Advice please! Rip off vet

maninthestreet

So in summary, the OP thought his dog had swallowed a screw, but now feels it was he who was screwed by the vet??

Hintza

Some of you guys get a little enthusiastic about running straight to the vet. I would think once, think twice and think thrice before going to the vet.

When you have as many animals as us you can't just rush off to the vet at the drop of hat.

I would have at least spent 5 minutes looking for the screw if nothing else.

Out of interest how big was the screw and how big is the dog or is it a puppy?

halibut2209

photome wrote: »

what was it you signed on arrival... what does it say about treatment and costs

You are about the 8th person to ask that question. I fear an answer is not forthcoming.

Anoneemoose

I have just read this and cannot help getting annoyed by the comparison between a garage and car.

A garage and car scenario is not a matter of life and death. A dog swallowing a screw potentially is. The vet acted in the way they, as the experts, thought necessary. And charged you what seems like a reasonable amount to do so.

I really do not know what you want from this thread. Almost all people have disagreed with you which usually means that is probably the correct opinion.

What can you do?

You could complain but that might not get you anywhere.
You could claim through small claims for a refund (although on what basis I have no idea).
You could pay for some REAL legal advice and probably run the risk of spending money to be told exactly the same thing as you have been on here.

maninthestreet

Anoneemoose wrote: »

I have just read this and cannot help getting annoyed by the comparison between a garage and car.
.

Perhaps the dog's name is Rover???

giantmutantbroccoli

I'm sure the only reason we see threads like this is because we don't have to directly pay for health care in this country.
If you took your child to the hospital thinking that they'd swallowed a screw, they would do an xray to look for it. Even in countries where you do pay directly for health care, the hospital would do the xray first in order to make sure your child could get any treatment needed as soon as possible. You'd get the bill afterwards, you wouldn't be asked if you wanted to spend the money. Just look at how many Americans are stuck will debt due to unexpected medical bills!

I can totally understand being upset at getting an unexpected large bill, but it's not unreasonable. From the vets point of view your pet could need urgent surgery, and any delay could reduce its chance of survival. They have to imagine the worst, so they don't know how long its already been since the dog swallowed the screw, or if it may have eaten more than one, or if tbat screw is about to embed itself in something vital.

I'm glad to hear it worked out okay for you and your dog though, if not your pocket!

sheramber

benny1234black wrote: »

I would have just gone ahead. But thats not the point.

And wasting time? Would have taken 2 minutes.

Then why didn't you do that beofre rushing off to the vet.

When you handed your dog over you entrusted the vet to resolve the problem.

No doubt of they had found a screw on the xray they would then have advised you of the necessary surgery and estimated cost.

Be thankful your dog didn't swallow a screw. It would have cost a lot more.

unholyangel

OP, think of it this way, you say it happened not at your home but near your home and I believe you also said you hadnt just left the screw laying around - so presumably someone else has.

If that is the case, even if you had searched a second time and found a screw, how could you have been sure there was only 1 and the dog hadnt swallowed another?

The vets had to xray your dog before giving you cost of treatment (xray is not treatment its diagnostic) because they'd need to have known where the screw was, what size it was, if it had already caused internal damage etc before they'd be able to give you any idea how much it cost or which treatment would be the best to proceed with.

benny1234black

well they didn't mention any cost of a diagnostic. Especially one that high.

And the registration form I signed only talks about fees for surgery and hospitalisation and those fees are payable during consultation or discharge. also it talks about the use of authorised human drugs or vet medicines.

Nothing about fees.

I did not pay yet anyway I am going back in tomorrow to speak to the manager that was not there over the weekend.

iammumtoone

I think a lot of the problem is your lack of understanding how a vets practice works and the prices they charge, I agree with you the prices are high (this applies to all vets and probably has a lot to do with my perception of it as someone pointed out above I don't pay medical expensive for myself or child, if I did then I would probably view it as cheap or at least reasonable). However I still choose to have pets as the enjoyment they give far outways the cost of the vets. If iI was that unhappy with vets fees I would not have animals.

As soon as you walked through the door and spoke to someone the charge would have been around £40 regardless if you agreed to any treatment or not, did you realise this before you went in? If you didn't then you can't blame the vet as this is how they all operate you are expected to know this. Like your car analogy even if you decide not to pay for the work needed you still need to pay for someone to look at it to see what work is needed.