Vets bill- should I write a letter- not happy

charlie76

charlie76

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I have just recieved a vets bill from the 2nd September- thats the first thing I am not happy with.
The bill is for just under £100. This £100 covers £8 call out and the rest is for what the vet did. I called the vet out and stated that I thought my horse was lame behind. The vet came, they did not see the horse walk in hand or trot up. Instead they felt his back and told me to get him x rayed- this was without seeing the horse move at all. He then felt his poll, I told him he would be funny as he is head shy esp with men, he pulled away from vet and I was told to get his poll xrayed- this all took no more than 5 mins.
He then told me to tack him up and ride him, I tacked up and took got on him, the vet in the meantime went and examined another horse, he eventually came and looked at my horse about 30 mins later. By which time I my horse was warmed up and any intial stiffness would have been gone. He watched me trot one circle on each rein and said he looked sound and moved well, again no longer than 5 mins. ( I was annoyed that I had been on him so long before he came to look at him) .
The vets physio was on the yard at the time and he sugested she looked at him. She said she was in a rush but would have a quick look , she did not see him move or manipulate him, she stuck a tens machine on him for about 10 mins ( no longer) got a phone call and said she had to go, leaving me with no intstruction as to what to do with him- I was charged £55 on top of this £100 bill for this!
So I have been charged over £150 for the vet to see my horse for a max of 10 mins and a physio for less than 10 mins- would you write a letter
 
That's so out of order!
I would definitely say something. I had a similar experience and managed to get some money knocked off my bill.

My vet came and saw about 5 horses, one of them had a lot more done to it than my horse and when we all got our bills his was cheaper than mine!!
The vet didn't even touch my horse just looked at him and prescribed some cream, she had given the last tube to the other livery so I had to drive to the practice to pick some up.

I phoned and explained and they knocked £20 off :)
 
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I would phone and query this bill with whoever does up the accounts. Vets are pretty useless at diarying their visits and this may have been noted down as a full lameness workout and thats what the accounts person has gone on. maybe if you explain what did happen they might adjust the account.
 
Was it an equine vet ? Sounds like no experience of horses, why the hell would they ask you to ride when you've booked them to look at lameness. I'm not having a go at you but I would of told the vet to bugger off as soon as they said 'lets see the horse ridden'
 
I would first phone them up and ask for an itemised bill, the vets I have used usually list everything they have done, what they each cost and the total that comes too, some examinations have a standard charge regardless of the length of time it takes. ie a back check cost £35, a poll check cost £30 and a visual assessment of the horse moving £25 ect then your call out charge so it could have very well added up to £100 if I'm being honest. I don't always agree with how vets charge their time/ procedures but alot of time that is how it is. I have queried bills in this way before asking for Itemised ect and it has shown up the odd mistake I would give them that chance first and then if you are still unhappy with the bill/standard of investigation then a letter to the practice owner can be done. I would always get an equine vet rather than a large animal vet unless I knew the large animal vet was very experienced in mainly equine.

The £50 for physio seems a bit high I pay £45 for a full hour session on my horse but I have found that ones working on horses as a referal from vets generally charge more for some reason.
 
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I personally would have said something at the time, and would question the horse being ridden if they hadn't even seen it trotted up, but then I am a cow!
If I call a vet/physio out, I would expect them to be focused on me and only me, until I am happy with the outcome.
However, it's now after the event, and I would write a detailed letter to say that you're not happy - after all the vet may think you are perfectly happy with them, and that it's totally acceptable to bu**er off halfway through a consultation! If you don't ask, you don't get!
I would also not be happy about being charged £55 for 10 minute hire of a tens machine - my physio charges £40 per consultation, including whatever the horse needs, massage/tens/whatever up to an hour - or probably longer if the horse needed it.
 
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I'd ask for an itemised bill if you haven't had one already. Then I would write to the practice manager or senior partner and explain your concerns. When you have got the bill sorted out (as far as possible) I would then tell the practice that you would prefer not to see this vet again. As a vet once said to me 'You are paying the bill, you can ask to see who you like'.
 
I wouldn't be happy but my bigger concern would be with the method of examination etc rather than the bill. If the lameness work up had been done 'correctly' or as I would expect, ie examine, trot up, poss watch ridden etc then I think the bill would be reasonable.

I'd also question why he wanted the physio to look and to have x-rays. If he thought it was a problem that would show up on x-ray then why would a tens machine work (it may be a legitimate reason / treatment but I'd have wanted a bit more explantion TBH).

Overall the whole process just doesn't sound right . . . did you have x-rays done? What did they show? What made you call the vet to start with?

If you called him out cos horse was lame then from what you've described I'd have expected a more thorough examination (and then probably a bigger bill to match!!)
 
Bl**dy hell. My bill for sedation for Cappy to have his teeth done and staying until he was fully up and awake ( around an hour/ an hour and a quarter) was £63. That includes danger money, Cappy does not do needles:p
FDC
 
Well, I dont think you should because you should have made this complaint at the time - complaining this long after this incident will get you nowhere.

Live and learn, I'm afraid! We have been known to insist vets leave our yards before.
 
I would write. Chances are the bill has been made up from the vet's all-too-brief notes.

I was over charged when our vet on arrival to us had a call to a colic case, so didn't get to do anything beyond check pony briefly and make a couple of suggestions as to the problem. I queried the bill in writing, stating what had happened as I was charged a lot for about 5 mins of visit. The accounts person rang and confirmed they had just charged standard as the vet had failed to note he'd not completed the examination due to the colic, and gave me a 2/3 reduction on the charge - which I thought was reasonable.
 
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