I know we have in the past, in this echo talked about Vet costs. I had
expressed a theory that due to the economy, many people are not going to
the vets as often as they used to. The 2 vets I have gone to, in the
past, You would go in and there sometimes might be standing room only
to get Your animal seen. Now when I go to vets, there is rarely more
than one patient in the office at the same time I am there. Maybe one
being seen and You and another, on busy day. Most of the time I find
myself being the only one there at my timeslot. Anyway, this seems to
causing what I call the Chiropractor syndrome amongst vets. I find
myself being charged excessively and for stuff I don't think my dogs
need. They are snuck into bill before one knows what hits them. I found
myself having had this happen several times, the last time, this week, I
finally had to speak up. It was unpleasant, because I understand if they
are getting fewer customers, they have to pay the bills too, but so do
we and doing us dirty may cause us not to come in, or go to another vet
( though I think most of them are in the same boat at this point ) Here
is what I experienced.

My two dogs had to go in for their annual checkup, OK.... So we have
fecal exam etc. OK.... Normal for an annual. oops we have both dogs with
ear infections... Got to do a cytology test to see what the infection
is. Let me take them to the back for this. ok... If You gotta, You
gotta. Dogs come back, and I get, well while we were back there, we gave
them both this shot and that shot etc. ( I can't remember off the top of
my head ) Oh??? I noticed a little bit of inflammation on Lo Cis' nose,
so I also did a cytology on that. We are waiting for the results. Be
right back. She comes back.. Okay, yes we have a yeast infection in the
ears of both dogs. Don't worry about the nose. They must come Back in 10
days to be rechecked. Oh??? Never had to before, Pugs do get ear
infections and sometimes in the folds of the nose. I have had this
before and never had to return. But it is said to be important that I do
this time, as they are not sure exactly what it is.. Hmmmm, You just
said yeast infection. So it was set up to come back in 10 days, and I
after thinking it would be as it normally would be for my dogs, about
200 a piece for their annuals and some meds. already in my head added in
the fecal exam etc. I am handed the bill for over 700 bucks. Honestly
some of You make think poorly of me, but I about died.. I charged it,
and left and did the prescribed treatment on their noses.

I brought them back after the 10 days, I though after the 700 this would
be an uncharged follow up.. Boy was I wrong. I knew Simons ears were
fine, Clean, white, nothing in them. Loci still had a problem. I also
knew that. Still pulling the waxy discharge out every time I clean his
ears. So I know what the Doc is going to say, NOT!! but at least she can
see for herself. I waited an hour, Only 1 other dog came in. Why the
wait? So she comes in, puts one at a time on the table, She says simon
looks Great.. Loci, still looks a bit infected. I replied I knew that
was the case. She said, OK, a tech will be back in a minute and I will
be back to see You later. The tech came in and did not say too much.
Just asked how the ears were, and I told her, she nonchalantly said,
let me take a look. I thought that was odd as Doc had already. She says
oh yeah, a bit in loci's ears. She grabs a swab and seemingly cleans out
his ears, Then she oddly does this for Simon, who had no more infection,
but slyly says, He seems fine. She said, the Doctor will be right back
to see you. I noticed as she left, she took the swabs with her, but did
not think too much of it. I did not see a waste can in the room oddly
enough, so thought she was going to through them away.

Doc came back in and said, she did a cytology on Loci and he still has
an infection. I said, wait doc, we already knew that. Why the cytology
again. Well, just to make sure she said... I will prescribe more
medicine and bring him back in 2 weeks. OK... But will admit to being a
bit miffed about a 2nd cytology test when I already knew as a layman and
the doc confirmed he still had infection, by checking visually.

The final whack was at checkout when I got the bill. It was not a free
follow up. Ok, I can get that. Then I see where she again charged me for
Loci to have cytology done on ears. It was done slyly, but I could
accept it, I guess.. Then there is also a charge for Simons ears, which
were already declared clean as a whistle. WTF?? I lost it. Another
170.00 bill as the meds are over 40 bucks for a small bottle. I said I
wanted to speak to the Doc. I told her in no uncertain terms that I felt
I was being taken advantage of. I told her about the fact that I
understand her need to pay bills and pay her employees, but taking
advantage of customers, in the end, was going to make matters worse. We
are talking near 900.00 to get an annual exam and meds for a minor ear
infection. That is 450+ dollars an animal. for a total of about 15
minutes work, including checkup, shots and printing out my bill. I
expressed my concern about tests and shots being given without my
permission, at least explain what shots and what they are for, don't
take them to the back room and then return telling me You gave them to
them ( not that I don't trust her, but in reality, who is to say she
did, I did not physically see her do it. ) Then to do either dog with
another cytology test, I consider unnecessary, and again, why wasn't I
asked instead of the tech coming in and acting like she just wants to
see and clean his ears. Simons shouldn't have been done at all and I
don't see why Loci had to either as we have already determined on the
last visit what it was. I said, this really hurts my confidence in
coming here. I feel taken advantage of, and I feel I am probably not the
only one. But padding the bill like this, I think You are making things
worse. People are already not coming due to economy as the normally
would have in years gone by, and then to be charged what I have for what
was a simple annual, on healthy dogs except for the minor ear infection.
That is bound to hurt business. I know I can't afford these kind of
bills every time I come here. I made it clear, the normal everyday Joe
Schmoe, find bills like this staggering for such little and what
sometimes seems unnecessary services. By the time I pay this bill off, It
will be time for their next annual exam. I just want to speak my mind
and let You know this kind of thing is a big sacrifice, and the way it
was done is unappreciated. I have been coming here for years, but if
this continues in this manner, I will have no other choice than to go
elsewhere. They claimed they understood, but I don't know if things
will change.. Was I wrong? Doesn't it seem like too much was done
without actually telling me it was going to be done? Anyway it is the
way I felt, and I am just being honest. A $900 bill for something so
simple is a bit much for my pocketbook. What am I going to do as they
get older? The costs are obviously going to go up. If this simple
procedure was so expensive, what is the future like. I just feel costs
could have been kept more reasonable had not all these redundant things
been done on the sly and without foreknowledge.

Mike

--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: www.holo.homeip.net:   -telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)