Although prior reviews make this business seem very promising - BEWARE. DO NOT TAKE YOUR ANIMALS HERW!!
Upon moving to the Eads area last May, I was looking for a new veterinarian and looked on Yelp for assistance. I saw the 5 stars and read the reviews and already felt comforted. Unfortunately, my two experiences at VCA Eads were vastly different than the others below.
The first time I brought my two dogs to this vet, the new "patient" experience seemed ideal. My dogs were quickly seen, I met several staff members and was given a detailed list of what would take place during the first visit. However, I was put-off by the fact that when I spoke with the front office staff, at the time I called to schedule my appointment, I asked for a female veterinarian. (We have a rescue dog who is terrified of males). She assured me that the veterinarians were a husband and wife team and that the female vet would be able to see both of my dogs. That was not the case. Her husband greeted us in the room and my male dog immediately hid under my legs; as if he wasn't already scared enough by the sole fact of being at the vet. They refused to let me accompany him to the back and had a female Veterinarian Assistant take him. They came back into the room and assured me that my male dog was doing great with the male veterinarian but mentioned that my dog was nervous so they would need to give him sedation meds. I should have known at this point something was shady. But I had faith, based on reviews from pet owners who had used this office before.
Next, I was persuaded, due to the age of my dogs (8 & 10), that I should purchase the pet protection plan at $80/month PER pet. Despite my hesitation I was informed that it would cover everything. My only upfront cost would be the start-up fees (~$400). Thankfully I had a friend accompany me to this visit and was a witness to their claims on how easy and beneficial this plan would be. I went ahead and paid a little over $400 for the initial consultation (that consisted of bloodwork). I was scheduled a return appointment for a few weeks out to get the first round of shots.
The next visit both dogs received shots. I asked to speak with the veterinarian personally about some documentation concerns, as the records for both dogs had health-related pieces of information swapped, thus making their vet records incorrect. He assured me that he was aware of the correct diagnosis and results for each dog and would speak to the front office. The records were corrected and I received paper copies of the corrected documentation. I then scheduled the next round of shots for 6 months out.
Each month $160 was drafted from my account. 4 months and $800 later I decided that I could no longer afford the monthly maintenance fee. My dogs only require vet visits for shots so I would rather pay per visit. I called VCA to cancel the monthly payments and the front office told me that I was not permitted to cancel unless I paid the remainder of the balance from the initial visit. I was confused so I asked for clarification. She then informed me that the $400 I paid initially was a reduced amount of what the charges in full would have been ($2000 for both dogs) and that they wrote off (the additional $800 fees) as a "courtesy" since I chose the plan. That is when the truth FINALLY came out. The pet protection plan was more of a payment plan than insurance and in fact didn't cover any additional services beyond the bloodwork and two rounds of shots for each dog. I explained that I had already paid $800 over the last 4 months from my automatic withdrawals and she told me that didn't count towards the balance. At that point I asked to speak to the Office Manager but she was "out of the office." I asked if she could have the manager call me when she returned and if the pet plan details could be emailed to me, which she agreed to do and confirmed my email address from the intake paperwork I completed.
To no surprise, I never received that email or a call back from the Office Manager.
I called the office three separate times, after my initial call, over 2 months time and the Office Manager was never available.
All in all, I attended 2 visits at this office and spent $1200 for bloodwork and 1 round of shots. Despite the fact that I canceled my card and the next scheduled appointment, I still receive harassing calls from this vet office and their corporate offices demanding money for delinquent monthly payments and just received a reminder call for an appointment this month, which was much to my dismay since I never scheduled this appointment.
My thoughts are - the intentions of these vets and their office staff are solely based on profit, not on quality or the proper care of animals. DO NOT TAKE YOUR PETS HERE! There is no communication in their office and they are unwilling to assist when problems arise. read more