Advice re Vets and an operation.
Discussion
Afer his last checkup our 10 year old Cairn was advised to have a dental and a couple of teeth out we were advised it was a couple of teeth and they may spot a couple more once he was under but would advise on this at the time a quote was given for the op of £330. As its not covered by insurance it was quite a lot of money but we decided to go ahead.
On the day we dropped him off in the morning had a call in the afternoon to say he was awake then i went to collect him after work at this point i was presented with a bill for £600 when queried i was told it was because they had to remove 17 teeth! I asked why we werent informed of this and advised of the new cost before they went ahead they didnt have an answer and was told not to pay then and the head vet would call the next day.
Late afternoon the next day after no call i tried to contact him but he was out he did call back again that eveing while we were out and left a voicemail tried calling back again over next couple of days but he was always out. Today a new bill has arrived through the post for £540.
Where do i stand on this its still over £200 more than the estimate do i just suck it up and pay or challenge the fact there was no call to discuss the further treatment. Seems wrong they can just decide to do something to my dog without permission then charge me for it. Shouldnt the initial examination have picked up the fact there were more than a couple of teeth that needed removing?
On the day we dropped him off in the morning had a call in the afternoon to say he was awake then i went to collect him after work at this point i was presented with a bill for £600 when queried i was told it was because they had to remove 17 teeth! I asked why we werent informed of this and advised of the new cost before they went ahead they didnt have an answer and was told not to pay then and the head vet would call the next day.
Late afternoon the next day after no call i tried to contact him but he was out he did call back again that eveing while we were out and left a voicemail tried calling back again over next couple of days but he was always out. Today a new bill has arrived through the post for £540.
Where do i stand on this its still over £200 more than the estimate do i just suck it up and pay or challenge the fact there was no call to discuss the further treatment. Seems wrong they can just decide to do something to my dog without permission then charge me for it. Shouldnt the initial examination have picked up the fact there were more than a couple of teeth that needed removing?
My initial thought (and indeed I am helping a friend with a similar issue) is that they do not have consent/agreement to extract all that they did and therefore the added costs are not yours to bear. In the way that if you asked a builder to build you a wall for 1k and he build a house, would you be required to pay 50k?
Dental work is complicated and it can indeed end up needing more teeth being removed than initially thought. I can't stress enough that no vet would remove a tooth that doesn't need removing, esp 17!!
The big mistake here is the lack of communication on the vets part. We will always endeavour to honour a quote, if we go over we credit the extra amount. I strongly believe (as this is how we work) that you should have been contacted and had it discussed. If for some reason you weren't contactable then the vet needs to make a decsion. not remove the teeth and risk another dental in 6 months or go ahead and remove them and be prepared to swallow the majority of the costing.
I think you should dispute it a bit more (however do check what the consent that you would have signed says in the small print?)
The big mistake here is the lack of communication on the vets part. We will always endeavour to honour a quote, if we go over we credit the extra amount. I strongly believe (as this is how we work) that you should have been contacted and had it discussed. If for some reason you weren't contactable then the vet needs to make a decsion. not remove the teeth and risk another dental in 6 months or go ahead and remove them and be prepared to swallow the majority of the costing.
I think you should dispute it a bit more (however do check what the consent that you would have signed says in the small print?)
thanks for the replies the work is definately not covered as i called the insurance company before to check they said if it was dental work because of an accident then they would pay but not for routine stuff.
They definately didnt try and contact us they have admitted that they should have and failed to do so. We were quite prepared that they might find more that needed removing and thought that maybe we'd end up paying about £400 but not £600!
I also fail to see how taking out the extra teeth costs nearly £300 surely all the expensive stuff is already done to put him under the blood test before and the after care the only extra work been done is to pull out more teeth.
They definately didnt try and contact us they have admitted that they should have and failed to do so. We were quite prepared that they might find more that needed removing and thought that maybe we'd end up paying about £400 but not £600!
I also fail to see how taking out the extra teeth costs nearly £300 surely all the expensive stuff is already done to put him under the blood test before and the after care the only extra work been done is to pull out more teeth.
Slightly different scenario, and a much smaller discrepancy (£30) but when I took my baby rabbit in to be spayed I mentioned to the vet that I was having difficulty getting wormer down her in liquid form, so did they have the paste version. The vet said he would also look at her teeth while she was under, and call me if there were any issues.
Went to pick her up that afternoon and was presented with a bill much higher than expected. I panicked at this because my rabbit has a neurological problem so operating on her was always going to be a bit risky. Anyway, the receptionist wouldn't tell me anything, even when I said 'is she okay?' so after a worrying wait it turned out the vet had decided to file down my rabbits teeth without consulting me. Bear in mind she was still only a baby and had no issue eating, so no signs whatsoever that she needed treatment on her teeth.
After much to-ing and fro-ing we managed to speak to the practice manager who said the vet concerned was a good vet but did have communication issues he needed to work on. They refunded the amount because they would 'hate to lose such a good customer' over the issue, which goes to show how much we spend on our pets! It wasn't even the money that bothered me, it was the fact he'd decided to treat my rabbit for a non-existent problem without consulting me.
So, my advice is to talk to the practice manager and tell them how disappointed you are about the breakdown in communication. You gave permission for the work that was initially discussed, not anything up and above that. If the vet thought removing all the other teeth was a medical emergency that had to be done there and then you should have been informed first.
Went to pick her up that afternoon and was presented with a bill much higher than expected. I panicked at this because my rabbit has a neurological problem so operating on her was always going to be a bit risky. Anyway, the receptionist wouldn't tell me anything, even when I said 'is she okay?' so after a worrying wait it turned out the vet had decided to file down my rabbits teeth without consulting me. Bear in mind she was still only a baby and had no issue eating, so no signs whatsoever that she needed treatment on her teeth.
After much to-ing and fro-ing we managed to speak to the practice manager who said the vet concerned was a good vet but did have communication issues he needed to work on. They refunded the amount because they would 'hate to lose such a good customer' over the issue, which goes to show how much we spend on our pets! It wasn't even the money that bothered me, it was the fact he'd decided to treat my rabbit for a non-existent problem without consulting me.
So, my advice is to talk to the practice manager and tell them how disappointed you are about the breakdown in communication. You gave permission for the work that was initially discussed, not anything up and above that. If the vet thought removing all the other teeth was a medical emergency that had to be done there and then you should have been informed first.
It's very difficult to assess an animal's teeth until it's under general anaesthesia - often teeth that look ok intially have large pockets just below the gum line and need removing. OP, given the practice did not try and contact you during the procedure, I'd dig your heels in - going nearly twice over estimate without trying to contact you in a non-emergency procedure is not acceptable without trying to contact you first.
I doubt you'll get them down to the original estimate, but certainly I'd push to get more off the bill.
I doubt you'll get them down to the original estimate, but certainly I'd push to get more off the bill.
Jasandjules said:
My initial thought (and indeed I am helping a friend with a similar issue) is that they do not have consent/agreement to extract all that they did and therefore the added costs are not yours to bear. In the way that if you asked a builder to build you a wall for 1k and he build a house, would you be required to pay 50k?
Most consent forms contain phrases allowing the vet to do whatever believed necessary for the welfare of the animal. Not sure if these consent forms have even been challenged in court.Edited by gd49 on Friday 27th April 16:35
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