When I first heard of this senior living home I thought, 'Wow, this place sounds too good to be true! For the price of $2040 a month my grandmother will have a hotel size room, AC, heater, no electric/water bill, cable, vacuuming/laundry done once a week, 3 square meals a day and transportation to and from dialysis! Amazing!' My grandmother and I met with a very sweet sales agent, Jessica Goings in early September. We went over all that Atria of Covina had to offer and my grandmother showed interest, until Jessica said the only room available was upstairs... and the only way to see that room on that particular day was to use the stairs because their ONE elevator was inoperable for maintenance.
As we were leaving, Jessica asked if we would like to stay and have a free dinner prepared by Atria's cooks. We agreed. My grandmother ordered the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and I ordered fish accompanied by soggy veggies. The food was Luke warm and something you'd find sitting out in a warming pan at Home Town Buffet. -We all know how far Home Town Buffet has fallen in quality within the past decade. While we're sitting down Jessica brought a seasoned patriot of Atria, Beni, to speak to my grandmother. She spun this idea that the second floor was so much better than the ground floor because the view, lack of noise, library and the recreational room where the residents took part in bingo and such. What really caught my grandmother's ear was when Beni said families can join the residents for any meal free of charge. With the exception of large events when more expensive food is being ordered, such as prim rib, during Christmas. This costs anywhere between $8-$15 per visitor.
My grandmother was sold by the time they brought out the cold apple cobbler. So much in fact that my grandmother had me write a $500 check to hold and use as a deposit on the room. We set up an appointment that following Monday to sit down with the manager Samuel Guzman to go over and sign paper work to make the move in official. Sam was a nice gentlemen and wooed my grandmother by "waving" a $2000 fee and allowing her to move in her furniture a week before her move in date, October 1st.
Everything seemed great until my brother and I tried moving our grandmother's belongings September 25th. When we got up to her soon-to-be-room, it was fully furnished as a Model Room! Now if my grandmother got the last available room why was it setup as a Model Room? Especially if we had an arrangement to move in furniture a week before the move in date! That was so annoying for the because it seems to me that the Atria team had lied to my grandmother to make it seem like she was lucky and quick enough to grab this GREAT DEAL on this LAST available room! Yes, people move in and out but what are the chances?
Okay, so I move in my grandmother October 1st and the next day I see her she tells me "I have to pay $5 per visitor that wants to eat with me. They bill me at the end of the month." It would have been okay if Atria's staff was upfront about this before hand, instead of telling my grandmother things to draw her in. My grandmother has been a dialysis patient for over 10 years now and that is her life line. Atria has a bus that takes it's residents to and from appointments and one of Atria's staff told my grandmother they couldn't take her. She calls me and I agree to take her. She calls me later to tell me that they can pick her up but I would have to drop her off. Annoyed, I agree. My grandmother calls me back a third time to tell me they can't take her at all because they have to do maintenance on the bus to fix bad breaks. Why bother telling my grandmother you'll take her if thirty minutes later you're going to replace the faulty breaks on your corporate vehicle? Seriously.
Aside from what I've written above my grandmother's food is either cold or dry. I understand this is a senior living home but these people still have taste buds! A little more effort in improving the quality of your food wouldn't hurt. As for the staff, they are very kind and always have a welcoming smile on their faces. Regardless of the wonderful smiling faces I'm looking into another place for my grandmother to live. My grandmother deserves better than to be treated like the forgotten on Lost Island. Hopefully things improve within this month. Thanks for reading. read more