Miami Veterinary Specialists
based on 13 reviews
Coral Gables, FL 33146
(305) 665-2820
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Category: Pets
Tags:
veterinarians, veterinarian, miami veterinary specialists, mvs hospital, mvs, mvs miami, mvs specialists, miamiveterinarian specialists, #mvs #mvsmiami
I am the owner of this business
Accepts Credit Cards: yes
Parking: Private Lot
Wheelchair Accessible: yes
13 reviews for Miami Veterinary Specialists
Worst place ever!!!! They deserve zero stars! Outdated, disgusting place, with very arrogant doctors that trick you into spending money for made up medical reasons, procedures , tests and surgeries! Specially arrogant is Dr. Tight pants and High heels: Dr. D’Amico “So called” “”SURGEON””!!!! Beware of her please!!! She caused my baby dog to die!!! Her explanation after: non-sensical, absurd. She didn’t even know how to justify it! This didn’t need to happen! She did not know what she was doing, but I trusted her because I was at a “specialist” place, right? Well now I know what their specialty is! Please, my advise: stay away from this place or you will regret it as I do.
#mvs is not a trustworthy place if you love your pet, stay away! Ask all the questions, request to see all the Lab reports, take them for second opinion. After my dog died under their care, and they gave me all his papers, I saw the lab report that mentioned that he had no abnormalities and that they suggested a small needle to retrieve a sample of a mass he had. They did not show me the report, but instead insisted that this mass needed to be remove urgently! Unfortunately, they convinced me, my reassuring me that it was simple, and necessary and that; The surgeon's words: "I am confident, that I can remove it all or most of it and this will increase his life span by at least 3 years" I dropped him off the day before, and never saw him again because he died in the operating table! Please, please, please: DO NOT TRUST THEM WITH YOUR PET!
Butchers!!!!!! That's what they are!!!!! Ask them how many pets dye every month under their hands!!!!!! It's insane!!!!! We lost our dog, our baby, who was not sick because they operated him unnecessarily!!!!! We lost our baby and PAID FOR IT!!!! On top of that!!!!
This NEGATIVE review is for MVS Miami, located at 8601 Sunset Drive, Miami, FL 33143
We, as owners of pets that do not know much about medicine, go to the “Specialists” for their knowledge and expertise. So, obviously, we TRUST them with our babies. The problem is when money, (because, let’s face it: MVS is a BUSINESS and they want to make money) interferes with the process. There is nothing wrong with making money. The problem and the INJUSTICE is when greed overcomes Science and Medicine and decisions are made wrongly. I took my Baby because he had diarrhea. They did X-Rays and saw that he had a mass in his liver. He was almost 13 years old, but had no pain, was happy, active: A normal dog. They urged me to remove this mass insisting that removing it will increase his life span. You might say that I was naïve, ignorant, or whatever, but I TRUSTED THEM and agreed to the surgery. The Dr. that checked him when I took him, called the surgeon and both of them were very insistent on having the surgery. They were trying to convince me that it was the best thing for him. And they did: they convinced me and so I agreed. I didn’t have the $5,300.00 that the surgery would cost, but I put it in a credit card. They told me all kinds of assurances: He is healthy, his heart is good, his blood test is good, etc, etc, etc. I NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN!!!!! He died…He died…He died…
Most of the negative complaints on this vet office are regarding the expense and excessive testing that most people feel they had to pay for and that their pets had to endure.
My complaint is a bit different. YES, I do think their costs are excessive when comparing their test prices with other vet offices - this doesn't have anything to do with being a SPECIALIST. These are just increased prices.
My dog was referred to them through my vet - who I LOVE.
Complaint # 1
They required me to pay up front for a surgery that my dog required, including the 7 days recovery time he would need after the surgery. That's fine, except that I did not want to put it on my credit card. I said I wanted to pay with my debit card and take it directly from my checking account. They do no take checks and apparently do not accept debit card payments. I can understand not taking checks, but not taking debit cards is a bit shocking to me. Since they require such large payments up front, they should make it as easy to provide them with the payment as possible. It was suggested by the girl taking the payment that I drive to the bank and withdrawl the $5,000.00 + in cash and bring it back to them. They then said that they could not start any treatment until the "DEPOSIT" was paid. What "deposit"? They were requiring me to pay in full for my dogs surgery and bording and tx for a full seven days after the surgery. That is called PAYMENT IN FULL, not DEPOSIT.
Complaint # 2
Sadly my dog passed away. I am not putting the blame on them for this, I think my dog was just too old and too full of cancer to have survived. However, when looking at the bill I felt the fee for the cremation was a bit high. I called Pet Haven which does all the cremations for the vets here in Miami. Without using the vets name I asked what would chage a vet for a private cremation of a 16 lb dog. They said their charge to a vet would have been $250, MVS charged me $350. That is a $100 dollar profit they made after my dog died.
Yes friends, they even make a profit on the death of your beloved pet. Although when I confronted them with this fact, they said it was a fee. I think a fee is a charge for a service provided. They do not provide cremation services, they just make a profit off the death of much loved pets.
But wait, it gets better. They even have the audacity to return my dogs remains in the least expensive urn that Pet Haven sells. I have unfortunalely lost alot of pets over the past 20 + years. I have never had the remains returned in an urn. I always ask for a private cremation and to have the ashes returned in a cardboard box. I either bury the ashes for spread them. However, for this little dog, my youngest wanted to keep his ashes and I had ordered a NICE urn which was already at my house when I went to pick up my dogs ashes. I told the receptionist "This is an urn" - she said, no it is a box that all the ashes come back in. It was a wooden box with screws on the bottom, it was an URN. So apparently, they take it upon themselves to pick out urns for our pets. Not just any urn, but the cheapest ones that they can get and pass that expense on to us.( When my father died 2 1/2 years ago, I do not recall his physician picking out his casket, I must have missed that with all the grief I was feeling at the time.) This is the same exact thing.The urn they put my dogs ashes in costs $29.99 on Pet Havens web site. Again, cremation 250, urn 29.99. Adding that together, they still made a profit (FEE) of over $70 on the cremation of my little dog.
This is for MVS, located at 8601 Sunset Drive, Miami, FL 33143
MVS deserves NO STARS, and if I could give them a negative, I would. Unfortunately, I was forced to give them one star in order to write my review.
I would not recommend these people to anyone - ever! They are greedy, uncaring, and unprofessional. If your pet needs emergency care or a specialist's care, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THEM TO MVS, as they deserve better. Do your research beforehand, and be prepared in case the situation comes up, so that you do not feel forced to go to MVS in an emergency situation. If you have time, I highly recommend the Veterinary Specialists of South Florida in Cooper City. Yes, they are about an hour away, but if it is not an emergency, it is well worth it. They are polar opposites to MVS in every way.
First of all, even if your dog needs emergency care, they will not lift a finger until you pay the full bill up front. As I was told by one of their employees, they changed their policy way back, because they "lost a lot of money due to non-paying customers". So, if the initial diagnostics are $1,200, and you only have access to $900 at that moment (but can get the rest within a couple of hours), they will not start treatment until you pay them the full $1,200. In other animal hospitals that I have been to you can pay afterward, which gives you time to get the money together and deposit it, without putting your dog's life at risk.There are also other vets who will ask for a deposit, and then you pay the rest of the bill afterward. But these people want the entire amount up front, while your dog is left waiting for treatment. Oh, and then they "adjusted" my bill by adding another $50 charge for a "hospital stay". When I asked about this, they said that this charge is added to your bill "after a couple of hours", even though my dog was undergoing diagnostics during this time, and went home with me afterward. Unbelievable!! Nobody else does this!!
In addition, you will be given conflicting information from different members of their staff regarding their payment policy. For example, I was first told by a tech that I could pay most of it now, have them start the diagnostics, and then bring the rest in a little while. Then I was told by Robbie (supervisor) that this was not the case, and that I would have to go get the full amount first, before they would even touch my dog. So I was all stressed out while trying to get the money ASAP, worrying that my dog, who had a possible intestinal blockage, was going to end up with major complications due to this delay.Robbie was also very unprofessional, as he was talking about me in the front office, unaware that I was right there hearing everything that he was saying, and then later came up with some stupid excuse when he realized that that I caught him.
Secondly, once you pay your bill and leave the place, do not expect to be able to speak directly to your doctor(s) ever again. Instead, another member of their very rude and clueless staff will be the one who relays messages back and forth between you and the doctor. They did this to me, and the arrogant and condescending staff member (Iliana - "Head Tech") came back to me with a ridiculous response that did not even apply to my dog, because the doctor (Dr. Kreissler) was either confusing my dog with somebody else's or did not have all the facts straight. I'm not surprised, because Iliana was so rushed when I was explaining the situation, that she hardly listened to what I was saying and it is very likely that she butchered my message. Then the doctor just relayed a message based on that. But Dr. Kreissler could not be bothered to return my call himself to find out exactly what I was asking. So, Iliana came back with an answer that made no sense, whatsoever. According to the doctor, my dog was "very ill and should be brought in right away!" What?? My dog had vastly improved in the past few days, and was back to her regular, happy self! She was chasing cats and lizards while I was on the phone with them! Of course, he would not know that, because they do not bother to follow up. Why should they? Their goal is already accomplished - they got their money. NEXT! He just wanted me to bring my dog back in so that I could spend even MORE money there. No thanks - NEVER AGAIN!
So, just remember this: ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS MONEY - NOT YOUR DOG, and certainly not answering any follow-up questions that you may have after you have already paid. My experience is not rare. Read through all of their horrible online reviews (here and on other sites) and you will see that there is a common thread: greed, rudeness, and lack of empathy. But they still have not even tried to improve their service over the years, and that says it all. There are MUCH better options out there. Do your research, and do not make the same mistake that I did. Your pets are counting on you.
Not very happy with my experience here. They did not care about my pet at all: they only saw dollar signs. Just to speak with someone it will be $100. And then they have to do tests: they always do tests! The treatment options they choose will not be the ones that are best for your pet but the most expensive ones. I am all for getting good care for my pet and am willing to spend for procedures that need to be done, but I could not help but feel like I was being taken advantage of when I was there. Bad communication too: Put me on hold for a long time when I would call to check up on my dog. They also took forever to call with updates. I did not like my vet, Dr. Wosar. He was very unfriendly. I had enough and took him to another vet - one that actually cared about what was best for my dog and not their bank account.
This is a general review from a veterinarian in response to almost all of the above comments below. Veterinarians are DOCTORS and there are the same costs (if not more) associated with the health care of your pet when compared to humans. Have you looked at your ER or hospital bills before your insurance coverage? We as veterinarians are responsible for determining what is going on with your pet, that by the way-does not speak! Diagnostic tests are expensive, that is the bottom line. Providing care to your furry loved ones is costly. Trained staff, facilities, anesthesia, and MR/CT etc... are all very expensive. If you compare veterinary diagnostic imaging tests to human tests...Such as an upper and lower GI scope, there is a considerable difference. I just paid 1,000 for mine personal scope (10,000 actual charge billed to my insurance) vs. the cost of an upper and lower GI scope in a cat of dog at about $1500 on avg. So I think that if you want to receive the best care for your pet, then there are going to be charges for seeing a specialist (one that is specialized in a particular field and has over 8 years of veterinary medical education) to have the best care for that member of your family. Otherwise, there is always the option of going to an outdated veterinary clinic that practices below the standard of care. I personally want the best for my pets, as I consider them to be members of my family. And for those that are concerned about finances, there are options like veterinary pet insurance and Care Credit!
Anonymous DVM, Resident in emergency and critical care
Yes, Diagnostic tests are expensive. However, not all diagnostic tests are NECESSARY. The problem with MVS is that they start out doing a series of diagnostic tests to identify an issue that could have been solved without such expense. They do not even consider the stress that they put the animals under when they perform their unnecessary tests. It's not an issue of expense, it's an issue of unnecessary expense in order to increase profit.
not sure how this relates to the a clinic of the same name on sunset drive but if they arnt owned by the same person they are certainly following the same business model suggested by these comments. Unnecessary tests, unrealistic outcomes and a maximum $3300 quote morphing into nearly $7000 in 5 days.
January 3, 2011
THIS IS A LETTER WE WROTE AND HAND DELIVERED TO MIAMI VETERINARY SERVICES
We were referred to you by our veterinarian _____ for our dog Dakota. She had been limping and THE Dr. thought it best to take her to you for a further tests.
Dr Nanai was assigned to us for Dakota, and after extensive (and very expensive) tests and an overnight stay, she sat with us and explained that there was nothing evident from the tests, and that it may be a nerve sheath tumor, but it had not yet presented itself and further testing may be required (mri's and or electrostatic.) We got Dakota back half shaved and in worse shape than when we brought her in and we were required to have her board overnight which was very costly. From Dr. Nanai’s explanation, we thought the end was imminent for Dakota and we had to change our Thanksgiving travel plans to be with our family.
We took Dakota home, and proceeded to follow the instructions given to us by Dr Nanai with her medication. However, even something so simple as trying to get medication sent to the CVS pharmacy, there was always a problem. The pharmacist at CVS called to tell me that the office sent over incomplete prescriptions, and in some cases, they didn’t send them at all which caused long waits for us.
On Dakota’s 3rd visit, our payments had already exceeded $4,000. Probably because of the medication she is on, she is constipated and had poop stuck in her butt. Dr. Nanai asked if we wanted to have them clean her, which we said yes, and 10 minutes later, Dakota was ready to go. When my husband went to pay the bill, another $172, included was a $42 charge for the cleaning. As my husband thought this was a service that you were providing, and in light of the many thousands of dollars we had spent, this was a breaking point. He complained to Robbie, the office manager, and to Dr. Nanai however, the issue was not resolved and Robbie was insistent that the money was appropriate. It was not.
We understand that you have a business to run. However, charging $42 to clean a sick dogs anal area when we have spent so much money already, and by the way, with no resolution of what is wrong with our dog, in this instance was a disgrace and one of the worst cases of gouging we have ever witnessed. Our hope is that this letter will cause you to reconsider how you treat your NEXT patients family, as you won’t be treating Dakota any longer. I’m sure this does not upset you, as there is always the next client.
The frustration is that after all the money spent, all the time invested, all the misery at your office, being nickeled and dimed for every single thing, our dog is exactly the same. The reviews that your office has online are disgraceful, and we plan to add this letter to the already negative reviews that you have.
The is place is the worst I've ever been to. All they think about is $$$$$ instead of taking pride in professionalism and the pet's ultimate health. My dog got two puncture wound from a fight with another one of my dogs and they want to charge me around $1200 just to keep him hydrated and put antibiotics for one night!! This is without even treating the wound. Wat!!!!!! The Homestead Animal Hospital charged me $1000 to perform surgery to treat the wounds and keep him hospitalized for 4 nights along with x-rays and antibiotics, you name it. Not only did they care to even know my dog's name (Big Daddy) but they even recommended me to another Vet for the things they were incapable of doing like an ultrasound, this shows that they care about my dog's ultimate health instead of $$$$$$. Miami Vet. Specialist tried to charge me close to $600 just for an ultrasound. thats almost triple of the cost that I've seen in other Vets. MIAMI VET. SPECIALIST SUCK------------NEVER GO THERE------THEY DONT CARE ABOUT YOUR ANIMALS--------$$$$$$$$$$.
I too have experienced the same thing with the 10% over the max bill. My dog had an MRI there and of course, with an animal, they have to be put to sleep to have the scan done. The dog was there from 10AM to 5PM and I was charged every 3 hours for a "cage fee" . If you work with animals they have to be in a cage while waiting. Wouldn't you think that would be part of the package when an MRI was done on any animal!! I agree, they are way too interested in the money.
They also submitted my pet to tests that produced no results, and charged me a similar price for some stool softener and IV overnight.