Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: My Reviews of the Golden Years Home Care in the Sacramento Area

Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer- Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Saturday, November 12, 2022

My Reviews of the Golden Years Home Care in the Sacramento Area

The other day I sign in officially for the home care services of Golden Years Home Care Agency in the Sacramento Area. At the pre-sign up I rated the agency a 2 Star out of 5 ( reasons explained in the bottom of this article). After the first day of service, My ratings went up to a 3 Star. The following communication and my reviews as well as response from the agency describes our communication saga and my experiences with the signing process, communication issues and other concerns. I hope my reviews will help other prospective clients in deciding what home care agency to use for their Home Health and Care needs for themselves and/or their immediate families. Here are reprints of my reviews and response from the agency.

First Review: The last couple of weeks, I had discussions both phone and in person regarding my request for a home care aide to help me with light housekeeping and transportation services for doctor appointments and local errands. I requested that I prefer an aide of Filipino ancestry. I was told they have one available. I was happy to sign up but my other requirement is first I like to talk or meet this aide in person even just for a few minutes or talk in the phone. I was told this was not allowed. I have to sign first with 2 weeks advanced payment of $840 before I could see the aide who is a complete stranger. The reps of the agency after talking to her management and I agreed that I will pay $50/hr in advance for a pre-sign up meeting up to 120 minutes before I officially sign for the service. Today, I have not heard when this aide and I will meet for our first meeting. On another subject the telephone service recording of the company is confusing on the hours the agency is open.

The next day after this review was published, the agency rep called me that she finally have scheduled the pre-meeting with the aide, but required that I pay the $50 by telephone by a credit card. After assuring me that my card is safe we scheduled the pre-meeting on Monday, 11/7 at 3:30PM. After talking to the Aide for 5 minutes I officially signed for the service. The first day of service was on 11/9 from 9AM to 3PM. That same day I received the following e-mail.

Response of Golden Years Management:

Hello Mr. Katague,

My name is Carrie. We spoke the first day you inquired about care services. I wanted to reach out to you due to a few things that were brought to my attention.

An office staff shared that you were trying to reach us and having some challenges doing so. Per our Handbook that you received it states that our office hours are 10am to 4pm. After hours and on weekends we have staff that monitor our phones. You are also given the opportunity to text us on our main number prior to our opening hours and after hours. That number is our same main office number, 916-333-0383. We do request that all communication be done through our main office phone number and not facebook. Any concerns and questions should be communicated through our main office. Tessa is also the care coordinator who assisted in setting up your care and will be the main contact for you to discuss any changes.

Regarding your concerns about care, as a care service agency we want you to have the best care experience possible. Per our initial conversation prior to you signing up for care services with us you requested a philloppino* caregiver, which we were able to provide. If she is not to your liking we can provide you with another caregiver. However, Golden Years can not promise a caregiver of a specific ethnicity/culture. Golden Years can promise to provide you with a caregiver that can provide the care requested. If you are not happy with our services it might be best to find another care agency or service.

Thank you for choosing Golden Years.

Carrie/Care Operations Supervisor

Golden Years In-Home Senior Care

Office #: 916-333-0383

* Misspelled: Filipino is the correct spelling. Others: Pilipino, Pinay, Pinoy, Fil-Am, Filipino-American and Americans with Filipino ancestry.

My Response to the Above E-mail:

Carrie, so far I am happy with your services. I have changed my rating of 2 star to 3 star. Yesterday, was my first day of official service. It appears that I will rate your company 4 to 5 Star if the service of your Filipino- American employee remain the same. You do not like my FB messages. I find it easy to communicate in FB compared to your main tel no, that is open only from 10-4 MF. If you do not want clients to communicate in FB why have a FB page? Looking forward to a productive/transparent service from your agency.

PS: The main reason why a 2 Star: Your policy of not allowing Prospective clients talk or meet in person before official sign in is unreasonable. I also would like to know what is your agency policy on requiring your aides to have a 2nd Covid-19 booster shot? As of this writing date, I have not received an answer to my question

Here's the website of Golden Years Home Care Agency for more details:

https://www.goldenyearsinhome.com/

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Fruit Trees in the Gardens of Chateau Du Mer

The Mango Tree-I have three varieties in my Garden-The Indian, Guimaras and Carabao Mangoes My caretaker/gardener informed me last month that due to the El Nino drought in Marinduque, two of my Durian trees died in spite of his vigilant watering. One of the tree was attacked by insects that looks like a big fly but yellowish in color that sucks the sap of the seedling. The roots of the other tree was attacked by ants residing in the soil. However, my other fruit trees, the rambutans( 2), the lanzones(2) and the jack fruits ( 2) trees are doing well. The above eight fruit trees were given to me by Retired General Recaredo Sarmiento of Boac and Lucena., about three years ago. General Sarmiento is the “atid” of my wife. “Atid” is the colloquial term for brother. Evidently, Macrine's father, the late Bernardo Jambalos was the Godfather of General Sarmiento during his baptism and comfirmation. Gen Sarmiento's hobby is orchard planting, reforestation and farming. The other fruit trees in my garden are guayabanos, cashew, avocados, starapples, duhats, ates, guavas, mangoes( 3 varieties) and papayas as well as several varieties of bananas . Of the above fruit trees, my favorite is the guayabanos, also known as soursop tree known for its anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties . The following are photos of the fruit trees. The Durian photo is from the web. Note that it almost look like a jack fruit tree, except that the leaves are bigger and shiny. My desire is to have a passion fruit tree in the near future. You are welcome to visit my orchard and flower gardens any time, if perchance you are in the vicinity of The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center.

The Rambutan Tree and Fruits

The Lanzone Tree and Fruits

The Jack Fruit Tree

The Durian Fruit Tree