LEGAL ACTION ADVISE! OVER CHARGING VET - PLEASE HELP ME!!

[Christina-drew]

This week my dog got injured, we immediatly took him to our local vets where his had his jabs ect as he was already registered. They then kept him in over night & operated the next morning, they put afew stitches in & bandaged it up then sent him home, w were then asked to bring him back 3 dats later for a check up (today) We were ASSURED that no further charge would be added to our bill. Then found today that an extra £35 was to be added on for banageing him back up. Our bill was £332 + Extra £35, this is ridiculous. We were then told he has ripped his stitches out & will need the same op again.. another £360+!!!!!!!!!! THEY SUPPLIED HIS WITH THE WRONG SIZE CONE SO HE WAS ABLE TO REACH THE BANAGE OVER NIGHT & PULL ITO FF TO THEN TEAR OUT THE STITCHING. i THEN WENT TO ANOTHER VET FOR A SECOND OPINION & THEY QUOTED ME £150 !! This isfor the SAME procedure! I am VEY dissapointed withthe vets i have used, they were ryde & obnoxious! We have not paid the bill yet, but for a bodge job i REALLY dont want to pay this out, what are my rights PLEASE SOME BODY HELP..????

[lankeela]

Afraid you don't have a leg to stand on but you could ask to see someone in authority and explain the situation and say you are not happy with the service received and will be reporting it to the RCVS or BVA and they might be willing to negotiate a reduction.

[boxtops]

Are they registered with an overarching group? Ours are part of the CVS group - complain. They probably have a complaints process, same as the GP does.

[merciasounds]

I think you should at least be able to negotiate a reduction as they supplied the wrong sized cone. If he won't back down, get some legal advice.

[NOX]

Your first course of action is to complain to the surgery itself, politely but very frmly, tell them you believe that it was their incompetence that allowed your dog to gain access to his stitches and ask them what they are prepared to do about it as you would rather not take them to court but are quite prepared to do so if you don't get saisfaction. If they bluster and tell you they'll take you to court, inform them if they do that yu will counterclaim for your losses and will not be paying their bill. Vets routinely overchage, it's as if they pick and number and then treble it, however the good news is when they did something very similar to your story with my ex's cat, she did as I have suggested you do and got the bill reduced by 3/4, which under the circumstances was wholly right. If they bodged it up, didn't do as specified and made a pigs ear of it, don't pay the bill. the worse they could do is take you to county court, where you will get a chance to put your version of events and if it's found against you,pay the bill on the day and your credit record remains undamaged.

[lankeela]

I don't think they can take the blame for your dog getting the collar off, no-one would guarantee that, and if he needed bandaging again they would be in their rights to charge, but they wouldn't have known that when they said bring him back just for a check up.

[jules77]

TBH the initial cost for an op and overnight stay doesnt sound expensive to me. All vets have a different pricing structure dependant on their overheads, and I dont think it is fair to compare prices with that of another vet who wont know what the exact procedure was.