Country Cousins Reviews 

I have been working with Country Cousins since 2018 and they are a great Company. Easy to reach and comunicate

I have worked along with Portia, and she is very nice,calm and supportive. I'm very happy she is back

Seriously the worst telephone service ever, you call everyday, no one picks calls and voicemail is always on.

Jobs are always allocated to those they favour while others wait.

Management needs to look at staff telephone services and how jobs are allocated.

It’s an absolute pleasure to work for this company. The girls are an absolute delight. Always there when you need a friendly “ear” to support you or just to have a friendly chat. I have never been without work, they always ensure they are in regular contact and I am matched perfectly with my client in order that all needs are met. I really cannot praise or recommend them enough!!!

We contacted Country Cousins to assist with care for our Mother. Initial sales call was positive. Lots promised including choice of carers. We paid an initial consultation fee. Then no communication or answers to further questions. No carer was offered. Still waiting for a refund of the consultation fee. When we needed care, Country Cousins were clearly not able to support this.

One star is because it is not possible to give less. The quality of care provided during our 3 month use was extremely mixed. A couple of the Carers were great but most of the others were absolutely terrible. On that basis it is not possible to rely on this company. Some of the carers were rude, some of them had poor English and some were not able to perform very basic domestic tasks. Some of the major issues were:
- some carers could not prepare basic meals
- one carer switched the heating thermostat up to over 30 degrees costing us thousands in oil
- some carers couldn't follow simple instructions to put the recycling bins out so the council refused to take them and my mother had to clean the bins out (yes please note this was not something they were prepared to do!)
- some carers had poor domestic hygiene (did not wash up properly or keep the kitchen clean/out of date food found)
- no carer took control of making basic appointments for my mother (eg eye appointments/GP appointments) which is clearly stated as something they would do
- most of the carers provided no companionship whatsoever - they spent most of their time in separate rooms
It genuinely felt like my mother ended up taking care of a couple of the carers as they could not perform these tasks and we wondered what we were paying for.
In terms of the agency there is absolutely NO personal service.
- Requests for carers that could drive were completely ignored.
- Requests for carers not to be interviewed at 6pm every two weeks (which is when I was always in the car) were completely ignored
- my mother is a smoker (clearly stated at the outset) yet a carer who could not be placed with a smoker was sent.
- complaints were ignored until I followed up on them
It is extremely obvious that this is a case of the agency sending out an email, whoever replies (suitable or not) is just placed with the person - absolutely NO vetting is done by country cousins to try and match suitable people.
This was a company recommended to us but that is on the basis of someone who used them a number of years ago - they have clearly dropped their standards/expanded beyond what they are able to deal with - my advice is look elsewhere....they may be slight cheaper but there is a reason!

Response to CC note below - thank you for taking the time to respond. Someone was in touch about the non smoking Carer (we obviously had to get in touch about that as we were left without a carer but I had to fight to prove that CC were responsible for the incorrect placement of a carer). Please note that no one has asked for, or received the other feedback in my note above.

Competent, helpful administration staff, clear designations of help supplied with appropriate costs.
Helpers rotated on 2-3 weekly basis, contracted and paid directly, which we found flexible.
All 4 of the helpers we had were really excellent in ability, compassion, understanding, made a great difference in improving my wife's mental and physical health, becoming valued members of the family.

Two carers in particular were just terrific - Roseline Katsaumire and Emanuel Magarira. Both really engaged with my father and made him feel special. They made our lives so much easier and we can't thank them enough.
Also the office backup was excellent, getting carers arranged and sorting any problems swiftly and efficiently.

Well done Country Cousins.
They provided 4 live in carers mostly from London so they had quite a long journey to get to us. They were thoughtful, caring, capable and we simply could not have managed without them. Chrissie, Diane and Trish...you are amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
We kept on my mum's normal daily carers -but a bit reduced - and a WhatsApp support group for all of them meant that they could talk together about any problems that arose or indeed what suited my mum. They have kept the communication going after my she died.
Of course every carer was different and had slightly different attributes and skills but after getting to know each one it was always a bit scary to move onto the next...although it worked out fine except on one occasion where there was a bit of unnecessary drama at the end. Country Cousins communicated with me about this and explained that the ball was in my court and I had to make the decision about how to handle it... but that was fine.
Make sure you understand when you employ CC that they act as the intermediary and that all the carers are self employed. They are not employed by the agency. What was difficult for us is that we are at the end of the country and therefore a long way from anywhere!
CC started at the end of August and stayed on until early January 23.
Jo at the office and accounting were all very straightforward and easy to deal with
Once again, thank you.

The quality of the carers - we had 2 ladies who were absolutely wonderful and obviously well-trained and completely trustworthy. However I have noticed since Covid that the service from the company is not so attentive as I believe like many companies they are struggling to appoint staff. I recommended CC to a friend, who rang for further information and never had a return phonecall - this is really not acceptable - the friend went elsewhere!

The initial contact is very professional and courteous and they understood that it was daunting moving to live in care from daily care for the first time.

However once the contract (and direct debit) was signed - it seemed that we were handed over to ANO and the experience was far less positive and they were slow to respond.
Some of the team were more professional (eg: Sylvie) than others. The team doesn't seem to use out of office so you dont know when your email will be responded to and when they are on holiday. Luckily I didnt need to send many emails but those sent required a follow up.
The cousin that started came across as quiet and caring but unfortunately she was not organised at all, and was unable to plan ahead, plus she had a lack of patient/client focus.
I was a bit shocked at the lack of structure you get from a self employed arrangement - there were no standard records of medication until I drew this up and the cousin unilaterally changed the inherited daily timetable but never consulted with the client (who is completely switched on no dementia at all) as to whether it suited the client to have breakfast 45-60 minutes later than what she was used to with the previous daily carer over the last 6 months.
Ultimately the cousin didnt work out due to lack of focus on the client and poor organisation, so overall it was just too stressful for the client to continue with the carer. I asked Country Cousins to find a replacement to start a week later. Their response was dreadful - they took nearly 4 days to send a replacement cousin resumé through to start nearly 2 weeks after the request and a week later than requested. The decision to request a change in carer was not taken lightly but the Country cousins contact did not seem to care. Also interestingly there is no contractual requirement to find a replacement - its not in the contract.

I ended up switching to another agency who are smaller and they have been much better organised and reliable which has made my mother's and the family's lives much easier.

Country cousins had looked after various elderly family members going back decades so I was positive about using them but something must have changed since those experiences. I could not recommend Country Cousins based on my experience.

So many great things to say about Country Cousins. Professional and friendly service, Kelly was fantastic to work with, always met our requirements. The carers are fantastic people and soon become close friends. So glad I chose CC to help with my care needs. Thank you.

My elderly Aunt used Country Cousins for about 3 months having been in hospital before. Over the 3 months, she had 2 different carers both were lovely and my Aunt got on well with them. It was quite obvious that they enjoyed their work. My Aunt is now well enough to manage with carers coming in regularly rather than having the 24hour care. This is partly down to these carers getting her a bit more mobile and looking after her so well. I would definitely use them and will use again if necessary.

As my sister became too ill to look after herself, Country Cousins organized round-the-clock home care for her. Because her condition was changing all the time, this was a difficult task without perfect solutions. The carers treated my sister with great humanity and did their best to ensure her safety and make her comfortable. I do not think anyone could have done more and I am grateful to them all.

The carers are fantastic. They became part of the family and it is so lovely to have them return. They are flexible and apart to mum's mood and reality. Our carer manager is always there to listen to any concerns and provide a seemless care provision.

If I could give this company a "zero" rating I would but theres no option for that. We tried this company for family but did not realise they were not CQC registered. Our mistake-one we will not make again! They dont employ the "carers" and I use that word "carers" very loosely-their training can be done online and they have little or no experience that is evident. Some of their english is appalling. Their attitudes are disgusting. The office staff are useless and have no communication skills-you get the feeling from them all thats its just a job. You get whoever you are given-they never have a choice available as they keep taking packages on without being able to cover safely and adequately. You are told different when you sign up. They make you believe that have SUITABLE carers and you can have one suited to the package of care thats actually needed. If you complain you get the well rehearsed answer "the carers are all self employed-we do not employ them!" And one even stole from the house and we still got the same ignorant response. How SAGA can have anything to do with this is beyond me-it really is. Even if they arent employed by you directly-you take a big fee from every client so you DO have a DUTY OF CARE. CQC should not allow this to go on. Please choose wisely- find a registered agency that actually trains its staff members itself and employs them.

Fabulous service from Kelly, she was extremely understanding,kind and could not have been more helpful.first class service

We have worked with Country Cousins for two years in their providing care for an elederly relative. CC staff are prompt, caring, courteous, efficient - and pleasant when communicating. The carers they provide [ten or more over the time] have nearly all been impressively caring and able, going the extra mile and coping with at times really challenging situations and behaviours. The one exceptioon was personally unhappy but still did her job well enough. We recommend Country Cousins in the UK to anyone. Plus, we have a relative in Zimbabwe, also a CC client, who has a similarly positive evaluation.

As ever, good and polite service.
Excellent choice of food at reasonable prices.
Will come again

I have liaised with Sylvie Kalandrikova regularly in setting up and managing my 90 year old aunt's care arrangements. Unfailingly helpful,considerate and effective, Sylvie has made my task as light as possible. Her ready grasp of my aunt's requirements and character have resulted in 2 excellent carers now in post back to back.

It's been a pleasure to have Sylvie as my ready point of contact. I shall turn to her when my turn for care transpires down the line! Douglas Rolland

The experience with Country Cousins has been fantastic and the quality of carers provided superb.
A huge thank you to Sylvie for sorting everything out and keeping me informed throughout the process.
I would definitely recommend for anyone sorting out live in care for their loved ones.