Chances Gives Choices, Carole Anne House & Richard Alan House Romsey

Reviews

1. James Morgan ★★★★★

   As recommended by the family court/ CAFCASS, I have attended the contact centre in Romsey for the last year for visitation with our child. I only have good things to say about Chances Gives Choices and they have helped us when we were in desperate need. The staff are wonderful people and are very welcoming, they are very supportive, understanding and our child felt comfortable being there. Thank you Claire and the rest of the team for Chances Gives Choices.

   1 year ago
2. Ryan Bolland ★★★★★

   I have had contacts with CGC in the Basingstoke centre, I was a bit nervous to start but the staff at the centre have been amazing with both me and my daughter. Give advice and are very supportive as I am a first time parent. My daughter responds so well to the team that come on our contacts. Overall its been an amazing service and would reccomend them to anyone needing their services.

   1 year ago
3. Vegan Guy ★★★★★

   I usually attend on Sundays and at first I was nervous, but the staff really helped me settle in almost straight away. Paula is extremely professional and helpful, and always remains child focused no matter what the situation. Big thank you to her! Highly recommend this Centre if you are looking.

   almost 2 years ago

1. David Beeden ★☆☆☆☆

   I previously wrote a review but felt it needed an update. I used the Romsey contact centre for approx four years and to be honest those four years spent seeing my daughter there were precious yet very, very painful. To start with communication was completely awful, ranging from chasing staff for contact, chasing staff for reports, obtaining photographs taken at the session and just communication in general. The next thing was the attitude of a certain staff member the day after my Grandmother had died even though I'd already let them know what had happened- her attitude was disgusting, though I believe this was dealt with. I always got the impression there was a high turnover in staff either due to pay or the stress of the job, after reading a review made by a previous employee it seems I'm correct. It also seems that my thought of they were never really interested unless it was to take payment was also correct. I've recieved many emails almost threatening my session will be cancelled unless I pay by a certain time only to find out the payment link was never sent or for some reason the email has gone to spam even though other emails go to your inbox. For somebody like myself who had to use the centre for such along time and paid on time, every time you would have thought they would have realised that if payment wasn't made there may be a genuine reason as to why and a simple phone call may have resolved it. There was also constant issues of cleanliness throughout the centre. I have a daughter with serious allergies. Toys were always sticky, furniture and carpets were always dirty, dog faeces in the back yard- which to be fair kids never went in anyway. My daughter is allergic to pet dander yet people were bringing their dogs into the building- again had to pull them up on it. Some staff members were clueless as to who you were or what times your sessions were- nobody communicated with anybody, some days were chaos. You could turn up for your session for staff to ask stupid questions. The amount of times I had a staff member try to sit in on my session only for me to put them right and say no, it's supported not supervised. I felt that due to having constantly different staff members dealing with you or "your case" there was no consistency to your reports or no relationship built up to understand your specific requirements. The centres, the management and the owners have alot of rough edges to smooth out ranging from staff turnaround, communication, cleanliness, how to speak to people and sometimes biased reports. When I say "biased reports", what I noticed alot of was any concern or comment the other party made was always written in the report yet alot of what I brought up was left out- which concerned me as the Applicant Father. There were some good memories made, there was also the odd staff member that were very good and understood your needs and would do everything to try and help but this got outweighed by everything else that went on. I'm guessing the staff members I felt were good at the job they did have since moved on. I give credit where it is due, I'm a fair man but I have to say after reading other people's reviews and talking to other parents that have used the centre I know what I say is true. Considering the centre is recommended by cafcass and the family courts I'm shocked the procedures and way things are done have been allowed to continue. On a positive note, the staff did come to terms with the fact that I never actually needed to use the centre and ideally wanted me to continue my relationship with my daughter in a normal manner. They made this clear enough times to the courts and after a while did actually leave me alone to have my sessions with my daughter with very little interaction from them. For that I thank them very much for. It's been around 7 months since I used the centre and I hope for people that are currently using it that things have changed.

   almost 2 years ago
2. waighty81 ★☆☆☆☆

   This service is abominable. Although they wrote good reports. Only one staff member was strong enough to deal with my situation. They refused to give money back claiming their policies had recently changed. They also cancelled a session due to staff sickness, only notifying me by email which I didn't receive. I lost time too on a session because they were understaffed and while they gave me money back for that, there was no understanding of the magnitude of the precious little time I had with my daughters. If you'd like to see evidence then please contact me.

   almost 2 years ago
3. Alexandra W ★☆☆☆☆

   Very unprofessional place, Mrs Karha can't do her job, she doesn't know how to talk to a child, that's why it was best to say that the child doesn't want to see dad, the lady manager was very rude. Their only concern is receiving their payment. I definitely do not recommend !!!

   almost 3 years ago

1. Amber Keep ★☆☆☆☆

   Absolutely appalling service. Their only concern is receiving their payment. The reports they produce contain blatant lies and leave out important details that might potentially make the center look bad. Terribly organised. Rude staff. Raised a complaint and still didn't see any improvement in the service. In fact, it got worse and my daughter left the last session in tears. It's disgraceful that they're even allowed to run the service like this when it can have such a big impact in the family courts. Avoid at all costs.

   almost 4 years ago
2. Jenni Dawson ★★★☆☆

   Communication is my main reason for a lower rating. I feel as the contact centre for many is the main source of communication between parents there needs to be better understanding of this for the team working in the alderbury centre. A very important piece of information wasn't passed on to me via the team and therefore was not able to use in my hearing! In fact I found out a day after when I emailed. The staff are friendly, the place has a lot of potential and it was adequate for what we needed for the time we used it.

   almost 5 years ago
3. Chris Moran ★★★★★

   I have been using this service since October last year for unfortunate reasons, but they have been very supportive on getting contact sorted. I have been using the Southsea option, the only issue with this option is that it isn't one of their actual centres so booking a room can sometimes be awkward due to the village hall already having prior bookings. Sometimes I have had to push the communication from the office but I understand that it is a busy environment just maybe they could review some procedures. Thankfully this year the chances give choices managed to arrange dates for every weekend and set times to give stability for my child. Soon we are back in court and it looks like it will be time to move on from the centre. I would like to mention Claire V and Cheryl they have been on the majority of my contact session and they have been fantastic, making me feel so relaxed and my child has grown to trust and likes then alot. This had made this awkward situation much easier. Thank you girls you have been fantastic!

   more 6 years ago

1. CIARA WORTLEY ★★★★★

   I have been having contact with my daughter at the centre in Romsey for some time now, in fact far longer than I have wanted or anticipated. However, ALL the staff there are fantastic, supportive and understanding. My daughter thinks all the girls are lovely too, which says a lot about her experience of contact at the centre. She is particularly fond of Cheryl (she is awesome) :0) They are accommodating when I bring my son with me and try to make the experience of contact as natural as it possibly can be in such a situation. :0)

   more 6 years ago

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