Rossmoyne Animal Emergency Trauma Center

I went in to Rossmoyne Animal Center with a sick cat. I wanted to know whether the cat was going to die. I called in on October 19, 2015 at approx. 9pm to ask how much it would cost. It was explained to me that the visit was $ 85.00 and I would receive a written proposal for any additional work to be done. I took the cat in ten minutes later, I was again instructed it would be $ 85.00 and any additional services would be given to me in a written estimate before any further services would be performed. They looked at my cat, took it to the back room and gave her shots. When I was discharged, I got to the counter and my bill was $ 213.00. I was thoroughly frustrated because I was told "no other work would be performed without a written estimate". The lady at the front called the Dr.P[redacted] up front who was about as rude and arrogant as a person could be. She was said well we did the work so you have to pay. I completely understand that however I was told twice no work would be done without a written estimate. I said I wanted to call the police, the front desk lady then called the owner who said I must pay the full amount. Immediately after that she called the police before I could and gave a very inaccurate portrayal of what happened. The police came and she refused to tell them that she had told me this twice, that treatment was done so I had to pay. I would have never given authorization for an additional $ 130.00 of work had I known and per her instructions they were to tell me all additional charges above $ 85.00. Basically this Animal Center will tell you one thing when you check in, perform a bunch of work that they say they will not do without a written estimate and hold the customer accountable at the time of check out. Very bad and shady business practices from the front desk to Dr. Potter to the owner of this business - in my opinion as a customer.

I went in to Rossmoyne Animal Center with a sick cat. I wanted to know whether the cat was going to die. I called in on October 19, 2015 at approx. 9pm to ask how much it would cost. It was explained to me that the visit was $ 85.00 and I would receive a written proposal for any additional work to be done. I took the cat in ten minutes later, I was again instructed it would be $ 85.00 and any additional services would be given to me in a written estimate before any further services would be performed. They looked at my cat, took it to the back room and gave her shots. When I was discharged, I got to the counter and my bill was $ 213.00. I was thoroughly frustrated because I was told "no other work would be performed without a written estimate". The lady at the front called the Dr.P[redacted] up front who was about as rude and arrogant as a person could be. She was said well we did the work so you have to pay. I completely understand that however I was told twice no work would be done without a written estimate. I said I wanted to call the police, the front desk lady then called the owner who said I must pay the full amount. Immediately after that she called the police before I could and gave a very inaccurate portrayal of what happened. The police came and she refused to tell them that she had told me this twice, that treatment was done so I had to pay. I would have never given authorization for an additional $ 130.00 of work had I known and per her instructions they were to tell me all additional charges above $ 85.00. Basically this Animal Center will tell you one thing when you check in, perform a bunch of work that they say they will not do without a written estimate and hold the customer accountable at the time of check out. Very bad and shady business practices from the front desk to Dr. Potter to the owner of this business - in my opinion as a customer.

Review: On June 1st on recommendation from our regular Veterinarian we took our cat [redacted] to Rossmoyne Emergency Vet Specialists because [redacted] was sick and having problems. We were told that [redacted] probably had cancer or kidney disease. We were also given an estimate of $900.00 to $1,300.00 for the care of [redacted]. We left [redacted] in the care of Rossmoyne for five days, From June 1st to June 5th which ended up costing $2400.00. We were told Wednesday that it would cost an additional $200 for the biopsy and $75 more to get the results back faster. Other than that we didn't hear about any additional costs until we got the bill.In our dealings with Rossmoyne we were called and informed that [redacted] needed a Biopsy to find out if he had cancer. The biopsy was scheduled for Tuesday the 3rd and we would be given the results on Wednesday the 4th. On Wednesday we called them and they didn't have the results. On Thursday the 5th Rossmoyne still didn't have the results. We were told that the samples were lost in a truck accident. Rossmoyne had one veterinarian specialist that could do this biopsy and this individual came in to Rossmoyne only on Tuesdays. They wanted us to wait until Tuesday the tenth to redo the procedure. Dr. M[redacted] suggested he take [redacted] and continue to give 250 ml of fluids to until the following Tuesday when he would repeat the biopsy. When we picked up [redacted] we were told that we had to give him 250 ml of fluids a day and we were given a medication to give to him. When we took [redacted] out of Rossmoyne my wife [redacted] and I didn't have any clear understanding of how bad [redacted]s condition was. He was tired and didn't want to eat. An acquaintance who is a veterinarian reviewed the bill from Rossmoyne and told us that they realize on the last day that [redacted] was having heart issues. This is important to note because they never told us about the heart nor told us to reduce the fluids being given. In fact Dr. M[redacted] offered to continue to give the full amount if we left [redacted] with Rossmoyne. On June 6th I called Rossmoyne and talked to Dr. M[redacted]. In the conversation I asked the Doctor if a cat can go from having a chance of making it to no chance in one week. After I asked this question, we made arrangements for [redacted] to see a specialist in [redacted] PA at the [redacted] Vet Specialists this took place latter on that same Friday. We were scheduled to see [redacted]. Dr. M[redacted] said they would do a biopsy. When my wife and I talked to [redacted] he stated that would only do a biopsy on [redacted] if he ([redacted]) was up to it. He performed a Sonogram and then did not perform the biopsy. He informed us that [redacted] didnt have cancer but had heart problems (this was the first time that any one told us about [redacted] having heart problems and stomach problems) stomach problems and kidney problems. He also stated [redacted]s heart was too weak for fluid treatments. He told us to stop with the fluid treatments. [redacted] made an appointment for us with [redacted] for the next day. [redacted] is a heart specialist. We informed [redacted] of what was taking place and he only charged us $97.00. The next day June 7th [redacted] and I traveled back to see Doctor [redacted]. He checked [redacted]'s heart. He told us that we had to strengthen the heart first. We were instructed to give [redacted] four medications and we were told to wait on giving [redacted] the fluidsI called Rossmoyne to complain to someone in charge to address the problems that my wife and I were having. I was put through to Doctor M[redacted] again. I informed him of all the problems that my wife and I were dealing with. I was asking questions and trying to get information but I was not given clear answers or information. I was trying to get through to Doctor M[redacted] about how bad this situation was for us but he was not listening to what I was saying. We also asked for a reduction in the bill since they gave us unsatisfactory care. I also asked him for a tracking number for the samples that were loss but he didn't give me one. At the end of the conversation Doctor M[redacted] told me if I called them back he would call the police on me. I feel that was inappropriate since I was talking in a level tone and not using inappropriate language. In the conversation with Doctor M[redacted] he informed me that there was an accident and the truck with the samples on it was burnt up but he would not give me a tracking number for the case. I made several calls to [redacted] to find information on the accident that had taken place. I could not find out any information because I didn't have a tracking number.On June 10 I was called by a manager from Rossmoyne and I was given a case number for the samples that were lost. I called [redacted] again but because I had a case number and not a tracking number I could not find out any information about the accident. The following day I called back again in that conversation I was informed that an accident did take place and the samples were lost.In summary I want to indicate that Rossmoyne's treatment of our cat and ourselves was well below what we thought was reasonable. Communications with them were bad. When [redacted] was in their care, I would call to check on him when I talked to one person I would be told one story and when I would called them back at a later time I would be told a second story. We also never felt that we were welcome there. In the end the price that my wife and I were charged was almost double that of the estimate. My wife and I believe that if we didn't go to Doctors [redacted] and [redacted] could have died. Rossmoyne either missed the heart problem or didn't tell us about it. At the time of this complaint [redacted] is much healthier and this is in spite of Rossmoynes treatment not because of them. My wife and I agree that that our time spent dealing with Rossmoyne is the worst interaction we had ever had with any veterinarian in both of our lives.Desired Settlement: What we are requesting is a reduction in the bill since we believe that Rossmoyne's care actually posed a threat to our cat. If the was reduced to $1,300 dollars we could deal with that. Rossmoyne didn't solve any problems and in fact put our cat at risk.