Should I laugh or cry?...

EgerdenFarmStud

EgerdenFarmStud

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Well, as some of you may know, my mare had her foal ( Disney ) almost 3 weeks early and poor baby got very poorly very quickly... Anyway, she was rushed into vets and had joints flushed, plasma, the works. The vets were amazing and I can't thank them enough. Baby Disney ( posh name = Costa Lotta ) is now home and doing fab. But.... I received my bill yesterday, I knew it was going to be HUGE ( 4k + ) but upon inspection of it, I have been billed for 7 pairs of surgical gloves at £22.50 !!! I don't quite understand why as I know that a new pair of gloves were used every time anyone entered the stable ( plus those blue suits - but I haven't been charged for them, thankfully ) she was monitored every 2 hours for 2 weeks so that's a hell of a lot more than 7 pairs of gloves, yet I've been charged for just 7. I know it's only £20 and it's a drop in the ocean to the whole bill, but it sort of makes me wonder if they are plucking figures out of the sky... I can buy 100 pairs from my local shop for £6. If they are Sooooo expensive from the practice then why have I only been charged for 7 pairs?

Am I being pathetic or would you query this too? It is only £20 from a huge bill after all....

Xx
 
Query that.

Personally think we should stand up to vets a bit more - they have a lot of us over a barrel these days.
 
sterile surgical gloves are more expensive than a normal box of gloves
http://www.medisupplies.co.uk/acatalog/Sterile_Gloves.html

they are individual wrapped in pairs

the gloves they used to go into and out of the stable would be the cheaper boxed ones,

hope this helps, still think they have charged a bit too much, maybe you could find the brand and buy them a box!

hope the foal continues to improve :)
 
I think it also depends if they know you can claim off your insurance. If you are they will itemise everything, but take your point about the gloves. Careful though as you may be told it's an error and if considerably more gloves used your bill will be even higher.
 
They saved your foals life. Forget about 20 pounds. they would have a time cost & disbusrment tracking software in place, it would be reasonably accurate but still subject to human error/vagary.

If you fight about a bill it should not be over 20 pounds. I do not mind clients querying a bill when they do not understand it, but when we have achieved a good result, an often already knocked an amount off it - I can find it very petty. I am always horrified when i get a bill from my solicitor for example, but still pay it because he does a good job, his rates are at market, he could earn the same or more doing work from someone else, and he probably does not charge the full tilt.

Also I think in the end you pay for expertise and how do you quantify that.
 
If they are the proper sterile surgical ones then I think that is cheap. I was charged £7.50 per glove.
 
She wasn't insured :( ...

And jeeve... I think your being a little harsh, I did say that I appreciate everything they have done and that in my opinion they were outstanding vets. All I was querying was that I was billed for just 7 pairs at quite expensive cost. Others have informed me now that infect, surgical gloves are more expensive, which clears matters up, but I think you are a little quick to jump the gun... I never mentioned anything about not paying it, merely that I was confused as to where they got their figures!!
 
EFS - I agree with you - I think a little harsh!

Anyway certainly query the bill if you are not happy. If you'd paid for 2 dresses in a shop and they'd charged you for a pair of socks as well, you would query it. Most practises are very understanding and mistakes do happen. I had a HUGE vet bill last Oct and they stuck a random course of Trimed on - I queried it and duly received a credit note. If you don't raise the issue you won't get an answer!
 
My mare went to the vets last year after suffering a really bad case of impaction colic. She was there for 5 days on a drip etc and when scrolling down the bill I noticed....Duck Tape - £1.50! And they only used a minuscule piece of duck tape on her head collar, not even a full roll! I couldn't help but laugh really, although I could have quite easily lent them some tape myself :rolleyes:
 
A couple of years ago I had a horse rushed in for colic surgery. Unfortunately, although he made it through the surgery, he had to be PTS the following day as he started colicing again.

My bill came to over £4k and the thing that sticks in my mind to this day (and I know they did all they could for him and I have no complaints) was that they charged me to remove 4 shoes. He only had 3 on as he'd lost one the day before.....

:(
 
Surely these things shouldn't be written on our bills? It's just minor things but they just seem to be irrelevant, especially when your horse has been PTS then they charge you for removing the shoes...shocking! Yes these minor things are needed for the care of our horses but don't need to be written on our bills? I know people like to know exactly where their money is going and what they are paying for but I'd rather not know I was being charged £1.50 for a 2cm piece of duck tape :confused: and just be glad that my horse was in good hands and is being brought back to full health.
 
Surely it's to do with their accounts - so they have to mark everything that has been used and the cost. The vets probably could just give you a summarised bill but if they're inputting all the stuff they used to get the total cost, maybe it's just easier for them to print that list off.

And I'm sure some equine vets do mark up if the horse is insured (quite a few small animal vets do - and they're not supposed to do that!), however, anything really random or exceptionally high will probably be queried by the insurance company. They're not thick and know that kind of stuff goes on!
 
I don't think gloves should be a chargeable item. It's their responsibility to wear gloves in practice. How can you be sure they used 7 pairs? I'm sorry to any vets out there but I think that takes the piss!

Start charging for the cups of tea & biscuits you make when they come to the yard.
 
tallyho! said:
I don't think gloves should be a chargeable item. It's their responsibility to wear gloves in practice. How can you be sure they used 7 pairs? I'm sorry to any vets out there but I think that takes the piss!

Start charging for the cups of tea & biscuits you make when they come to the yard.
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I agree totally with the above.
 
It'll be the sterile gloves they used rather than the everyday latex jobbies, and yes it does seem petty and i thought exactly the same thing when we had the colt castrated, but, where do they draw the line ? they don't charge for the normal ones and i'm sure theres lots of other odds and ends that don't get charged individually.
Either way , +or - the £20 thats still a heck of a bill:( i don't envy you!
 
Yes vets on the whole do a great job in looking after our animals, not in the case of my sisters first vet, who failed monumentally in their care of her newly born foal, Horse and Hound may be doing a feature on his condidtion so I will not bore with the details.

However, vets have to remeber that when all is said and done we are the paying customer, and although we need their expertise at times, they also need our hard earned cash to stay in business, we we are entitled to question, and if we feel the need, to actually complain.

So I would say if there is something on a bill that you are not sure about, then you are quite within your rights to make a querey
 
Im glad your foal is on the mend now and the vets have been fantastic.

We have some lovely vets who I really do trust and when my mare was admitted to a very well known Veterinary Hospital last year with displacement colic they where fantastic as was the horspital.

However she was then sent home and re-admitted within 24 hours due to serious detioriation after a week. It turned out she had severe gastric ulcers which where perforating and had not been picked up on when she first went in even though our vets requested her scoped. I didnt query this at the time as I was just so worried about her but as a result when we went to pick her up the second time on the day of collection I got a phone call to say I had to pay her livery fees for the time she had been in there and then otherwise they would hold her and charge me penalties. It wasnt a problem and she was insured so was quite taken aback turns out insurance doesnt cover the livery only nursing care even when I explained she had to be in there therefore had to have a stable a care. The horspital tried to charge me for the day she was at home I refused and they re-calculated so if you do query it with them they will look into it and adjust where necessary.

Hope your foal continues to improve and goes on to be healthy, happy and successful.
 
I'd query it if you aren't happy with it, regardless of the relative value in respect of the final bill. I queried my bill today - £15.97 for posting two tiny boxes of pills for a dog. I posted a heavy old stubben saddle the other day for less! Someone had 'pressed the wrong button' at the vets apparently, but had I not queried I'd be paying for their mistake. And if they make one 'mistake' on an itemised bill, they can make others. I query everything because I'm a miser, but the money saved from my incorrect bill would buy a bag of feed. :)
 
Mildred said:
I'd query it if you aren't happy with it, regardless of the relative value in respect of the final bill. I queried my bill today - £15.97 for posting two tiny boxes of pills for a dog. I posted a heavy old stubben saddle the other day for less! Someone had 'pressed the wrong button' at the vets apparently, but had I not queried I'd be paying for their mistake. And if they make one 'mistake' on an itemised bill, they can make others. I query everything because I'm a miser, but the money saved from my incorrect bill would buy a bag of feed. :)
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I recently did the same thing with a UK tackshop. They have a blanket charge of £25Sterling to post to Ireland yet did not senn my £200 order by recorded post or any traceable service. i demanded a refund of the difference and was duly refunding £21.50!!!!

Re: the vets bill if ever I feel there discrepencies I query. They are wonderful, they look after my animals health but that doesn't give them a right to overcharge!
 
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