Veterinary Emergency Service West

Reviews 3

CH

Chip Reese

First, I will mention that I had to take my dog in for an emergency (bloat) and he was treated and is doing fine. However, the low rating is based on the highly deceptive billing practice of this vet. I brought my dog in at 8pm and after he was examined, the vet came back with an estimate sheet of what the service would cost. The sheet provided a comprehensive breakdown of all the costs involved in care and provided a range of low to high. Just to make things easy, the estimate was $1,500 - $1,700. You had to make a deposit on the minimum amount for treatment to be provided. On the right side of sheet, a time is given for the entire stay that the quote is good for, which for me was 1pm the next day. The initial treatment relieved my dog of bloat and turned his stomach back around, but we could have opted for a permanent surgical procedure to prevent this from happening again. Since my dog is very old and there is no way to tell if this condition would happen again, I opted to wait and see. I spoke with my vet, who is excellent, and she was also ok with that course of action. I then called VES back and spoke with a female vet who was working at the time, and she gave me additional information on the surgery. I advised her that after discussing with my vet that I would be holding off on the surgery and would like to pick up my dog. She said the dog was doing very well, there were no problems and to come back at 8pm so they could observe him for 24 hours. I came back to the vet at 8p to pick up my dog and found out that I was being charged an additional $500 from the original deposit. I was told that my estimate did not include the medications and because he had to stay over 12 hours, I was then billed for extended stay at the facility. There was no indication that there would be a charge of this amount on the estimate sheet and if they knew they were going to keep him 24 hours, why wouldnt that be included? I expected to potentially have to pay $1,700 based on the initial range, not $2,000. The vet who I spoke with in the morning was behind the door and made the tech discuss the charges with me. She never bothered to say a word to me when I was questioning why that wouldnt be included in the estimate or why it wasnt mentioned to me in the morning when I called to see when I could pick up my dog (which was before 1pm). In fact, she told the tech that I was confused about the surgical quote she had provided (even though that had nothing to do with extended stay charges) and it was a misunderstanding on my part. I have very little respect for providers that cannot discuss these types of misleading practices with their customers. I would highly recommend finding another emergency vet to take your pets to if you have a choice. If you do not, please be aware that the estimate sheet may not be accurate if there is an extended stay (be sure to ask how long they plan on keeping him/her instead of what they have quoted on the sheet...in my case, the fudging of that time cost an extra $300). As a pet owner, we are going to pay whatever it takes to help our furry family members, but this was really a step too far. Two thumbs down for deceptive billing practices and a vet that could not exhibit professional behavior and discuss it with me.

A

A Private User

If Emergency is at all avoidable, seek treatment elsewhere. If you have to seek treatment at this facility, be prepared to pay $$$ just for an exam. They charge $90 extra if you see them after midnight, beyond the normal exam fee. Isnt that the point of after hour care? I knew going to an after hours animal hospital was going to be expensive, but $465 for a blood draw and euthanasia? The heartbreaking experience of having to choose to put my beloved family dog to "sleep" was devastating for me. I was by myself at 2:00am when I informed the doc of my decision. The Doctor was very good and professional. The Tech who took "care" of the payment and injecting the sedative was awful. I was in visible (puffy red eyes, runny nose, tears) distress and this Tech gave me the 3rd degree about my Care Credit account. She seemed to care more about how I planned on paying than having a heart, to try to be a little more understanding. She even had a very sarcastic response to a standard question. I was frustrated, but didnt say anything at that point. By the time she squared away my payment for services, she took me to another room where I was able to say my goodbye to my dog. From past experiences, the tech administering the euthanasia, usually talked through each step. This particular Tech seemed like she was "busy", she pushed the meds through, without even saying so... Next thing I know, my dog is gone. She takes her stethoscope, listens for a heartbeat.... She says "he is gone, you can leave when your ready" and just walked out. I understand they dont have a connection to the animal, but it seemed so cold and callous. Nichols Vet Clinic in Wayne, went out of their way to be comforting last time I had to put a pet to rest... I hope that if I am ever in this situation again, I can choose to use a different practice. I wouldnt recommend this place based off of my last experience, just 2 days ago.

RA

Rachel Binder

We brought our dog in on a Saturday afternoon, at a time when our primary vet is closed. It turned out that she had an upset stomach, but we were worried that she had bloat based on her symptoms, hence the emergent nature of our visit. The vet and her tech inspected our dog thoroughly, after which the vet said, "Someone will be in shortly to give you a price quote on services", without giving us her opinion on what was going on with her. We never saw the vet again after that. The vet tech returned a few minutes later with a $750 itemized quote, and we had no idea which of the services our dog actually needed. The tech even started talking to us about pet insurance! We asked a lot of questions, and the tech left the room and returned several times in order to get answers. He finally came back and said, "The vet said she will treat her symptomatically". We paid $75 for the office visit and $42 for "injections", which ended up only being Cerenia, a basic anti-vomit medication (expensive Dramamine). In the end, we were grateful that our dog didnt have bloat or a blockage, and that we could get her to a vet quickly. The staff are nice, and I do not envy their job. I bet they help a lot of animals, and save many lives. I know that if we did have a serious emergency, they would be there for us. My only advice is to ask as many questions as possible of the vet while you have face-to-face time with them. Dont pay for services that you dont understand, or dont know why they should be performed. The vet could have saved us (and her tech) a lot of confusion by remaining in the room long enough for us to talk to her directly. I could understand the circumstance if they were busy, but we were the only people there. I am grateful for their services, but can see how other people leave feeling ripped off.