Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/02/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Our beloved 7 year old dog was struck by a vehicle a few weeks ago. The accident was traumatic for all involved (our dog, the Good Samaritan who helped us, and our family). He was a big boy and after finally getting help I was able to get him in the back of my car, then followed the Good Samaritan to this hospital. I was in shock and could barely communicate to the staff. After the vets initial exam, she returned to us to say that she could not make a determination about his condition without a CAT scan. She said it would cost nearly $5,000 for treatment. Just from looking at him I could see that his injuries were likely fatal. He couldnt walk, bleeding heavily. I expressed concern about the cost, knowing I couldnt afford the scan she said was necessary. It was impossible to say no in that moment, even though I knew he wasnt going to survive, and he was in a lot of pain. So I had enough credit left on a card and used it. They said it would take 2 hours to get the scan results (it took 6); I was texted a photo of his shaved hind quarters, covered in bruises after the scan, but before the results suggesting his injuries were severe. This unsolicited text alone was so shocking. Scan showed his injuries were massive and I had him put to sleep. I could have made the decision to put him to sleep sooner if the vet only examined him a little more before saying the scan was necessary. Absolutely the worst experience Ive ever had because of the lack of compassionate care. Ive not heard back from them since he died.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/05/2024

  RE: Complaint ID: ********

  I am writing to acknowledge your recent complaint and express our commitment to addressing this concern in a prompt and thorough manner.

  I was able to get in contact with the client today 12/05/2024 and obtained further details regarding their visit and experience.

  After further communication with the client, an investigation on this matter has been opened for further review.

  After investigation has been completed, the client will be contacted for further steps.

  We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and we are committed to resolving this issue.

  Thank you for your cooperation as we work to address this issue.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/17/2024

  Hi ******, 
  
  I spoke with ***** from Alameda East Veterinary's client relations department on December 5th. She took detailed notes during our conversation, and said someone would be back with me within two weeks (at most). I haven't heard back yet. 
  I just left ***** a voicemail. 
  I"d like to reopen the case, unless you think we should give it a few more days. 
  
  Thanks,
  Babette 
  

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/17/2024

  Hello,

  Thank you for your response. I attempted to contact the client and there was no answer. I left a voicemail confirming that the case is actively under review. Additionally, I confirmed that client will receive a call this week from our Medical Director regarding the case review outcome. However, I will reach out to the client if anything changes.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/17/2024

   
  Complaint:: I received a voicemail saying the medical director will call me no later than Thursday. Im really confused as to how to best use this platform; Im not rejecting anything; Im just waiting for a full response.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

  Business Response

  Date: 12/26/2024

  Hello,

   

  Case review has been completed by our ER Medical Director. After further view, a 10% discount has been applied to the visit and refunded to the owner. Please allow 3-5 business days for your refund. Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/06/2025

  Hi ******, 
  I spoke with an upper level manager/ vet last week.
  I cant remember her name. 
  She agreed that the vet that treated my dog acted unprofessionally, but we didnt agree on whether the cat scan was necessary.
  It was another very painful conversation for me about the death of my dog.
  She said she would be contacting someone in billing regarding a partial refund but I havent heard anything since.
  
  Thanks,
  *******
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/17/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had a purchased a Care Package for my Dog ********, it's supposed to cover their vet bills for the first year. Then I was asked if I would like to pre-pay for neutering and for stomach stapling at an additional charge so I figured I would go ahead and get that taken care of, I asked the doctor about this during an appointment, and they said that they don't do that until the dog is 18 months old. They also told me that he was too young to get the microchip that was included with the plan and to wait and it would be done at the same time, I figured I had prepaid for all of this so that would be fine. Months passed and they then tried to charge me another fee for the Care package and it's like $146.00 per month so I said no since I was laid off, I had spoken to ****** the General Manager and she that they would take that off. I also had mentioned to her about the surgery for ******** at the time that I had prepaid and no mention was made about that being a problem. ******** is now around 18 months of age now so I called to find out when we could get the surgery scheduled and I was told that it was part of the original care package that had expired. I told them that I had prepaid for the surgery, and no one called me or anything to get this scheduled and I was told they couldn't do it until he was 18 month of age or older for Bernese Mountain Dogs. I also said when I left a message that they took my money for a service that they didn't deliver, so I paid them for ************ was stealing. I left a message for ****** since she couldn't take my call. I called back on Wednesday of last week she couldn't take the call, and they said that ****** would call me on Friday, now it's the next week & tomorrow is Wednesday, and I still haven't received a call back it would seem that she's dodging the problem. I've paid money for services that were not delivered, that's theft.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/01/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  WE took a chinchilla into the ** on 10/21/23 ( after spending a week trying to schedule an appointment with any exotic vet) - no one could get her in any sooner than 3 weeks out ) to get an infected outer ear checked. After waiting for 4 hours, they prescribed an antibiotic and a painkiller and told us they did not have a vet that could do the surgery I already knew she needed (removal f the entire outer ear). They then sent us on our way without offering any information on vets that could help. They also kept insisting I change her diet and when I said no, they got upset with me. I am a chinchilla breeder who has 20+ years of experience. The feed I give the chinchillas has the exact same formula as the one they recommended but is 1/3 the cost because Purina calls it a rabbit food. They didn't want to listen to me. They got very condescending with me. We took the chinchilla home and I called one of my regular vets to see if they could help. They gave me the name of 2 vets in the area that could. On the 30th, we dropped the chinchilla off for her appointment and tests at an emergency/specialty clinic. A few hours later, we got some of the results back and were about to leave go to talk with the vet when animal control showed up ready to confiscate all of my chinchillas. They told me that Alameda East had reported me for neglecting my animals. The chinchilla I took in was healthy and clean as are all of my animals. There was nothing to indicate neglect and yet they reported me for neglect. Their report to animal control was entirely false. Animal control said everything here was fine and left with a hand shake, a smile and no animals.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/14/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Saturday October 22 2022 we took our very sick cat to Alameda East Veterinary Hospital. A blood panel/blood draw was suggested, which we of course approved. We provided our cats recent health and blood test results from June 2022. In that paperwork the test results indicated he had early stage kidney disease.In Alameda Easts detailed invoice --which took a while to receive, a urinalysis is listed for $137.90. If there had been a discussion regarding doing a urinalysis the morning of 10/22, I would have declined because I already knew he had kidney disease and we felt it was more important to initially do a blood draw to see if that would provide enough information about what was happening with him (less expense and also less hassle for the cat).I have spoken with Alameda Easts customer service who told me to talk to the veterinarian regarding the refund, which I did. The vet told me over the phone that since its written in her notes that a discussion included us approving a urinalysis, she wont refund the money. However, there are several other items in her notes about discussions that allegedly took place that morning including euthanasia which she wouldn't talk to us about even though we tried, and another item from her notes states "Abdomen: Soft, comfortable on palpation"She specifically told us verbally that his abdomen was tense and painful, and we discussed that we didn't know if that was due to a mass or constipation because we were also feeling something the previous couple days.From vet's notes, "Advised to have Poppy seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible and return if no improvement or declines". We took him home because she wouldn't talk about euthanasia and our only recourse that we knew of at that point was to go home and wait until Monday morning when our regular vet opened.I have detailed these incorrect items and a couple of others to her in an email on 12/11 to which she hasnt replied.Invoice **********

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/17/2023

   Regarding complaint number ********, filed 12/14/2022 to Alameda East Veterinary Services in **********, the refund I requested has been received as of today 1/12/2023 and resolution is completed. 

   

  Note, there was a delay due to an incorrect phone number.

   

  Thank you- 

  ************************;

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/01/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Ive had to bring my dog in 3x now to have her staples and sutras removed.1st attempt they missed close to 4 sutras and ALL of her staples (my normal vet caught this, or as they said "VCA is notorious for this lack of attention")2nd attempt (I was kind about it, I understand we all make mistakes), brought her in at 6am (slow time) saw there were 0 procedures / no one else was there. I double checked in asking "shes all good now, no need to come back?" They confirmed Now 3rd attempt, called to explain my dog still has 6 staples in her leg (literally right above where the others were taken out on 2nd attempt, so there is no excuse for this, literally staples above the removed staples which your office assured me were all removed). Their response was for me to find time again for a 3rd UNNECESSARY visit (beyond their GROSS NEGLIGENCE) to bring my dog in to have them removed, and their "solution," was to have me, a non trained amateur "double check," their "doctors," work. This is beyond insulting, that their office encourages amateurs to double check their paid "professional," "doctor's," work. And tells me everything of how this "vet hospital," treats their patients and views their mistskes.The logical and correct solution to this would be to reimburse me for the amount of mistakes made by your "practice," instead of brushing it off and acting as though it's normal to have this level of GROSS NEGLIGENCE.Ill be filing a complaint with the BBB, and the ******** department of regulatory agencies i.e. the ******** *************** within this business week, as this level of GROSS NEGLIGENCE while praying upon pet owners in their moment of distress is disgusting.You're welcome to contact me (as im in your system / have been there 6x now) as your manager confirmed, "the director of the vet hospital," would be contacting me which was over 4 weeks ago.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/29/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They knowingly charged me for services they were never authorized to provide and were not provided. They openly lied about being given consent. They tried to charge my roommate for services that were not provided and then tried to charge me when he refused to pay, claiming they had permission and 'assumed' it was okay. They were lying about the premise, let alone the charge. He told them, on the day in question, 'you'll have to talk to him about that.' and never even tried. How is that consent?They charged me an exorbitant rate for tests so I could take my dogs with me when I move and minutes later told me they couldn't get the results until far to late. Of course, they administered the tests first, so I was stuck paying for absolutely nothing.They intentionally lied to me and defended that lie when called out with, 'well I disagree.'The 'general manager ******' brazenly tried to absolve herself of responsibility only to lie in defense of her coworkers. Her attempt to convince me she had the authority to charge people for services without they're consent, while failing to provide the services in question, didn't land well. I have every intent to pursue legal action in conjunction with this complaint. At this point I can prove fraud and malpractice, and when I confronted them about it the secretary gave me a different name everytime. I don't know who the woman who goes by ******/********/****** is but they seem to be the same person. Is it legal to intentionally lie about your identity to your customers? Is telling someone, 'i don't think you believe what you just said. You'd have to be stupid to think that's true and you don't seem to be stupid' calling them out for lying or is it calling them stupid? I'm pretty sure she knew I was calling her out, and took offense to flee the confrontation rather than defend their behavior.