I had a great experience my first time at BloodSource. I really wanted to donate, but I didn't know…read morewhere to go in Chico, so a friend told me that she regularly donates here. I hadn't donated in over 10 years so I went in ahead of time and asked all the questions I had. The receptionist answered them all and I was out of there quickly with an appointment for the next week. That following week I went in for my appt. and was greeted at the front desk with a free sticker because that happened to be the giveaway that day. Afterward, I was taken into a private room and got my finger pricked, weighed, and asked personal "blood donating" questions. I was left with a tablet with a survey on it and completed it in about 10 minutes. After I was done, I was taken into the main room where they do the blood drawing. The lady doing mine was super personable, funny, and made sure to talk me through the whole process. She kept checking in with me to see how I was feeling and made sure I waited long enough after it was done before I got up. I ended the trip with a solid visit to the snack counter, where I was offered ANY type of juice or cheese from the fridge, and an endless supply of snacks on the counter. I went for apple juice + ranch Doritos because I'm an adult. The volunteer behind the counter even wrote me a post-if to remind me what time I'm allowed to leave. Overall it was a great experience! I already have my next appt. to donate in 8 weeks.

The only problem I have ever had was the guy couldn't find a vein that would stay still. I got a…read morebooboo shirt and two tickets to the movies for that. It is a nice place to go because the people put you at ease. It doesn't take that long and you get to sit and snack with the new friends you made. I just wonder, how often do you get out to Oroville these days?

I think red cross is worthless. A family from Australia lost everything sunday in a motorhome fire…read moremy friend and I said oh you can help them they told us no because they aren't from here. We said that's bull you will help illegals but not a family from out of the country who lost everything. Trust me I'll tell everyone not to support a group that can't help those really in need.

The staff you meet in person are wonderful, kind, professional, and truly care about donors…read more Unfortunately, the company itself is crooked, especially upper management. It's obvious they don't treat their employees well, and that trickles down into everything. Vitalant is making money off the generosity of people who voluntarily donate their blood, and it's really disappointing that hospitals don't have their own direct donation programs. The mission might sound good on paper, but behind the scenes this company is about profit, not people.

I have donated gallons at the Red Cross (multiple sites) and other organizations, including blood,…read moreplasma and platelets. While Vitalant Chico had the nicest digs, they absolutely have the MOST ATTROCIOUS AND DISGUSTING attitude. I don't blame the local staff - through review of their website and policies that seems to be a corporate policy. If you review their website there is ZERO talk about donor appreciation or gratitude. They pushed hard to donate on Giving Tuesday, but a quick Google search revealed that the narcissistic old white men listed as leaders got paid: President/CEO: $1,199,347 (David Green) EVP/Chief Operations Officer: $698,296 (Robert Van Tuyle) EVP/Chief Medical & Scientific Officer: $587,936 (Ralph Vassallo) EVP/Chief Quality Officer: $547,191 (Mary Beth Bassett) EVP/Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel: $593,404 (Bhavi Shah) Let me get back to the specific experience with donating. I go in for platelet donation (that's a 3+ hour procedure); the grumpy receptionist barely acknowledges me (no thank you, no small talk), but instead asks me to schedule another appointment "because they have quota" and I'm like "Ugh, no?". Then the guy invites me to the questionnaire room with "Let me help you out!". You know, it's actually the other way around, since 3 units of platelets retail for about $2500, so my time and effort is paying for his salary and the salary of the pompous leadership, and the nice digs. Next up - I express that I'd like to donate platelets and plasma. The guy responds with "Well, the machine decides what you'd be donating based on needs. See here - you'd be donating platelets, plasma and some blood, too". I tried to argue, but ultimately got coerced to donate whatever the machine decides, which was "platelets, plasma and some blood". This, of course, will then affect when and what I can donate next, so the whole thing about making a next appointment upon entry doesn't make sense. Besides the obvious disrespect, let me just point out something to Bhavi Shah - if someone came to donate platelets and ended up donating blood without informed, uncoerced consent that would constitute battery and I suspect that this has been happening throughout the organization for years now... But what do I know - the leadership gets paid the big bucks, right? Which brings me to the insult on top of injury - sneaky and deceptive practices with respect to promotions and donor incentives. Platelets have a shelf life of a week, but according to: https://www.vitalant.org/resources/rewards#FAQ your measly points may take 14 days to arrive, you may need to enter a promo code, you may lose your points, you need to opt-in, fine print and legalese, etc... The final disrespect to donors is that Vitalant won't do whatever little they've promised to do for donors without a fight (and sometimes even after a fight). If you call about missing points, they'll refer you to fine print, loophole, "my hands are tied", implications that you're a jerk for even asking for it, radio silence, etc. I don't know how thing work in MAGA Texas, but in California, false advertising is illegal. The CSR didn't really have a response when I asked for my blood products back or to be compensated for their fair market value, if they refuse to give me the promised measly incentive. Stuff like that may be fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment and another potential cause for a class action lawsuit against Vitalant. The phlebotomist and attending nurse were competent and friendly, but less attentive and grateful than their counterparts in other organizations and sites.