BioLife Plasma Services
Reviews and Complaints

It is greatly disappointing the amount of time donors are having to wait due to staff shortage and only half the facility is open for use. Donors should not have to be waiting over an hour and a half for check in. Also waiting for a bed to donate is lengthy which results in donors spending a minimum of 3 hours on donation days. I do not see any motivation or team effort from upper level staff to help the flow of donors. Completely appalling. This needs to be addressed and corrected.

Thanks,

Current donor

I started donating during covid and have been donating ever since. I went to another center because the wait times were 2 to 3 hours every time. well, a year later they have got new management and the new machines, and I was sent a bonus email to come back and give them a second chance. I went to sign up for a physical and I could not get an appointment till two weeks of the promotion. The center said that there have been internal computer issues which has caused a lot of scheduling issues. The promotion was $700 for 8 donations in the month of October. I was only able to complete 4 of the 8 and I asked if they could extent the promotion due to the computer issues and they said they cannot change anything. They told me to reach out to you. all I would like is for you to extend my promotion to November18th. The center is running smoother with the new machines and new management. Thank you for your time, Shawn Whiteman [protected]@gmail.com

For Want of a Kleenex

a Donor Was Lost

I signed up for the October 2022 bonus and went in for my first registration appointment at the Riverton,Utah Biolife Center at 9:30 am on 10/27/2022.  The registration tech was extremely helpful and all went well. She had me buy some protein to eat and return. I returned to complete the registration. At one point I asked for a tissue to blow my nose.  She couldn't find one and said I could get some out of the bathroom.  Then she handed me a que card to get my vein size checked.  While at the vein check I asked that tech if he had a tissue. He looked around but couldn't find any. Neither technician questioned my need for a tissue. (I only needed to get something out of my nose that was bugging me and it was the only time that I needed on). I saw a paper towel and asked if I could use it, which he said I could.  I got one but it was too rough so I threw it away so I still needed a tissue. I went back to the registration desk to get my next task.  The tech then took me to a line to wait for my physical.  Before she left, I asked again if she knew where I could get a tissue. She poked her head into an office of a woman and asked if she had one. The woman was talking to someone I couldn't see and seemed annoyed at the tech for interrupting her.  At first she didn't even look at or answer her.  My first impression was,  "Wow, she's rude!"  Finally the woman slowly scooted her chair back and looked at the tech.  "Why do you need a tissue?" The tech said a client needed it.  She asked again, "Why?"   I jumped into the conversation and said, "I just need it to wipe my nose." She turned to me and said,  "Why?" I said I had a runny nose and needed to wipe it. (It wasn't really runny but I didn't want to say "I have a buger." That's just gross). "But why is it runny? Do you have allergies? "No," I said. Are you sick? "No, I'm not sick." She said, "because we can't take people if they have allergies or are sick... so do you have any allergies?" I felt like she thought I was lying to her.  I got flustered.  The tech had already asked if I had any allergies etc. I didn't know how to answer her.  The woman just stared at me.  I finally answered that it probably was from eating the cheese from the sandwich I'd had earlier, which dairy does to me sometimes. She just stared at me again for a minute.  Then she said, "you can't donate if you have allergies or are sick."  The registration tech nervously and discretely motioned for me to just go back to the front desk. Before I left I said,  I'm not sick and I don't have any allergies."  Then I left.

Back at the front desk we continued my registration.

All of a sudden, there was the women again.  She said, "we need to have a talk. If you have allergies or are sick, I'm going to have to defer you to another day.  Another client who was registering looked up surprised and said, "You mean you can't do this if you have allergies?" The woman completely ignored her. I said, "I'm not sick, and I don't have allergies." She looked straight at me and said, "you know what, I'm going to have to defer you, you need to go home and come back another time." As if I had openly defied her or raised my voice, or something. I was frustrated at this point and said, "I can't even finish my physical?" "No, I'm deferring you, you need to go. If your blood is tainted we can't send it in." (side note: So take my temp!)

I asked the tech if this means I will lose the bonus because now I'm in the system and can't sign up again for another bonus, ever. I will have to reschedule, and appointments were very scarce. The tech looked stressed but didn't say much so I asked the woman if this would affect my bonus. She stared at me for a minute and then said, "This isn't about the bonus, this is about caring for others." I took that as a no. I said, "This is about the bonus. That is the whole reason I signed up. Otherwise I never would have."

Suddenly I realized her "deferring" me really had little to do with a tissue, but rather that I had questioned her authority.  I put my hand on her back and said, "I think this is more about me defying your authority than it is about me needing a tissue, right?" Then I turned to the tech and said, "I'm not going to do this."  And then I left. 

Please keep in mind she did this openly, in front of several other clients and employees who were in the que. It was embarrassing.

Hello my name is M***** G******** I recently donated plasma at the BioLife Towson Center in Baltimore Maryland on 10/25/2022 and had a horrible experience.the nurse intentionally rushed my donation process and caused my veins to hemorrhage. During my donation process my veins became enlarged to the point it looked like it would explode. I notified the doctor who stuck me with the needle and she got hostile and offended that I told her she made my arm swell up. Just 5 minutes before she spilled the donors sitting next to me blood all over the floor and had to clean up. It was obvious she was dealing with some underlying issues and that caused her poor work ethic and lack of regard for safety of others. As a result of that they only paid me $20 for my donation and refused to pay me my full $130 for my promotion because my donation was incomplete due to her giving me a hematoma. I feel violated and wasn’t even compensated properly for my donation. I have video and pictures of proof of the incident and was still denied care for my injury and payment. My arm is in so much pain I had to visit the emergency room for further treatment. I also brought a referral with me and one of the nurses put her name instead of mines. I would like for someone to contact me to resolve this matter immediately please. If I can I want to press charges I know for a fact it wasn’t a mistake even after the fact they would not allow me to get my blood back or get paid for my time and injury. All they are worried about is their performance rating.

I was told that I would receive $975 for eight donations within a 30-day period which started on 925 of 2022. Today is 10:25 of 2022 and I just completed my 8th donation for which I was paid $50. This is not what I was told the agreement was. It was eight donations in 30 days to receive $975. I have only received $775 which was not what the agreed promotion was. When I went in and spoke with the supervisor she told me that the promotion ended this morning. And she could do nothing. Why would the promotion end on the 30th day which makes no sense to me so that basically means I'm screwed out of the remainder of my money when I donated eight times in 30 days

Im a new customer to bio life randomly this nurse pulls me n says ur tattoo is not on record i dont remember seein you or it on your file your walkin by me now how could u recal my file then she says your chain and braclet are shinnin more then my weddin ring what are you even doing here you know if you ppl didnt tattoo yourselfs this wouldnt b problem she has no right to comment on my jewlery or my tattoos she is very rude to every hispanic or black person that comes in this place ive been goin to bio life on n off for year the money helps while im finishin up law school n awaitin to take the barr exam this is the most ive ever been disrespected in my whole life it is 10/22 at about 130 that nurse was on heavy set middpe ae caucation women i was united state marine for 8 years 3 tours o duty on f deplyoment so what is i have a small tattoo on side my hair line its been their for 15 years u can tepp the ink is worn n fadded out she was tellin me no u need pictires of yoursepf with tbis tattoo on u like she was just being racist their no reason to be that way she topd the afriacan american gentlemen behind me he had ti leave bc his jeans were ripped she saod i dont know he could b homless what would that matter point blank she needs to be displined or let go im goin to return their in 7 days if she isnt fired or suspended im going to have every vfw in cicero n chicago protesting this bio life facility bcwith this nurse on staff you might as well put WHITES ONLY ON THE DOOR bc this women is makin it very hard for us minoritys to make a donation please help me i depend on this bio life facility while im waitin to take the legal barr exam why is she discriminating your clientel then while walkin out she said dont forget ur phone it was on folder next to finger orint scannner she flicked the fipes tossin my phone to the floor why why would somone treat a perfect stranger this way sorry for the spellin errors n bad grammar the phone is completly shatterd this is just not ok at all she refused to gve me her first name i said very politely mrs whats ur name again you dint ask the questions here i do their a camera in that exam room i would like you to take look at footage this whole conversation is recorded im in great standing with vfw community and im not lookin for money or lawsuit but we will picket that hardwood heights location until she is suosended an fired

I was turned away recently because the lab hadn’t tested my blood sample yet, not because something was wrong, but because they just hadn’t gotten around to doing it yet. I’m guessing there’s something in the system that requires them to enter a normal blood sample result every so often for a donor to be eligible, but I donate twice a week every week, so they’ve had plenty of chances to get what they need. They even took a sample 2 visits in a row and when I asked why I was told that they had lost my first sample somehow. This is clearly Biolife’s fault, but I’m getting punished for it. I wasn’t even offered any sort of compensation for their mistake, I was just told that hopefully the results would be in next week, which is an extremely pitiful response to the situation

Was in the Muncie IN office on Monday 10/17/2022. Was time for my physical so I scheduled an appointment. They had to send a paper to my family doctor because I have sleep apnea. They told me they would fax to the doctor that day and had me sign it. I called my doctor on Wednesday and they still have not received it. Have called and left a message 3 times and can't get anyone to call me back. Not sure why they have a phone if they never answer it and won't return your calls.

been trying for almost 3 weeks to become a donor. had passed everything but there was a slight bruise on left arm from a previous donation center. so i been going back almost daily being told to stay at home not healed. today same nurse as yesterday, her comment could still see a little yellow could not donate. She did not even look at this. This is unprofessional. i signed up to donate 8 times in October to receive the 975 dollars now i cannot fill that. if i wanted to keep getting bruised and stuck 3 times i would have stayed at old donation center and still receiving payments.

I had my first donation scheduled today at the Liberty, MO Biolife location at 4pm. Everything went smoothly despite the unprofessional nursing staff. I did everything as I should have done and all was going well until I was screened by the nurse on location. I had a small abrasion on my right antecubital space from my brothers puppy that I picked up a few days ago. The nurse didn't call me into the room for the screening. Instead she met me in the hall, visible/audible to ALL the other patients waiting to donate, had me pull up my sweater sleeves and informed me (in front on everyone) that I was not a candidate to donate based on the scratch. I have never been so humiliated in all my life! I feel I was basically made out to be a drug user in front of everyone! I am a nurse myself! I would have never told someone this in front of a crowd full of people. I understand that I couldn't donate. It was the public humiliation that bothers me. Needless to say, I will never return to that Biolife location!

Many other regular donors and I have been very upset about the current awards given to people who are not regular donors. This has caused our donation times to be extended well past 2 hours, we work full time jobs there for cannot complete during our lunch break like we have in past and don't even try to reschedule an appointment, no times available. Also, no parking because there are so many cars in lot, had to park on street. Where is our award for being a regular donor all the time, not just during award times? I now refuse to stand in line this long or wait. You have now lost for sure 2 full time donors because of this, and I see many others walk out. Do you also think it's fair that people who only come for the big money like the $2500 winners is fair to your regular donors? We don't. Things like that should only be for those who donate regularly.

I was temp. deferred for a low protein count taken on my first donation. It has now been 3 weeks since that donation and 2 weeks since I took the retest. My results from my retest came back passing but because a doctor has not been in the office in over a week I am still being deferred. I also am not being given any of the time back on my promotion, which basically means that by the time I finally get the all clear to start donating again my promotional time will be over. That means that I am potentially out close to $500. I would understand if I was only out the week that it took to get the results back to be out another week due to no fault of my own does not seem right. This does not like a good business practice. Very disappointing!

I continually get coupons to come in and begin donating. However, every time I try to make an appointment I can't get in so it's useless this company has to get a different scheduling situation. However I did get one appointment and it was a physical with donation and it was scheduled for 4:10 p.m. and I drove 20 miles to that appointment just to be told oh sorry the system is messed up it shouldn't have allowed you to schedule for 4:10 p.m.. I explained to the manager there at that time I called three times to see what I needed to bring and I couldn't get through to y'all's offices there's no Staffing member that returns calls or takes calls so you can't get through to them to find out when you do schedule an appointment if it's going to be accepted or not but it is really messed up.

BioLife Plasma Services claims that a donation for returning donors is ~1 hour-1.5 hours. Every time I have gone, and I have visited two different locations in California, it's a 3 to 4 hour process (3 if I'm lucky). The line is always to the back of the store and I have heard the employees complain about being extremely short staffed. BioLife needs to stop offering appointments for so many people in back to back time slots. Either that, or staff more people on the floor! It's not only inconvenient, but it's a health hazard for all of the donors when they are not given the proper attention or staff to donor ratio. I realize it's about the money, and the more people you can cram into one time slot the better... but it's not fair for the employees or those of us waiting hours on end. It's sad that most of us will wait in hour long lines because plasma companies, like BioLife, profit off the most impoverished people in the United States. I would love to know how much they actually profit off of my 834 mL of plasma. I receive $40-80 for my plasma, which I know they turn around and sell for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Biolife Plasma Services peak revenue was $459.1M in 2021, this industry at the very least can hire more employees or take less donors on the daily basis.

I came in to give October 12th and I was turned away because they said their doctor says it's not good for me to give. My doctor says it's okay. They are refusing me service and it's wrong because. There is crackheads that come here. People that suffer from all kinds of injuries. I've seen people with broken legs. And having all kinds of other health problems. I'm in good health my white blood count is not elevated. As far as that goes I haven't even been seen by a doctor for a physical. They asked me one day if I was having pain and I said I had pain in my hands. So they said I can't give because of it. I would just like to be able to give like everybody else. My phone number is [protected]. I am contacting a lawyer as well. Because this is discrimination and wrong

I submitted the horribly offensive 'adult permission slip' from my doctor saying that since I have history of medical coma, I'm cognisant...

But what the actual [censored] would PTSD, have to do with my blood?! Medically diagnosed, personally assumed or otherwise?

Your "policy" doesn't represent something that looks like it's with 2022.

More like 1984.

On Sept 1,2022 I attempted to donate at the Roseville center. I told hem after the 4 hour check in process that I recently had a TB shot. I was denied to donate until I showed them a letter from my doctor with a date of the shot.

Second appointment Oct 1,2022 again I went thru the whole process and at the very end the nurse named SId said he heard a irregular heartbeat. He informed to go to my doctor for varication of my heart history. My doctor signed the necessary documents referring me to get a EKG. On Oct 5, 2022 i had my EKG and had the chart results faxed in to the nurse. Now they saying My chart showed I have a history of heart attacks. I was permanently differed.! I was told a doctor from bioplasma was to make the final decision and was to call my doctor to speak with them to get all of this confusion and misunderstanding cleared so that i could donate. I was again permanently deferred because of a personal reason I told them why I was trying to get in. I told them I may face incarceration' in late Nov. My case was dropped so therefore I have intend to visit family in Puerto Rico. and believe it or not I was was permanently differed a fourth time because to many inconsistency in my personal life? REALLY! someone needs to get to the bottom of this. I was a 2 year regular donor at Octopharma and never had this discrimination issues! They have copies of all the medical forms they ask of me. I made no copies.