Veterinary Clinic of Tinley Park

I have been to this vet on several other occasion over the past 2 years (I have a dog and 2 cats) and had good experiences but after today I will never return and I hope you won’t either.
I had an appointment this morning to have my female cat spayed. I made the appointment a few weeks ago when I was in the office for my dog’s annual exam and shots. I work rotating shifts — either starting at 8 am or 8:30 am. Today was an 8 am start so I arrived at the vet at 7:30. And waited… and waited… The sign on the door said they open at 8 but when I made the appointment the receptionist told me drop off starts at 7:30. If I had been given accurate information I could have easily made her appointment on a day that I didn’t start work until 8:30. At 7:47 2 employees pulled up and went in the employee entrance. I got out of my car with my cat, waved and said hello and waited by the front door and again waited… at exactly 8 am the front door was unlocked and I was let in. I get it that they open at certain times and probably didn’t realize I was told someone would be there at 7:30, but it’s 15 degrees out today. They said hello to me outside. Is it not a basic human kindness to not have someone wait in the cold for 13 minutes? I did not go back to my car because I thought that they were running late and would rush up to let me in.
Inside I explained to the receptionist about the time and she said they would look up who made the appointment and talk to her. Since I was in a hurry to get to work we quickly went through the paperwork. I opted for the $ 25 cold laser and pain med after– surgery treatment, and she asked me if I wanted «Free pre-​surgery bloodwork». That struck me as odd but I figured it was because they messed up with the time and wanted to make it up to me.
Later this afternoon my boyfriend went to pick her up and texted me asking if I knew the bill would be over $ 300. I was shocked. I asked him to get the details on the charges and apparently the «free pre-​surgery bloodwork» was actually $ 61 and I was charged for an annual examination, which was never mentioned either-​I thought it came with the surgery. The only charges I agreed to were the surgery ($ 128 with the February discount), her vaccinations ($ 39), and cold laser and pain meds ($ 25). There was also a $ 6 charge for the Cook County tag so that is of course fine. That’s a total of $ 198 that I agreed to pay and was charged over $ 100 in additional fees.
I called there to talk to them about the overcharges and the lady that answered the phone immediately knew who I was and said, «Yes, we were just talking about that» and «The extra charges just like the 7:30 drop-​off?» in a sarcastic tone implying that I made both things up. Then she said I spoke with Becca this morning and put me on hold before I could respond. I decided to just hang up rather than waste my time and energy arguing with someone who made it very clear that her mind was made up.
I’m disappointed and upset that I was treated this way. Again, I’ve had all 3 of my animals here before and wouldn’t be able to think of a complaint if I’d tried to on any of my previous visits. I don’t know why they would think that I would lie about a drop off time — why would I came early just to wait? It makes no sense. I also feel like charges should be clear and stated in the beginning. I would have agreed to everything if they actually gotten my approval. I’m so confused on why I would be offered free bloodwork then sneered at and made to feel foolish when I called to talk about it.
I’ll be looking for another vet and I hope that The Veterinary Clinic of Tinley Park trains on policies and professionalism and no one else has an experience like I did.

Very friendly staff, appointments take a couple of days but thats ok they are great with my dog.

Please do NOT come here! My dog almost died because of this vet. They said to give my dog this certain dog food and that it would shrink the stones in her bladder. I have been instructed to do this for the last 3 – 4 weeks. She was not getting better. If we didn’t take her for a second opinion today she would be DEAD! I was told by the other doctor that never in 4 years would that food have shrunk the stones and if we would have waited a few more weeks like the Veterinary Clinic of Tinley said to, she would be gone. I can’t believe the level of incompetence of this place and cannot live in good conscience without sharing my story. I love my dog very much and can only hope that other animals can be saved by NOT coming here. She always growled and pissed herself when coming to this vet. Today she didn’t even so much as bark at the new vet and was not scared at all. The new Vet said they have never ever seen stones so large in a living dog and said she must have been living on love and should not be alive.

Dr. Cecott and her staff are awesome! After spending a lot of money at another vet in Orland and having zero results we came to vcotp for a second opinion/​last chance for my parents 17 year old cat who has veryyyyy bad gestational issues. She is very understanding when it comes to wanting to keep our cat alive but not having the money to do a million more tests and spending thousands of dollars on a cat who really can’t be expected to live very much longer just because of his age. I have been to several vets with my dog (most in CA where we used to live) and she is by far my favorite vet ever. My husband said the same thing when he met her. Pricing is fair. (no vet bill is cheap but at least I feel like I’m getting a lot for the money I’m spending) She really listens to what your saying and seems to care about your animal/​situation. We are still working on our cat’s issues but at least we have a good vet to continue to work with.

My view:
I am so glad I found the Veterinary Clinic of Tinley Park. It is a car ride away, but completely worth it. There is a parking lot which is always helpful.
The staff here — and I mean everyone here — are really in tune to the pets and the pet parents. They are the professional, understanding and caring professionals that you want to do business with.
Prices are reasonable. I never feel gouged or taken advantage of. Visits are never rushed, and appointments usually start on-​time. How nice is that? The Vet and Vet techs always take the time to answer any questions we have.
My dog’s view:
Hate to say that I caved in on this one, but yes, I kissed my Vet. She was just so nice to me, and she was gentle, even when looking in my mouth which I do not let a lot of people or dogs do, but she kept telling me how good I was, and well, I am not embarrassed. I will go see her again and again, even if I am getting a vaccination or something. Maybe I kiss her again maybe I won’t. But I really like her a lot.
I even got into a bit of an altercation, more a misunderstanding than anything else with one of the resident cats and did not even get in trouble. I mean, we sent papers flying everywhere and everyone except resident cat was laughing. This really is as good as it gets.