BioLife Plasma Services
reviews and complaints

On 11/05/2022 I was finishing out a promotion and I was contacted by Biolife for the promotion. It was my 7th donation out of 8 for the promotion. At the screening I was first asked during the 7th donation my name and last 4# of my ss# by a Male employee. I State Richard Collins and the last 4#. He then asked me, " Do people call you Dick?" and he and a famale employee standing next to he and two donors behind me all began to laugh. My reply was a shooked longated No. This made me feel uncomfortable, angry and sad all at the same time. I am 61 years old and sitting there while much younger staff and much younger donors are making fun of me. During the donation and kept thinking about it, I quietly reported to the attendant that prepared me for the donation. She too laughed and I ask to speak to a supervisor. As she explained the issue to the Floor Lead across the room from me, they both laughed. She then came over to me and asked for my concern. When I told her, she left the floor and came back then stated the Male employee that said that to me was spoken too and after I finish donating to see the Manager. The manage state in part in her office, the I was taking the issue too hard and that Dick is another name for Richard. Then what was so funny about asking me about a nick name if sexual intent was not behind the question? Everyone laughted at me.

Today 12-16-2022 I went back and lost the last compensation on my 8th donation on the promotion. When I tried to donate a message on the screen said see staff before continuing. The same Manager blocked my donatetion process to take my back to the same office and stated that she wanted to discuss my Attitude from my last visit and said I was unprofessional on how I handle the entire issue. The issue was not taken seriously when I first reported it, to where I asked for the names of the all 4 staff member and I was refused. I called the police to retrieve the names and after an hour I called back and an Officer was injured on another call and I canceled the call. I dialed [protected] twice and my calls was dated and verifiable. This is the briefest I can be due to the fact a lot more insults where made toward me even after I dropped the issue and now I am blocked by the Manager from donating as I continue to lost more compensation if I don't agreed with the Managers point of view. I will seek legal assistance if a solution or remedy is not conculsive. Center Location: 813 Bethal Rd. Columbus Ohio

Both times are approximately between 3 and 6 pm. est.

There is a lot more that happened then what was stated here.

No cuss words at all where exchanged by either side or by anyone. The same Floor Lead was present during my first office visit and a Supervisor the second office visit.

i have been a loyal donor for about 2 years...my last session i was given a form for my heart doctor to fill out,at one time had a irregular heartbeat,when i gave back, he had listed...from my health history...i have had, over 5 years ago,minor skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma )also with my last physical only few weeks before i was given a prescription for advorastin, and unforunately i didnt disclose these,the skin cancer was minor and YEARS ago...opun seeing this the VERY RUDE older nurse with blonde hair, said i was Not a Trustworty person and i didnt care about the well being of donating , so terminated me from donating any longer...this is NOT a way to speak to people...

Was providing plasma donations to Bio Life in Livonia, MI. First two visits were fine donating. On third visit once the needs was inserted a hematoma formed in right arm. Put ice on it and wrapped. Used left arm for donotion and for 4 and 5 donations. On [protected] I had a 6:45am appointment. Tech inserted needle in left arm for donotion and didn’t put it in right so he pulled it out. Then goes to my right arm and I told him I had a hematoma on that arm two weeks ago. Taps the needle anyways. 25% into plasma process blood starts coming out where needle is and a large bump forms on my arm. I had to get the techs attention that I was bleeding. He pulls the needle out and wraps my arm. Calls nurse (who took her time) and tech starts taking vitals on me. Another tech says that’s not necessary and my tech stops taking second round of vitals. Then nurse comes by and just says put ice in it and she didn’t know you didn’t have to take vitals. The. Told I had to stay there for 30 minutes, which I did, no looked at my arm again nor any followup.

On December 7th 2022 at approximately 430 I went in for a physical, having not donated since July of 21'. Physical went well, I was well hydrated and protein/iron levels were great. My donation started out normally, but as soon as I started getting the saline/anticoagulant, my nose started to get really congested, my throat felt itchy and weird, like it was closing. I couldn't breathe. My eye started to swell, and within minutes was completely swollen shut. I had a tech and nurse there within seconds, but the tech was insisting he finish the saline solution, to which I was adamant be stopped immediately. My husband was called and had to leave me 4 children home to rush to pick me up, he had no idea what was going on. At this point, I was wheezing and could hardly breathe

I thought I was going to die.

My husband took me to the emergency room, I was given an IV with steroids, histamine blockers and Benadryl. It was awful . I felt sick, and like I was going to die. Doctor's and nurses were inattentive. My eye has been swollen for days. The prescriptions given to me have been hell to take. And I've been miserable. My husband had to miss work to help take care of my kids.

No es primera vez que Dino en esta locación donde todos eran tan amables y respetuosos, hoy regrese a donar después de varios meses y el chico Rimmie fue súper grosero y altanero por preguntarle después de 2 horas esperando si ya era mi turno. Me grito que si yo no lo veía haciendo algo y me dijo que si quería me fuera fue muy vergonzoso y falta de respeto. Y el se regocijó riéndose por haberme hablado así con el resto de su staff, otra chica respondió a mi pregunta, pero además el se acercó a seguir diciéndome cosas. Creo me trato así por ser latina. De muy mal gusto

Location: Biolife Plasma in Del City, OK

Date: Saturday 11-19-2022

Time of Appointment: 11:40 AM

When I first started donating here, this place was one of the best. The service was fast and the staff were professional at every level. Not one of them had a problem getting a proper stick and tapping my veins.

I took a break from donating and came back, and it's like they went out and hired a bunch of trade school dropouts who don't know what the hell they are doing. One of the so-called phlebotomists at the clinic asked me, and I quote:

"Do you have a vein in your left arm?"

I had to ask her to repeat the question to make certain I heard it correctly. I did.

I won't be back. I won't recommend the place to anyone else, either.

I went to my local Biolife on 11/15/2022 for my first appointment which I knew was going to include a physical. My only problem is that I went through the entire physical and was at the point where I was ready to donate when I was taken to a phlebotomist for them to check my veins. They checked both arms and said that there was a usable vein in my right arm, but since the one on my left arm wasn't easily accessible, I would not be able to donate and would need to wait 15 days before I could come back and try again. When I asked why it was that they couldn't use my right arm, I was told that it seemed I was dehydrated (which is hardly possible since I had drank over my bodyweight in ounces of water) and that I needed to build arm muscle before they could access my veins. I would understand being deferred for a few days so that I could rehydrate if that was actually an issue here, but the comment on my muscle mass was uncalled for as I am an average sized, healthy female and have never had issues donating plasma at other organizations before. The last blow was that I was told that if I decide to come back to try to donate again, I would have to redo the entire physical. I'm not sure what the 15 days was meant to do, but the fact that I was there for over an hour and a half just for them to scrap everything from the entire appointment was very frustrating, especially when the wait time until my next possible appointment is so long.

I registered at BioLife in Universal City, TX as a plasma donor in August of this year. The form was asking if I had cancer in the past, which I answered truthfully with yes.

The nurse told me to contact the hospital where I had the melanoma surgery and ask them to fill out a form. The former "CTRC" (Cancer Treatment Research Center) in San Antonio, TX is now called University of Texas Health Science Center. I contacted them and was told that this record has been destroyed since the surgery was back in 2005. Digging deeper on the web, I found that hospitals in Texas destroy patients' records after 7 years.

This was a simple removal of a melanoma on the right side of my right knee with no chemo applied after that.

Now I'd like to know why this disqualifies me from donating plasma. Is it just because the hospital doesn't have the record anymore? Which isn't my fault!

Or is it just regulations? The surgery was 17 years ago and I am still alive.

Sincerely,

Michael Mankoschewski

This place doesn't accept any walk ins. And was told by the manager that they are the busiest center when it's clear after all my experiences at other donation centers, that they haven't seen busy! Considering the 40 min drive I took and the lack of accommodation here, this place deserves a zero star! New donors should be prioritized and walk ins should be taken ..like every other location!

From top to bottom very unprofessional. People don't even show up to work. Very long wait times for people, workers that seem they don't even want to be there. I get emails everyday from BioLife then I go on the [censored]ty app and there are no appointments available for 60 days. Come on get your stuff together unless it's because your a Japanese company and don't care about us. Everytime anyone calls no one ever answers the phone. Kinda like walmart

I donated for the 3rd time at the Joliet location on Sunday 10-30-22 & only got $40 for that donation. I should have gotten $140 but they are saying I didn’t complete my donation & I sure did! My number was something like 855 and The machine stopped at around 810 because it detected fatty in the blood so the nurse came over she documented it told me that this can only happen four times and then she started the machine again and I finished my donation. I remember it being like one point over when I finished so I know for a fact I completed my donation that day. nobody at that time told me that I did not finish my donation or anything. So I go home and check my money & I only got $40. I called on Monday & Tuesday all day and nobody answers the phones and i left a message & nobody called me back.. I go in on Wednesday , November 2nd to dispute this and the lady at the front desk keeps telling me I didn’t complete the donation when Im positive I did. I got ripped off completely

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.