Russell Creek Pet Clinic

Reviews 3

SA

Salty but honest

As a former employee and someone who has been a veterinary technician for almost 12 years, Im disappointed in myself for not seeing this job for what it was... a mirage. Sure, its a beautiful clinic and in a great location but the quality of care your pet receives behind closed doors is frightening, to say the least. Here are somethings you should know. I was literally coached to "pounce" (yes that is the exact word used) and push people into completely unnecessary treatments and products. They do not want to give you an estimate. Because they dont want you to see your options. So, you wont be able to say lets do this and this, instead of this. They dont want you to have a choice. They corner and pressure you. Which ultimately leads to them making a lot more money because they take advantage of the fact that you love your animal.The loyal people that continuously go to the clinic are known by name, by the staff .Which I think is fantastic. What those poor people dont know is they are being charged more than another patients same exact bill because theres awareness that they have money and they wont question cost. If you happened to have read another review on here, regarding the medication name change on the bottle to prevent you from knowing what the actual name of it is. Thats 100X true. Even Medications that come in their own bottle are removed and put into a empty white bottle with our prescription sticker on it with the name being something you couldnt look up online and realize youre paying so much more for. When you call for an estimate. You get A roundabout answer. For instance, you want your cat declawed, they quote you for the declaw but fail to mention theres an additional $100 cost for pain medication among other things... because whos going to say no to having pain medication for their cat after surgery. I have never worked for a clinic that when a patient comes into to get its ear, eye and or skin checked and walk out with at LEAST a $300-$400 bill. The minute that they find out that someone is concerned financially... your pet is no longer a priority . I understand that its a business but what I cant get past is the fact that there is no empathy. I question the sterility for hospitalized/ surgical patients. You pay $80 for fluids that have been used by multiple patients and the line isnt changed or protected. Its very unsanitary. Plus, They state that your pet is put into ICU to "recover" but that is untrue they are placed in a cage and not monitored properly. Barely looked at in fact. No vitals checked, no heating blanket and no one to sit and comfort them waking up while they thrash in their cage after a pretty traumatic procedure. pretty much every time $200 X-rays are suggested/ performed they fail to tell you its going to be an additional cost to send off to a radiologist. Even while working there I took my pets elsewhere. another sneaky thing that happens is are injections. Youre paying around $60 for lets say a pain injection but also getting the same medication in pill form. Youre told it "works faster" which is untrue. If your pet would just be given the pill in the room, it would take roughly the same amount of time. (Unless the injection is given intravenously) Daycare... is a joke. Those poor dogs are locked up in cages more than they are outside "playing" in a baby pool they look so overheated. There was an outbreak of round worms and hookworms within the daycare program but no owner was notified and the yard was never treated. But hey, they send you pictures during the good times. Like I said previously, its a mirage. Full of deception.Last, but certainly not least. This facility has absolutely no structure and no discipline. Its a free for all. Young untrained kids are basically practicing on your baby because they dont want to pay for a better trained staff. I dont know about you but that ultimately impacts patient care. So, my point here is this.. Patient care is not a priority, money is. Now, that IS real TANGENT. - Best wishes

GR

Grant Hagins

We took our dog there for several years who suffered from allergies. The quality of care was good, but we have since switched to another vet who charges half the price for most things- even for identical medication. Most people have to balance financial obligations for their pets with taking care of children, putting their kids through college, etc. If when it comes to your pet money is no object, then this vet might be the best choice. There is equivalent quality care and better value for the money however. As an example, our dog is on apoquel for Allergies. This practice prescribed Apoquel, but changed the brand name to something different to mask the medication that was being used. We now get the same medication for roughly half the price and there is absolutely no difference. If you are price sensitive at all due to balancing competing obligations, it is worth investigating other vets. This vet is the Nieman Marcus of Healthcare- good quality, but if you shop around, there are better alternatives that still provide quality care. The review that was given by a former employee, even though she was not there for an extended period of time, also triggered us to investigate other options. Our dogs allergies have since improved dramatically as a result of changing the food our dog receives- even in the absence of testing as a result of our own research. I wish the practice well, but people need to know that they are charging higher prices- when prices are a result of better value- thats fine- but not as a result of ignorance of alternatives. I pressed the staff several times on costs- they never acknowledged that they charge substantially more than other vets. If they had been open about that, and suggested we seek care elsewhere, I wouldnt have had to write the review. At least most people realize when they shop at Neimans they are paying a premium, in this case- i think there are people who generally do not understand the premium pricing they are paying relative to other options of equivalent quality that are available. I dont fault the Dr. for running his practice as a highly profitable business- but when customers press you on price many times, they should be transparent that they are more expensive than most and encourage you to seek other options. After spending thousands of dollars with this vet, the front office staff also did not want to print out our records for us because that "costs money"- which I thought was a bit of an irony. I am truly grateful to the former employee for putting herself at risk in writing her review, which caused us to investigate other options.

JE

Jessica Davis

As a former employee of the clinic, I can report that yes, this is a clean facility and they are organized for the most part. The techs were always nice to the customers. However the owner of the company constantly talked about taking x-rays, scans, and doing dentals even if they werent truly necessary just so that he could charge the customer. They maximize on nickle-n-diming and way overcharging their customers for the work. Dr. Greenwell is in it for the money not for the love of pets. Even as an employee I wasnt offered any kind of discount and basically was told that it would be frowned upon if I took my pet anywhere else since I worked there. I still took my pets to another vet. I was let go at 7 months pregnant, and on top of that just so he wouldnt have an unemployment hit to his insurance, he lied and said I had been fired. You would be better off taking your pet somewhere better than this business. They overcharge and under-care for your pet and the service.