Animal Hospital of South Bay — Local services in Lawndale

Poor professionalism and customer service after a puppy’s death

On August 5th, we lost our ‘healthy’ (according to the multiple vets at this hospital through regular check-ups) 6 months old puppy, Luna, during the spay surgery. Per post mortem which hospital offered to pay for, we learned that she had a congenital heart condition. This is a devastating experience to any pet parents, but the hospital’s poor professionalism and prioritization of their business interests were so outwardly at display throughout the whole experience. There were vital signs missing in the surgery records which the hospital shared is caused by a broken machine. Sure, given the heart condition, the hospital didn’t “kill” our puppy technically, but we are not returning to this place again based on how things were handled after the death.

Few examples: Lack of access to the vet who performed the surgery: when my husband and I arrived at the hospital, we talked to the vet (Dr. Andrew Arriola, who performed the surgery) for 5 minutes. He has always had the bad bedside manner as he is impatient in explaining things in laymen’s term. (FYI, we are not in the medical field) As distraught as we were at that time, he was certainly not the most comforting figure to be around. Those 5 minutes were ALL we got since August 5th. The vet who performed surgery, leading to our puppy’s sudden death, was only willing to chat with us for 5 minutes. Disarray at the front desk: when we sent Luna’s body to the necropsy facility, we specifically requested the report to be sent to us directly once available. I had to make 5 different calls between the hospital and the facility to confirm that was done. Front desk staffs are always short staffed and they do not follow-up, leading us to call them multiple times for a simple task. Lack of urgency: as we reviewed the surgery records, there were missing vital signs, and the doctor’s notes were illegible. We asked the front desk on August 6th to perform a medical review to understand what exactly happened during the surgery. On August 21st, we found out they never started the review process, asking us for additional 45-60 business days. Refusal to exchange communications over emails: the medical director, Dr Roberto J. Marchan, reached out to us few days later Luna’s death wanting to talk on the phone. Again, we are not in the medical field, and medical jargon goes over our head. So we asked him to send us his findings about missing vital signs from the surgery record and their theory on what happened to Luna so we can pre-read and digest them before getting on the phone without getting too emotional. He refused to share anything via email and kept requesting to talk over the phone. When we point blanked asked if there are any things to share with us based on his findings, he said no. That’s when we knew this hospital is just a business at the end of the day. That really hurt our feeling. Lack of empathy: on the day of Luna’s death, we were in one of the exam rooms holding Luna’s dead body for 7 hours. We were in shock, and grieving. It was difficult to let go and accept. During those 7 hours, nobody offered us water or came in to check in unless we went out looking for a staff. No flowers, no condolence cards: I know the hospitals are business at the end of the day. But we have been taking Luna to this place since she was 8 weeks old for regular check-ups and vaccinations. Even our daycare that Luna attended for THREE DAYS sent us a card filled with kind notes from all staffs that met Luna.

We have another older dog, and we are never returning to this place ever again. Puppy’s death alone was tragic, but the hospital’s treatment of the situation during such a difficult time really showed us...

I didn’t know that going to the vet could actually be a positive experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn this until after I went to Lawndale Pet Hospital to get a second opinion after having come to Animal Hospital of South Bay for almost 2 years. During that time, regardless of what the visit was for, our dog constantly shook whenever we went to the vet. He did not shake, however, after taking him to be evaluated at Lawndale Pet Hospital. In fact, he walked around wagging his tail while we waited to see that vet.

Our dog needed a tooth extraction but also had a heart condition which made the procedure risky. My 12 year old daughter and I met with the vet at the Animal Hospital of South Bay. He explained that our dog’s heart condition was a concern especially as we considered getting his tooth extracted. He had no awareness of how his words were obviously affecting my daughter, as it was her dog. He gave no words of compassion or empathy. He later proceeded to tell me—in front of my daughter— that he plans to never have children. Why did I need to know that, and why in the world would he say that with my 12 year old daughter standing next to me?

This vet also gave me an estimate for my dog’s tooth extraction, which would be anywhere from $475 to $4k. That’s a HUGE range. And we wouldn’t know the total amount owed until after the procedure. Whereas the total amount I was told that the procedure would cost (from Lawndale Pet Hospital) was a fraction of the cost, give or take a little depending on whether there were additional teeth that needed to be extracted.

Animal Hospital of South Bay prescribed a diarrhetic to help with my dog’s heart condition. When I called them a couple of days later asking for advice on how to help my dog, who went from being perfectly potty trained to now having several accidents a day, one of the receptionists was irritated with my questions and basically said, “Too bad. This is just the way it’s going to be from now on since your dog is on this medication.” Not all of the receptionists are rude. This one in particular often responded to my questions on the phone with irritation and frustration.

When I told the Lawndale vet about my dog having accidents from adding this new medication, he looked at my dog’s weight and cut the dose in half. My dog’s accidents stopped immediately.

My dog’s tooth was literally dangling when I took him in to see the vet at Animal Hospital of South Bay. They only do surgeries on Mondays, so I had to schedule his visit about 10 days out.

Lawndale Pet Hospital does surgeries every morning. My dog’s teeth were extracted the very next morning after having met with this vet for a second opinion.

I’m not sure why the stark contrast between both vet experiences; I wish I had had a better experience at Animal Hospital of South Bay. But I will never recommend this vet to anyone. If you are looking for patience with your questions, professionalism, reasonable prices, and compassion, I highly recommend Lawndale...

After reading all the negative reviews from this place I strongly expect a comment back from this facility that deflects their part in the problem. Seems like every time they have received a negative review it’s because the customer was rude or some type of long essay on their policy. This place could care less about the customer experience and will find any way to blame thier rude behavior on the customer. I was late to my appointment today and even called and told them I was late and was willing to turn around if that meant I couldn’t be with the technician while they rewarded my puppies foot. They assured me I could on the phone and when I got it they were completely rude and told me multiple times I was late…. As if I didn’t already know that. The situation itself really didn’t bother me it was how rude they chose to Handel it. I would never bring my dog back here. I usually do not write reviews or care enough to share my opinion on a buisness but the front desk at this facility is so rude and disrespectful that I ended up leaving before even getting my dog seen. I think Alex was her name not sure. If you’re looking for a place where you can get in I would only go here in DIRE NEED. The only positive is that they actually pick up the phone when you call. But the service is terrible. To give you some more context my dog broke his paw and I came here based on a referral from a local. The first interaction the front desk was very rude but we let it slide (and we were on time this time), they proceeded to be rude again but we figured they were busy and let it slide (also on time), however this time the way they casted my dog caused bleeding and further injury. While attempting to express my need to speak with someone in person they proceeded to continue to be rude and disregard the fact that they made my dogs broken paw bleed… I can go on and on but I do not understand how this place has 4 stars. I would give them negative if I could. Excited for the long response on how they were just...