Helping Hands Home Care Agency

Steve_in_The_City

Hi, I wondered if anyone has experience of Helping Hands? They are a caring agency.
Thanks, Steve.

Steve_in_The_City

@woodbine I think maybe they are a franchise business. They are here in London and in The West Midlands, but where else I don't know.

Adrian_Scope

Hello @Steve_in_The_City. I haven't personally had any experience with them, but there are several reviews on Trustpilot if that's helpful? 

Sandy_123

Hi @Steve_in_The_City I know caring hands in the Midlands is a really good company. I know some of their workers here and I also know the company are good with training their staff etc. I wouldn't hesitate to use them, however I can't vouch for the London branch

Hannah_Alumni

Hello @Steve_in_The_City

Nice to see you on the community again, I hope you are keeping ok? With caring facilities, you can request to have a meeting and if it is a location, ask for a tour. Maybe that could help? 

Steve_in_The_City

@woodbine I always read your comments on posts that interest me as your response is always helpful, either insightful, questioning or supportive . In my case, it made me investigate Helping Hands more closely.

@Hannah_Scope Nice to hear from you. I am fine, by the way. I come on the forum most days but don't always get involved as frequently I cannot add anything meaningful to the posts.

@Adrian_Scope Thank you reminding me about Trustpilot. I don't have a retentive memory and had forgotten about them. Had I read the negative reviews on Trustpilot I would have preceded with more caution.

@Sandy_123 Thank you for your input. I am glad your experience of Helping Hands is positive, and I trust in what you say. No company is going to make everyone happy all of the time, so I guess I am just one of the maybe very few people that who have found them unsatisfactory. I do expect good admin from companies, and this is where they have failed me. I have no idea of the quality of care their carers provide. It could be excellent. I don't know, as I haven't received any help.

An agent from Helping Hands came to see me. I agreed to a provisional carer at £32.27 for one hours work. I rang and cancelled within 48 hours. Without prior warning they sent a carer (this was about a month later). I told her I didn't need her. She said that the admin at Helping Hands was not good. They are now demanding £32.27 from me and have made a monthly recurring payment on my bank account for this sum, even though I made it clear I was only testing the waters. I was able to cancel the Direct Debit. I think they will pursue this matter further. If they do I will update, but for now I am going to forget about it.

MW123

Steve_in_The_City said:

An agent from Helping Hands came to see me. I agreed to a provisional carer at £32.27 for one hours work. I rang and cancelled within 48 hours. Without prior warning they sent a carer (this was about a month later). I told her I didn't need her. She said that the admin at Helping Hands was not good. They are now demanding £32.27 from me and have made a monthly recurring payment on my bank account for this sum, even though I made it clear I was only testing the waters. I was able to cancel the Direct Debit. I think they will pursue this matter further. If they do I will update, but for now I am going to forget about it.

 If you cancelled the services within the 14-day cooling off period you should not be liable for any charges. This applies even if you had initially agreed to a provisional carer.

If Helping Hands sent a carer after you had cancelled the service within the cooling off period, and without your explicit request or agreement, then you are not  liable to pay for those services. 

They have wrongly set up a recurring monthly Direct Debit payment for £32.27. As you did not agree to any ongoing care or payments, this is an error on their part. You are within your rights to cancel that Direct Debit, which you have done.

Write or email them formally disputing the payment demand and cancelling any claim they believe they have to charge you. State clearly that you cancelled the initial booking within 48 hours and did not request or consent to any subsequent care or payments. Ask them to remove your personal details and bank account information from their systems. Request they confirm to you in writing once they have complied with your instruction.

Steve, it appears from your post that you're aiming to put this situation behind you. However, to safeguard yourself, I'd strongly recommend sending them an email or letter as a means of creating a written record of events. Kind Regards MW.

Sandy_123

@Steve_in_The_City I echo @MW123 advice you should not have had any charges 

Steve_in_The_City

@MW123 Thank you for your sound advice which I will follow later today.