This is the first time I have ever written a review, however, after my last experience at Pieper Olson, I felt compelled to speak out. I have been taking my pets to this facility for 7 years and can honestly say, since their expansion (Middletown facility), the level of care and customer service has taken a nose dive. After my third bad experience, I decided to leave this practice for good.
Here's what happened:
1. Summer 2011 - The euthanasia of my cat Beau was handled by Dr. Fratamico - a new vet to me, who was so inexperienced that it made a difficult situation even worse and more stressful for me and my cat. Beau had renal failure - a near fatal diagnosis - however Dr. Fratamico tried to sell me additional tests and services and was not honest about his prognosis. The actual procedure was awful as Beau was not given enough to take him from this world and more had to be administered. After this experience, I avoiding any bookings with this vet and had it noted in my record that I did not wish to see her.
2. April 28, 2012 - My dog Cleo was treated by Dr. Albin - a blood test to be able to adjust her thyroid medication. Dr. Albin instructed me to call him on Monday, April 30 for the results. I called as instructed and was put on hold numerous times by a front desk that seemed too overwhelmed to handle the calls. When my call was finally answered I was put into Dr. Albin's voice mail and was assured he would call me with the results. He never did. I called again the next day. I was put into his voice mail again. He never called. Later in the week I called again, waited on hold again for 10 minutes and told the receptionist I refused to hang up until someone gave me the results of the bloodwork. Finally a tech came on and told me she would have Dr. Albin call me right away. He never did. But the tech called back with the results and apologies - she said it was a very busy week and that this was a fluke. I had additional questions, but since Dr. Albin did not make the call - as he said he would - I was unable to get the answers.
3. The last straw: 5/5/12 - I arrived with my sick dog Cleo for a 2:00 appointment with Dr. Albin. I made the appointment earlier in the week. When I arrived, they had no record of my appointment and said they would try to squeeze me in. I was asked who I spoke with when I booked the appt - who the heck knows? Was I supposed to take a name? I was asked to sit and wait to see if a Dr. would see me. As I sat, I thought that the level of service and care at Pieper Olson had so deteriorated that I frankly did not want to bring my dog there anymore. I left the waiting room and took my dog home. BTW, no follow-up call from Pieper Olson about the snafu.
A year ago, I moved to West Hartford, yet I continued to make the drive to Middletown to this practice. What a mistake. If you truly care about your animals, do not bring them to this facility - find a smaller practice that is able to handle their human and pet clients effectively.
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