Dear Barb, We thank you for the opportunity to respond publicly. We had trusted that you would be fair with us given the depth of our relationship with your family after caring for both your father and uncle, both of whom rented one bedroom service enriched apartments here at Cherish. We very much enjoyed the relationship with your family, but that doesn't mean that we will waive the cost of damages. We are one of the most affordable senior living communities in Greater Victoria. We are certainly the best value. We provide delicious home-made meals, with 4 food services daily, weekly light housekeeping (30 minutes per week of cleaning time for a one bedroom), weekly linen service - fresh face cloths, hand towels, bath towels, bed sheets and pillow cases changing the bed weekly, 24 hour staffing with a personal emergency alert pendant and 3 minute in-house response time, a very full social calendar that includes two bus trips (on average) per week, two live musical performances weekly and much more. In addition, our fee includes all utilities except for telecom (TV, phone and internet not included*). Sadly, not everyone likes their broccoli cooked the same way; we do our best and have the compliments to prove it! Your father had a 615 square foot suite with two balconies on the top floor of the building, with all of our services in a new, very clean, age-in-place designed building - all for $3,975 per month. How do we offer this tremendous value? Our contract is clear. We are transparent about providing a high quality personalized very comprehensive all-inclusive* package at a great price, but extras such as alcohol, room service, kitty litter box cleaning, daily housekeeping, dog walking, picture hanging, etc., and all damage is billable - all of which is so clear in the contract. My Executive Assistant, personally, went through the contract front to back with you page by page including discussing our sanitization fee, why it exists and what it was (outlined in the contract), plus the expectations around cleaning required when the suite was vacated, which you had the option of doing before we needed to, as per the contract. Not only was the suite spotless when your father moved in, it was fully flat surface 100% sanitized and safe. The suite had been fully painted throughout. Per your email on move-in we noted that the Door Knocker was loose and that was corrected before your father moved in. When we received the suite back, the decks, the windows, sliding door tracks, the tops of the cupboards and behind the fridge had not been cleaned. There were still scuffs and marks on the floors that needed to be cleaned to assess if they were "damage" or just dirt. In total, there was about $450 in damages. Your demands to waive all the costs for cleaning, damage repair and the $250 sanitization fee included in our signed contract are unreasonable. When your father moved out, the suite was not clean or we would NOT have cleaned it - we have lots of other things to do - the cleaning was $119 or $39 per hour with a cleaning records signed by the homemakers that did the cleaning. The $145 paid to repair the damage to the LVP flooring and $337 for the kitchen cupboard damage (3 screw holes in the drawer and some sort of sticky pad adhesive took the finish off the doors under the sink) and are not marked up. We add GST to the total bill we receive when we bill you because only about 6% of our GST is refundable, which is less than the cost of administration. If your father was not responsible for those costs, then that cost would be paid by other Residents or our staff, indirectly - which is not right. We take great pride in being accessible (affordable) to a senior that has owned their own home, has a private pension and CPP/OAS pension. We do not buff the cost of damage into our monthly fees, again, because people that do not damage their suites, such as your uncle, should not be paying for those that do. Everyone was happy with your uncle's move-out. The suite was clean and there was no damage. That is certainly how we like to see them, because defending our affordability and residential environment to people that refuse to be accountable for damages is unpleasant at best. You are correct there are lots of photos, which is why we were able to charge your father for the damage he did. We could use bullet proof flooring and we could use steel plating on doors, like a hospital, and have plastic half way up the walls, but then we would be "institutional" like other places that are not good for people. We take great pride in our residential finishings and environment, which absolutely are "normal" for residential living and are enjoyed by our Residents. "Oh, ooo, you have carpet, etc." From what Greg S'. sister has told us, Lucy very much enjoyed their experience with Cherish. I wish you every success, and will not be waiving the cost of damages. read more

I have held off on writing this review for well over a year now. Mostly because there is so much to say and I felt the need to articulate it perfectly and touch on all of the ways I feel Cherish is taking advantage of vulnerable seniors and their families. My list of complaints is too long to mention everything. Top of the list is Micky thinking the Residential Tenancy Act does not apply to Cherish (it in fact does!) and wrongfully withholding my father-in-law's security deposit. I have a Court Order to enforce a Monetary Order, issued by the RTB, that Micky has ignored and not paid by the due date. False claims were made that Cherish is a 'Healthcare Facility'; it has been proven that Cherish is not licensed as a Healthcare Facility and is subject to the RTA. I was also told I would have to hire professional movers to remove my father-in-law's belongings; this was not in my original contract and was an added unnecessary expense to him. I wish I had done more research before we chose Cherish. My initial observation was a nice looking newer building that appeared to have a lot to offer. Had I looked through the reviews, I would have paid attention to all of the negative ones. My first red flag should have been on our first visit to Cherish. Micky brought up that they had some bad reviews online and gave us an explanation that it was other people in the business trying to tarnish Cherish's reputation...I found it odd that she would mention it during our first meeting, especially since I never mentioned it and hadn't seen the reviews. Cherish has an extremely low rating by past employees on Indeed; this speaks volumes to me. I couldn't believe the staff turnover during our 3.5 years at Cherish. Happy employees don't leave. Seeing two employees in the past, who have been in the media for criminal charges, working with this extremely vulnerable population was very unnerving. I am sure Micky will respond to this review with claims that my dad caused damage to his suite. I am happy to share photos of what she considers damage...such as charging us to replace a complete kitchen cabinet for a chip smaller than the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. After 3.5 years, I consider this normal wear and tear. During my RTB hearing, I was accused of intimidating the staff member who did the walk thru with me. I found this odd considering this staff member confided in me that she had only been working there one week and didn't think she could stay as she found it a very difficult place to work, she also apologized to me for an email I had received from her, she stated "Nicole wrote it and made me send it". I was not impressed that when Cherish served me their evidence for our RTB hearing, they did so after the deadline it was supposed to be served by, and their employee, who has been in the news after being convicted for embezzlement from a charity, showed up at my house at 7:55am and continuously knocked on my door for 20 minutes...I have this recorded on my security cameras. I would also like to know why, during the heat dome, we were not allowed to get a portable air conditioner for the suite? The apartment was stifling hot and, in my opinion, a serious safety issue. Out of all of the families who have successfully won a Monetary Order to have their security deposit returned plus a penalty, we are owed the least amount. The money owed doesn't make up for the stress and time taken off of work for arbitration hearings being stalled by false claims of being a health care facility, filing in court to enforce the monetary order that was ignored, attending the court date, filing again in court when that court order was ignored. But we will continue to follow the court process and will do so until Cherish pays what is owed and they are held accountable for their actions; hopefully this will help protect other seniors and their families in the future. If you or your family member has had a similar experience, please speak up, and please follow through on the RTB and court process. I know it is exhausting, but is essential. read more

We are one of the most affordable senior living communities in Greater Victoria. We are certainly the best value. We provide delicious home-made meals, with 4 food services daily, weekly light housekeeping (30 minutes per week of cleaning time for a one bedroom), weekly linen service - fresh face cloths, hand towels, bath towels, bed sheets and pillow cases changing the bed weekly, 24 hour staffing with a personal emergency alert pendant and 3 minute in-house response time, a very full social calendar that includes two bus trips (on average) per week, two live musical performances weekly and much more. In addition, our fee includes all utilities except for telecom (TV, phone and internet not included*). Sadly, not everyone likes their broccoli cooked the same way; we do our best and have the compliments to prove it! Your father had a 615 square foot suite with two balconies on the top floor of the building, with all of our services in a new, very clean, age-in-place designed building - all for $3975 per month. How do we offer this tremendous value? Our contract is clear. We are transparent about providing a very comprehensive all-inclusive* package at a great price, but extras such as alcohol, room service, kitty litter box cleaning, daily housekeeping, dog walking, etc., and all damage is billable. Your demands to waive all the costs for cleaning, damage repair and the $250 sanitization fee included in our signed contract are unreasonable. When your father moved out, the suite was not clean or we would NOT have cleaned it - we have lots of other things to do - the cleaning was $119 or $39 per hour with a cleaning records signed by the homemakers that did the cleaning. The $145 paid to repair the damage to the flooring and $337 for the kitchen cupboards are not marked up. If your father was not responsible for those costs, then that cost would be paid by other Residents or our staff, indirectly - which is not right. We do not buff the cost of damage into our monthly fees, again, because people that do not damage their suites, such as your uncle, should not be paying for those that do. Everyone was happy with your uncle's move-out. The suite was clean and there was no damage. That is certainly how we like to see them, because defending our affordability and residential environment to people that refuse to be accountable for damages is unpleasant at best. You are correct there are lots of photos, which is why we were able to charge your father for the damage he did. We could use bullet proof flooring and we could use steel plating on doors, like a hospital, and have plastic half way up the walls, but then we would be "institutional" like other places that are not good for people. We take great pride in our residential finishing and environment, which absolutely are "normal" for residential living and are enjoyed by our Residents. "Oh, ooo, you have carpet, etc." read more

There has been a flurry of reviews on google in the last 24 hours. People either loving or hating Cherish at Central Park. Cherish is operating a business in British Columbia. There are laws to protect the citizens of B.C. Cherish is making things up as they go along. I was very disturbed today to hear that they are now considering a rent/service contract. Thing is. We live in British Columbia Canada. B.C. has laws to protect people's rights Even seniors. read more

July 4, 2024 Seniors Advocate report July 5, 2024 Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist reports on Seniors July 9 Global did a report on Cherish not returning deposits July 11 Chek TV did a report on Cherish not returning deposits and pulled cherish ads July 12 Black Press ran story in Cherish province wide July 17 Goldstream Gazette front page story on Cherish- and they pulled cherish ads look at the documents and you decide read more