I have been experiencing the worst possible time with Abbots Care Ltd staff in St.Albans
I was in the middle of a really bad breakdown and, because I am a widow, needed a carer with me. This was during February and March this year and I found Abbots Care Ltd at the top of a Google list for care agencies.
Two women managers from Abbots Care came to interview me on 5 February and it wasn't long before one of them asked me to sign their contract. I should have had a friend with me who would have stopped me doing that because I wasn't given a chance to read the document.
The 'carer' was Nigerian and was extremely friendly with me, saying that she didn't usually make friends with her clients. She told me a lot about her family and life, sending me videos of her life when she wasn't caring, which really shocked me. Housework was not what she would deign to do and she broke a lot, including the shower curtain in my guest room, left hair dye on the silicone in the bath and on the toilet seat. It was also on the wall behind the bed and I am having to have that room decorated now. She announced very quickly that she would not go for walks, which became vital for me when I began to improve and wasn't always lying on a couch. The worst part was that she was never off her mobile during my time all day and every day.
I asked Abbots Care to remove her one week early which they did on 15 March. However, about 15 minutes after she had been put into an uber, one of the managers reappeared after collecting another carer, who I did not need, from Rickmansworth station. I had not been told that this was going to happen and told the young lady she couldn't stay. Quite apart from anything else she had witnessed this ghastly scene. I was subsequently charged £5400 (for a month) for that carer and told I had to pay it because they needed 28 days notice. How on earth was I supposed to do that!! Subsequently, because I wouldn't pay it they were charging me 8.25% interest on regular occasions and coerced me into paying the £6346.28 in order to stop them adding more interest!!