Ripoff Report Needs Your Help!
X  |  CLOSE
Report: #1073324

Complaint Review: Mountainview Small Animal Hospital - Lake Elsinore California

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Anne — Lake Elsinore California
  • Author Not Confirmed What's this?
  • Why?
  • Mountainview Small Animal Hospital Diamond Dr., Lake Elsinore, California USA

Mountainview Small Animal Hospital Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M., Craig B. Hempel, Thomas F. Jessup, D.V.M., Mountainview Small Animal Hosp Over-charged and over-treated an 80 year old woman's kitten. And they're EXTREMELY... RUDE! Lake Elsinore California

*REBUTTAL Owner of company: Regarding the FELV + kitten.

*REBUTTAL Individual responds: This Is Not Our Client

Show customers why they should trust your business over your competitors...

Is this
Report about YOU
listed on other sites?
Those sites steal
Ripoff Report's
content.
We can get those
removed for you!
Find out more here.
How to fix
Ripoff Report
If your business is
willing to make a
commitment to
customer satisfaction
Click here now..

 

Vanessa M. Teresi of Mountainview Small Animal Hospital charged an 80 year old woman $266.41 for unnecessary x-rays of a 11 week old female kitten.   The elderly woman brought her healthy 9 week old kitten in for shots at Mountainview Small Animal Hospital.  The vet advised her to get the kitten dewormed, although there were no signs of any worms so the elderly woman let them deworm.  The deworming medicine made the kitten sick, but the vet insisted on give the 2nd dose of the deworming medicine 2 weeks later.  The kitten became sick so the elderly woman took her kitten back to the Mountainview Small Animal Hospital. At the vet  Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M. decided to charge the elderly woman $266.41 to have the kitten X-rayed and found NOTHING wrong with the kitten accept some gas!    The kitten was given a test for Feline Leukemia, and Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M.  told the elder woman that her kitten was POSITVE.   So the elderly woman who was full of saddness called "me" the person who gave her the kitten. 

The elderly woman called me and told me that her vet Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M. told her to call me and tell me my cats have Feline Leukemia and that her kitten got it from my cats.   I knew that all of my cats are healthy and up to date with their shots, so I asked that she request her vet to fax me the records so that I can take it to my vet.   The elderly woman did as I requested.  The vet Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M.

called me but said that she would not fax me the records and she then insisted that she talk to "my" vet.  

I told her no, you do not need to talk to my vet, just please do as your client the elderly woman asked and fax me the records so that I can take them to my vet.   I also asked her why she charged an 80 year old woman $266.41 for x-rays when the kitten was sick from what looks like too much deworming medicine.  She then began snidley remarking saying 2 rude things, then said "if you just be quiet and let me talk"...   so I was quiet and waited to hear something interesting, but all she said was she needed to speak with the elderly woman before she can fax anything. I said OK then I will ask her to call you back and request it, then she said "no, I can't take your word"....... so I said, fine you call her then.  She contacted the elderly woman and told her how rude I was to her.  But the elderly woman did ask her to fax the records to me.

I schedule to rush to my vet in 2 hours and have my cat (the mother of the kitten) tested for Feline Leukemia.  The elderly woman told me she was afraid to contact Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M. because she had already asked her once to fax the records to me.   So I called Mountainview Small Animal Hospital and asked if they could fax the papers before I go to my vet so I can show them what is happening with this little kitten.  Kari the office manager and the owners  Craig B. Hempel, D.V.M. Thomas F. Jessup, D.V.M. told me over the phone on speaker that they cannot legally fax me papers because of HIPPA.  ((( I found this on google: HIPAA does not apply to veterinarians as your pets do not have the same confidentiality privileges that HIPAA provides to human patients )))   But they said they would fax to my vet.  I went to the elder woman's house and got a copy of all the money she spent  at Mountainview Small Animal Hospital, and the records of x-rays. 

I took this to my vet.  There are 3 vets at my vet, and all of them were scratching their head as to why Mountainview Small Animal Hospital took x-rays of the kitten, and that it looks like the kitten got sick from the deworming medicine.   My vet also told me that Mountainview Small Animal Hospital  could have faxed me the papers after the elder woman asked them to. 

 I paid my vet $58 to have my cat tested for the Feline Leukemia and she was NEGATIVE.   I then drove the 25 minutes back home.  I was upset because of all the hassle and rudeness from this Mountainview Small Animal Hospital  and Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M..   I called them back to let them know the test was negative and that most likely the worming medicine made the kitten sick so they didn't need to charge the $266.41 for the x-rays.  The receptions who knew who I was as if I became famous at their vet clinic listened to me...... and when I was finished she said.. oh wait let me get the office manager for you.   I thought I said what I need and she could just pass it on.  NO,  a bullying type of woman got on the phone named Kari the office manager, and she said "what can I do for you......  so I explained the same thing over, and she again "so what can I do for you"...... I told her that my who day was messed up because they told the elderly woman that she should contact me because MY cat has leukemia.   And she said that she does not care about me, but only the elderly woman, and that she spoke to the elderly woman and everything is fine.   She then told me that I was very rude to Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M. earlier in the day and that she heard me.   There were rude things that Vanessa M. Teresi, D.V.M. said to me on the phone but that I didn't get into so as to not make this any more confusion and long as it is.   But I will tell you this,........  when a business is unprofessional......  you can tell your story on ripoffreport.com and every time that business is looked up on google....... what you have to say will pop up 2nd under their name with the title RIP OFF REPORT to let others know what kind of business it is. 

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 08/05/2013 06:21 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/mountainview-small-animal-hospital/lake-elsinore-california-92530/mountainview-small-animal-hospital-vanessa-m-teresi-dvm-craig-b-hempel-thomas-f-1073324. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

Search for additional reports

If you would like to see more Rip-off Reports on this company/individual, search here:

Report & Rebuttal
Respond to this report!
What's this?
Also a victim?
What's this?
Repair Your Reputation!
What's this?

Updates & Rebuttals

REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
0Consumer
2Employee/Owner

#2 REBUTTAL Individual responds

This Is Not Our Client

AUTHOR: MVStaff - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, August 06, 2013

The woman posting this comment is NOT a client of ours. As far as we know (based on the information she gave us) she has never set foot in our building, and we have never done business with her. The name she is posting under on this site, is either fake or the information she gave us was fake, as they are not the same.

It is unfortunate that persons who have not actually done business with an establishment are allowed to post comments publicly about the company without fear of legal recourse. It has become a sad reality that this is now considered acceptable and normal. So despite the fact that this woman has no business commenting on us in any capacity, and has clearly peppered her review with false information,  we will respond to her remarks.

First, since she is not our client, and since our client has NO COMPLAINTS TOWARDS US, we will refrain from addressing our client/patient’s medical history and only address what pertains to this woman. This is legally what is required of us despite what this breeder Googled online and believes to be true.

Second, this woman, who is the breeder of the kitten that was sold (not given) to our client, began calling our office on Monday, August 5th after she learned (from the kitten’s owner) the kitten tested positive for FELV. She called MULITPLE times, being rude to our receptionists and demanding copies of the kitten’s records. It was explained to her each time that we are not legally allowed to hand over records to anyone other than the owner of the pet, unless the owner gives us permission to do so. Again, this woman IS NOT OUR CLIENT.

Finally Dr Teresi was available to speak to her around midday. The breeder was so abusive and loud that she could be heard by others in the office through the phone’s receiver. The breeder accused us of falsifying the test results and running other unnecessary tests on the kitten. These accusations coupled with the loud argumentative nature of the breeder eventually prompted Dr Teresi to end the call, as she was unable to have a professional conversation.

Once this conversation’s outcome was relayed to the kitten’s owner, she asked us not to speak to this woman any more regarding her kitten. Dr Teresi offered to fax the kitten’s records to the breeder’s vet in order to try to smooth things over and diffuse the situation and the owner agreed to that, but stated that we were not to send anything to the breeder directly.

Later in the day, the breeder called one last time. Again trying to discuss the patient’s case and argue the test results and the services provided to our client. Again, calmly but firmly, the office manager DEBBIE, (not Kari)  explained to her that if the client had questions or concerns regarding tests and services performed that she would have to call us herself and we would be happy to discuss the case at length with her.

It was explained to the breeder, that we had spoken to our client many times over the last couple of days and she had never expressed a complaint to us herself. After advising the breeder of this information, she was asked, what is it we can do for YOU? To this she had no response other than continuing to rant about how we ruined her day and that she was going to trash our reputation on this site.

And in regards to “Kari the office manager and the owners Craig B. Hempel, D.V.M. Thomas F. Jessup, D.V.M. told me over the phone on speaker that they cannot legally fax me papers because of HIPPA“…. This is a BLATANT lie. Kari, who is not the office manager, does not work on Mondays and neither does Dr Jessup, who is no longer an owner.   

Additionally, there was no need for a speaker phone as she could be heard screaming over the phone quite clearly without one. It would appear, by the fact that she mentioned Kari, Drs.  Jessup and Hempel as manager and owners, that she is looking up information about our clinic online in order to add drama to her story by padding it with falsehoods.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#1 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Regarding the FELV + kitten.

AUTHOR: MVStaff - ()

POSTED: Monday, August 05, 2013

The person posting this is NOT a client of ours. As far as we know (based on the info she gave us) she has never set foot in our building, and we have never done business with her.  The name she is posting under is either fake, or the name she gave us over the phone after her MULTIPLE phone calls to our office today was fake. We would appreciate if persons who have never been to our facility not be allowed to post reviews about our company, but given the growing trend of blasting businesses without merit or proof, we will respond to the claims made here today.

First and most importantly, the OWNER of the kitten has never complained to us about any treatment, lab test results, X-rays or anything regarding the service she received from us. Our goal is to keep OUR CLIENTS satisfied and provide quality care to OUR PATIENTS.

Second, the breeder's timeline of events is completely skewed and it was not until the kitten's last visit, seen for vomiting, that it was X-rayed due to concern over it ingesting a foreign body.  And the Xrays did not cost $266.

Finally, this breeder continually called our office demanding records regarding a patient from a kitten she sold to our client. It is illegal for a medical professional to hand over patient records to anyone but the owner without the owner's consent. This was explained to her. Repeatedly.


At first, after we spoke to the kitten's owner and got an OK to discuss the case with this breeder, Dr Teresi agreed to speak to the woman to explain the details of this kitten's case. But because the breeder's behavior was so bad, and she was yelling so loudly over the phone, (she could be heard by other people in the office) the Dr was unable to have a professional converstation and ended the call.

After Dr Teresi spoke to the kitten's owner regarding the woman's behavior, the owner apologized and said she  was embarassed for getting us involved. She asked us not to send this woman anything, and asked us not to speak to the breeder regarding the case any longer. Dr Teresi offered to fax the kitten's records over to the breeder's vet in an attempt to smooth things over and the owner said that would be fine.

The breeder's comment regarding "the 2 owners of the hospital and the office manager "Kari" getting on speaker phone with her discussing HIPPA guidelines" is a COMPLETE FALSEHOOD.  Only 1 of those 3 people were in the office today and Kari is not the office manager.

During the final call that she made to our hospital today, she continued to try to argue the fact that she felt the kitten received poor medical care, etc and AGAIN at that time she was reminded that if OUR CLIENT has an issue with the services, our client would need to call and it would be discussed with her and ONLY HER. She was also advised that the kitten's owner (after the Dr spoke to the breeder the first time), specifically asked us NOT to speak to this woman again.  And finally, exasperated, when the "bullying person" asked this breeder what is it we can do for HER, she had no response other than to say we ruined her day and threaten to write about us on this site.

At the end of the day, we are not happy this kitten tested + for FELV, but it would have been poor medicine NOT to recommend the test. And, as was explained to ALL parties involved, there is a chance the test is a false +, which is why we ALWAYS re-test at a later date. 

Respond to this report!
What's this?
Featured Reports

Advertisers above have met our
strict standards for business conduct.

X
What do hackers,
questionable attorneys and
fake court orders have in common?
...Dishonest Reputation Management Investigates Reputation Repair
Free speech rights compromised

WATCH News
Segment Now