Complaint Review: AM PM Animal Hospital

8/23/13

I took my poor baby here twice. Little did I know that the first vet my cat saw made a mistake that caused the second visit and caused him to be put to sleep at that time.  The first vet Dr. Renner perforated my cats bladder when I took him in for a very common urinary blockage. Dr. Renner mentioned that she had had "trouble" unblocking him at the time i didnt realize she had just mortally wounded my baby. She sent us home and the staff reassured me that it was totally fine that he was just constantly leaking urine. Five days later no pee again so I took him back to an absolute angel of a vet Dr. Newth. She obviously really cared about getting my little guy back into good health and went out of her way to try to make that happen, but she could not correct the damage her colleague had inflicted on my baby and my cat was put to sleep.

I got phone calls the next day so the hospital could credit my card more than $900. I thought at the time that they were taking accountability for the death of my boy (as they should)  and refunding me for the visit that caused it. I  was later told that it was a mistake and I was only owed $188 because the total invoice was less than they originally anticipated....so great they made both medical and billing mistakes. That's exactly what I look for in a vet.

I understand that mistakes happen and I would have maxed out all of my cards to save my boy, but to have him die as a result of their mistake and to be stuck being reminded of it every time I pay my enormous credit card bill just isn't right.

8/30/13

Marjorie the office supervisor contacted me and asked me to change my review On yelp. She thought I was "confused" about the vets. Didn't want Dr. Renner to be blamed for something she didn't do. It'd been almost two weeks since I lost my baby. My heart was just beginning to heal despite the fact that I was still waiting on his ashes to come home. Here comes Marjorie concerned not about the mistake made by her staff but about her yelp score. She stirred up all the feelings that were just beginning to settle I cried for hours after i got off the phone with that woman.

Yes Marjorie even after speaking with you I still place blame on Dr. Renner. You cannot blame Dr. Newth for trying to clean up the mess made by Dr. Renner. Your staff had multiple opportunities to help my boy and failed repeatedly. Dr. Renner could have done as Dr. Newth had done and leveled with me that he really needed to stay in the hospital to get better. Dr. Renner could have helped me prioritize the items on the invoice so it could've fit within my credit limit. I was only a few hundred dollars away from being able to afford it. Something that Dr. Newth easily worked around. Dr. Renner may not have put in in his chart but she told me she had trouble and why would she not see fit to perform imaging studies to check what kind of damage she had just done to my babies internal organs? (Something i could have easily afforded if it was needed) Why did she not give me any aftercare information? I noticed other yelpers had the same problem with lack of information given. Why did your office staff not consult a vet when I called and said he was constantly leaking urine.....I bet they probably didn't even bother to document that call.

I didn't post a review immediately because your staff said I was receiving more that a $900 refund. While my baby meant a lot more than that money does it was a very small comfort that the clinic was accepting responsibility that a mistake was made and not leaving me both with an enormous debt and with a small box of ashes of what used to be my baby boy.  Fact is I paid your negligent office almost two grand to  kill my baby and I was refunded only $188 because he didn't stay overnight. I'd like to feel differently. I understand that everyone makes mistakes, but its easier to accept a mistake when it's admitted and some effort is made to make up for it. Although Marjorie admitted a mistake was made she just wanted to argue over who made the mistake and made no effort to "make it right". I will take every opportunity I have to tell people what kind of business this is and since I fill pet prescriptions as a pharmacy tech down the street at walgreens I expect I'll have plenty of opportunities to do so.