Vet question - Need help asap.

[styrafoam]

What is odd is the fact that if they chose not to tell you that the cat was already spayed you would have never known the difference and payed the bill. On one hand they seem honest enough to level with you about the surgery, but on the other they seem shady by demanding full payment for services they admit to not performing. Give them a check for the full amount, then stop payment and mail them a check for half, if you chose not to go the credit card route. Either way won't be the end of it as far as the vet's office is concerned.

 

[tcsenter]

Oh by the way, I called 5 diffrent vets in my city today, they all said about 98% of the time you can see a scar from a past surgery. They also said in the rare chance that you didn't, there's no way they should be charging me full price for the surgery ESPECIALLY AFTER THEY TOLD ME THEY COULD TELL 100% OR NOT IF THE CAT HAD ALLREADY BEEN SPAYED!

Well of course, they are competitors, what did you expect them to say? If you call any business and tell them about a negative experience you had at one of their competitors, they're going to say "Oh man, that is just wrong. JUST WRONG I SAY! We will never treat you that way here" or something to that effect.

My mother finds homes for unwanted dogs and cats rescued from various sources. She fosters over 100 dogs and about 30 cats every year (she doesn't like cats as well), most of which have unknown spay and vaccination histories. Every animal must be sterilized before adoption unless they are too young. Because her eyesight isn't all that great, she has me shave the animals (if necessary) and look for incision scars on the females. I suppose the fact that I was a surgical assistant for several years has something to do with it, too.

In the last two years, we have had several animals with no discernable scar that were already spayed. A few of which we were able to find spay information on before taking them to the Vet. Three of them went under the knife and my mother was charged the full price each time. We work with three different Vets in the area. There is no Vet in this area who would not charge full price for this, because 85~90% of the total cost is putting the animal under anesthesia, prepping and draping, opening the animal's pelvic cavity, closing it again, and post-surgical care.

While I agree there is no cause for the Vet to get rude about it and they seem to have atrocious customer service skills, you really don't have a case since your decision to have the procedure would not have been different had you been told 98% instead of 100%.

Pay the bill and use another Vet for all your future needs.

 

[tcsenter]

Give them a check for the full amount, then stop payment and mail them a check for half, if you chose not to go the credit card route. Either way won't be the end of it as far as the vet's office is concerned.

That is a good way to get arrested. Its a form of fraud called theft by deception. You cannot write a check as payment for services already rendered if you have no intention of allowing it to be drawn in full.

While there is no validity to abandonment charges here, he would be placing himself at risk of criminal or civil penalties if he follows your stupid advice.

 

[styrafoam]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Give them a check for the full amount, then stop payment and mail them a check for half, if you chose not to go the credit card route. Either way won't be the end of it as far as the vet's office is concerned.

That is a good way to get arrested. Its a form of fraud called theft by deception. You cannot write a check as payment for services already rendered if you have no intention of allowing it to be drawn in full.

While there is no validity to abandonment charges here, he would be placing himself at risk of criminal or civil penalties if he follows your stupid advice.

My stupid advice. ouch. Just one route of many he could chose. It may be stupid advice in your black and white view of the problem (and could possibly wind up costing him more in the end if the legalites of it come into play) but it is a lateral solution to get the animal back home.

Its a form of fraud called theft by deception. You cannot write a check as payment for services already rendered if you have no intention of allowing it to be drawn in full.

The issue as he sees it and as the vet's office admitted, is the services they charged him for were not rendered in this case. Who is right, the vet or Bolvangar? It would probably have to go before a judge, and the office has already made threats about leaving the cat with them too long. In the end I myself would most likely pay the bill and move on being sure to give bad word of mouth whenever possible. Some people will go to different lengths to stand up for themselves and their principles.

 

[tcsenter]

My stupid advice. ouch. Just one route of many he could chose. It may be stupid advice in your black and white view of the problem (and could possibly wind up costing him more in the end if the legalites of it come into play) but it is a lateral solution to get the animal back home.

Except that you did not adequately inform him of the potential consequences of this 'lateral solution'.

The issue as he sees it and as the vet's office admitted, is the services they charged him for were not rendered in this case. Who is right, the vet or Bolvangar?

The issue as it stands now involves no criminal liability. The issue as it might stand if he followed your advice may involve a misdemeanor and potentially a Class D felony depending on the laws of his state.

His only lawful recourse is to pay the bill then seek remedy in small claims court. The judge might find merit to his claim. I doubt it, as there is no material or substantive difference between 98% and 100% that would have affected his decision to proceed with the surgery, but he might get a sympathetic judge.

 

[Bolvangar]

tcsenter, if they would have told me there's a 98% chance that we may find a scar from a previous spay, I would have said, okay, nevermind then, I'll take the cat home. This is because before I finally got the cat to come into my house, I had seen her "doing her thing" with a male cat on several occasions. She also got out of my house on 2 diffrent occasions, and I witnessed this again on each occasion. So if they would have told me, there is a 2 % chance we may not see the scar and she is allready spayed, I would have said, well yes I can see how that is very likely considering she has yet to get pregnant.

Most vets also do not charge 140.00 dollars for a spay, then also try to tack on a 60.00 exploratory fee, for looking at the cat once they got her open to determine she had been spayed allready.

 

[KidViciou$]

don't do the check thing

 

Your cats a ho Bolvangar!

 

[tcsenter]

tcsenter, if they would have told me there's a 98% chance that we may find a scar from a previous spay, I would have said, okay, nevermind then, I'll take the cat home.

Of course you would have.

Stop trying to insult everyone's intelligence.

Most vets also do not charge 140.00 dollars for a spay, then also try to tack on a 60.00 exploratory fee, for looking at the cat once they got her open to determine she had been spayed allready.

You should have thought about that before promising to pay for a service you never had any intention of paying for. Many Vets do not perform costly medical services on animals without payment in advance and people like you are the reason they don't.

 

[Bolvangar]

I had every intention of paying for it, I'm simply stating they were expensive, and I would expect to get the best for the price I was paying.

If you don't have any helpful comments, please don't post anything at all. I try to be a nice guy and take this cat off the street, and people like you and the vet's office makes me rethink being a nice guy and trying to help the poor cat out.