Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/24/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On March 17, 2024, my dog Kano started limping. The next day I took him to the vet, which had to be an emergency vet appointment. They sedated him and took **rays, which all in total cost $978.48. Then they told me that **** had a full tear of his cruciate ligament and told me that surgery was our only option and that it would cost $4,000. I was in shock. Luckily for me, I got a second opinion at another vet, where there they told me that he only had a partial tear of his cruciate ligament and that all he needed was some pain meds and rest. Now that he is off the pain meds and healing on his own, I am filing this complainant against Alpine because I do not want other big dog parents to have to go through what I went through and end up having to pay $4,000 if it is not absolutely necessary. I am requesting a refund for the **rays and sedation costs due to the fact that the doctor ***************** them and was about to charge me $4000 more.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/07/2024

  Hello, 
  I am responding to a complaint we received in regards to a patient that had a right hind limb lameness. This patient presented on March 17, 2024 for non-weight bearing lameness in the right hind limb. A thorough treatment plan (estimate) was reviewed and signed by the owner which included an *********** exam, blood work, sedation to perform a less stressful and painful orthopedic exam of the limb, radiographs, and medications. 
  A cranial cruciate ligament tear is one of the most common causes of hind limb lameness in large breed dogs, this ligament stabilizes the stifle joint. Tears can be partial or complete. Regardless of the type of tear, surgery is needed most of the time, as there is not enough blood supply in the joint for healing of the ligament.  Also, oftentimes, it is the steepness of the angle in the knee that predisposes the ligament to tearing. Some patients will do okay with rest and medications, if it is a partial tear, but surgery is the gold standard for providing stability. Partial tears still cause micro-motion in the joint, causing ongoing pain, inflammation, and oftentimes result in complete tears. 
  Upon diagnosing a cranial cruciate ligament tear in the right hind limb, our doctor offered setting up a referral at a specialty center. This was for the owner to have a consultation with a board certified surgeon, to see if surgery was the next best option. Surgery was not offered at our facility, as we do not currently offer that procedure. The exam provided the correct information which included a cranial cruciate ligament injury. The owner was given a rough estimate as to what our doctor thought the surgery may cost at the referral hospital. We hope this information provides some clarity. We know that having a pet with an injury can be stressful and are available to answer additional questions or provide further clarity to this situation. We are happy that he is doing better and appreciate your business. Please let us know if there is anything further we can help you and your family with.
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/07/2024

   
  Complaint: 21619077
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I got another consultation and they said it was a partial tear. 
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/13/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This company doesn't communicate appropriately for a veterinarian clinic. They don't answer phones or emails or have a direct line to talk to anyone onsite. For a place about animal health, they seem to care more about social media and acting like they do the job. I tried getting a hold of them for weeks with no answers, return calls or emails. I finally got a hold of someone about getting files back and it took them a month to do that. It's incredibly irresponsible for this to have the word "clinic" and "animal" in the business name. incompetence has no place in the world of animal care.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/15/2022

  Dear **************,

  It is unclear why you feel you have been unable to call, email or otherwise contact our hospital as we have on staff at all times four client service representatives answering 7 phone lines from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm, and an after-hours call service staffed by Licensed Veterinary Technicians answering our phones to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Further, we also have on our website direct email links to facilitate easy messaging at any time for your convenience.  Of course, at any time you are also welcome to ************** and request we print records while you wait so you always have a permanent copy for your personal use.  Social media is not something we use to communicate to clients regarding patient care as it is inappropriate to do so.

  I do see in the record for your cat, *****, his record has been completely inactive for nearly 9 years as he has not been in at all during that time.  We have no information regarding his health status nor care in the past 9 years.  For many reasons, it is standard throughout the veterinary industry medical records are appropriately inactivated after 3 years of zero activity.

  We sincerely apologize for any difficulty you have experienced requesting obsolete medical records for *****.  While outdated records may be of extremely limited use regarding health status this year, we wish for your current veterinarian to have ability to access them and a digital copy has been already sent on your behalf.  It is common for veterinarians between hospitals to receive many multiple patient records daily so it would not be unusual at all for processing to take at least several days, and perhaps more than a week, for their staff to process and have them readily accessible and available to the receiving veterinarian for use, particularly if the receiving veterinarian does not use digital records.  Many veterinarians continue to use paper records, delaying processing of those records even longer.

  We wish you well and thank you for sharing your concerns with us as we strive to ensure we deliver the very best care and service possible.

  Sincerely, 

  ***************************** and the Alpine Animal Clinic team

  
  ******************************************
  
  Alpine Animal Clinic
  1801 ************
  ******, **  59601
  **************
  www.alpineanimalclinic.com