American Red Cross
Reviews and Complaints

My family lost everything in the FL Keys, during Hurricane Irma, we are still displaced in Oak Ridge TN... We are in a hotel that FEMA has provided for us.. Our family of 4, 2 adults, 2 children has decided to make TN our new home because there is nothing to go back to. We have been without a paycheck for 3, almost 4 weeks... Buying things we need are very hars right now... Thank God my husband found a great job, that he started 9/29/2017.. But we still need help... We need to find a home, buy our kids school clothing, not to mention warm clothing that we dont own, school supplies, shoes, beds, bedding, towels "you know everything for a home" I have been watching the commercials of the Red Cross on TV asking for donations for the hurricane victims, & I see them donations pooring in... But, us the "Victims" have received a big "0"... I have called the Red Cross 4 or 5x with a big "NO" everytime, with any help I have asked for... How could you give people like us hope that their is help, & hope when we are at our lowest? Then push us down even more, without an ounce of remorse... We are mentally, & physically exhausted, not to mention stressed, & scared. I hope, & pray that none of you ever experience this, because its truly a nightmare.. On that note, shame on you, This may not change a thing, but I needed to let you know how your actions affects people like my family.

My name is Timothy I live in a two family house in West Orange NJ back in 2012 there was a house fire that started on the second floor in which I live on the first floor. around 1 AM in the morning I called the police and the fire department and immediately evacuated from the house because house was on fire. After the firemen put out the fire, I was left devastated because I lost everything in the fire .The fire department put me in touch with the American Red Cross that day, because I stay with family members 2 days until I figure out what to do, I called the American Red Cross 2 days later, seeking help, they disqualified me for any help whatsoever because I didn't seek help that day of the fire . THE American Red Cross is a FRAUD! DO NOT SEND THEM ANY OF YOUR HARd EARNED MONEY ANYMORE ! So that you know they are only required to make available 20% of the money they collect from contributors to be used as relief money, the other 80% goes into their corporate and personal expense pockets. WHAT A RACKET!

My name is Jacqueline Thompson, and I live in Houston, Texas. I live in Braeswood/Meyerland area, which have flooded 3 times within the last year 1/2...You would have to live under a rock not kno that... I applied for red cross "relief" and didn't get it but other people who don't have residence are receiving help. You guys are denying people that need this help...and I would like to kno why?
With all the bad press about red cross I would think you guys would do much better in the face of a such a horrific disaster...shame on you red cross for pocketing donated money for your own greedy purposes...

I was affected by the storm and have not gotten an e-mail or text for the approval for the 400.00 I was on hold for an hour and 30 minutes on 9-24-17 and almost 2 hours in 9-25-17 and still holding...Red Cross have helped people who didn't even lose anything and I have lost furniture, bedroom sets, food, cloths, and my apartment still has mold and no carpet and I have to go through all this for help this is sad thanks for nothing red cross and may God bless this whole organization for lack of nit making the right decision for the people who actually lose their things

I was an applicant severely impacted by the hurricane and included in the 39 counties, that red cross seems to "be supporting or assisting," yet I got denied with no appeal option?

Why even support your agency?

Why are you here to support the frauds? Is there no screening process? Or do you wait until its too late to realize all the frauds have the money that those are actually in need have?

This is garbage..as me and neighbors are refused though we suffered greatly..I see people I know with no damage at all walk up and show us their phone with a pin to go get money..wth? Don't donate to these people! This is garbage! We have nothing and applied...please don't donate to this broken agency! If they can do this to good people then they shouldn't stay in the best hotels and the CEO get such a high salary with bonus!

My family and I is displaced because of hurricane Irma. We were placed at one of your Red Cross shelters at Treasure Coast Elementary School in Wabasso FL., we were then sent to your facility in Vero Beach on 17th. Street. Ron was the manager and he was great. He tried to Help and was very polite. The crew that relieved him was awful. Mrs. Doris and another lady with a short hair cut was very cruel and has no compassion. We are homeless and Mrs. Doris told me to go back where we was before the hurricane, the lady with the short hair sandy brown in color asked an elderly man where were you before the hurricane, he replied I was sleeping in a tent, her response to him was what happened to your tent and you should go back there. There was anything family with two small children you was put in the street along with my family. My husband is disabled, he has a defibrillator and can't work because he works in agriculture and I have a 14 year old daughter. We weren't offered any assistance and had to sleep in our care. They threw us in the street with no where to go. I'm very frustrated with how we were treated by the Red Cross and this shouldn't of happened to anyone. I can't work anymore because of a back injury and I've been trying for two years to get SSDI. We need help. Your staff has no compassion for others that don't have. The sad thing is I've worked all of my life and I was treated worse than a human being.

I am 34 and live in Monterey California I have donateed to the American Red Cross for the past 5 years after seeing some of the meals that the American Red Cross is handing out in my home state of Texas I have decided to stop donating to the American Red Cross until I see better action coming from y'all. I generously donate $50 a month to the Red Cross but not no more I will find me a new organization that was spend my money directly to the people who need it..

On 8/31/2017 my family evacuated by boat in our apartment at the time we had brought elderly neighbors and another family upstairs to safety and waited for the rescue. We got to the shelter and nobody would help us with the elderly people or kids I have my 2 kids one that has special needs and didn't know what to do with the elderly people at that time and I got them in but they were not capable of standing in line I told the lady in the Red Cross vest that these people needed help as I could not care for all of them and didn't even have info to register them and that at that time I had more than I could help that I would register my family and then help in anyway I can cause I'm a nurse and was told I'm not Red Cross and can't help after I get my kids registered. My fiance and I were in soaking wet clothes from having to walk through the waters to rescue everyone. My kids were scared and the shelter Was full they said buses would come and then later told nobody was coming and we.would have to sleep outside me and 100 or more others. They had nothing but saltine crackers to feed anyone even though I know a lady that brought food they wouldn't serve and it was canned raviolis and such. The experience was horrible I will never forget being treated horribly by Red Cross at the Orange Baptist Church on 87. The church people were not the ones causing problems but the people in the vests. My email is [protected]@gmail.com if anyone wants to contact me about this horrible experience

Before I begin this has been reported to the news channels and will be dealt with so I would suggest that your response be appropriate.
My niece and a dozen or so of her friends have been leaving their families and going to GRB to volunteer to help mothers with small children.
They stay 6-7 hours very late at night and stay with babies and small children so their mothers can get some rest. The children have ID bracelets matching their mothers. Apparently they have a piece of paper from a Red Cross employee allowing this and the mothers have been so grateful. Late last night one of your very nasty, bossy women who says she is in charge of this Houston area of the Red Cross threw all of them out and said that she would not allow them to do this work and the person that allowed it was not authorized. They all had to leave and were told not to come back. Is the Red Cross serious with this crap, throwing volunteers out. This is unbelievable and by the way I have told everyone I know not to donate to Red Cross and have sent a Memo about this incident with Red Cross. Hope it affects your donations which means your CEO may have to cut his salary. Shame on you horrible people

I am so disappointed with the disaster relief services at the Nacogdoches County Expo Center for people from the Southeast Texas area. Elderly, disabled people are being treated like cattle. Red-vested people are turning away donations while the evacuees have been in the same clothes they were wearing when they were plucked out of the water 3 days prior. A team of my friends and myself are interviewing evacuees to find specific needs (46DDD bras that aren't available, for example) and lining up shoppers to purchase the items - then we are SNEAKING them into the shelter because the red-vested people are refusing to let them be brought in. How 'bout that?!

I just had my CNA exam at the San Jose American Red Cross on 6/30/17 and had an awful experience. At the risk of sounding like a disgruntled test-taker who "failed, " I wanted to share my experience! I feel cheated, scammed and that American Red Cross is an unethical company!

My fellow test-takers and I had 4 evaluators for our exam (1 for the written, 1 for handwashing and Station C, 1 for Station B, and 1 for Station A). Jo Ann was the evaluator for handwashing and Station C (personal care) and was not only RUDE to the test takers but also failed me for something I should not have failed the skill for.

For personal care, I drew the card "Shaving" and the patient I was paired up with can vouch for me that I did the skill, BY THE BOOK (specifically the American Red Cross CNA handbook)! I was shocked to hear that I had not pass her evaluations so I asked her what I messed up on. Apparently it was because I had not shaved the female (assumed male for shaving purposes) patient's invisible mustache and goatee. Nowhere in the American Red Cross handbook for either the 2016 or 2017 versions stated which part of the faces I had to shave. I specifically verbalized and showed my evaluator that I would taut skin and shave downwards 3 strokes for both sides of the face, and taut skin and shave upwards 3 strokes for the neck area (as stated by the handbook.) I said that I would rinse the razor between each shave in the water that I prepared and change the water after I dispose of the razor in the sharps container right after shaving my patient. I had also checked the skin for cuts and the razor for rusts. Everything was perfect.

I even offered the patient a hand mirror at the end of my skill -- which at this point the patient could have told me that she would like me to also remove her invisible goatee and mustache. Before my patient had a chance to accept the hand mirror or to acknowledge to me that she liked her new look (my shaving job), my evaluator Jo Ann jumped in and said loudly "NO THANK YOU, " denying the hand mirror FOR my patient and then failing me because I guess she knows what's best for the patient? (What happened the the six principles of care?)

I won't even go into details about the fact that she had kicked the laundry hamper towards me from under her desk during my evaluations! Unprofessional, rude and unacceptable for a company who is supposed to be doing good for people.

I gave blood at the Red Cross Donation Center on Prince Street in Rochester, NY last Thursday--a pint of AB+. I do not recall the name of the technician who inserted the needle in my arm. However, she had problems and I wish to complain regarding the damage to my inner elbow, left arm I suffered. It took the form of a deep angry bruise which, after 4 days, has not yet abated. It is still accompanied by a feeling of heat or pressure there.
When my blood was being collected, the machine kept "beeping" because the flow was becoming intermittent. I believe that is because she inserted the needle in upside down. It took longer than it should have.
I would like to ask you to fire her.
I believe she was a Hispanic lady who said she had 1 year old twins. I am scared by the mark on my arm and do not intend to ever donate blood again. That's just how I feel--scared, hurt and angry.
Sincerely,
Mary K. Grant

My 17 year old daughter signed up to donate blood for the first time through walled lake central high school with the American Red Cross. Apparently 17 can donate without parent consent, so we were not aware this was even happening. While donating they could not get a vein in one arm so switched to the other. Halfway through the blood flow stopped, at which point someone with the Red Cross came over and began jabbing the needle around to try and get the blood flow moving again. They were unsuccessful, so called someone else over, who did the same thing until the blood started flowing again. At this point my daughter became nauseous, light headed, and blacked out. She came to with a cold cloth on her head, but they had not removed the needle. She asked for something to throw up in, and still, they did not remove the needle. She had to ask to have it removed before they took it out. After she was given juice and crackers and sent on her way. At no point did anyone bother to contact her parents, or even the school office to let anyone know what had happened. She went back to class and began to feel faint during a test, the teacher noticed and gave her water and an orange that she had. At this point my daughter called me, telling me all that had happened and that she had a large lump on her bicep that had formed that was extremely painful and causing numbness down her arm and hand. I picked her up and took her to her pediatrician, who advised me to take her to ER, as she had never seen something like this from donating blood. ER did ultrasounds and determined she had a "massive hematoma caused by someone who had no idea what they were doing." That is a direct quote from a dr that saw her. It took a full month to heal, she missed countless days of work, and her principal excused her from the last month of Physical Education, including her final, due to the nature of the injury. I now have over a thousand dollars in medical bills due to the gross negligence of this company.

Hello, my name is Mariah Begarowicz, I donated yesterday at Calhoon Area Career center (may 24th) and during my donation it went well, I have donated in the past. But when the bag was filled and finished, they did the test tubes. Well, the nurse couldnt get any blood out. So I was concerned. But she called another nurse over. And she grabbed my arm pinching my vain towards the lower part of my arm. She stated "if this hurts, tell me" well it hurt alittle bit towards the beginning and she pinched it even more than where the needle was at the time they pushed it in further but with more force and yes it hurt really bad. So I flinched alittle bit and moved my arm. She said dont move we don't want to needle coming out. So the nurse asked the other nurse if she they should switch arms well they did. And they used my other arm. Well, the whole day my arm hurt, I did eat something and I drank water and juice after my donation. Well, 3 hours went by and I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach, the nurse told me "I'm sorry, but you may have a really bad bruise".
I woke up today with a huge bruise and a sore arm. This has not happened prier to this donation

I was admitted to McKay Dee hospital
In Ogden Utah.. I was asked by the hospital e, r nurse to sign a blood donors paper.. I did.. Then I was injected with something to pass out and I woke up hours later with a bed sheet covering my entire body face included.. My Dad was crying beside me and a Hispanic nurse unsure of employer was withdrawing my blood and I saw three bags hanging by her station next to me and she was paninicing and nervous as I was getting up from my hospital bed..did red cross have a blood drive nurse oat McKay Dee hospital Ogden Utah. On October/10/2024 my contact number [protected]) my name is Gabriel R Flores Sr age 54, , , thank you

I gave blood yesterday, April 17. I had to make an appointment because I was a walk in. I came back 1.5 hours later, at 1:30 pm for my scheduled appointment. After I filled out all of the paperwork I was sent to a bed. I had a very inexperienced phlebotomist and her trainer who was the witch from Hell and not only was she not helpful in training the new person she was extremely rude to me. It was so painful as I was giving blood as I have several times before with no pain at all. It took AN HOUR AND A HALF. I didn't not leave until 3 PM! My arm is still very swollen and hurts to move.
It's no wonder you have a blood shortage. I felt like a worrthles source of meat by your staff. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE! I won't be coming back to Red Cross anytime soon and I'll be sure to tell everyone about my bad experience. You should not put brand spanking new staff on at a big blood drive. Stupid!

Sincerely,
Michael Parker of Ludlow MA. I gave blood at the Chicopee MASS castle of the knights on memorial drive .

Tonja oakes, business services (Red cross, 113 lakeview dr, charleston, wv) treats some older volunteers with disrespect, attempted control, deciding what mood a person is in before asking, tells people they are not allowed to voice an opinion... If people disagree with her she gets angry... She recently tried to have a volunteer dismissed because this person spoke up to her, stood up for the truth ! Most of the staff @ this red cross are in denial there is a "black mold" problem in the building ! Has made several people ill thru the past 3 yrs; one woman became so ill she almost died, spent 4 days in icu in 2014... They dont seem to care enough to have this issue taken care of so no one else will be sick from the mold.. .1this office has spent alot of money on new cars but say there is no money for a new roof to stop the black mold issues... A long term recovery staff member told a worker there was no mold in the building & to be quiet... Many volunteers have quit because they felt unappreciated, weren't given access to the building with either a key or access code for the back door...

Today I could not help but see an ad on Television National Campaign for the Red Cross asking for donations of blood.

My Church - Mount Vernon Baptist Church - on 12/3/16 had a blood drive for which I am the coordinator. I spent over 100 hours working on the blood drive for the Red Cross. COMPLAINT: We had people signed up at specific times to donate blood (war veteran and his veteran wife).

They were not allowed to donate their blood because of time.

Please Respond
Anne Hankins
Red Cross Representative
for Mount Vernon Baptist Church
[protected]

My son went to take his CNA skills test at the Sacramento Red Cross location and they told him he could not take it because his "cough sounded contagious". It sounds just like someone who has allergies. He was born at 26 weeks, he has asthma, allergies, and the air is heavy with smoke. He was just at the Dr. and got steroids to help his lungs work, he is not sick. They refused his use of a mask (which is common in nursing if someone IS actually sick) or calling his Dr. to verify. We pay to take these tests and now we will get charged again to reschedule when it is not even his fault? Completely unacceptable.