One star for rude, unhelpful staff who apparently don't like their jobs. I never got to see the vet because the face of their business was rude and unhelpful.
I tried to schedule an appointment at the Northwest Austin Vet off 2222 (who had cared for my cat years ago), but somehow got the number from Google for the Northwest Austin Vet on Jollyville. Not the worst mistake in the world, and I am sure I wasn't the first. We arrived early at the other NW Austin Vet for our 11:00 appointment. After we figured out the confusion, I called this clinic to tell them I would be a few minutes late due to the confusion. It was 11:06 when I called about an 11:00 appointment. The receptionist bluntly said they would need to reschedule to the next day because we were already 20 minutes late. (Again, it was 11:06 when she said that--my GPS car clock and iPhone clock were both right in front on me). I said I wasn't going to reschedule due to a very predictable business name confusion. She put me on hold as we drove, and the office manager answered and said they were fully booked but perhaps they could fit us in if we waited until after the 11:30 appointment finished. When I told him the GPS said I would arrive at 11:16, he said they would fit us in. I thanked him and said I didn't think it would take a full half hour, anyway because the vet just needed to take a look and perhaps take a quick biopsy.
We drove there and arrived at 11:16. The waiting area was empty. I identified myself and said I had called and wanted to get in quickly so they were not thrown behind schedule. The lady at the desk sneered and casually slapped a handwritten form onto the counter that repeated all the information that they had already. I told her she had that information, but she said they needed me to write it down. Instead of arguing, I filled out the form. They the receptionist spent five minutes more handwriting into the new chart what was already on her computer screen, reflecting what I had told them was the problem (a lip wart) on the phone. As she did so, the previous appointment came out and the vet came out to speak to his staff briefly. So we wouldn't have been seen on time at 11:00, anyway, which made me wonder what all the fuss was about.
Then she demanded that I look up my dog's immunization record from another vet before their vet saw my dog (which was unrelated to the lip wart we needed checked). I couldn't find it, so she asked for the other vet's information so she could call them for it. After twelve minutes and while I watched her slowly hand write the last of the information I told them when I made the appointment, I calmly said, "I thought this was time sensitive and you needed to get me in and out before the next appointment shows up. Why are we taking all this time filling out handwritten forms that repeat everything you already have on your computer?" It was now 11:28, and the appointment time had expired. She snapped at me, "Well, you were already late, and you don't have your immunization records. So now you are going to need to wait. Didn't I tell you to bring them when you made the appointment?" I got the strong sense that she had gone slowly so as to "prove her point" to me that we needed to reschedule, and she was going to make sure I waited until the 11:30 appointment showed up and finished.
It wasn't just what she said, but the way she said it. Her tone, body language, expressions, and attitude was the tipping point. I no longer felt comfortable trusting my dog there. Instead of arguing, I thanked her and told my son we were leaving, and we walked out. The office manager saw me leaving. He tried to apologize and stop me from leaving, but I was done. If that is the face of their business, then I don't feel comfortable trusting my pet to their care.
The other frustration that made me post a review is that operating two vet clinics named "Northwest Austin Veterinary Clinic/Center/Hospital" in Northwest Austin is really confusing. My son even exclaimed as we drove into the second clinic (when he saw their sign) "that's almost the exact same name! I thought you were joking!" One of the two stole the name from the other, and I don't care which one it was. They should get together and resolve this trademark/business name confusion, because I am sure customers get confused all the time. I felt like I was in McDougles, and they were professing indignance that I mistook them for a McDonald's. ("See... We don't have the Golden Arches, we have the golden ARCS!"). At the very least, they should understand that obvious customer confusion and not pretend as if *I* was the first customer to ever confuse the two. And not cop an attitude about a predictable scheduling error due to that confusion, when the delay in my getting to the other NW Austin Vet wouldn't even have set them behind schedule, in the first place. read more