American Red Cross
Reviews and Complaints

We are sitting in the Hudson High School in Hudson Ohio and as my 60 year old husband is called up she looks at him and says" you're still reading sit back down "and turned to the next person and called her and walked away. It was the tone and rudeness of how she said it. We are giving blood because of a need in the community so you should train your Red Cross workers on manners and respect. Her name is Quintana. Thank you

Today 7/17/18 I decided to donate blood so I stopped at St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, as there was a blood drive. This complain is pertaining to one woman. Everything went well until the end of my donation. One girl did my intake and started the phlebotomy. Another older woman said to the girl (who started my phlebotomy)your going to lunch, As she was about to start another donor. The woman who finished my phlebotomy didn't introduce herself she just came over started applying clams, drew tubes of blood, withdrew the needle and told me to apply pressure and hold my arm up in the air. After applying pressure for about 20-30 seconds she put a bandaid on and said "k go sit over in canteen for 10-15 minutes." I then asked if I could have some coflex and she asked "why." I said to wrap my arm. This was not a positive experience for me. As a phlebotomist myself, I believe pressure should have been applied for longer or maybe even check to see if the bleeding has stopped before applying a bandaid. She was not well mannered and had poor bedside manner. She should have been grateful for my donation but instead seemed like she just wants the day to be over. Now I have a large bruise and question whether I will ever donate again. It's upsetting to know that this woman is probably giving others a similar poor experience as mine. She's seems like someone whose been doing the job for 30 years and thinks she's in charge and can get away with whatever she wants. However, as an outside looking in and knowing the proper procedure I would not feel comfortable going back or trying to convince a friend or family member to donate knowing that they might have to meet someone like her. I think this issue needs to be addressed and maybe she should be inserviced on best practice and manurisms.

Hello. My name is Dani Mejia. I attended the CPR Adult/Infant/AED Instructor's Training on Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 8am to 6pm. The instructor was James Thomas Jr. I was a little bit late but was allowed to stay. During the training, on the AED section of the training. I was very focused on the machine and was making a mistake. I was supposed to take both pads including the cord out of the machine and I wasn't ale to do that. The instructor then proceeded to yell at me in front of the class, "take the pads out of the box, in a yelling and screaming mode and was leaning towards me, screaming at my facew". This was witnessed by all of the participants because they asked me during the break if I was ok and were all concerned for me. I went home that day, feeling like a piece of crap, I felt extremely stupid and did not want to come back but my company paid for the training so I had to stay. The following day, second day of the training, our instructor was KARLA and she was amazing. Please note that on that saturday, the first half of the day was him giving us his whole resume and gave us information that we soon found out were wrong as we checked in with Karla, the other instructor for the second day, Sunday May 20, 2018. I am filing a formal complaint. I was so embarrassed and as an instructor, no one should experience what I experienced. We are all in this together, the training is not a contest, not a competition, and definitely not a boot camp. There is no reason in this world to yell at your student and embarrass him or her in front of a class. Most of our future students do not have a medical background and would be their first time going through cpr, we should be compassionate and understanding, guide, teach and help students, not yelled at and embarrassed in front of the whole class.
Sincerely,
Dani Mejia
Director of Nursing
Phoenix House LVT
[protected]
[protected]@phoenixhouse.org

Red cross sent me a letter stating that if I gave blood platelets by the end of march that I would have a choice of a $25 gift card at many different restaurants.
I spent 2 hrs giving those platelets on friday, 3-23-2018 and proceeded with the instructions to get my $25 gift card. I had my heart set on outback steak house.
When the instructions said that I had to call giftcertificates.com customer service at 1-800-773-7368, I did just that.
The lady that answered said that all they had was gift cards for $20 for home depot and that was what I was getting. I told her that I had no need for that gift card but I got it anyway. I called to complain, so yesterday I got a gift certificate for $5 to outback. Rather than fighting over this, let this be my request for you to remove me from all donor requests. If you can't keep your word to me, then I can no longer give blood.

My daughter participated in a blood drive at her high school a few days ago and the technician hit the artery in her arm instead of the vein! They stopped the bleeding and kept her for a bit as she was very dizzy and sick feeling. While my 17 year old was laying there, one of the volunteers expressed concerns cause my daughter's arm started to swell saying "that doesn't seem right, I don't know why it's doing that". She was then told by a different person it was due to the blood building up under the skin as she was having some internal bleeding. They then removed her from the bed she was in saying they needed room for another student who started vomiting and sent my daughter to class! I was never contacted by the school or anyone in charge of the blood drive informing me of anything that occurred or things we may need to watch out for. This is so unbelievably unacceptable. About 2 hours later we were on our way to urgent care because her arm and hand were ice cold and she was in a lot of pain.

Date: 3/7/18
I got directed to someone named Nancy when I gave ARC a call. Nancy was very rude and spoke down to me and would not listen to any of my questions. She kept referencing where I need to go on the internet to find information instead of just asking my questions that I wasn't able to find on the internet. I am not pleased with the way I was spoken to, and I try to avoid calling them when I can.

February 09, 2018
Order [protected]

To whom it may concern;
On February 8, 2018, my coworker Wendy Silverstein and I Yomara Otero arrived at the red cross located at 2000 Century Drive Worcester Ma 01606 where we had registered to attend the Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED training facilitated by Paul Kioski, to obtain CPR our certification. While in the class room the instructor was discussing what the signs were if someone was in need of CPR. The instructor stated that he personally would not preform CPR to no one without gloves or a mask because of Hepatitis and HIV that he would only preform CPR on his family. My coworker (Wendy Silverstein) immediately spoke up and said to the instructor "You do know that HIV is not transmitted that easily by giving someone CPR". The instructor was rude and did not want to continue on the topic and dismissed what Wendy wanted to explain to him. The instructor continue with his class and we just sat there amazed to his unprofessionalism. Like 10 minutes later Wendy turned to ask me (Yomara Otero) a question and the instructor stood up and asked if there was a problem. I answered him and asked why was he so focused on us we were not disturbing his class and continue to talk over me saying well you are on your phone I said to him "I do not need to be looking at you to pay attention I am sitting here quietly listening to you. The instructor proceeded to talk over ma and said" you should just leave "referring to my coworker and myself. I answered him and said yes we will leave because you are unprofessional and we came here to become CPR certified not to listen to your personal experiences. Wendy and I then stood and proceeded to grab our belonging and Wendy said to the instructor"We work at aids project worcester and what you said earlier was very was not appropriate and you need to educate yourself more on HIV'. The instructor told us just lave as we was walking out he stated "don"t let the door hit you on your way out"that made me very upset and reacted to his comment as we walked out and called him an [censor], which I know was not appropriate. Once we were in the hallway he stated"she would never have hemorrhoids "which I don't know how that comes to the case. Wendy and I went downstairs to the reception area and asked who we can speak to that we needed to file a complaint the CPR instructor. A gentleman that works there came and gave us the name of the lady we can speak or email in regards to the incident and to ask for a refund of the money that was payed for our training. Wendy and I left the premises of the Red Cross and I immediately called my supervisor Carla Rodriguez and informed her of the incident. The resolution we are asking is a full refund in the amount of $ 204.00, for all of Red Cross facilitators have a sensitivity training, a letter of apology from instructor Paul Kioski, and last but not least if Mr. Paul Kioski refuses to apologize he be fired.

Yomara Otero
Peer Adcocate
AIDS PROJECT WORCESTER
[protected] ext.22
[protected]@aisdprojectworcester.org

I got my blood taken the other day at my college. The staff was really rude and had no idea what they were doing. I got my finger [censored]ed and blood was going everywhere and the lady didn't seem to care and noticed after a while after [censored]ing. I gave blood and my arm was bruised badly the next day. It still hurts and they couldn't get blood into the tubes because I was a slow bleeder, and added pressure to my arm. Which was unprofessional. I do not want to donate ever again.

I am a huge fan of giving life, but I was treated badly. Not all locations and
blood banks are bad. I was robbed, injured and they never stop asking for
My blood and my money. I have told them, consumer affairs and spent
much time in prayer. I have told the post office too. I don't want money.
I just said no contact. They call, mail and email still. Be careful!

I applied for assistance after the hurricane, i was denied and appealed the decision. I called to see what was going on with my case, they said that they were backed up. They gave me a refernce number and said no matter what i would recieve the funds, its just taking some time. Well this past month i have recieved 3 different sets of text messages saying my funds are approved i need to login and put my way of recievieng the funds... The only problem with that is that all it says is not qualified. Then i get a message today stating if i dont claim the money by the 23rd of January i will no longer be able to get them. I cant get in contact with anyone and ask what is going on. I have called the red cross several times and no one can help me. They said the harvey assistance section is closed to wait for a case worker to call me. No one seems to know anything and i cant figure out how to access these funds. Where is the customer service?! I have waited patiently for months to get assistance, and still i have gotten nowhere.

I am unable to give blood, not due to a disqualification, but simply because they cannot find my veins. I have attempted 3 times after doing what they recommended (drinking water and such). I have unsubscribed from their email list four times and asked the local call center to stop calling me at least six times. I still get nearly daily calls and daily emails.

Stop calling me. Stop calling me. Stop calling me. I've asked several times to be put on the do not call list and yet I still get calls. Several times a week at all hours. I've blocked the numbers and that works for a week but then I get called several more times. I will never donate blood to you guys again because of your harassment. Seriously, no one should donate to you or give you their real number if this is how you treat people that do.

I want to make a complaint about a driver who works for the red cross, his plate # is 854-xbt he lives in lake placid florida, he drives like a maniac through out the neighborhood speeding, not stopping at stop signs, almost hitting kids, while talking on the phone. Then he also has the nerve to curse at you when you tell him to slow down. He lives around my neighborhood and many people are complaining about him and his dangerous driving cause when he crashes or hits somebody, the red cross was notified about it. Something needs to be done he drives a silver truck that says red cross all over it and he lives on lake saddlebags drive in lake placid, florida. I believe other people will be complaining if they have not already. Do you drug test your workers cause he may also be driving drunk or on drugs and he is not nice. The kids in the neighborhood also are scared of him cause I believe he may have made a sexual jester toward one of them. Please have this matter looked into and taken care off cause you should not have people like this working for or with the red cross. This matter may also be further reported if not taken care of very soon.

On Thursday, November 16, 2017, I went to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois, for a blood drive. The wait was long, at least 20 minutes with numerous donors waiting after me, but that isn't even what I'm so irritated about. More than halfway through with my blood donation, the phlebotomist said my flow was slowing down. She said she wanted to adjust the needle in my arm to attempt a better flow. This is in now way, shape, or form, a pleasant experience, so I expressed my unwillingness to do so if it was not completely necessary. My blood was still flowing, just not quickly enough for the phlebotomist's liking. She decided to have a coworker come over and adjust the needle, even though I had already told her I would rather have a slow blood flow than have them use me for a pin cushion. The two phlebotomists somehow thought it best to move that needle around in my arm to increase the blood flow. Not only did the phlebotomist fail miserably, but she lost the vein altogether! As a result, I was unable to successfully donate my pint of blood and my entire effort and miserable experience went to waste! I am so irritated and angry with how these phlebotomists handled my situation today that I will NEVER AGAIN donate blood with Red Cross! What a joke!

I had a horrible experience with a tech in St Paul, MN named I[censored]a. She was very slow moving, rude and seemed to hate her job. It seemed to me that she didn't even want to help donors or other staff out as she was just standing around until another staff told her to start helping donors. She was very slow moving and hard to understand during my health history. Also I am a registered nurse and can assure you she was not doing her vitals properly. Her blood pressure was very fast. She came off as lazy and incompetent. During phlebotomy she was also very slow moving. It took very long for her to get her supplies, put stickers on or hang my bag. The other techs were doing circles around her. She was certainly the laziest tech that day. This was a busy mobile and she didn't seem the least bit concerned about her speed or lack there of. She didn't make eye contact and didn't speak to me unless she needed to. She didn't seem friendly or helpful to other staff and was complaining about the job a lot to them. She seemed entitled to not have to work as hard as everyone else. I wish I would have gotten a faster and more proficient tech. I would not have a staff like I[censored]a on my blood drive. She is rude, lazy, slow and incompetent. She also makes unprofessional comments about the organization in front of us donors.

On September 24, 2017 I was approved for the hurricane relief due to my city Corpus Christi being effected. It did not allow me to put in my banking information and therefore, it was sent to Bank of America. I haven't had Bank of America in 7 years. So for 4 weeks and weekly phone calls, no one has called. I was supposed to get a call from a case worker and it's been weeks and no one has called. I was told once the check was sent to Red Cross, I could go online and change my payment method. Every phone I've had, I've gotten a different response. My family could really use that money. Harvey has pushed me back financially because of the money doesn't preparing for a the "what ifs". I find this organization completely disorganized with everything. Why have people answering the phones and they can't help us change anything on our application and lie? The American Red Cross has failed so many people in the state of Texas! Why is it taking so long to change my payment method to Walmart to Walmart?!?!? How long does it take for someone with the access to help, call me back? My name is Josette Franklin and my email address is [protected]@gmail.com and my cellphone number is [protected]

On Sept 12 I went to pick up two boxes a family member sent to the red cross because no mail was running and it was difficult to get into our neighborhood for weeks because they opened the floodgates on us. when I arrived Courtney Bullock informed me she had seen the boxes yesterday but she doubt they are still there they are looking for the box but she said when they receive boxes they think they are donations they would have opened and disperse it Courtney Bullock a staff member said she called logistics to see if it is there she said this wasn't a wise decision to send here... omg ..😟 I did receive one box it was opened the other they never found. I am looking to sue because the boxes clearly had my name on it and my family was assured I would get it and that was a lie...it is illegal to open mail that doesn't belong to you or a federal charge...On top of that I was denied the 400 dollar assistance and as I stated before the floodgates were opened onto our neighborhood. there is nothing in the emails giving you the opportunity to dispute this. I am deeply hurt by the red cross and there actions

I was approved friday oct 13 2017... Called american red cross to go to the next step... They told me lines are down computers to call again today so I did thatand guess what im denied now... Thats not fair cause yall having problems I cant even log in to my account to go next step... I will let the news know about this... Every news channel will know what yall are doing to people that need this assistance. Thanks cheryl kohner

I attempted to donate platelets at a Springfield, MO Red Cross center located at 313 E Battlefield St. The first person missed my vein in my right arm and in the process of looking for the vein, stabbed my bicep. He kept looking but never got a good stick. The next person got a bad stick in my left arm causing my vein to blow out. Before removing the needle, the guy tried to return the blood back to my arm causing enough pain to make me sit up in the chair I was sitting in. I walked out with zero blood donated and two swollen veins.

My name is Joel Martin and my email info is [protected]@yahoo.com my phone contact is [protected]. I applied for assistance on 9/11 and was approved but the system was going down and I never put in any bank account info I tried to go back and pick Walmart to Walmart and it wouldn't let me now my registration has been saying in transit to bank account since 9/11 and there is no bank listed to send it to. I have called a million times and I have gotten a million different answers til I don't know what to believe but if it's not going to happen I wish they would have said that because they could have stopped payment on that check long time ago and sent me another one I have been waiting me and my kids could really use this 400.00 dollars and I have yet to see it and I called today and their still telling me the same excuse look for an email I have been waiting on this email since 9/11 and I have not received anything yet can someone please help me because this is not right I have been thinking about taking my story to the news because I can't get any help from anyone at red Cross at all if you can help me please do my info is at the top