The Red Cross

They obviously do good work, but they need to better manage throughput. With an scheduled appointment and having completed RapidPass in advance, I arrived to a waiting room full of donors and a 30 minute wait to get started with the interview. There is no point in scheduling appointments if you can’t honor them. I noticed that they schedule appointments every 15 minutes. Perhaps they need to block out 1 appt. every hour for walk-​ins? Also, those with appts. should be seen before walk-​ins. I want to give blood, but I don’t have unlimited time. Appointments and RapidPass should make it easy and quick…

Everybody here is amazing. Very friendly and professional. Come on in and donate blood! They even give you cookies!!!

I have to agree that the Pleasanton Red Cross Blood Center has seen better days. I’ve been coming in off and on for about ten years, two or three gallons’ worth. It used to be reasonably fun, as sticking-​needles-​in-​your-​arm experiences go, but lately not so much. As others have noted here, this center has become steadily more impersonal, by replacing the front-​desk receptionist with untrained volunteers, by constantly changing the staff, and by cramming too much stuff (hello, apheresis beds!) into a fairly limited space. Many of these decisions are dumb — the receptionist used to schedule the next appointment, but now I get Red Cross robot emails which I find easy to ignore. Add ancient magazines, and staff who chat much more with each other than with the donors, and you have an experience not unlike the DMV. It feels like a place where all the decisions are made a long way away, and the folks who work there are just trying to get through the day. The Red Cross should realize that the key to getting donors isn’t to bleat more intensely about how much they need the blood, but the treat the donors with some kindness.

I have never been to this location, so for the first time trying to actually locate the building was a little tricky. It is right across the street from the clinics. It is in the shopping center near World Market, and ToGo’s Sandwiches. There is plenty of parking any time of day.
My appointment process was a breeze. I downloaded their app onto my phone and scheduled my appointment months ago. It has been really easy! They have sent reminders, too, which have been very appreciated.
Checking in was simple. Just read over the typical Red Cross reading materials and wait to be seen. I was assisted right away, even though I was early to my appointment. I answered the questions, had my iron verified, and was on my way to the chair. Bring your Red Cross card, by the way!
The lady who helped me was a doll. Very kind, very gentle, very nice to chat with. She watched me from start to finish. She offered a blanket, and made sure I was comfortable. She was awesome with the needle. I have given blood many many times, and her technique was one of the less «painful.»
They had a sweet girl volunteering in the back of the room to assist with juice, water, snacks and such to get re-​hydrated and get the sugar levels back up. She was very kind and we talked for a while; well beyond the 15 minute threshold I was assigned.
I will definitely be coming back in 56 days to donate whole blood again! SAVE 3 LIVES! Donate!

I have donated blood a few times and the last time was the worst experience ever. They stuck the needle through a valve in my veins so no blood was going through and so they pulled it out a bit to get the blood flow going and my vein vibrated like a cell phone-​which is a HORRIBLE feeling to feel inside your arm. So I vowed to myself never to donate again because that was so traumatizing. So Red Cross started calling me, and I kept calmly explaining that I’m done donating blood and if they could stop calling me, that would be lovely. The calls would stop for a month or 2, then they’d start calling me again. Basically every few days would be a call. I kept telling them to please stop. Now they have been calling me at 8:30. This is ridiculous. STOP CALLING ME.

New setup, but worse service. I donate here regularly, but it has been a while. The location is still the best for me. And while i noticed they got new chairs in a new layout, the services was worse. The front desk person had trouble understanding me, and responding to me, and the staff seemed like I was a burden to them. I wont stop coming, but it could be better when i’m going out of my way to come and help.

After giving blood here a couple times a year for a few years now, the time has come to go somewhere else. The staff at this facility are extremely impersonal and unfriendly. Your visit here used to come with a friendly greeting at the door amd some friendly conversation while you give blood. Now there’s almost nothing with the staff only talking and snickering amongst themselves.
Giving blood is a noble and worthwhile cause. It can still be uncomfortable and it can make you a little nervous having a stranger put a large needle into your arm. With that in mind, if you’re going to donate blood for the good of your fellow man, you might as well go do it somewhere where you can feel appreciated.
This facility used to be one of those places, but those days are gone. From now on, I will take my charity and my veins somewhere else. From the current staff, the only smile you will see is exchanged between themselves. And for that matter the only thank you you will get will sound like a robot reading from a script…

I don’t mind being called when I’m heading to Norcal to visit family, but when I’m in LA, please refrain from calling someone whose address is in LA and whose area code doesn’t match anything north of Bakersfield… with that aside, the facility is clean and the people are friendly and actually smarter than the nurses and doctors from the usual facility I go to (as apparent by a phone call I made to them when I asked what kind of procedure they use to remove platelets… the doctor on the phone didn’t know…)
They have different procedures than my usual place, but I have donated here before and I respect their decisions and choices to do the things they do.
I hope that next time I’m in Pleasanton I can donate double whole blood because I know that people need it.
Till next time Red Cross.

Dear Red Cross
Please put me on your DO NOT CALL list. I have given blood on several occassions and currently feel like I am beeing harrassed to come back and give more. Your call-​athons are driving me crazy. Next time I give blood I will perhaps drop a bogus call back number to avoid the getting calls at strange hours of the day. every day. twice a day… EEEEEK!!!

It’s the place I never knew was there. Why? Because it’s next to everything else like World Market, Play it Again Sports, and JC Penny Home Store.
Back to this location. I was blessed to be paired up with Linda. She explained everything from beginning to end. I’m not a fan of needles, but I got lucky she found my vein on the first shot and I didn’t really feel it. Okay, I’m just a big baby when it comes to needles. After the process was complete, Linda made sure I got a good amount of juice and goodies at the end. During my recovery, she made sure others watched my condition as she performed other tasks. Thanks Linda! You’re the best!!!

The staff at this location has always been really nice! They are pretty good (I have very hard veins, I am ill, but they have always managed to «get» me on the first stick) and I haven’t had any problems (besides not being eligible to donate Hgb :/​). The times I have given blood, nothing has gone wrong, it always goes smoothly. When I do or do not have an appointment they always accommodate me very quickly. And everyone there is very cheerful, talkative, and takes very good care of you to make sure everything goes ok with you and that you feel fine. And you get yummy cookies!!!

Pretty nice location compared to SJ and Newark locations IMO; it has a few more machines than the other locations and the staff are generally nicer here. Everyone is suppose to be nice, but I had a nicer experience chatting with the staff than other locations I’ve been to. I’m definitely coming back to this location to donate in the future.
*PLUS* it’s right across the plaza from the mall (pretty awesome)

On October 5^th, my brother donated blood in the mobile unit of Red Cross in Pleasanton. He GOT INFALMATION OF VESSELS because of contaminated injected needle. He has passed out two times, one time the following Saturday on the road to the Emergency Room and another time when the same following Sunday he passed out at his home and ambulance took him to ER. He is suffering from contamination and needs someone to take care of him to make sure he is not getting dizzy again and OK.
Before this incident, he was a very strong and healthy male in his 40s. The training and safety procedures of REDCROSS are under question for us. How they handle the needles and safety of patients. We are SO disappointed and very concerned for our brother on October 5^th, my brother donated blood in the mobile unit of Red Cross in Pleasanton. He GOT INFALMATION OF VESSELS because of contaminated injected needle. He has passed out two times, one time the following Saturday on the road to the Emergency Room and another time when the same following Sunday he passed out at his home and ambulance took him to ER. He is suffering from contamination and needs someone to take care of him to make sure he is not getting dizzy again and OK.
Before this incident, he was a very strong and healthy male in his 40s. The training and safety procedures of REDCROSS is under question for us. How they handle the needles and safety of patients. We are SO disappointed and very concerned for our brother.
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