ACCESS South Bay Torrance, California

On January 27th my 13-year-old female back lab was not doing well, not eating, vomiting and could not sit. We decided to take her to Access South Bay even though we were warned it could take 3-6 hours. We arrived, we’re seen by intake …

We had to euthanize our beloved cat last night, Dr. Moore was the attending vet and was very caring and compassionate not only with our sweet boy but also with my husband and I. Being in rescue we've had to put at peace many cats over the years and can honestly say he was one of the most compassionate doctor I've had to go through this with. Many thanks Dr. Moore

If I could rate this horrible place lower I would. Our kitten recently had to be put to rest here. Not only did it take 30 minutes to be able to see him, they left him with us alone for an hour. No one came by or checked on us. Finally when the doctor came, after we rang the bell multiple times, she euthanized him and gave us maybe 8 minutes with him. Now a few days later we get a call stating they have misplaced the body of our beloved pet. How dare they try to charge us so much and only for them to loose our loved one. I have had more problems but no matter how much I complain he will never come back.

I've gone to Access South Bay numerous times but just recently my 8 month english bulldog had to get BOAS surgery which was pricey but worth it. His consultation appointment was Friday they had him booked for surgery the next day. Even though I didn't get much updates before or after surgery as I would've liked I knew I can trust them with my Buddy. Because of COVID they're low on staff but even though I bothered them by calling so many times they were very sweet and professional with me. Buddy's surgery went well however it was the recovering that was difficult and he had to stay for a couple days but when I got him he looked so well taken care of. Now a week later of his surgery he's a COMPLETELY new puppy. He can breathe, sleep, and eat without passing out. Thank you Dr. Garcia and Nurse John for giving my Buddy the best chance to a happy healthy life!

I found a huge tick on my pet and my pet was showing symptoms of lethargy and reclusiveness and the tick wouldn't come out. The lady who answered the phone said "sir, that isn't considered an emergency"... Horrible quality of care.

This one star review is not about the skill or expertise of the doctors at this facility. They may very well provide excellent care for all I know but they bankrupted me before my dog ever recieved treatment. Let me explain, first of all, that I am a person of limited means. In other words, I am poor. My dog had Laryngeal Paralysis and needed tie back surgery. I scheduled an apointment for her but the apointment was not for two weeks. After voicing my concerns that it may be too long to wait I was told I could bring her in right away but it would cost $150 for an emergency visit. I thought that was very reasonable and was not a problem. So I brought her in. Due to covid restrictions nobody is allowed inside and all comunication is done through the phone while you wait in your car. I was very quickly told that the price had suddenly jumped from $150 to $500 and they would have a surgical estimate for me shortly. I had done extensive research on the cost of tie back surgery and the price was consistantly quoted as being from anywhere from $1,800 to $5000 depending on the particulars of the case with the most extreme situations never topping $5,000. The estimate I recieved here was double that of the most extreme and was over $10,000. I told them that I didn't have that kind of money and that I wanted my dog back. I was told that I already owed them $1,000 even though it had only been $500 that I had previously agreed to and that had been bumped up from the initial $150 that I was first quoted. They said they couldn't release my dog for 48 hours and I would be responsible for all charges that built up in that 48 hours or they could uthenise her right then and there. I told them that all the money I had saved up was only $2,000 and that they were draining it and I wouldn't be able to afford the surgery anywhere else. When they heard it was only $2,000 I had they told me I could come back at 10 pm to pick her up. I showed up at 10 pm and by that time my bill was convienently $2,000. Every thing I had saved for her surgery was now gone. For nothing. My baby passed away on Christmas eve.

awesome emergency service at 2:30 AM. VERY very helpful.

Turned away because they said they were "out of oxygen". Hit or miss with this place, try vca. They'll send you there anyway

They almost killed my 14 yr old dog by giving him anti-seizure medication even though they had no idea what was wrong with him yet. Thankfully we didn't let them give it to him again because it made him more sick. They couldn't figure out after 7 days and $5000 in tests what was wrong with him. After they told me they wanted to do another $2,000 test I decided to take him somewhere else because he was getting sicker by the day and could not even walk at this point. As soon as we get to peninsula pet clinic the new veterinarian figured out in only 15 minutes and only $300 in tests that he needed gallbladder surgery! But ACCESS had taken so long and treated him incorrectly that his survival chances were only 50%. No thanks to ACCESS he made it and is doing much better now.

The staff and the doctors are excellent at Access. We unfortunately lost two of our dogs due to ARDS and cancer but they did everything they could to save them. I highly recommend Access if you have an animal emergency.

On short notice for somewhat emergency service they squeezed in one of our dogs and provided excellent care / service when our own vet turned us away due to short staff / influx in appointments. Knowledgeable team provided clear explanation of issue and treatment. Sara and co we’re very kind on pickup / arrival with Covid safe measures in place. Lots of parking a bonus too.

If you want to wait on hold on the phone for 20 minutes, and/or get told your animal isn't sick enough to be seen, then ACCESS is your system.

Heartless money grubbing place. I am a journalist and I was just assigned a story on them. Perhaps they’d like to reach out to comment on $3000 for one day of care post op - that they performed! My heart breaks for the pet rescuer they are extorting! And not the only such story I heard. Avoid.

Completely overcharges you. Don’t go!

Great service. The staff was friendly and well organized and Dr. Guastamacchio was knowledgeable and straight forward about my cats plan of care. The bill was very reasonable for all the time we spent there and all the attention my cat got and great medicines she received. My cat was suffering from an ear hematoma and ear mites. Due to Covid 19, my regular vet could not see us for two weeks. They recommended Access for same-day care. Access saw me the same day that I called them and gave me an appointment for just two hours out. I left their animal hospital knowing exactly what was going on with my cats health. I received medicine and prescriptions to help my cat, Bootsie. I was very pleased with the whole experience and treatment. Dr. "G" was empathetic and accurate. We left with a great plan of treatment.

We had a very good experience with Access everyone was very nice helpful and professional .

Never ever use this Vet ICU for anything. The front desk and assistants work their tails off, but the vets are so disorganized and overburdened that they drop the ball when it comes to diagnostics and communications. I hope others with similar experiences start sharing stories b/c this place deserves to be shut down. We dealt w 3 vets on their critical care team. After spending over 13K for testing, meds and a blood transfusion over 4 days (Monday through Thursday), our ridgeback was still internally bleeding. All they could tell us was it was a healing ulcer with gastritis that was being further compromised by a clotting issue. Our dog has underlying IBD as well, which we knew about. On the fourth evening, we pulled our beloved Copper, since improvement had been minimal and the costs were unsustainable. We were still awaiting the results of biopsies and we told "that this is the normal course of action with an active ulcer and it takes time for the GI system to heal." As soon as we took him home, the communication stopped. We were told on Thursday night that a vet would call us on Friday with updated test results and to tell us if our dog should stay on Prednisone. We did not receive a call. We, therefore, called on Friday and left a message to see if results of the biopsies were in and to schedule an appointment for a platelet count. No one returned our call. We called again on Saturday morning and explained that we never got a call back and that we were told by the vet on Thursday that our dog needed to come in for a platelet count within 24 to 48 hours of discharge. We explained our dog was not doing well and that we needed to get his platelets tested as the vet had instructed us to do, but the vet neither proactively called us nor returned our voicemail. Our dog started bleeding out on Saturday and went into distress. We had to call an in-home euthanasia vet who came to put our dog down, but he suffered significantly until the vet arrived. We notified Access that Copper was being euthanized and that we weren't coming in for the platelet count. Here is the worst part. We NEVER EVER got a call back from the Access vets. Once you stop the money train, these vets will NOT care about your pet. My husband called Access today (Tuesday) b/c we wanted the biopsy results that were never discussed with us and he wanted to voice his disgust with the vet care team's lack of communication with us. Here is the real KICKER...he finally got a call back from a nice vet this evening. She wasn't part of the care team that took care of Copper, but she admitted the biopsy results came in on Friday showing that Copper had a severe course of lymphoma, but that the vet on call "forgot" to notify us on Friday. This vet saw the results on Saturday ( wait, wait, here is cherry on the top), but as she had found out our pet had died, she was hesitant to notify us. Thus, we have been sitting here for days wondering why our pet died and no one from Access bothered to let us know anything. It is one of the most extreme examples of compassionate atrophy from a team of supposed professionals that I have ever seen and I think this vet care team needs to really assess if they are in the right line of work. When you stop caring for the sickest patients, then why are you in this line of a work? They should all be ashamed of themselves. Please note my review is in regards to the vets themselves. The front desk and the assistants are great, but unfortunately, they are not the ones with your pet's life in their hands. VCA on Hawthorne in Lawndale is amazing, but b/c they have a wonderful reputation, and Access has a horrible reputation (look at the reviews), it is hard to get into VCA with emergent care issues. Even if it takes longer, go to VCA or drive to the Westside or OC for your pet's care if you want a vet who cares about your furry family member and not just whether you approve the financial estimates.

They list a 24/7 working hour. However, the main staff are not there Thursday through Sunday. They treat you and your pet like a number and the front desk staff are insensative and terrible at customer service. Furthermore, simply getting through their phone system takes forever.... keep your pet safe and better cared for and stay away from this place.

Erin and Monique are amazing people they made are deciion of putting down our silver labrador BULLET very comfortable and assuring. I would recommend this place to anyone that has any pet needs or tough decisions. THANK YOU YOU MONIQUE AND ERIN FOR YOUR AMAZING KINDNESS AND SUPPORT , Paul S

Honestly wish our pet was able to be seen elsewhere. Everything is extremely expensive, and the person in charge of contacting us was talking to us in a snarky tone most of the time. I get that we were getting confused and it can get annoying, but our pet was extremely sick and we were anxious. Bedside manner is important when working in the medical field, just saying. It was going to be over $6,000 just to diagnose our pet. We just decided to put her down instead of putting her through more suffering. The other staff members were very kind, but ultimately I really don't recommend this place to anyone. UPDATE: My grandmother just tried to get our crate back and they gave her such a difficult time. They kept saying our cat was never seen there since we weren't in the system. Not sure if they spelled our last name wrong. They even asked if she was confused and went to a different place instead. Yeah I think we remember where our cat WAS EUTHANIZED. Needless to say, she got the crate back after some bickering. They were willing to take over $6,000 from us but didn't have us in the system? hah

I took my dog here earlier this week because my dog was showing early symptoms of parvovirus. They wasn’t any available appointments in other locations & I was so glad they were able to let me arrive as an emergency and see her within an hour. Unfortunately my dog was tested positive & wanted to get her treatment that same day. It was far too expensive, talking about $5K to keep her hospitalized and I wasn’t able to get approved to make monthly payments. I was told in the beginning I’d pay $160 to get her tested plus her exam. After nearly 2-3 hours of letting them know I won’t be able to pay for the treatment, I was charged $205 and told me there was a miscommunication with prices. After paying, it took them another hour to bring my dog to my car. Overall, it’s too expensive for their services, miscommunications, & took me overall 4-6 hours with them just be told to look for different location for her treatment. Discharge papers said nothing about her actual exam or what they found of my dog. It was just general info about parvovirus. Their staffs are nice but I wasn’t satisfied from my experience.

Unprofessional and zero sense of urgency (name of company includes the word "emergency"): 1) disconnected while 5 minutes into new parient intake and had to call back and wait 15 minutes to start all over again. 2) failed to properly or timely fill Rx. 3) said Rx was filled but when I arrived they said "oh no, we never fill them until you show up. Then you'll have to go back outside, call us,, and wait while we fill it. " 4) upon asking what quantities and dosages are in the Rx, they responded "I dont understand, it's a tube." They had no idea actual dosages, weights, measurements, etc. or administration guidance on the Rx I was being charged out for ($200). 5) after the vet previously said "we'd be happy to show you how to administer subcutaneous fluids to your pet with a needle," the front desk staff called and asked if I needed them to demonstrate or if I could just watch a YouTube video on how to do it. If I could provide 0 stars, I would.

The worst emergency hospital ever! Went with my four month old pitbull never gave me his diagnosis of the switch, pretty took him home worst them how I brought him. Doctor overdose him with benadryl because they gave him the wrong dog information. He said that there were two dogs with the same name and same breed ,so that's how he got mixed up. Please people dont take your dog here

My dog stayed here for 9 days racking up over 20k dollars. They finally discharged her as we told her we could try taking care of her at home but they gave us no plan going forward other than to finish out her medicine. Once we were discharged they gave 0 effs about us and wouldn’t return our phone calls or emails about her not getting better. We ended up taking her to our vet who said her hospital paperwork said that she has chronic hepatitis which they literally never mentioned to us or gave her any treatment for. They just sent us on our way and never looked back.

My dogs symptoms weren’t severe enough tonight. They refused me service and let my best friend die.

Horrible! I called and explained what’s going on and she quickly stated “we only take emergencies and we don’t do appointments” as if what my puppy is dealing with is not an emergency. I felt disrespected and unassisted from her nasty tone and lack of listening.

Animal Hospitals are PACKED right now and clinics booked weeks in advance, especially if you have a non-emergency, but Urgent Care type situation, and after checking 16 different places for a standard or walk-in appointment (8+ hours if they are even taking non-emergency), I ended up here still expecting a wait if I could even get in. The staff is great, and doing a great work of triage and referrals (depending on the issue - be understanding if they try to send you to Crossroads, or another facility that can accept Urgent Care at that time = there's a tiny bit of luck involved here), and luckily after a quick check, they gave me the assurance I need that the issue was minor, but worth the check. Thank you for taking care of my girl Chance!

Our kitten was given hours to live on Friday evening. Dr Luce said he wouldn’t make it till morning for my daughter to see him and say goodbye. Dr Luce suggested we either agree to a procedure for 1700 to extend his life for 12 hours or euthanize him. We asked if she could just empty his bladder so we can take him home and be with him until it was time. She said no! She pretty much said we are cruel for doing that since he was going to be suffering. Dr. Luce also made a comment that since kitty is only 2 months old, it’s not worth trying to save him or spend thousands on him. Implying we just acquired him so this shouldn’t be a tough decision to put him down. We couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth and her condescending tone. She was pressuring us to make a decision right away. Knew we were in vulnerable position and kept making us feel cruel for wanting to take him home with us. Finally she said we would have to sign an Against Medical Advice form first but she wanted us to know she was strongly against our decision. Dr Luce said Loki our kitty would not make it till morning. We asked her again to please empty his bladder and let us take him. They brought him out and we made a 3hr drive to Kern River for my daughter to hopefully see him alive. He never seemed to be or expressed any pain before or after leaving the hospital. He just wouldn’t walk or drink water or be awake for more than a few seconds. He slept all the way as my son held him in his arms. As we arrived, my daughter sat in the car with him and he woke up. He started to lick her and gently bite her and climbed all over her! For the whole 3 hour drive back he played, ate and slept. It’s been over 24 hours and Loki is back to normal!!! No signs he was ever sick or dying! If Dr Luce was successful in talking us into putting him to sleep, She would have killed our Loki for no reason. Dr Luce is a killer. I’ve read a lot of reviews with the same content. She rather put our pets to sleep then do what she’s supposed to do and treat our pets. She also misdiagnosed him. Said Loki had a urinary blockage yet confirmed she did not see any stones in his bladder. Loki finally starting urinating just fine later Saturday morning and since then. He’s active, playful and eating and drinking just fine. Access, you should take these reviews a little more seriously regarding Dr. Luce. I’m sure many pets have been put to sleep under her hands when it was probably very unnecessary. She works for you. This makes you just as accountable for her actions. You should be ashamed and she should be unemployed. BTW we have the conversation recorded if anyone is interested in hearing it.

This place is a horror show. Do not take your pets here all they want is to put your pet to sleep and you to pay the bill. There is no animal care here what so ever. Very unprofessional in their mannerism while dealing with patients...i cant even imagine how they are with the pets...since you cant even be there for the examination. Find a different vet! I wish I did!

We owe an incredible debt of gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Parkins and his staff. Our pup received dignified, compassionate care and we will continue to choose this rockstar team when it comes to our pet's health needs. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!!