The night my dog was brought in to ASG for potential anti-freeze ingestion I was told they did not have the anti-freeze antidote on hand. They called around but could not find anyone with it, so they started the 2nd treatment of choice. That morning my sister called around only to find that the ASG told another hospital that they had 2 vials on hand. She called ASG to confirm and was told yes, they had the 2 vials. She had to inform the ASG staff that my dog was there and needed the antidote. RIDICULOUS- they said someone had misplaced the 2 vials and the staff found it that morning. HOW DID THEY NOT START THE TREATMENT OF CHOICE RIGHT AWAY? It took my sisters prompting to get the job done.
Then, they lied to my sister and told her that my dog was showing neurological problems- I found out that anti-freeze DOES NOT present itself with any neurological problems what-so-ever: this information coming from an antifreeze SPECIALIST.
The staff was always kind to us but did not seem to want to answer our questions. They were kind to my dog.
However, having researched the situation after the fact I can not help but feel taken advantage of. They tried to scare my sister when she was there the first night. They charged an IN HOUSE Dr. referral fee of $115 in addition to their $35 Dr. Exam/Prof fee. (WHICH, btw, I was charged TWICE.)
They give you a low and a high estimate and you have to pay the middle- which is OK, BUT if they have t do a second estimate for other potential treatments you have to pay the middle AGAIN even if you have over $1,000 in credit.
They only have 1 office manager who can process your refund and if that person is on vacation you WILL NOT get your credit until that person comes back. I was told my credit would go through the day- 9 days and I am still waiting.
I am extremely angry at the ASG- I understand that health care costs a lot (I work in a pharmacy)- but it really seems like they are just after your money.
They even charged me $16 for one of those cone/collar things that my dog did not need- upon picking up my dog they told us it was not needed but since we were charged for it we might at well keep it. HOW ABOUT NOT CHARGING ME FOR IT OR REFUNDING ME FOR IT?
They did a poor job from the beginning- if my sister did not take the initiate to call, who knows if they would have ever told us they had the antidote after all.
BTW- My dog tested negative for the antifreeze- we did the treatments anyway because the first MD scared us with the talk of the neurological problems.
I'll let you all know when my refund finally comes through.
Pros: kind front staff, certain vets are very nice
Cons: lies and unorganized
more