As much as I appreciate this veterinarian's expertise, I can't help but feel completely ripped off in this situation. I had been seeing another vet about my very sick older bird. That vet wanted to mo... Read More
As much as I appreciate this veterinarian's expertise, I can't help but feel completely ripped off in this situation. I had been seeing another vet about my very sick older bird. That vet wanted to move ahead with x-rays, but the price and possible necessity to send them out for results made me call the Avian Medical Center for a quote. I talked to Kelly and asked how much their x-rays were and if it was possible to have my bird seen for them even though I'm seeing another vet for everything else. She said that was possible and the x-ray quote was lower than my other vet's, so I went ahead with scheduling an appointment. She then quoted me for an exam. I said that I didn't want/need an exam since that was recently done by my other vet and that I just wanted the x-rays. In addition to the added cost, I also didn't want to subject my poor ill bird to more tests that were already done. So, she asked if I could have the other vet's records sent over, which I did. The day of the appointment, I brought in my bird and another staff member, Megan, mentioned an exam and a fecal exam. I told her that, as I said when scheduling, I didn't want any additional exams and that I was just here for an x-ray. Then, when it was time to pay for my bill, sure enough, they were trying to charge me for an emergency exam, a fecal exam, and a urinalysis. That on top of an unapproved injection almost doubled what I planned to pay for the x-ray. Kelly was the staff member at the counter that day, and I managed to get them to remove the fecal exam and urinalysis. They said that it was because "they didn't ask me". I did agree to pay for the injection. However, they refused to remove the emergency exam since apparently it's required before x-rays. Kelly even went so far as to say that they are required to do it by law. I let her know that no one informed me that this very expensive exam was required or I would have obviously just gone to my other vet for the x-rays. Still no luck. So, unfortunately, I paid for it since I just wanted to get my bird back and take him home. Afterward, though, I just kept getting more and more angry about the situation. It seriously left a really bad taste in my mouth for this business. Then, a few days later, I noticed the label on the prescribed medication that said it needed to be refrigerated. Kelly and Tamara were the ones giving me the medication instructions and even marked on the syringe so I would know how much medication to administer. Unfortunately, neither of them mentioned that the medication needed to be refrigerated. This was upsetting because my other vet and his staff are always very detailed with medication instructions. I was also a bit upset with myself, of course, because I was too preoccupied with the new diet for my bird that I only listened to the staff and read the printout instead of reading the entire bottle.So, I thought this was a great opportunity for the vet to make me feel better about them since I had to go in to get a new bottle of medication. I planned to talk to the veterinarian directly about the previous invoice. The veterinarian was very adamant about the exam prior to the x-rays and stated that she already gave me a bunch of other free services (meaning the fecal exam and urinalysis that I explicitly declined and refused to pay for). I told her, many times, that I wasn't informed about the required exam. She then proceeded to tell me that Kelly took a lot of notes because I "was very difficult on the phone" and her notes said that I was informed about the required exam. Firstly, I definitely wasn't informed. If I was, I would have gone to my other vet for the x-rays. And anyone who knows me would never describe me as "difficult". If honest and straightforward about what I want is "difficult", then yes, I am difficult. I even told the veterinarian what I was quoted for an x-ray and she said that x-rays are a different amount, so that couldn't have happened. I then showed her the invoice, which showed the original quoted amount for the x-ray. She didn't even know what it was! She then scoffed at us and said, "I can't believe you two right now!" She acted like arguing with her about this issue and not being blindly willing to pay for a bunch of added-on services meant I didn't care about my bird. So, she still adamantly refused to refund the exam fee. She did send us home with the new medication without payment, but said that if we took her to court, she would come after us for the cost of that medication. She finished by telling me I should just go back to my other vet. Clearly, there is a HUGE level of miscommunication in this office and, unfortunately, it seems that it's the clients who suffer because they refuse to make it right and treat you like an inadequate bird owner when you call them out. No business should operate this way and I will not be returning. Read Less