What's your out of hours call out charge?

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I called the vet out last Saturday morning as my lymphangitis prone horse had come in from the field with a tree trunk leg and they have charge me £200 just for the call out charge (total bill £450)! I was expecting it to be a lot, but this seems a little extortionate to me. How much do you pay for yours?

As horse is prone, and has same anti bi's treatment every time, previously the vet who lives 2 mins from the yard has popped out to give them to me, satisfying need to see horse for prescription drugs, but not charged (I would happily pay some for this). Unfortunately the vet on call was not him, and she has attended and completed a full (2 minute) assessment that consisted of 'yes his leg is fat, what anti bi's does he usually have? Okay, I'll go and get them for you'. I understand fuel, time, vet training etc - they are expensive, but I'll admit this one smarted. I'm sure it wasn't that much previously.


ETA: Just seen the 'vet bashing' thread - ironic timing! I am not vet bashing, I know they're expensive, just wondering if I am outdated with expecting to pay closer to £100-£150 which is the most I have ever been charged before for OOH. I have paid bill of course regardless.

 

[Tiddlypom]

OOH Call out fee.
Examination.
Supply drugs.

I’d be expecting a bill of £200 ish.

ETA Ah, no, I would not be expecting to pay £200 just for the call out, with the rest on top.

 

[Breagha]

I had an OOH call out a couple of week ago and I was charged for a normal call out, plus OOH call out and something else and it came to £120 before the vet had examined the horse.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

OOH Call out fee.
Examination.
Supply drugs.

I’d be expecting a bill of £200 ish.

The bill was £450 - £200 call out, £130 drugs (mammoth sized horse) and £50 Pharmacy Referral and £70 examination

Have edited original post to make it clear what I mean

 

[SpeedyPony]

I think our vet's out of hours charge is about the same.
They never seem to injure themselves during office hours, do they?

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I think our vet's out of hours charge is about the same.
They never seem to injure themselves during office hours, do they?

Never! He couldn't have come in with the fat leg when the vet was out 3 days prior, on a Thursday, to do his vaccs - that would be way too convenient

 

[fabbydo]

Call out 35, OOH surcharge 64.68 examine 44.95, drugs on top of that. So about 145 for OOH call out. I totally understand the need for a OOH surcharge but 200 seems steep. It's 120 for the cat OOH which is always a bit of a shock. All animals seem to have a built in 'out of hours' timer!

 

[jenniehodges2001]

Ours is £44 for normal call out and out of hours I am sure is around £25 more.

 

[milliepops]

OOH Call out fee.
Examination.
Supply drugs.

I’d be expecting a bill of £200 ish.
.

this

I've had a couple of OOHs visits in last few months,
it breaks down to visit £90
exam 80
then drugs etc.

so generally tots up to about £200

 

[sport horse]

Normal hours £40, Out of hours £80

 

[Melody Grey]

I’ve never paid that much extra for out of hours, although my usual vet is a big practice with a hospital so they have staff on 24:7 anyway. Was this a smaller practise? Not that it should make that much difference!

 

[AandK]

Last out of hours call I had in June was £125 for the call out fee, no examination charge on that one though (cut foot, needed flushing to check for damage). Prior to that for a colic out of hours in April, it was £109 call out and £55 exam fee.

 

[conniegirl]

Think out OOH is £100 on a normal weekend and £150 on a bank holiday.
and yes mine always seems to fall ill out of hours

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I’ve never paid that much extra for out of hours, although my usual vet is a big practice with a hospital so they have staff on 24:7 anyway. Was this a smaller practise? Not that it should make that much difference!

It is a fairly big equine hospital in the South East so not small by any means. Glad I am not being ridiculous!

ETA: I have just emailed to kindly query it, as I had another call out for the exact same thing in July and the OOH callout on that was £91.55 net compared to this one £167.00 net - 83% increase in 3 months? I have also been charged 29% more for the exact same drugs, however I can understand this as I would imagine Covid has had an impact on supply. I have been very polite in my email, but I work hard for my money (as we all do of course) and would like some understanding how it can be subject to that much of an increase!

 

[windand rain]

Out of hours doesnt apply here you have to pay £200 up front for call out and examination drugs on top. Was horrified by the daytime call out of £82 when I can see the surgery roof from my ponies field I know it is overheads and wages etc and do not begrudge the time and costs but did think that was just a bit over the top but guess its not based on distance so I was paying the cost for that zone however far they had to come. Vets seem expensive but worth every penny if they save any animal from suffering. Not keen on the trend for massive multinational organisations coming in and creaming the profit off

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

I don’t know if you’re the same vet as me but out of hours call out for colic in June was £233.52 inc VAT. Includes exam and drugs were Buscopan and Bute. ETA £104 was call out ex vat. Not including exam which was another £50 odd quid.

 

[sport horse]

Has your practise recently sold out to one of the big corporates? If so that could explain the huge increase in fees.

 

[criso]

Ours is twice the usual call out so just under £80 for the call out, then about £40 for a full exam and then treatment and drugs.

 

[teddypops]

I’ve had 2 emergency call outs in the last month. 1 for a colic and 1 for a very lame pony. My usual call out is £35. The OOH is £40. So my total bill for these 2 calls plus a follow up appt was £350. I would query that £200?

 

[TGM]

Has your practice recently contracted out their 'out of hours' service to another company? This seems to be common practice these days and usually results in a sharp increase in fees! I always feel a bit grumpy about paying the full out of hours rate for a Saturday morning call, whereas I quite expect to pay through the nose for an evening call or a Sunday. (This is speaking as a farrier's wife whose husband doesn't charge extra if he is called out for an emergency at the weekend, although I quite appreciate he doesn't have to deal with middle of the night emergencies!)

 

[criso]

My vets out of hours charge is the same for everything, Saturdays and Sundays, 6pm in the evening is the same as 2am and I know from experience the same for bank holidays inc Christmas.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

The last time I looked at a bill it was £45 call out + £65 OOH + £45 examination fee before any drugs etc. So £155.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I had to ring the vet for an OOH visit to the surgery with a dog last month. Receptionist told me the cost before booking me in. I would have expected yours to do the same. Needless to say, I gladly agreed to pay it and then from the moment we loaded said dog into the car, the bleeding that we couldn't staunch, gave up and didn't start up again. That trip cost £202!

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Thanks for the replies, not sure if they have recently sold out - I don’t believe so, but something I hadn’t thought of. If that is the case though I may have to see what the fees are for another local vet, who I don’t rate as much, but would more than suffice for a routine anti-bi’s prescription.. worth an ask!

Current vets have an email signature that says they would appreciate immediate payment of invoices due to covid, however if this is the reason, to pass on huge price hikes to their clients who are also suffering due to covid, leaves a not so nice taste in the mouth; especially as we do not have a choice on vet treatment, if he needs a vet a vet he will have. Yes horses are a luxury, but a luxury that the vets wouldn’t do very well if people didn’t have.

Will eagerly await a response to my email.

 

[SusieT]

There are so few equine vets nowadays they do need to be able to pay their vets - if your not happy worth shopping about to compare neighbouring practices?

 

[Sail_away]

Is it possible is a ‘covid 19’ charge? Sounds odd I know but our old vets started charging 150 for a standard callout and scrapped the zone day. Apparently as a corona virus measure so people would only get the vet out if absolutely needed...?

 

[eventinghenry]

normal call-out plus £75 for an evening call out, or £35 for a weekend/bank holiday daytime, plus drugs and exam fee (£36 for most things, £60 odd for full colic exam + rectal etc.)

 

[kidsandponies]

Our out of hours call out is an extra £60 (gross) on top of the standard call out of £50.

As a side note and because I’m musing, apart from routine stuff all of my vets visits (thankfully few and far between) are out of hours! You can guarantee that if anything requires a visit it is spotted on a work day when the horses are done at about 5:30 at both ends of the day, both outside of normal working hours!

My last was a weekend colic case at night. The horses had been finished up as normal and we then had dinner at my parents house (where the horses are kept). We walked home (we walk through the horses field to get to our house) and everything was fine, an hour or so later I got a message from a friend who was walking her dog to say one of them was acting strangely. Sure enough, I rushed back and had a colic case. That bill came in at £309.41.

 

[Melody Grey]

Is it possible is a ‘covid 19’ charge? Sounds odd I know but our old vets started charging 150 for a standard callout and scrapped the zone day. Apparently as a corona virus measure so people would only get the vet out if absolutely needed...?

I really hope not! There are enough owners I know who quibble about the cost of having the vet out (not me I might add, I seem to be mortgaged to them!).
No further incentive is required to prevent horses getting veterinary attention.

 

[Equi]

i had my vet out on a sunday for the exact same thing a while back and it deffo was nowhere near £400! I think (i cant find my invoice right now) it was £50 for call out, but this was precovid.

another i have just thought of was a foaling gone wrong, so a 2AM call from a vet i wasnt even registered with (i was working on a first come first serve kinda deal!) and the entire bill was £90 which included call out, antib, bute and the pulling of the foal which didnt take him more than 5 seconds