Simply Appalling

We were loyal and happy customers for our three pets until the recent change in ownership from Prof Hartman to the TAH chain. The vets were always compassionate, kind and helpful - as were the wonderful reception staff. After a most unfortunate incident with the Practice Manager, we moved to another vet.

Last Wednesday, our 14-year-old cat had a stroke and we took our vet to TAH as an emergency because our new vet was in surgery and could not see her. By the time I arrived, my husband had been in the waiting room with our poor cat fitting in her box - for almost 40 minutes. He had been told that the wait time was 15 minutes. In the meantime, another patient arrived with their puppy and was seen because they had a scheduled appointment.

The reception staff were completely disengaged from us - one was happily singing along to the Christmas songs that were being played as background music and this did not smack of much empathy to our situation. We were completely distraught.

We eventually phoned Hakuna Matata vet who were able to accommodate us within 15 minutes, and our beloved Kit Kat was helped on her way across the Rainbow Bridge with the kindness, dignity and compassion that she deserved. We believe that she needlessly suffered during her time in the waiting room at TAH and that is just unacceptable. If they could not see us within a reasonable time frame, they should have advised us to go elsewhere.

The question of how good a vet and the practice is comes down to how they react during moments of crisis and emergency - no matter how much you spend at a practice, no matter how good a customer you are buying expensive pet food and products from a vet, no matter how lovely the staff and vets are during scheduled appointments - it's the times of crisis that are the true measure.