I have been visiting this location every few months for 8 years and I go to this location purely because it is the closest to my home, and not necessarily because it is my preferred location.
I mean, I'd give this location some credit because it is the only one in the city that is open on Sundays and Holidays. The staff in the front desk are also very friendly. In terms of basic customer service, I'd give this location 4 stars.
The reason that I would only give 3 stars overall is because my recent trips there have been so inconsistent in terms of wait time and the experience of the actual blood test. In recent times it has always been either one of these two scenarios and I can't predict which one I am going to get . Also, they are never on time for bloodwork appts on weekdays. It's just a matter of 10 min past appt time or 20 min past . In my experience It's either
1. Get called to the blood test room around 20 minutes past my appointment time which is annoying, but to make up for it I get an amazing tech who can find my vein quickly and draw my 1 tube of blood really fast.
2. Get called in within 10 min past my appointment time which is better time management, but get an mediocre blood test. This usually involves the tech trying to find the vein in one arm and couldn't do so( but thankfully she didn't risk it and poke) and having to try the other arm, and fortunately gets the blood with one poke in the other arm. Unfortuately my back up vein in my left arm is also the one that will bruise instantly because it is small.
Or rarely 3. When the tech decides to risk it and poke anyway and couldn't get any blood out. And then i get poked twice . That is the worst and for that i will be really angry.
For the past 4 visits, I've had the two scenarios twice each so it's not really a case of going on the odd bad day . Today was the second scenario again . It seems that they can't find a way so as to not compromise wait time nor blood test experience. These past 4 trips were all Mondays around 12:30z.
I work weekends right now so I'm not able to go on Sundays . Maybe on Sunday at least there will be fewer patients and less wait time. Next time in approx . 2-3 months I can see if my work schedule frees me up for Sunday.
Either that or I think the best course of action is to switch labs. South Calgary is too busy, and appts are helpful in reducing wait time( walk ins are 2 hr waits ) but doesn't eliminate it. Not all locations have the problems I just described . I used to go to SAIT and for convenience sake I would just book an appt between or after class and walk 10 min to North Hill mall. North Hill location is small and I was able to get in before my appt time if I arrived early to my appt. North Hill also has the best tech and they are almost always able to get the blood from my preferred right arm with one try.
I can't go that far to North Hill anymore but maybe I can try Avenida Bay by Canyon meadows and see if that location is any better.