Vet Call Out Charge

[Dave's Mam]

I think we are £10 for a Zone Day call & I am on the outer range of the practice. I'm not sure on an emergency call, I'd just have to deal.

 

[Landcruiser]

They have to be able to give an estimate of charges. Under the system OP describes this would be impossible. It seems a bizarre and unfair way of doing things IMO, and I would be very unhappy with it.

 

[little_critter]

And what happens if you book a visit believing the vet is in your area (if they’re going to base it on last place visited) then the vet gets called out to an emergency on the far side of his area? Are you expected to suck up the increased call out fee because your vets day hasn’t gone as planned?

 

[JennBags]

I think if you're requesting a specific vet on a specific day and they are already booked to be somewhere else, then absolutely you should be charged from where they are travelling. If you ask for *a* vet, then the charge should be from the office.

I don't think we have zone days, but it's a 45 call out charge and they do do shared visits but as I'm on my own now I don't get to share!

 

[Peter7917]

They charge from the office with mine, different prices depending how far away you are. We are within five miles so our call out is only £11.

 

[lauracwd2]

I've just had to look back at some bills cos I had no idea what ours is. Mostly we arrange shared visits as there is usually someone else on the yard needing something, thta's billed at £16, the last bill I can find with a full visit charge is £20.50 which I'm a bit surprised about as I thought a shared visit was 50% of the callout charge so I might query that next time!
I also found a bill from another practice from when I wanted a second opinion on something, they are further away and have also charged for a shared call out at £17.50.
Both are mixed practices not equine specific.

 

[meleeka]

My vets don’t do zone days. I wish they did ☹️

 

[monte1]

we have a free call out day on a Thursday for our area, this can be for routine stuff, teeth, vaccinations etc , not had to call them for anything else for years ( rapidly crosses fingers !!) but i think would usually about £45 plus VAT .

however, the vet we used recently to scan broodmare to determine if in foal while at a stud in Wales , was a standard £25 + VAT call out fee - each time they came out, it seems things are slightly cheaper there than down south

 

[Greylegs]

Mine charge £45.00 for a call out, but offer a "three go free" service, so if you have three people on the yard all using them on the same day, regardless of what it's for, they waive the call out fee. As most of us use the same vet, we can often organise it to work that way, although, of course, there are always emergencies.

 

[oldie48]

I am in the nearest zone and think the call out is about £37, half price on a Friday which is our zone day but I can't choose which vet I want so I don't tend to use it. For general stuff I will take my horse into them which is far cheaper.

 

[Megan V1]

I am amazed how reasonable some of these prices are I know a local vets that charges £120 call out for any distance from practise.

 

[photo_jo]

Just wondered how much people pay these days?
Also, do you expect to be charged from the last place visited or the office? In years gone by I was always charged from their office (unless out of hours emergency) which we're just a few miles from so it was always minimum charge but lately this has changed to last call and often I don't get to know where the previous call is. This means my call out charge can vary widely from the minimum to almost 4 times as much. They're the only practice I've ever been with so have nothing to compare it to.

I'm presuming you're with T&H then

 

[spoo]

Being charged from the last visit and not the office is a bit of a joke. I would query that for sure. Its down to the office to arrange the day in a logical progression (yes emergencies happen) but it’s not up to you to cover the costs should the previous visit be further than the office.

 

[ester]

I can see why it might happen if you requested a specific vet and only on a specific day, with no flexibility and said vet was already booked that day to be over the other side of the area.
But it looks like this is framed as a blanket policy?

 

[charterline]

£75 (at least) for 15 miles away.

Vet I use now is £20 for ten miles, and is much better