Over the last few months I have done several presentations on managing your on-line reputation, including two sessions with Blair Carey of RetirementHomes.com at ALFA this past year.  Blair recently published an article titled Should Assisted Living Communities Manage Their Online Reviews?  In this article he lists a number of great reasons to manage reviews. As Blair and I were working on our presentation I went digging for some of the negative reviews people had written.  As you read them, I would just ask two questions:

• If someone had written something like this about your community would you know it?
• If someone did write something like this about your community how would you react?

For your reading “pleasure” (typo’s are left in):

“This is one of the most dirty facilities, I have visited. The residents are not cared for and the staff don’t seem to be present for the residents needs. . . . Remember you get what you pay for.”

“There were two unfriendly staff members in the area using a washer and dryer I was told they were CNA’s, no residents were in sight. I was then taken to a seperate area that was a larger room that was being used as a type of day room, completely deserted, no staff, no activities, not even a television set playing and there on the couch sitting all alone behind closed doors was a very frail elderly woman who appeared very undernourished, and weak. with many bandaids applied to many areas of her arms and legs along with bruised areas exposed. The woman appeared to be much to weak and frail to be left alone in a room with absolutly no attendants,nothing to drink and appeared too weak to care for herself. I was then told the woman was a resident.”

“The atmosphere looks homely but I am sorry the owner cannot control herself. I know some residents can get on your nerves and that is why their families have them there. However in our presence, a male resident was acting and talking very rudely to the staff. The owner went off on him and cursed and threatened him. Her language matched the resident’s language. . . . He is on a wheel chair so will always feel bad. She eventually banished him to his room. The anger she showed was not to be expected and I am sure the staff behave the same way. She told him he was there to be controlled.”

“This facility was terrible. The food was prison food. There was a common room the size smaller than the room we lived in. If you didnt take your meds you were thrown out. They are infested with Bed Bugs. Good Luck if that is where you are Going.”

“This facility was terrible. The food was prison food. There was a common room the size smaller than the room we lived in. If you didnt take your meds you were thrown out. They are infested with Bed Bugs. Good Luck if that is where you are Going.”

“I urge you to NEVER place your loved one in this Assisted Living Facility nor at the one located right next door, which has the same owner, George. The facility is extremely understaffed and we had a HORRIBLE experience at this facility. My mother was there for 10 months and my Father visited her for hours on a daily basis, while I visited her weekly, due to the distance.” You can read Blair’s article here:  Should Assisted Living Communities Manage Their Online Reviews?