I had hired Alan many years ago when I had an anxious dog & the visits I had with him were pleasant…read more& professional and less stressful on my dog because he saw her in his office/RV.
I have no idea what has happened since then.
I am moving abroad, & called Alan two weeks ago to get gabapentin & health certificates for my two cats to prepare them for travel. In the midst of the craziness of moving, I had forgotten to let him know I had moved across town since last I saw him, which had been a while. When they called to say they were there, the minute I saw the street empty, I knew I had forgotten.
I immediately attempted to contact him to let him know my mistake. After attempting to text & call a few times and nobody answering, I waited for him to call me. He eventually did, I apologized & gave him the correct address. Then, instead of hanging up or putting me on hold, he put me on mute.
So, for the next few minutes, I got to hear a shouting match between him & his wife/assistant about why Alan didn't confirm my address, & was there parking on my street, & I am calling out 'hello?' but they clearly don't hear me!
And points to the wife, because yes, you SHOULD ask to confirm the address of a client you haven't seen in years since you ARE making house calls!
Anyway, the wife calls back & I explain to her there is plenty of parking on my street, I am only a couple of minutes away, & BTW, I just heard their argument.
In the meantime, they tell me last minute they want to see the cats inside my house instead of in the RV, which I wasn't prepared for and the house is a mess because I am moving.
So, they end up examining my cat in the bathroom! I still have no idea why they did this.
Finally, we begin to discuss medication, & I want gabapentin in transdermal form, since according to me, knowing my cats, & since according to my pet transport, who does this for a living, that would be easiest & least stressful option. During this convo, the wife has to keep telling Alan to be quiet & let me speak, because he keeps talking over me!
Also? The wife/assistant is incredibly unprofessional throughout all this. Yelling, swearing, and going off on tangents about her personal life. It was madness.
Alan also pushes back against my request, saying a capsule would be more effective, & I capitulate, since one of my cats does take a capsule, & I think a capsule MAY work.
Needless to say, when I get the medication a couple of days later, it does not work. I text Alan telling him this & asking again for transdermal. He pushes back AGAIN saying I should try liquid this time. I say I KNOW liquid won't work because my one cat just spits it back up.
In the meantime & throughout this entire process, Alan keeps asking me REPEATEDLY if I am sure about the paperwork I have asked him for, & I have to keep repeating myself, that yes, the paperwork is fine. He IGNORES me, & during this text exchange decides to do his own research & sends me links about travel paperwork that is not relevant to my situation & giving me advice I didn't ask for & know for a fact is incorrect. AND he doesn't call in a NEW prescription, which now needs to go to a compounding pharmacy & will take longer for me to get.
I now hear nothing from him all day, so I text & email him again, literally BEGGING him to please just send in a Rx for transdermal gabapentin because that is the best option for me & my cats & my moving date is next week & I need this now ASAP. I give him the website of a compounding pharmacy I already use.
So, the next morning, I get a text from Alan saying the website I sent him 'didn't have any information about what they offer & there is no contact info' which is completely INSANE. I sent him the website of a LOCAL pet compounding pharmacy, ofc they have gabapentin available & there are contact numbers on the bottom of the page. So, now at my wit's end, because did I mention I am in the middle of an international move? I just text back, 'try X pharmacy, then'. I get a text back that he will call it in that AFTERNOON.
At this point, I have given up. I make an appt with an online vet, get the transdermal gabapentin Rx in 10 minutes, & then fax the Rx to all the local pharmacies I can find so I can get this medicine on time.
In the meantime, Alan does NOT wait until the afternoon like he says, & tries to call in the Rx to the 'X' pharmacy I mentioned to him earlier. So, when he called, an Rx for me is already there from another vet. He texts me this, & then complains 'I wasted his time.'
What is that saying? Every accusation is a confession? Because I'm pretty sure Alan wasted a business week of MY time by: 1. ignoring my request for transdermal in the first place, 2. doing extra work & research no one asked him to do instead of doing what I WAS ASKING & HIRING him to do.
TL;DR? Avoid this guy. The only thing he has got going for him is he does housecalls. Otherwise, worse than useless. Made an already stressful time more stressful.