Family friends provides stellar customer service… both to the wonderful animals that they serve, and to us humans, their parents. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience, and are very thorough in their diagnosis. They take time to listen and answer questions, and basically bend over backwards to make sure that both patients and parents are happy. Give them a try. You’ll be glad you did
I called to schedule an exam for my very sick kitty. They were able to get me in later that afternoon. I called the office back to get pricing on x-rays and blood work, because I knew that would be above the exam fees and highly likey to be necessary to determine what was wrong. Little did I know that informing myself financially was frowned upon by the clinic and was admittedly used against me by the same person who was to care for my cat. During the exam, Dr. Carpenter checked vitals, prodded his abdomen and pelvis stating the bladder could not be found. My cats temperature registered low as well. He proceeded to say the symptoms could be caused by a number of issues. At one point he was leaning strongly towards poison, but he admittedly said there was no exact diagnosis. With my daughter and two other children in the room, he said by Monday we would know if kitty was going to make it or not. Dr. Carpenter gave us two options. We could take kitty home and administer subcutaneous fluids by injection, or we could leave him in their care over night with IV fluids. Either way it was shot in the dark with no real answers. I agreed to leave him for the night to get the fluids faster. I left with no answers, and worried my cat was on his death bed. I was to call the next morning, however I decided my kitty needed a second opinion with some testing and hopefully answers, so instead I picked him up. When I did, I found not only did they NOT administer IV fluids, they gave him a muscle relaxer not knowing his nuero state, AND with super low blood pressure, which is their excuse of why he didn't get an IV. Might I add, they only tried one leg for the IV. Not once was I notified of neither the drug they took upon themselves to give my cat, nor did they notify me of failure to IV him; the main reason I left him over night in their care. I took my cat to another vet, paid for another exam, and did blood work and x-rays. My cat was found to have an obstructed bowel and needed to have surgery to remove.
The above mentioned poor business practice was terribly demeaning; the ethics behind it are even worse.
Great experience taking my chihuahuas to their office for rabies shots and getting health certificates for upcoming travels. They have great service and have decided to move my pups there for their primary care.
Blue Pearl quoted the same surgery (next day, not emergency) for $5,500. Family Friends did it for $1,000. They were confident, highly competent, and polite. My dog got everything I could ask for. I went from having to make a very difficult decision to a very easy one. Can’t thank you enough Family Friends!!
I contacted Dr. Carpenter to make him aware of the findings and to express my dissatisfaction in how my cat was treated by him or lack there of. He admitted to me he thought cost was a bigger concern for me then anything, because I called in to get the prices for services. Due to his preconceived notions of me, my desires and or abilities, he decided to not offer or even discuss with me any x-ray or blood testing, nor did he talk to me about payment options. Now, in an attempt to make things 'right', he offered to do the surgery for $200, so long as I "agreed to play nice with him". However, the wording he used for the "surgery", that I had to be there within an hour and 15 minutes, and the fact that he just admitted to being prejudice against me, really didn't settle well with me and I couldn't trust putting my cats life in his hands... again. I trusted Dr. Carpenter to treat my cat the first time, and he basically was going to let him die.
Followup July 2017: I appreciate your call, and while you "agree with everything I wrote", it is utterly disappointing your attempt to resolve this matter with BRIBERY; prior to my concerns being expressed publicly, they were directed to you. I was told I would be refunded, however that did not happen, without an additional price-tag of its own. You made clear the only way I was going to be refunded at this point is if I took down my Google rating; you even went as far as coercing me to do so because "I should think about all your employees that it could effect negatively"; to "make the decision I could sleep with at night", because, was the money or concern for animal welfare really more important or valuable than your employee's jobs. You're hopes were that with the refund everything would disappear and "there would be no further repercussions on either end".
We recently had a first visit with our new pup and couldn't be happier with the choice we made! All staff we encountered were extremely friendly and made us and our pup feel welcomed, we were even given a welcome bag full of information packets for our pup and goodies!The facility was clean and we love the choice of all the services they offer in one place. Would definitely recommend.
Family Friends Veterinary Hospital is a US Veterinary Care based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Family Friends Veterinary Hospital is located at 6555 28th St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA.
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