My name is Heather Chadbourne and I was a client of East Brook and found the vets there to be very caring and competent. The vets are wonderful, the other staff at East Brook was a whole other story. ... Read More
My name is Heather Chadbourne and I was a client of East Brook and found the vets there to be very caring and competent. The vets are wonderful, the other staff at East Brook was a whole other story.
My cat has digestive problems and had very bad diarrhea. I took her to see a vet at East Brook. When I got home, I realized they had forgotten to give me the medication to stop my cat's diarrhea. I called them but they were closed.
I have worked in jobs where I had to deal with the public and I have also worked in administrative jobs where I had to speak to people on the phone. I know that it can be difficult at times, so I go out of my way to be kind to people who do these jobs.
I called them at 9am to tell them I forgot to get the medication and asked if I could pick it up. They said they would call back in an hour when it was ready. Two hours later, no call. I called back and talked to a second receptionist. She had no idea what I was talking about, so I had to explain things all over again. It was frustrating, but mistakes happen, right? I explained myself again. They said they would call back in an hour when the medication was ready. Two hours went by with no call.
I called again. I talked to a third person. She also had no idea what I was talking about. I explained the situation and told her I had already called twice and spoke to two other people. She said she couldn't find anything and there was nothing in my cat's chart.
I was quite frustrated but still doing my best to be patient. I have been told a few times by veterinarians that diarrhea in cats is very dangerous. Cats dehydrate very, very quickly. If a cat has diarrhea, you need to get them treated right away. I explained this to the woman on the phone. She didn't care. She told me they were about to have a three-day weekend and asked me if I could wait until Tuesday evening to get the meds. That would have been a total of five days with diarrhea. By Tuesday, my cat would have been dead. No. I could not wait until Tuesday evening. The receptionist got mad at me and told me she would call back in an hour when the medication was ready. You guessed it, two hours and no call.
I called them back and asked them if they would give me the medication or not. If I couldn't get it, I needed to get my cat to another vet ASAP. The receptionist was very rude. (the same receptionist who asked me to wait until Tuesday.) She told me that in order to get the prescription ready, she would have to walk into an exam room and interrupt another animal's appointment. She tried to make me feel guilty. Why on earth would she have to interrupt another appointment? Couldn't she just catch the vet when he or she was walking to another exam room between appointments? I told her I didn't really care, she had all day to get the medication ready, was she going to do it or not? She said she would call back in an hour.
Screw that! I put my cat in a carrier and brought her to the office and waited right there for the medication. The receptionist was NASTY and rude! At this point, I was in tears because I was so afraid my cat would die. My cat was very lethargic and severely dehydrated at that point. No sympathy from the receptionist at all. She was very mad that I had actually shown up instead of waiting for a call that was obviously never going to happen. I was told that I had ruined the entire staff's weekend. She told me they were looking forward to the weekend and that they wanted to have "an easy day" that day and I ruined it. WHAT???? I hate to say this, but I was actually nice to her. I apologized for my insistence on the medication and repeated what I had heard from vets about diarrhea being lethal to cats. She was nasty again. I have no idea why I was so nice after being so horribly mistreated. She really deserved to be torn a new one. I guess it's just not in my nature to be a jerk.
In short, if you go to this vet, know that the life of your pet is not as important as a three day weekend. The vets are great, but the receptionists are monsters. I'll never go there again. Read Less