My vet is taking me to the cleaners!

undaunted

Surely your average small practice wouldn't be open to save your pets life on Xmas day - they'd be subbing you out to an expensive emergency service.

If a garage were to contact me 3 months later tell, me they'd forgotten to charge for plugs & I knew full well they had been fitted then yes I would still pay them personally. A good relationship is a two way street!

A Judge would ultimately be looking at what is reasonable in my opinion & if you asked them to write off £300 due to a vets error do you really think that would be so?

DogsBody

My vets avoid this whole problem for out of hours work/home visits by not accepting payment if they haven't properly finished processing the 'paperwork' at their end - I tried to pay on the Monday for a home visit the previous Friday and they wouldn't let me, i didn't get the bill for another month!

Of course they open themselves up to the 'no-intention-of-paying' crowd mentioned by Snowman by doing this, but they are a small rural practise and it would be quite hard for a customer to 'disappear' in these parts.

A series of unfortunate events, OP, no-ones fault really

CFC

undaunted wrote: »

A Judge would ultimately be looking at what is reasonable in my opinion & if you asked them to write off £300 due to a vets error do you really think that would be so?

Yes, I do. The cogent point is that the OP was told that was the final bill. The work was done, the OP is not disputing that, but final = final and the business cannot go back on that word. The key word here is 'business'. If they have an internal issue with their processes that is their lookout and for them to remedy, the same as any other business.

The reason I am with a large practice that charges an arm and a leg is because the opening hours suit me and part of that is it is a 365 day practice. The downside for both parties is there is no 'relationship' as there is with a smaller practice, therefore business must be conducted on both sides on a transactional basis.

lynzi30

hi i have just rescued a dog that somebody didnt want which i thought was so sad as she has just had an operation on her leg dont know were she has had the operation but she has stichers and she has been licking them and they look like there coming loose, if i take her the vet do you think they would let me pay my bill in instulments, the reason why i took this little dog was because they were goin to have her put down cause they couldnt afford the bill i know i am not gratefully well off but if i can get her fixed and pay monthly for her treatment it is so worth it she so happy now she is being loved. does anyone know how much stiches cost

Thankyou...

TomsMom

lynzi30 wrote: »

hi i have just rescued a dog that somebody didnt want which i thought was so sad as she has just had an operation on her leg dont know were she has had the operation but she has stichers and she has been licking them and they look like there coming loose, if i take her the vet do you think they would let me pay my bill in instulments, the reason why i took this little dog was because they were goin to have her put down cause they couldnt afford the bill i know i am not gratefully well off but if i can get her fixed and pay monthly for her treatment it is so worth it she so happy now she is being loved. does anyone know how much stiches cost

Thankyou...

Is it just to take the stitches out and check everything is OK?

At my vets (rural area) the consultation fee is £19. Maybe your local vet will charge just the consultation fee and a bit extra for the removal of the stitches.

Best to just ring them up or pop in if it's close enough and ask how much it will be. If they're not dissolvable stitches they will need to come out.

welshmoneylover

TomsMom wrote: »

Is it just to take the stitches out and check everything is OK?

At my vets (rural area) the consultation fee is £19. Maybe your local vet will charge just the consultation fee and a bit extra for the removal of the stitches.

Best to just ring them up or pop in if it's close enough and ask how much it will be. If they're not dissolvable stitches they will need to come out.

£19 :eek:

Mine are £40:(

TomsMom

welshmoneylover wrote: »

£19 :eek:

Mine are £40:(

A big difference between North and South Wales then! I thought that because of where we live it might be quite a bit cheaper than a lot of other places.

I have to add we're not particularly impressed with this practice, it's more a farm animal practice but they do pets too but there have been so many complaints over the last few years since the old vet finished. It now seems to be just young (to me, probably 'cos I'm getting on ) girls who are either training or just finished and it's their first placement. The premises leave an awful lot to be desired too.

When we had our pup last year, one came out to the house to give pup her first jab and booster our cat - it was easier than taking them both to the surgery. I actually had to ask her if she was going to give my pup a new puppy check which really should be automatic and they shouldn't be given the injection if they're not healthy. She said "Oh yes, I CAN do that". Pup had gunky ears and she gave Surolan without even checking them and a visit to the surgery for the second jab, saw a different vet (older man), he checked her ears and confirmed no mites so god knows why the Surolan was given (I couldn't get it in her ears anyway so it's not as though they were there and cleared up). Gunky ears have since cleared up beautifully with Thornit although she is a hairy eared breed and has them plucked when she is groomed.

After more recent horror stories we've now abandoned this vet and registered with one who is an hour's drive (or 30 mins on train) and she is being spayed next week. New vet is primarily a "small animal" practice and we were invited to go and meet them and introduce ourselves and dog, very impressed.

welshmoneylover

TomsMom wrote: »

After more recent horror stories we've now abandoned this vet and registered with one who is an hour's drive (or 30 mins on train) and she is being spayed next week. New vet is primarily a "small animal" practice and we were invited to go and meet them and introduce ourselves and dog, very impressed.

Go on then, how much do they charge for initial consultation?

If you say £40 I'll be sitting here smiling smugly :rotfl::rotfl:

TomsMom

welshmoneylover wrote: »

Go on then, how much do they charge for initial consultation?

If you say £40 I'll be sitting here smiling smugly :rotfl::rotfl:

Ooooh, I don't know. Just asked for cost of spay and they are charging £102 and that includes two check ups afterwards. Microchipping is £10.20 and we're having that done at same time. They're also going to check her tear ducts while she's under as she gets dreadful tear stains at the moment.

This is the practice. I know they do free puppy/kitten checks. Will have to ask about a normal consultation fee. I'll come back and let you know next week. Hopefully it wont be £40 .