Business ProfileforHarrisonburg Veterinary Emergency Clinic

If there was the option to rate this sham clinic ZERO stars, I would. They use your fear to take advantage of you and charge outrageous amounts of money. You have to sign papers agreeing to the "approximate charges" before they will even see your pet. My dog was throwing up in my arms and they wouldn't even acknowledge him until I signed the payment agreement. This was at 1:00 a.m. and I had nowhere else to go. After I signed that, then they ran the credit card and took my drivers license -- still having not acknowledged my puking dog or even asking what was wrong with him! Once I was led to a room with my dog to wait for the "vet" to come in, I noticed flyers taped up in multiple places in the tiny exam room about payment is expected up front. clearly this is all they care about. Then a tech came in and I explained to him what was wrong with my dog (reaction to a tick bite and he was very ill). He still didn't acknowledge my dog or express any kind of concern. Instead, had me sign a bunch of legal waivers and then left the room. Came back with ANOTHER several page estimate of charges just to have the vet see my dog and run some tests; made me sign that. THEN the quack of a vet came in, wearing a filthy lab coat - and didn't even ask what was wrong, flipped through some papers, didn't look at my dog, didn't touch him, greet him, NOTHING. Said they needed to run some tests and that my dog would need to spend the night and have IV fluids and medications, and that I needed to pick him up no later than 8:00 a.m. the next day. I asked if I should at least wait while they ran the labs and they told me no. Brought back ANOTHER estimate of charges now that my dog was going to be spending the night. It was well over $2000. I couldn't believe it, but I was so afraid that my dog was going to die that I would have agreed to anything. And that is my point -- they feed on your fear, knowing you will agree to anything if it means your beloved pet will be helped. I left there feeling dirty/guilty/sick about leaving my dog in their care but I had nowhere else to take him. Meanwhile, the whole time I was there I could hear other animals whining and crying. The next morning I went to pick my dog up. They said all tests came back "normal," but they had to run a lot more tests than expected and the bill was even more than what I had signed off on the night before, plus they told me he needed several medications that they were going to conveniently "sell" me. I felt ROBBED. I picked my poor dog up who looked completely traumatized. They handed me the list of all the labs they ran and the medications that I just bought and told me to take my dog to his regular vet for follow up. When I called them and told them I took him to an emergency clinic they said "please tell me it wasn't Harrisonburg Veterinary Emergency Clinic." My heart sank. Fortunately my dog got over whatever illness he had. But it took at least 5 days for him to get over whatever trauma he experienced at that hellhole. I still feel guilty for not running out of there before they even laid a finger on my dog. These people are crooks and are running a total scam. On my way out I noticed that the "vet" had his Realtor cards all over the place. So he's a vet AND a Realtor (and by the way, he had Realty spelled as Reality on his cards... OMG). AVOID THIS PLACE. Drive your sick animal to Charlottesville or Verona or wherever you can find. But do NOT go to this place.