King-American Ambulance Company

Reading the reviews is seems like people have had one bad experience and are ready to go to war. Let me tell you in case you don't already know this that there are BAD APPLES in every walk of life, that includes EMS.

To the person who wonders why SFFD is "affiliated" with King American I assure you they have their basketful too. Unfortunately, this type of work seems to attract people who like / need (?) power and sadly their reputations make the rounds quicker than the rest of ours...who are we?

Oh, that would be the vast majority of us Paramedics that LOVE our jobs, show up to work every day and act as a professional. We are PROUD to serve and care for the people of San Francisco in times of crisis and desperation.

Anyone knows that having one experience with a company cannot be an accurate reflection by simple statistics, you haven't interacted with 95% of the people that work there!
Rest assured we are out there doing what we can, no matter what color ambulance we drive, to be there when you need us and treat you with the respect, courtesy and compassion you need. I apologize on behalf of all Paramedics who love their jobs that you got people that didn't.

Oh, and on a side note, you are not without the ability to find out who transported you. If you are unhappy with the care you received call the provider, tell them when and where you were transported and they will be able to look up the names of the medics that were involved with that call.

Also be aware that some members of the public are MEAN and VERBALLY & PHYSICALLY ABUSIVE to Paramedics too! We deal with this on an almost daily basis no matter how "nice" we are. So if a member of the public is outrageously belligerent we will document that too. It works both ways.

I have been fortunate enough to have two experiences with this company...

Experience one:

My own personal experience after a 'slip and fall' in store x, rendered a huge massive gash in my head which required several staples.

Although I did not want an ambulance to take me to the hospital; the store's policies required as such. *Rolls eyes*

I found the paramedics to be nice and were relatively concerned with me and my extremities. All in all the experience was a good one deserving of a higher star rating (perhaps 4, not 5 being that I never really wanted to go or be assisted by them in the first place.) They delivered me safely - however, I received a $1,400 bill from them.

Ouch! After informing them that I was seeking compensation from the store (or their insurance) for the bill - they still sent me into collections. Thanks a lot guys.


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Experience two:

Upon arriving at my house; they were completely rude and extremely abusive. My husband's back was completely spasm; not allowing him to move an inch. They refused to put him on a stretcher, but instead rolled him out in one of our own chairs??

When he showed difficulty getting into the chair they told him to 'hurry up' informed him that there are not many ambulances in SF and what a waste of their time this call was...

They even told me I should be the one in the back of the truck (I just so happened to have a 101 fever and had been vomiting all day.)

It was a lovely night to be remembered.

Predatory business that gets billed to you as not in network. Youre essentially screwed with bills in the multiple thousands. Im 100% theyre saving money by not working with insurance companies. At the end youre left with a debt numbing bill.

They should be class action sued.

ZERO stars...serious price gouging of people when they are at their most vulnerable! This will send you to collections at the drop of a hat who will then harass you non-stop not to mention the outrageous interest. It would have been cheaper to rent a limo to the hospital! Ridiculous!

King American as a business deserves ZERO stars, but that is not an option here so they get the absolute minimum required to write a review. I'll note my complaint is not at all with the EMT's, but instead with the predatory and unethical way the management of this company handles the business itself.

My experience with them comes from a 911 call that a witness to a hit-and-run accident made, where I was the victim of a hit and run and King Ambulance was dispatched via the 911 call to the scene of the accident. The EMT rightly told me I should go to the hospital in case I had injuries that were not yet 'visible' due to the adrenaline of being run over by numerous motorcycles while on my bike. I amazingly had no obvious injuries and the end of the story on that note is a happy one, I walked away with contusions and serious bruising but my body intact.

Mistake number one on my part was giving them my insurance card - I will absolutely NEVER do that again should I have the conscious option if ever needing an ambulance. That ambulance ride where the ONLY service administered was to give me a N95 mask (the tech joked this would be the most expensive mask I ever got - should have taken him seriously) and take my blood pressure was basically the most expensive ride to the hospital I could have ever taken and resulted in an extraordinary bill to the tune of over $4k of which almost $300 was for mileage (ride was 1.8 miles). I call that out b/c this is absurd - I know the healthcare system is messed up, but because King was not an 'in network ambulance' I was on the hook for the out of network difference in what the insurance paid and what a 'fair price' should have been (the fair price was no where near $4k, not even close).

My insurance paid King per their policy and I was responsible for the rest, but King decided they would bill over double that and hence charged me more than the EOB that I received from my insurance company. When I disputed the amount with King because it differed immensely from the insurance EOB and communicated as such (as did my insurance who was negotiating with them including sending numerous cease and desist letters to STOP billing me while the process was being played out between them) King decided to send me to a collections agency. On top of it, they had their "collections guy" who sounded like a mobster calling me from a back room of a Sopranos episode to harass me about payment.

This is not only predatory, evasive and highly unethical, but I felt they were purposefully unwilling to play by the rules of the game that honestly are rules that are between them and the insurance company. Most people have no choice when needing ambulance service, and I certainly didn't as this was a 911 emergency call, but should you ever have a say in the matter, absolutely check first to see if there are any ambulances that are 'in network' (most aren't I have come to find out - what a joke) and take a cab rather than King. This is a disgraceful way of running a business that is supposed to be in service of saving lives.

Read the rest of the reviews here, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck ...

Yesterday the EMT Fire Department recommended King Ambulance. We told them we didn't need to go, but they insisted. They picked me up at 2:15 but I didn't arrive at the VA until 3pm. When they picked me up they drove around the corner and instead of taking me to the VA they stopped and did a series of tests, and they kept doing the same tests over and over. But the bottom line is when they said they wanted me to go to a different hospital and not the VA which is my health provider. Why? Because they said they were worried about a head injury when I did not have a head injury. I believe the doctors at the VA are very familiar with head injuries. And then when they finally decided to take me to the VA, they drove very slowly. I'm sorry this felt like a scam all along the way.

Someone called the ambulance for me and I wasn't in need of medical attention. They never came or anything but somehow got my information and billed me $500 for no reason. This company is just out to get your money, they are thieves. How are they even an operating company, oh yes I know by saying they provided service and then billing you for no reason. Also they have the worse billing department personal was extremely rude.

It has to say something when people go out of their way to give bad reviews to an ambulance company. They charge obscene fees that even my insurance company said were outrageous.
Overall pretty rough experience even without the excessive charges that I had to cover. Got repeatedly accused of being on drugs and then (very reassuringly) repeatedly told that my symptoms were not normal and were very concerning. Thanks.
Also, the paramedic couldn't even put an IV in while the vehicle was NOT moving.
For this delightful experience and maybe 10minute ambulance ride, I got the pleasure of paying $1,700 AFTER insurance.
For any future emergencies, take an Uber you'll get the same care without the bill.

The poorly trained and poorly paid drivers have only one joy in their job. That is to blast their siren at top volume at every opportunity, day and night, even within inches of children's ears. Management is equally incompetent, and doesn't care if their own drivers are injured and suffer their hearing loss due to unsafe siren use.
If only one employee at King-American Ambulance Company were literate enough to read and comprehend scientific studies on how siren use increases the risk of accidents, I would be surprised. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30648537/

Just wanted to give the folks at King American Ambulance a big shout out. Paramedics Jay and Kyle are outstanding representatives of this company. They were very professional every step of the way. They treated my Mom with a personal care and respect that everyone would be proud to see. Thank you so much to the men and women of this great emergency people transportation company. Who you gonna call in an emergency...King American Ambulance Company. They've been serving San Francisco for over 100 years! Keep up the great work!!!

Horrible Company! Left me in the back of the ambulance by myself. Gave zero #%%s about me and how I was doing. Said no more than 3 words to me the whole time they were transporting me to another hospital.