Vet cancellation fees?

D

dancingkris

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 January 2009
Messages
275
Visit site
Just interested to know opinions here.....I have 2 horses booked into have their teeth done by vet on Monday. I noticed yesterday that one is due his 3rd flu jab in about 10 days (had to start course over again when I bought him). Rang vet today (Thursday early afternoon) to cancel Monday and explained I'd rather just have jabs and teeth done at same time in a few weeks time. Vet receptionist was very stroppy and said as it was a last minute cancellation and the appointment was too late to reassign I'd be charged a cancellation fee of £20. She also proceeded to tell me I should have paid a deposit on booking the appointment (which I wasnt asked for) but it was a new thing brought in but made me feel like I was at fault for not being asked! Now I'm not that hard up for £20 and will pay up if if I'm at fault but I'm not sure i am? There is no mention anywhere on their website of cancellation fees nor on their newsletters and I said I want to move the appointment to another date. I did the flu vaccine calculation and scribbled the dates he was due from and between on a scrap of paper which sods law I then couldn't find....but have been told I need to call tomorrow with dates to move the appointment to or they will invoice me for the cancellation fee. I've used another vets practice for years, pay my bills on the day and only used these as they have a zone day locally and saved a few quid on another ones flu jab last week which was paid on the day too. Would you pay it??
 
Given the amount of times vets cancel pre-arranged visits due to emergencies (ok not their fault!) I would say sod it and not pay! I've never heard of that before! Especially if you are rearranging for anther day still relatively soon!
 
Thank you! Like I say I don't mind paying if I'm wrong but in my head it's not like I'm cancelling Sunday night or Monday morning which I'd class as last minute. I am registered with the other large vets practice in our area and unfortunately have had to give them far more money than I'd liked to have over the last year :oops: but I'll stick with them from now on!
 
I recently cancelled a 4/5.pm with appointment with senior vet on the same day (at 8.15am). I was upfront when I booked it that I might need cancel it. I think this vet has more work than hours in day, and practice were okay with me cancelling it.

I separately in February did cancel for flu vaccine as I needed booster moving earlier to be 7 full days before a clinic and I had a chiro vet coming on the right date. Two vets same day seemed excessive. Practice were okay. But I think they were really busy with extra flu visits at that date.
 
No, I would not pay that fee. Ringing on Thursday to re-arrange an appointment for Monday is not last minute cancellation. If there was previously no policy and I had not been told about the change in policy then it is not due.

More important than the £20 to me is the fact that, however good the vet, when you are stressed and shocked with illness/accident to your horse, the vet receptionist is the person you call. You need them to be calm, kind and efficient in those circumstances.

For my sins, I used to be a vet receptionist, and took calls from owners at the worst of times. It was a single vet practice, and sometimes I simply did not immediately have all of the answers for the worried owners. But I was always calm and kind, sorting them out as efficiently as I could do. I would never have taken out my frustrations on a customer!

Imagine ringing her up when you have a horse colicing?

If you are with another practice too, I would write a letter to the senior partner for the receptionist, label it personal and private so the receptionist does not open it, and detail how awful the receptionist had been. I would explain that I could not imagine dealing with the receptionist and her passive aggressive attitude when stressed myself as it had upset me enough when ringing about a simple matter. I would then inform them that I was going to move to the other vets for the vaccination, but thought they would like to know the reason for their own information and management of the situation.
 
Last edited:
Pretty sure that my vets don’t work out schedules till the morning so if it was just a routine call don’t see how would impact that much. On a slightly related note has anyone had to cancel a 5 stage vetting before & did they get charged? Last vetting I did they got me to pay upfront
 
She makes it sound like vets get no phonecalls on Friday or Monday wanting appointments on the Monday, pretty sure they do.
I would ask for a copy of their T+Cs
 
If they are going to charge cancellation fees they need to be up front and clear about it. They should have told you on booking, and it should be on page 1 of their website. I don't think they have any legal right to ask you for a fee without this in place, especially as you cancelled in good time, not last minute. I would ask to speak to the practice manager and raise it with her/him.
 
Myloubylou said:
Pretty sure that my vets don’t work out schedules till the morning so if it was just a routine call don’t see how would impact that much. On a slightly related note has anyone had to cancel a 5 stage vetting before & did they get charged? Last vetting I did they got me to pay upfront
Click to expand...

I have done better than that, started a 5 stage vetting but it failed early on, so was only charged for a 2 stage as we didn't do the ridden bit.

Charging for a full 5 stage is not very sporting!

I did have to pay upfront as it was miles from home and they didn't know me. I was refunded the difference.
 
Red-1 said:
I have done better than that, started a 5 stage vetting but it failed early on, so was only charged for a 2 stage as we didn't do the ridden bit.

Charging for a full 5 stage is not very sporting!

I did have to pay upfront as it was miles from home and they didn't know me. I was refunded the difference.
Click to expand...

This happened to me too. I was only charged for a two stage and the vet went off happy that they could then fit in all the appointments they had booked for that day.
 
I just find this strange. I have cancelled lots of appointments (I have several animals) with no problem, some rearranged some not. I have booked horses to be PTS, got to the day and the horse was slightly better and I gave in and let it go on. Never a problem. I have also then rung again when the horse needed to be PTS and said I need it PTS this afternoon when it was lunchtime and vet turns up within a couple of hours. Whilst I am waiting the receptionist is asking if they can help, do I need help with disposing of the horse etc etc. Then they send us a bereavement card after a few days. A really nice attitude.

I had a dog with cancer and rang in the morning to PTS. Booked the appointment and it was a dog that was up and down like a yo yo. By the afternoon it was a lot better and in fact managed another couple of months. I rang to cancel only an hour before.. I offered to pay and told the receptionist I had taken someone else's appointment. She just laughed, said of course not and wished me well with the dog.

I think you can really judge a vet's practice by the receptionists. Ours are kind, friendly and VERY efficient.
Our previous one's were not and I voted with my feet so perhaps you should do that.
 
paddy555 said:
I think you can really judge a vet's practice by the receptionists. Ours are kind, friendly and VERY efficient.
Our previous one's were not and I voted with my feet so perhaps you should do that.
Click to expand...

I agree - the behaviour of the receptionist is likely to reflect the tone of the practice as a whole. I was happy with my vet but another local practice did zone days on a day that suited me better so I swapped for vaccs. They did not turn up and when I rang them, the woman was really shirty and said I had not 'reconfirmed the day before' so they did not come out. When I said no-one told me that you needed to re-confirm she said 'you always reconfirm on zone days' as if I was supposed to know that. (My vet practice rings me to check the day before appts but that is not specific to zone days). They were not remotely apologetic that I had been left unseen because of their mistake! IN fact they were cross with ME for not reconfirming. They said vet could come tomorrow but would have to charge for call out. I said thanks but no thanks and went back to my own vet.
 
If its easier can't you bring your vaccine forward to Monday?
I've never heard of a vets charging a cancellation fee tho? I've had to change many times and never been charged
 
Myloubylou said:
Pretty sure that my vets don’t work out schedules till the morning so if it was just a routine call don’t see how would impact that much. On a slightly related note has anyone had to cancel a 5 stage vetting before & did they get charged? Last vetting I did they got me to pay upfront
Click to expand...

My vet got as far as checking the microchip, discovered the horse didn't match the passport, and stopped the vetting. I'd paid up front for the vetting, and they refunded me everything but the cost of the call-out and a token fee for scanning.
 
dancingkris said:
Just interested to know opinions here.....I have 2 horses booked into have their teeth done by vet on Monday. I noticed yesterday that one is due his 3rd flu jab in about 10 days (had to start course over again when I bought him). Rang vet today (Thursday early afternoon) to cancel Monday and explained I'd rather just have jabs and teeth done at same time in a few weeks time. Vet receptionist was very stroppy and said as it was a last minute cancellation and the appointment was too late to reassign I'd be charged a cancellation fee of £20. She also proceeded to tell me I should have paid a deposit on booking the appointment (which I wasnt asked for) but it was a new thing brought in but made me feel like I was at fault for not being asked! Now I'm not that hard up for £20 and will pay up if if I'm at fault but I'm not sure i am? There is no mention anywhere on their website of cancellation fees nor on their newsletters and I said I want to move the appointment to another date. I did the flu vaccine calculation and scribbled the dates he was due from and between on a scrap of paper which sods law I then couldn't find....but have been told I need to call tomorrow with dates to move the appointment to or they will invoice me for the cancellation fee. I've used another vets practice for years, pay my bills on the day and only used these as they have a zone day locally and saved a few quid on another ones flu jab last week which was paid on the day too. Would you pay it??
Click to expand...
I don’t consider this as a cancellation! All you are doing is re-arranging. Do you like using these vets? If no then find another, if yes maybe speak to somebody in there about what’s happened. Maybe there was a misunderstanding on their side? I’ve never known a vet to charge a cancellation fee...
 
Red-1 said:
I have done better than that, started a 5 stage vetting but it failed early on, so was only charged for a 2 stage as we didn't do the ridden bit.

Charging for a full 5 stage is not very sporting!

I did have to pay upfront as it was miles from home and they didn't know me. I was refunded the difference.
Click to expand...

Same here - it was my vet but it didn't go beyond the 2 stage so they refunded me the difference.
 
Sounds totally unreasonable I booked an appointment for the same day then a couple of hours later cancelled it no problem or hassle with any of it .
 
If I was a partner in the practice I would want to know that business was being lost due to either a) the attitude of the receptionist or b) the policies put in place (which may have been new / trial / a knee jerk reaction to something)
I work in hospitality and we find out IMMEDIATELY when things go wrong via the joy of tripadvisor / facebook reviews, but other businesses don't and therefore can't react.
I would find a way to contact management directly and just set out the situation and why you would rather not pay the £20. Then go back to your other vet.
 
Blimey. Even my (human) dentist only charges a cancellation fee if you cancel within 24 hours of the appointment and they certainly know how to charge.

No, I would not be happy and would not be paying - you didn't cancel, you postponed, and with completely adequate notice! It does make you wonder if the vets know how their receptionist operates...
 
Red-1 said:
I have done better than that, started a 5 stage vetting but it failed early on, so was only charged for a 2 stage as we didn't do the ridden bit.

Charging for a full 5 stage is not very sporting!

I did have to pay upfront as it was miles from home and they didn't know me. I was refunded the difference.
Click to expand...
I had this also, horse failed very early on so the vet only charged for a 2 stage. This wasn't my own vet and I would have expected to pay for the 5 stage as that was what I had asked for, so it helped soften the blow a bit. If I remember I paid up front and was refunded too.
 
Hi all - thanks for all your replies. I'm glad I'm not being unreasonable by not paying and that I'm not in the wrong to refuse. The practice have actually called me this afternoon to ask when I wanted to reschedule to or if I still wanted the Monday appointment. Fortunately it was a different person who was much nicer.....I said I definitely would not be paying a cancellation charge. Apparently the new procedure they have brought in is to take a £20 deposit on booking to stop people cancelling at the last minute (which I agreed is frustrating) and that is knocked off what you pay on the day. I explained what I was told yesterday and the words quoted "its classed as a last minute cancellation and that appointment cant be reassigned to another customer" which Nice Lady agreed was not the policy at all.....and would speak to Stroppy Lady about giving out incorrect info. Tho I'll still use my old vets when his 3rd jab is due as this has left me feeling a bit unsociable towards them!
 
If you are a brand new client and cancelling at this stage I can see why they would be peeved, they may have arranged other visits around it. Equally ringing thurs to give notice is by no means las tminute so no way would I pay it. Fair enough, after friday 12 midday but otherwise I reckon they're taking the pee and I'd tell them so and cancel altogether. Out of interest why weren't you just using your own vets in the first place?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top