Mount Road Vets
When becoming a pet owner one of the first decisions you will make is what vet to register with. There are a large number to choose from in Manchester, the one we will discuss in this article is Mount Road Vets in the Gorton area of Manchester.
The Right Vet For You
It’s probably fair to say that a number of pet owners won’t do much research before picking a vet. Often they will register with the one that’s closest to their home. For other pet owners a number of factors could influence their choice of vet. Some of these factors might include:
- Opening hours. Full time workers will often want a vet that can offer appointments outside the normal 9-5 office hours. Indeed a vet with longer opening hours can often have additional benefits besides just convenience. If you ever need an emergency appointment, many vets will refer to another vet that has very high out of hours consultation rates. These rates can vary a great deal. The term ‘out of hours’ can be different between one vet who closes at 5pm and another that closes at 8pm.
- Services offered. Some vets will offer the basic consultations, advice and medications. Others may provide fairly comprehensive surgery procedures and blood testing in house. Often test results come back quicker if done in house.
- Cost. Not all vets charge the same. Some vets specialise in offering pet care at discounted rates that appeal to owners on a tight budget. This can often be just lower fees or sometimes care plans where owners can pay monthly for pet care. If you look at the cost of services like neutering you will often find they vary enormously.
Mount Road Vets – Opening Hours and Services Offered
So where exactly is Mount Road Vets? The address is 173a Mount Road, Manchester M18 7QT. From the outside the building looks a little tired and dark. Things improve once inside but a fresher, brighter appearance would be more welcoming.
The opening hours are somewhat strange and confusing. The ‘about’ page of their website clearly states that they have a team of 3 vets working the 7 days a week that they are open. However on their ‘contact’ page and on Google their opening hours are listed as follows:
- Monday 10-11:30am, 2:30-3:30pm, 5-6:30pm
- Tuesday 10-11:30am, 2:30-3:30pm, 5-6:30pm
- Wednesday 10-11:30am, 2:30-3:30pm, 5-6:30pm
- Thursday 10-11:30am, 2:30-3:30pm, 5-6:30pm
- Friday 10-11:30am, 2:30-3:30pm, 5-6:30pm
- Saturday 10-11:30am, 2:30-3:30pm, 5-6:30pm
- Sunday Closed
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vet with such odd opening hours. It seems to indicate that they open for 3 short spells in a day, one spell being 90 minutes and two spells of 1 hour. Do the staff stay on the premises outside these times? I’d be curious to know if these have been their hours for some time or whether they have been changed to reflect a shortage of staff. Perhaps they are performing surgery outside these hours and don’t have enough cover to see members of the public. It should be noted that their website does state that they offer a video vet service and that this is 7 days a week from 8am to 11pm. Some may feel that this in part makes up for the limited opening hours but I’m not sure such a service can adequately replace an in person consultation with a vet.
I notice on their services page that they state they offer home visits. Could it be that during the day when they are listed as closed the team are actually seeing pets in their own home? If you happen to know please feel free to leave a comment at the end.
The services they offer are fairly comprehensive. As well as the expected booster vaccinations and neutering services, they also have in-house lab testing and microscopy and a digital x-ray facility. Some surgery can be performed at the premises but I’m not sure whether they tackle all procedures or refer on for some specialist operations.
Mount Road Vets Reviews
Since I’m not personally registered with Mount Road vets I thought I would get a feel for what others think from reviews. Generally the reviews are positive. The staff in care and compassion provided by staff regularly gets mentioned. I get the sense that perhaps this vet used to be cheaper than many other locally, though I’m not sure if that’s still the case.
There certainly seem to be a number of reviews which indicate that they are full and not taking new clients but I can’t see anything on their website to confirm that this is the case. There are a number of negative reviews stating that they do not answer the phone, could this simply be due to how busy they are or a case of poor staffing at reception level? What’s slightly alarming is the number of negative reviews from long standing, previously satisfied customers. It seems these coincide with perhaps a change of management or staff. Interestingly I note that none of the reviews on Google have a response from them, whether positive or negative. Google state that it’s good practice to respond to all reviews and I have no idea why Mount Road vets don’t.
What are your thoughts about Mount Road vets? The comments section is open for you to give feedback, please be honest and constructive whether you have a positive or negative experience. If you would like to read more please visit their website:
You might also like to read our other articles about local vets as follows:
