients.
Nov 25th, 2021

Superb care company, really go the extra mile and care about those they're helping!
May 11th, 2020

I joined my father as he was in need of a live in carer and it was a big step, being fiercely independent. I had heard good things about the company. My experience was upsetting and only added to the stressful time. I concluded that the company used to be exactly what it said it was, but with the vast need for carers and an aging population, it has now reverted to a very basic service and the whole matching process (their unique selling point at that time) was impossible to achieve. My experience was the following: With great emphasis on matching the right carer to the customer, and the initial information collected was very thorough, so it was disappointing that the only person offered initially did not have a scrap of anything in common with my father. He was interested in books, classical music, piano etc, only liked plain English food etc etc, basically what we would refer to as old school. The person put forward (who you can only have a telephone conversation with, and then you have to appoint or reject which clearly puts you in an embarrassing situation if you dont think it would work), thought plain English food was Lasagna and liked pop music. Even the administrator admitted it wasnt a good match, especially as he had never had a carer before and the first one has to be especially suitable. I was then basically forgotten about, and when I prompted a response, I received apologies but I had lost faith in their service. Of course I could have complained and demanded my money back but when your father is dying and you are in a horrible place, you have to prioritise. I did not feel that the people at head office were at all trying to match peoples needs, and it was more about just trying to find someone, anyone. Im not saying these people werent nice, Im sure they were. Prior to signing up, I had been given examples of ex piano teachers and people who loved baking and cooking from fresh, it all sounded very wholesome and lovely, just like having a relative coming to stay. Finally making a big deal if it being a lifetime membership, I feel is insensitive given that the majority of people needing carers, will probably be nearing the end of their lives. All in all, my experience with those employed to make the placements, was really poor and I just felt this was a nice little earner for someone, but a service which might have been good once, was in disarray.
Apr 9th, 2019