My Dog gets me DCA for £19.95

[machinehead]

I hope there`s someone who can give me some advise on the following problem.

I took my dog to the vets some 5 months ago and on the visit the vet could not do anything to help him because they had no treatments etc in stock.

They said come back in a week and we will sort it then....useless..

I then took my dog to another vet and he was sorted creams etc all done.

Over the last 8 weeks i had a letter from the original vet stating that i owed £19.95 on my account and it was due...you have 28 days..so i filed it under bin then once again another letter stating 28 days or else.

Today i recieve a letter from a DCA demanding payment now for £19.95 or they will start legal proceedings.

Please can someone give me some advice this is getting silly:confused:

[maroondevo52]

Hi, machinehead.

 

I take it the £19.95 is their consultation fee, and I would think this had to be paid, regardless of whether they had the correct creams ect at the time.

 

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[42man]

This treatment is a bit 'ruff' isn't it ? (sorry couldn't resist)

 

Do you know why they are sending the bill...was it beacuse of the time spent with you/dog/vet ? or was it in lieu of them ordering creams / ointment specifically for your pooch ?

[KER]

Vets are a private business. They sell their time and expertise. You had a consultation.

 

Sorry, in my opinion, the money is due.

[The GodMother]

Maybe what u need to do is find out what these charges are for. Tell the DCA in writing that u dont recoginse any debt to them and u are currently trying to find out what these charges are for. When u find out you will be contacted. If they dont like it then it is tough as you dont have to pay for something you have no knowledge of.

[blipvert]

Maybe what u need to do is find out what these charges are for. Tell the DCA in writing that u dont recoginse any debt to them and u are currently trying to find out what these charges are for. When u find out you will be contacted. If they dont like it then it is tough as you dont have to pay for something you have no knowledge of.

 

Hang on a mo. is this really clear cut. You took your dog to a vet and had a consultation but nothing happened because the vet didn't have the treatments in stock Were you not 'induced' to visit this vet, because being a vet, you would have reasonably assumed that after a consultation, you would have been supplied the appropriate treatments. But because they didn't have any, you had to visit another vet (and presumably incur another consultation charge) but this time, you also received the appropriate course of treatment.

[The GodMother]

now the guy may have already paid the charge but then this bill may have been for somehing he did/didnot do or know about.

[huggy41]

our vet round the corner charges the same it's for looking at your animal NOT TREATING IT

[maroondevo52]

I think we need machinehead to tell us if he went along to the Vet and paid them Sam Trout after his first visit.

 

If so, the £19.95 is defo a Consultation Fee.

[The GodMother]

Just wanted to clarify as for some reason he has said he went to a different vet who gave him the stuff.

 

I know i have 2 dogs and i took the youngest to the vets for his injections paid for both parts on first visit and they tried to get me to pay more on second vist as the price had gone up told them to sod it. |The manager agreed with me but the person who tried to over charge me had not been told the new prices started the followig week.

[KER]

Here is how I read it:

 

I took my dog to the vets some 5 months ago and on the visit the vet could not do anything to help him because they had no treatments etc in stock.

So you had to have had a consultation for him to diagnose and tell you that there were no treatments in stock!

 

They said come back in a week and we will sort it then....useless..

OK, so you left Vet 1, However, you still had the consultation for the diagnosis to be made, regardless of whether the stuff was in stock or not!!

 

I then took my dog to another vet and he was sorted creams etc all done.

So you probably also paid a consultation fee and also a fee for any medication to vet 2 as well. This does not negate the fact that you originally had a consultation with Vet 1.

[The GodMother]

yep but wot it does not tell us is if he paid vet 1 for the conseltation or anything.

 

Maybe the dog had to have blood tests maybe the peed all over the vet prada shoes we still dont have any answers to wot this bill is for.

 

I still say if he does not know he tells the DCA to wait and see what the bill is for.

 

Oh and if the dog did pee on the vets prada shoes then tell him to prove they are prada as £20 tell me they are not.

[huggy41]

this is pathetic if a shop advertised a product and you got a taxi down to the shop and they had sold out but they would have new stock in tomorrow would you ask for them to pay for your taxi I THINK NOT.

THIS IS A STUPID POST AND THE OP IS BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE IF HE THINKS HE DOES NOT HAVE TO PAY

Edited September 27, 2008 by huggy41

[Pinky69]

Vets charge just to look at your dog - end of.

[ODC]

I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Take the lead of people on here and go for walkies to the vet and pay him his fee. Neuter the DCA sit down write a cheque and fetch it round to their kennels and their tails will wag with glee.

[KER]

I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Take the lead of people on here and go for walkies to the vet and pay him his fee. Neuter the DCA sit down write a cheque and fetch it round to their kennels and their tails will wag with glee.

 

 

That really was very, very bad

[MONX]

It is the same as the dentist, if you have a consultation they dont necessarily perform the required treatment there and then unless it is an emergency yet you have taken up an appointment and the dentist/vet has made a diagnosis...in my opinion this is something you should pay.

 

I have a friend who works in a vets surgery, they come across this so often, rather than seing an animal in pain or discomfort they diagnose/treat them first and then ask for payment, her bosses tried to instigate making owners pay up front but the individual vets at the surgery didnt want poeple waiting to treat their pets until they could afford it, if too many default on vets fees this is something that might happen..

[KER]

I agree, the OP should have checked with the vet before it got to the DCA if there was such a huge query rather than ignoring it.

 

It's not like the local vet is a huge multinational who just sends out these account letters for nothing and can swallow this sort of fee up amongst the other profits.

 

If there was no payment given over originally and this is that fee, then I'm on the side of the vet.

 

If it was special treatments ordered in for the OP at the request of the OP, then I'm also on the side of the vet...

 

if it was special treatments ordered in but not at the request of the OP, then I'm on the side of the OP!

 

There, I think I've covered most angles

[slick132]

Hi MHead,

 

If you weren't happy about the original consultation, you should have said so at the time and given your reasons for not paying the bill.

 

The vet could have had good reason for not prescribing at the time - ie, waiting to see if the condition improved without drugs etc and SAVING you money. As with people, not every condition requires drugs.

 

A reasonable discussion at the time of the 1st consultation would have sorted this out.

 

I think you should now pay the fee and learn from this episode.

Edited September 28, 2008 by slick132
typo

[The GodMother]

i am not saying the fee should not be paid but i do think the OP needs to find out what it is for before handing money over. As has been said numerous times on here if u got a letter saying u owe me £150.00 would u hand it over without any question. the general consences is NO. if this is a legitimate debt then he should pay it but not if the vet is trying it on i say

[huggys boss]

 

Over the last 8 weeks i had a letter from the original vet stating that i owed £19.95 on my account and it was due...you have 28 days..so i filed it under bin then once again another letter stating 28 days or else.

 

Reading this part, I think that the OP knew he owed the vet and chose to ignore the letters. Probably assuming that because the vet is not a huge company they would just forget about it.

 

He had plenty of time to contact the vet and query the fee if he felt he didn't owe it before it got to the DCA stage.

 

I personally would pay the £19.95 (unless I had proof I had already paid the consultation fee) or if I did have a receipt etc to prove I had already paid, I would go to the vets with my proof and ask if they had made a clerical error.

 

We took our rabbit to the vet recently to have its claws cut. £3.00 job.

While we were there we asked the vet to look at his eye as it had a bit of a discharge.........the result. A bill for £3.00 for the claws £19.50 for the consultation for the eye and £6.00 for the eye drops. Most expensive manicure my bunny had, but the vet provided the service we asked for and we had to pay it.

[cashins]

Gordon Bennett!!

 

All this for £19.95

 

Yes, it should be paid. If it isn't though, what are they going to do about it anyway?

[willtheywontthey]

 

I took my dog to the vets some 5 months ago and on the visit the vet could not do anything to help him because they had no treatments etc in stock.

 

If the vets said that their diagnosis of the problem meant pet needed X treatment BUT they couldn't do anything as they did not have X actually in stock I would have been annoyed as well. More so if this meant the consultation was a waste of time and the pet was in need of the treatment and was refused it basically. Then again I guess going to a vets doesn't guarantee a 'fix' does it just advice.

 

If the vets said that the diagnosis is not urgent and we'll get stock in next week I'd still be annoyed - unless the medicine needed is rare or something. Why would it take a week to get anything in this day and age??

[KER]

If the vets said that their diagnosis of the problem meant pet needed X treatment BUT they couldn't do anything as they did not have X actually in stock I would have been annoyed as well. More so if this meant the consultation was a waste of time and the pet was in need of the treatment and was refused it basically. Then again I guess going to a vets doesn't guarantee a 'fix' does it just advice.

 

If the vets said that the diagnosis is not urgent and we'll get stock in next week I'd still be annoyed - unless the medicine needed is rare or something. Why would it take a week to get anything in this day and age??

 

 

How can the vet make a diagnosis without a consultation???? the pet wasn't refused treatment, the treatment wasn't in stock. A vets is a private business, it can't stock everything!

 

Most likely, when the dog came back the following week, there would have been no further consult fee, rather just a fee for the medication.

[The GodMother]

Yes but none of this still tells us what this is for.

 

The vet could have ordered the treatments even tho the OP did not want him to as the OP was going else were. If that is the case then the OP should have made the vet aware so they did not get the medication without the need.

 

If the OP did make the vet aware but the vet ordered anyway then the vet should just go whistle for the money as the OP asked the vet NOT to order.

 

I think the op need to come back and clarify a few things.