Charter Veterinary Group Reviews 18

I have just had the best care I could of ever wished for, my very sick puppy would not of been with me today if it had not of been for Edward, Emily and the team at Roundswell Barnstable. The treatment she received and the thoughtfulness and caring of all concerned was amazing nothing too much trouble. They kept me informed every few hours on her condition which was a tremendous comfort.
I truly cannot thank them all enough.

My dog needed to be seen while on holiday, seen within an hour of phoning up, Lump in abdomen was aspirated and sent for histology straight away. Results back two days later given to me by phone and sent to my home vet. Very kind and caring. Could not have been better

My Maine Coone got sick very quickly on a Sunday afternoon.
We rushed him up to MiNightVet at Charter Vets, after phoning them and couldn't thank them enough.
Within minutes he was given pain relief and examined, and I was treated with compassion and empathy whilst I was sobbing my heart out. It turned out he had a blood clot and needed to be put down as all 4 of his feet were cold and the clot was to high. I rang my husband to tell him the devastating news, came back in and was given some time to sit with my baby to say goodbye. I held him whilst he went to sleep, paid, and was walked to my car, with my cat. The vet was concerned about me driving home due to me being so upset which I appreciated. There was no mention of insurance, cost upfront, but lots of compassion, even from the receptionist when we first went in.
I am quite shocked by the other reviews as I had a very different experience, and was very grateful that they were open on that Sunday as my precious boy wouldn't have made it until the morning to see his usual vet.

Went to see them for advise regarding a sick cat, very sick cat. They said a veterinary nurse would ring me. I asked if it would be that day and the receptionist said it would be if they 'thought it was urgent '. I would have a bleeding cat that had collapsed was pretty urgent. But they obviously did not.

They completely failed to do contact me so I took my cat elsewhere and the vet said he was acutely ill, clinically compromised and undoubtedly suffering and there was nothing could be done except end his suffering

I am pretty disgusted no phone call, no follow up, nothing. I would avoid this place like the plague. All very swanky and ostentatious but absolutely not a jot of care evident

I use vets for pets in Barnstaple . Now they DO care, and it is evident throughout their care

I can only speak from my experience but I would say Chartervets are to be avoided. Unreliable and uncaring

Yes Chartervets are a business, but (unlike Vets for Pets which is also a business) Chartervets do not appear to be remotely interested in resolving animal suffering.

Adendum.....as I did still did not have any response from Chartervets after 4 days ( remember this is a bleeding collapsed cat that I am referring to) I called in and asked to speak to the manager

Aside from an obviously ambivalent attitude she seemed to focus on my coming there at all....appearing to assume (incorrectly) that there was no vet on duty at vets for pets. There was vet on duty but fully booked and Chartervets describes itself as a hospital....ie a 'go to ' in an emergency. Clearly not. This manager gave a very grudging apology but kept saying they were short staffed that weekend as it was a bank holiday. This clearly completely ignored their complete and utter lies and empty promises. I would be extremely reluctant to use this vets unless there was absolutely no other option, and even then I would NEVER take them at their word. They clearly have absolutely no interest in reliability or any customer service

I made an appointment and went along with a stray cat, I previously contacted the rspca who sent over a £65 voucher to help as we thought the cat had an abscess.
After inspection at charter vets I was told the cat had bad teeth that needed to be removed , which would cost up to a £1000, no mention of an infection.
They were not interested in helping the cat at all. I insisted on some pain relief for the cat which cost extra on top of the £65 the rspca had sent over.
I then contacted Diana Lewis who diagnosed an abscess and said he badly needed antibiotics and will need injections fortnightly.
I am disgusted at the service that was provided by charter vets. I do not trust them and of course it's all about the money.

I would give zero stars. The main vet thinks he can just do what he wants and best for himself and not the animals. Disgraceful behaviour doing work without permission to line his own and now corporate pockets. What should have been a dose of anti biotic turned into him torturing our poor dog which left him petrified not wanted by to come out of his cubicle for fear of going back in to them. Did what he wanted without permission to boost the value. Do not ever take your pets to this place and more specifically to the main partner vet.

No Empathy No compassion from front desk couldn’t even put him in a box or so sorry for loss disgusting. Over charged and still didn’t find cause of death.

Most awful receptionist skills ever ! save yourself the arguement and go elsewhere for a vet

I would give 0 stars. Our dog had to be put to sleep yesterday but we had to wait 6-7 hours for the appointment. This meant we were waiting at home all day knowing this which was how our day was going to end. We got quoted a price on the phone prior to the appointment but they then changed the price after when we attempted to pay due to our dog being in a higher weight class (even though they had her weight on records). We then got told in the appointment for her euthanasia we would have time to make a decision and we had a few days but would have to arrange the cremation ourselves. I went to pay today and was told our dog was shipped off today to their cremator they promote which charges extortionate prices (£320! Which we will not be paying). Now we have to wait until our dog gets dropped back to us before we can continue with our cremation plans! Absolutely far from good enough and has caused the death of our dog to be so much more stressful than it should have been.

Worst service iv ever had, I am a breeder with a 5 star license went in late as it's the only vet that does out of hours now apparently to be told I'm not allowed a c section, I new my dog needed one as iv done this for over 10 years!
The vet kept injecting her with oxytocin and when a puppy was close pulling it out of her , most traumatic thing iv seen! Absolutely disgusting how they treated my dog,
I kept saying she needs a c section and after 4 pups naturally , one dying where she pulled it out by its head (sure she broke its neck) she decided to do a c section.
If this was done when I asked it would of stopped all the stress my dog went threw ,
She then took 2.5 hours in surgery wich no one came out to tell me what was going on.
Never known such unprofessional people in my life!
Then when they finally came out I had a bill for £2900 wich I refused to pay as wanted to speak to the manager the following day . But was then refused my dog back until I paid it!
They held my dog behind the desk until I made the payment.
The puppys were in the car but they were willing to let them go home without their mum!

Arrogant. Don't even acknowledge complaints. I emailed them three weeks ago and have yet to receive any form of reply.

Evil shell of a corporate structure. received my bill yesterday from you, the lack of empathy and aftercare after my animal died under your watch is disgusting! No explanation as to what actually happened, no phone call about the results of his tests. I had to call you because there is no way your bill is being paid without answers. Your female vet is extremely unprofessional and lacks empathy.
something about his death certainly doesn't add up either. what's worse is Argyle falls under the same company as you, so the lack of choices now in this Town is none. Not that it is great to begin with. I can't change what happened, but can stop others from making the same mistake. Because irl say it again the circumstances of his death were extremely suspicious.

Shocking.. my dog broke his leg the best they could do was amputate it.. NO!! So we pulled him out and got referred by a family friend to Bristol uni and amazingly they fixed his leg. Now home we need a dressing change and charter vets blankly refusing because we took him out to get his leg fixed rather then taken off!!!!! See what the ombudsman’s has to say.

I had to use this practise while on holiday,they quoted a consultation fee over the phone of 55 pounds,when i questioned the 85 pounds fee which appeared as an extended consultation on the bill ( I wasn’t in with vet 10 minutes) they then said that was because they had to get in touch with my home vet so that was a justification for the higher fee,my own vet contacted them.definitely would not use again.

I would not even rate these vets ☆

Absolutely appalling treatment of my dog and myself

Very distressing

One of their vets was " recommended " as a purported specialist and , against my wishes , my dog was referred from local vets to Charter ... because the " specialist " was a chum of theirs .

My dog had a corn on his pad as result of old injury ( he is an ex racing greyhound i adopted)

The " specialist " stated that amputation of whole digit up to top of foot and his pad ... yes , amputation , for a corn!!! ... like cutting off your big toe and half ball of your foot for a corn.... was only treatment

I had researched and said that a repeat of cutting of tendon to ease pressure , as originally was done by rescue centre vets , was recommended , also laser treatment was very successful

I had a call at later than 3 pm , having taken dog in at 8.30 and had a rushed and garbled " consultation " in car park ... a young ex racing greyhound in amongst cats and dogs waiting to be seen ! ....

I was informed that the operation could not be done because my dog had serious kidney failure.

Nonsense... bloid biochemistry of greyhounds is very different from most other breeds. So I told the " expert " this . He checked with somebody else in Charter and phoned me back... apologising that he was wrong

Nil confidence.

I then reminded him that greyhounds require less anaesthesia and careful monitoring ... so he then said he would use a different anaesthetic from one he planned

Wish I had said " give me my dog back " ... but had travelled a long time to get there and he needed to be made comfortable

I had reluctantly agreed to take him to Charter , trusting so called " experts " they claim to be

I agreed to amputation AS LAST RESORT .... expecting the cause...old fracture of toe , to be addressed and laser or tendon treatment first option . Nothing done, bone spurs were left, saying they didn't appear to cause a problem..... eh ?? The dog was anaesthetised, so obviously no pain was displayed !

So ... blood biochemistry was not known and anaesthetic requirements not known and no laser treatment even attempted , nor CAUSE of corn addressed

My dog came home mutilated , minus chunk of his foot

I was assured NO CHANGE IN BALANCE SO NO NEW CORNS

Some time later and ever since , I have had to watch my dog suffer with a new and massive corn on adjacent pad

Cost of operation was more than " estimate " ... of course it was

Now I gave ongoing and lifetime distress and seeing dog limping and all because of inappropriate operation

So I complained

Gave Charter opportunity to apologise and refund fees towards next operation he now needs ... but never get his bones and pad back

Charter refused to apologise or refund and case was referred to their insurers , who , as expected , covered their backs and stated no " negligence " was proven

That was not the issue

Ignorance and inappropriate amputation was

I have spoken to a World leader in greyhound corns , who writes research papers and my dog will have to travel hours for further treatment , at great cost and distress

He will not get his paw back

I have now gone to the VCMS ... Veterinary mediation service , to try to extract an apology from Charter and a refund of huge costs of inappropriate operation , as gesture of goodwill towards lifelong further treatments

I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND CHARTER VETS

Fees are all that matters it seems

The vet responsible has since left Charter , having left local vets to join Charter ...

Vets should not refer to chums , but give clients the choice, we are paying for private care after all

Nor should they refer to " experts " within a centre owned by these vast vet companies with multitudes of practices across whole country

Money driven

Forces costs up

AVOID CHARTER there are far better , cheaper and more skilled and knowledgeable vets than Charter

Absolute and total rip off merchants!! Our dog was desparately ill and had to be put to sleep Charter were the only vets available as we were on holiday and had no choice. Milo was only with them for 4 hours and in that time they racked up charges of £1052!!! Right from the off all they kept on about was cost cost cost!! Are you insured?? If your not then you are responsible!!! Euthanasia and cremation are not covered by insurance as they well know but those charges were never mentioned!?? £258!! For euthanasia and communal cremation!! Having researched this the average cost across the country is around £100! They are nothing better than racketeers! Their only concern is profit I hate to think how many people get shafted by these pirates every day! Ibwould strongly reccomended you seek alternatives before emptying your bank balance into theirs!!

Whereas the treatment was good I always felt that they were trying to get more money from me, the first question is are you insured the second what’s wrong with your pet, wrong way round in my opinion, most things my dogs have been in for the treatment has always exceeded the estimate and normally just over the ceiling amount you are insured for, they always try to push the equipment they have aqua therapy cat scans blood test etc and on the last visit I was charged £180 to be referred to another vet in a different surgery, the financial side is also quite bad I once received a red bill a year after some treatment without ever getting a invoice and recently had to ask for invoices that never did add up to the amount charged, if you do use them as there is very little choice ask questions is it necessary stick to your guns and always get a bill

I have found that Charter Vets are good at dispensing pills and the basics and charging you for it, but when it comes to more serious complaints my experience with them was disappointing. There are better Vets in this area.