Should I pay my mate for looking at my knee?

Mandy_Caddy

Invite him and his wife over for a slap up meal as a thank you, and give them a bill!

tallgirld

That is quite funny! So you assumed it was free? You would have been better off establishing that before you attended!

I would pay the bill and just accept that actually it was NOT done as a favour :-)

Saha85

iainski47 wrote: »

No you should not!
This guy has been unprofessional and probably unethical in his advise that he gave. He should have advised that you attend your local A&E department (preferably early in the morning when the department is likely to be quiet) where you would be assessed by an A&E doctor who would involve an orthopaedic surgeon if indicated. If there was a suspicion of cartilage damage an MRI scan would be booked. For simple sprains a cold compress with a frozen bag of peas held on knee plus ibuprofen would suffice. A (free) NHS physiotherapy appointment (or private appointment if you wish to see your friend) might be suggested.

A sore knee does not warrant a trip to A &E!! The most forward thinking hospitals now employ physios within their A & E departments because we are just as knowledgable as surgeons if not more so where diagnosis is concerned and we're much cheaper!! To say that he gave poor advice is crazy....jumping to her needing an orthopaedic opinion and MRI scan is the poor advice here in my opinion.
As for paying him....it does sound unusual that he didn't charge you there and then so I suspect it might be a case of his receptionist making a mistake. But if not then take it as a lesson learnt and like other people have said...he'll have his own overheads and you took time when he could have been seeing a new paying customer so it's fair enough.

Rooj

The same thing happened to me at bridge but he told me beforehand that he would give a reduced rate for the first time. I didn't actually ask for a reduction so it was nice of him and I went to him three times, Unfortunately, I don't think you can avoid paying him.

JayD

I agree that it seemed a bit of a trap - and rather mean of your 'friend' too.

I also think that, when you turned up, he should have stated his fees BEFORE he treated you - as is normal practice with professionals.

But regrettably think you will have to pay him.

Lesson learnt for future (for all of us) - when someone offers their services, ask how much they would charge you for them. Hopefully, a real friend wont charge at all - or at least offer you a reduced fee.

Augustus_the_Strong

You'll have to pay him, but I don't think you should count him as a friend - he sounds more like an opportunist touting for work.

j.e.j.

oldtrout wrote: »

I WOULD LOVE TO GET THE FEEDBACK ON WHAT THE OPs OF THESE 'DILEMMAS' ACTUALLY DO ABOUT THEIR PROBLEM.

NEVER EVER GET FEEDBACK.

YOU ARE ALL WASTING YOUR TIME (and so am I by posting this)

Does it matter? There may not actually be a real person in this situation, it's probably hypothetical, but it is still a situation someone could find themselves in and people reading this might find the replies helpful.

lizzied79

This is something that has been bought up in healthcare professions in the past, at the time our professional body approached the main insurance companies, (who supply professional indemnity & public liability) we were told that treating anyone for free would mean that we were not covered by our insurance, therefore if something went wrong and the person we treated (friend or not) complained we would be personally liable for all costs. You can examine and recommend treatment for free, but not perform the treatment.
It is not cheap to train (4-5years) or to maintain a clinic, pay professional fees and insurance.
When I treat friends in my clinic they normally pay the full fee as I still have to pay all my costs for the clinic (rent, insurance etc), if I see them as a favour at home, then I normally charge a bit less. If its someone who mentions or I know that they are short of money, I do take this into consideration.
I think the OP should talk to their friend, if they know them well enough to expect mates rates or free treatment they should be able to talk to them about it.

YORKSHIRE_GUY

I's pay the bill.

But I'd do it by giving the cheque to him in an envelope next time I saw him. That would solve the problem of the physio possibly not knowing that an invoice had been sent. If the physio said that I shouldn't have been sent a bill, then I'd have replied that I assumed that this was mates rates so was happy to pay it.

rinabean

I wouldn't pay. Inviting you to do something you could have done for free on the NHS and then inventing a price he never told you about and sending you a bill? You agreed to nothing - you certainly didn't agree to pay. Using your friends as a cash machine like this is despicable