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:10/13/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Took my baby in as my vet was already closed she just got spayed 1130/12 that day by 8pm she was gushing with blood everywhere. Everything was great. I walked in. They took her right out of my arms as she was gushing out blood and then here comes the nightmares of every mother babies. We think shes bleeding internally we think shes starting to clot. We cant tell where shes bleeding from. We could put her in ICU overnight but if her numbers go down, were gonna have to do emergency surgery. Sounds all good and ***** until they hit you with that $8800 deposit just for them to stay not even knowing they are doing the surgery. When I denied all care that I wanted my baby back it went from 8800-11000 to ******. They did not give her the treatment that they told me they were giving her. They refused to send me her discharge papers and a radiology report. They never found out where she was bleeding from so that shows that they did not do an abdominal ultrasound. They did not give her any pain medicine, but they did proceeded to put staples in her stomach completely awake.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/07/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Guardian Veterinary Specialists, LLC regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************
  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/23/2024

  Unfortunately, many people receive services and do not honor their invoices. It is common practice for specialty and emergency hospitals to produce estimates prior to any procedures in order to prevent this. It is incredibly expensive to run an emergency and specialty hospital as vast as ours (and our prices are comparable to any in the area), and it is only fair that our hard-working and well-deserving staff receive the wages that they deserve. There are of course many other variables that play into our prices, such as the ability to purchase state-of-the-art equipment, the convenience of being open 24/7/365, and oftentimes exorbitant overhead costs. Any portion of the estimate payment that is not utilized is of course returned to the client. 

  
  

  As for the treatment the patient received - the doctor on duty was new to out hospital at the time and didn't fully understand how to charge correctly for services rendered. Therefore, although she did not charge for several things, they indeed were done - including a quick abdominal ultrasound (no radiology report required as was easily read by the doctor - no free blood in the abdomen, thus thankfully not requiring surgery), pain medication, and blood pressure readings. Discharge papers were written up, but we are not sure why you did not receive them.

  
  

  As an (important) aside, this client was contacted via email on 10/13/23, the same day the initial BBB complaint was filed, despite the fact that they claim they were never contacted. After this, the only communications were from their side and consisted of foul language, threats of lawsuits, and a visit to the hospital with police in tow.

  _________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/11/2023

  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.

  I brought my dog to Guardian 5/7/23 because she was ill *************** treated her and did some test.She prescribe medication for her and took her home by Monday morning she was vomiting.I call ******** on monday at 630 am nobody could help and was told the DR would call me back.They replied to me 8PM that day. My vet suggested to take her to another animal hospital so i took her to Newtown where than run more test and was diagnosed with PLE she was put on a special diet.Try to contact Guardian with my concerns there's nobody to speak to they keep on saying someone will get back to you.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/28/2023

  Here is our response to *** **********'s complaint:
  
  ****'s bloodwork was normal at GVE with the exception of a slightly elevated kidney value. As time progressed (one week), according to ACE's records which we have obtained, the bloodwork started to show additional abnormalities, some of which were exceptionally high and concerning. For ****'s sake, we are happy that *** ********** sought additional care and diagnostics at ACE to determine ****'s underlying issues as they worsened. However, there would be no way for us to know that the blood values would change so significantly - thus it would have been impossible for us to have made a diagnosis of PLE.
  
  As for the complaint that a doctor did not call *** ********** back when **** was having episodes of vomiting, he did state that you received a call back that evening. In the interim, *** ********** could have brought **** back in for further evaluation (free of ER fee). In addition, *** ********** was contacted on 5/8 (the day after his visit to GVS) and 5/10 to follow up and see how **** was doing. Both times a message was left and the calls were never returned.
  
  In light of this, we will not be refunding *** ********** the cost of his visit at GVS. 
  **** ****** *** ******** ** ******* ******** ** ********* ******** ******** ********** *********** * ************ ******* ********* ** ***** ***** ******** *** *********** ********* ** **** ************* **** *** ****** *** ******* *********** **** ** ********** ****** ************* ** ** ******** ****** *** *** ** *** ********* *** ****** ********** ** ******* *** ** *** *** *** *** ********** *** *** ****** ******** **** *** *********** ******** ************ ** ****** ****** ** ******** ** *** ******** ** **** *********** ** ******** ********** *** *** ** ********* ** *** **** ******** **** ************* ** ****** ****** ****** ** ************ **** ***** *** **** ******* *** ******* *** ******* *** *** **** **** ************* **********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/05/2022

  Type:Billing 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.

  Today 7/28 aprox 11pm , went to vet with 6 years old dog pregnant *** 60 days. Not sure if she needed assistance for birth of puppies, I was told puppy maybe stuck in canal and would need a c section possibly. Then was told it would cost $10,000 with $8000 deposit. When the average cost in ******** is $500-4000. And if I didnt come up with $8000 non negotiable. They would let my dog die. I scrambled for over and hour trying to locate payment on deposit. They would not touch her. Through my tears I struggled. Im lost for words. I hope she survives. Shame on this veterinary business. On top of suffering to charge 2 1/2 times the average top cost of this procedure,I hope my family pet survives today.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/23/2024

  We had spoken with a representative at the ********** of the Professions regarding this case, and was advised to contact the owner directly, which we did. Unfortunately, Guardian Veterinary Specialists is a 24/7/365 specialty and emergency hospital. We offer the convenience of seeing any patient in need, especially those that can't be seen by their primary vet, at any hour of the day. We house many pieces of state-of-the-art equipment, have a very talented staff that deserves a solid living wage, we have huge overhead - many things on a grand scale that general practices do not have. Our prices are on par with all other specialty and emergency hospitals in the area. In the end, the final invoice came to $4200, and the patient made it home safely. Rest assured that no patient comes to us in dire need gets turned away. Yes - funds are required up front because too many people will refuse to pay their invoice, but we offer certain types of payment plans to help with this. If this was not conveyed to the owner, this is our shortcoming. But we always offer gold-standard care first, and if the client has financial constraints, then we adjust in order to come up with a solution that works for the patient and for us.