City of Angels Veterinary Specialty Center

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

If the experience wasnt so hellish their very name is almost laugh-out-loud funny. This place is more like a City of Demons rather than Angels. My fifteen year old cat was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcomas that came back after a rather expensive surgery so my vet referred me to this place. Since there is no cure, while there, I explained that I was primarily concerned about keeping her comfortable due to her age to which I was told "cats can live up to 26!" I was taken aback by this and said Id never heard of such. That should have been my first clue. This place was a nightmare. My free consultation ended up costing $2000. They gave my cat experimental dog medication not yet tested at all on cats. They changed the treatment plan on my third visit even though we agreed to try one chemo drug for six weeks before moving on/adding another. They tried to charge me twice for one service by mistake -- which would have cost me an extra $1000 had I not put a stop-payment on my check. (I ended up paying for my initial visit with a credit card after writing a check and failed to get the check back. Good thing I put a stop payment on it! They claimed it was an error -- even though it was two weeks later). Finally, after I deigned to complain and told them I was not coming back, they had their Human Resources Administrator/Practice Manager person "Ethel" give me a call. She was not happy about my decision and became loud, irate and argumentative. I got off the phone in the midst of her tirade. We had just lost our other cat a few weeks before after a long battle with diabetes, so I was not in the mood to get screamed at by some crazy woman on the phone about a place where I had just spent nearly $5000. Later, she had an even more volatile conversation with my roommate. We felt like we were dealing with greedy con artists instead of pet care professionals and my cats condition rapidly worsened. This place takes advantage of people who are trying their best to provide care for pets dealing with cancer. Our pets lives are too important to trust in the care of this facility. Ive since spoken to a number of people who have had similar experiences here. Had I done my own research first, I never would have chosen this place. Fortunately, I am now with a much better vet and my cat seems to be doing OK.

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GG

Gg Verone

I went to this hospital with a critically sick dog. I was told I should put her down but I refused. I was called later be told that she was doing well. I went to see her and she was up and doing fine. Dr. Cole was caring for her and he is wonderful. She was there 2 days and the bill was $4000+. When I got home I noticed she was limping so I took her back in as she was just fine before the heart emergency. I was told it was a soft tissue damage. Later I was concerned that I might not have enough meds as I had ordered them and they were being shipped. I went in to buy 2 pills and was told one was $19 and the other was $9.00. I chose not to take them. Accidentally, her doctor saw us and came to see her. We chatted, he petted her and looked her over and we left. Two months later I got a bill marked past due for $114.00. I called and was told I was being charged for the meds I didnt take and a doctors examination that I didnt have. I can only say that I am deeply disappointed. The prices that they charge are outrageous! When your dog is in crisis they have you by the throat. That is bad enough but when they deliberately charge for services and meds not rendered its disgusting. I wrote to Dr. Miller who owns the operation and he ignored me. All I can say is Dr. Cole is a wonderful doctor but the facility is a money gouging ripoff. If you go there be prepared to pay thousands! Remember I was told to put her down and had I listened she would now be dead. That was November! Shes doing just fine! BE CAREFUL!!! The help are all wonderful and the facility is clean but their billing is over the top. Frankly all critical care centers are ripoffs but if you can afford it, this is as good as any. However, be prepared to pay for anything they choose to charge you for whether or not you had the services.

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SH

Shelly M

3 reviews 1.0 star rating 7/23/2016 If I can prevent even one person from going to this hospital and experiencing what I recently did, I will be proud. Our beloved dog went in for a biopsy and came thru it well, we were sent pictures of him sitting up and he was able to walk. During his overnight stay he started to go lethargic which turned into a week long life and death ordeal. He suddenly had issues that hed never experienced before walking thru their doors, things that had been completely checked out prior to his biopsy and did not exist. Branter was his doctor and she was simply too busy to focus on our urgent situation. After 6 days in hospital, they got him back on his feet and sent him home, but that only lasted a week when he started bleeding in his gastrointestinal tract and was rushed back to the hospital. Branter was there and sent us an email which essentially said that she shouldve had him on the medication to stop this from happening but they can fix the problem with treatment...12 hours later he was in cardiac arrest and passed away. The original condition my dog had was NOT immediately life threatening in any way, it was something that couldve been managed with diet and medication. He died from the treatments they did to fix the bleeding that wouldve never happened if he was on the proper medication. This is 100% veterinarian error in my opinion. The fact that he went from a happy dog, walking twice a day and showing no outward symptoms, to dead in just two weeks is unforgivable and devastating. I sincerely hope our story will deter others from risking their animals health at this hospital

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PH

Philip Parolisi

Its been a long hard, painful and frightening road for my boy Lamont and myself. I put all my faith and trust in Access hospital and I am very grateful for their efforts, but mistakes were made, something obvious, very basic overlooked. Owning up to this seems to go against the corporate structure of this hospital and medicine in general. $7000, no diagnosis, no treatment,idiopathic, the term doctors use when they just dont know. Sent on my way with no hope and $7000 poorer. So it was up to me and me alone to try and save my boys life. Sometimes you must stand up even if things wont work out the way we hope they will. Hopefully my boy is on a slow road to recovery after weeks of worry and research and also due to the intervention of other medical professionals . Lets pray. One last word to the administrative offices of this hospital not to the doctors they were kind and caring but human. " How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." Wayne Dyer Dear friends and animal lovers, the hospital and this hospital is not a mom and pop operation. It is a huge cooperation with five or six hospitals throughout Southern California. It has blocked me from posting this on their website . Please help me and copy this and post it on their website or your page or whatever. Please post. I will not go quietly into the night on this one. Thanks so much one and all. Access animal specialty hospital in Culver City

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