After my horrible experiences at East Bay Animal Clinic I was terrified to find a new vet, but Dr. Tom was amazing.
So why only the one star review? Well, he personally only saw my two cats for two years worth of check ups (two for each cat, four total) and while the check-ups themselves were great, and the prices were good- I can't help but give the clinic only one star because of the last few experiences with his staff. (Unfortunately maybe not his fault, but still an important and review-able part of his business.)
When I was moving to Canada I had a lot to prepare for. Bringing the cats over the border was one of them. I called the vet months in advance and let them know what the Canadian government needed and that I would like to give both the cats full shots and check ups before crossing over. (Har, har.) And we made appointments.
Just a brief explanation, the Canadian government requires that all cats be up to date on their rabies shots and have a signed piece of paper from a certified veterinarian saying so at time of crossing. A rabies shot and a signed piece of paper- well, that sounds easy!
Since border patrol told me they had to be signed no earlier than thirty days before crossing, I brought the cats in for their exams and shots right before leaving, all the while explaining to the staff what was going on and keeping them up to date. After all, they'd "never had this happen before", so I figured it was nice to keep them in the loop.
Well, after exams and shots were done, the vet tech I'd been dealing with told me it would be the $100+ dollars for the check ups, the $50+ for all the shots, and (drumroll please) $15 for the signed pieces of paper. I seriously thought she was joking at first. I was totally prepared for exams and the shots, but I personally think after being a customer for two years and paying $150+ dollars with you, you can sign a stupid piece of paper saying you gave my cats the shots you just gave them, without charging me a nominal fee.
She wasn't joking, and explained that the papers have to be "certified" and stamped with a special seal, so I begrudgingly paid for it. Though if it had been mentioned to me before I was at the counter paying, I'm sure I would have been less grumpy about it. (I hate it when companies try to tack on fees at the last second and use the public embarrassment tactic to get you to pay. It's tacky.)
BUT, you'll never guess how grumpy I was when I was getting ready to leave the country and I opened up the signed official forms to see that not only was there no special "seal" or stamp or whatever and it was typed up in word using Comic Sans, but that the vet hadn't even signed them! You bet I was grumpy! I called the office and told them the situation and asked if I could email or fax over the forms to have them signed.
"Oh, no. You'll have to bring the cats back in for another checkup."
What?! No, they were just in last week and I already paid for a set. Check my file. Can't I just swing by, show you that you actually did give me forms and have him sign them?"
To stop an already too-long story from becoming any longer, she flat out refused to correct the problem and insisted I had to come in again and pay for an exam fee for both cats AND pay another $15 for new signed papers. I know this is petty, but I told her I refused to stop calling back until she let me speak to the vet- and at that point she "put me on hold" and when she came back said she would "wave the visit" and I could just come and pick up the papers. I'd still have to pay for them though.
Whatever, it's the last $15 I'll ever spend at the Acme Veterinary Clinic.
EDIT: 9/2/2011
PS: My new vet printed out name tags for the cats that had the rabies certification on it, and a signed paper to go in their health records without me even asking FOR FREE and were horrified to hear that I'd previously been charged for it. read more
