I want to tell you a story about myself, The Sheconomist, and The Boxer. If you’ve heard of the $6 million man, then you will probably understand why we call our boxer, the $6 thousand puppy. He has a knack for getting himself hurt, and over the years has had two major surgeries to save his life. We don’t owe any money to anyone as a result of this, but our emergency fund has taken a serious hit.

Enough with my finances. During the first emergency our dog needed to be put under for surgery. As a result of anesthesia, his heart stopped. He was revived and we took him to another vet for observation and recovery. We were later told by an employee of the first vet that he was given additional anesthesia because the surgeon put him under and then realized they didn’t have all the tools they needed, and sent someone out to a hardware store to get it (important later). The surgeon never told us this.

Our dog recovered, and we vowed to just never return to that vet. We continued to go to the same office, but visited a different doctor. When the next emergency happened last fall, The Sheconomist took him to the vet for x rays. Unfortunately, our normal vet was not available and the surgeon was. Because we can’t trust this person completely, we asked that we be notified if he is to receive any care above and beyond the x rays. The dog received care anyway, including shots, fluids, and morphine. We were not notified. The Sheconomist later called the vet to check on the dog, and was then informed that the dog was in worse condition. The Sheconomist wisely took our dog away from this vet and to another facility.

He got surgery, and again is recovered. He’s amazing like that. However we still had a bill of a few hundred dollars from the original vet. The Sheconomist was told not to worry about the bill that day due to the emergency situation. She would be billed later. They tried to mail her the bill two months later and it bounced back (later we learned because the front desk had the address wrong). No one at this office ever called us to ask if we had moved or something else. We later received a curt email asking for an explanation, my wife responded within 5 minutes with a different address. No one ever sent us a bill.

Now we always hoped that they would just never bill us, because we’re cheap like that, but we also knew we owed these people money (they just didn’t seem like they were trying very hard to get it). I called the vet to obtain our dog’s medical records and was informed of a hold due to the money owed. I told them I would come in to look at the bill (because we don’t trust this particular doctor) and pay what I thought was appropriate.

Sure enough, we were billed for all the treatment that we did not ask for. I confronted the vet about this and the response I received was an accusation that I wanted a discount for the treatment. I told the vet that I’m not interested in a discount, just interested in paying for the services we asked for. The vet showed me the notes of everything that was done that they believed would save his life. When asked why no one called The Sheconomist to discuss these treatments the vet became defensive and changed the angle back to me wanting a discount, and also said they had no idea who I was. Never did they explain why The Sheconomist was not notified.

After a back and forth argument for about 20 minutes, where the vet’s voice was raised, defensive, and rude, and mine calm, the vet made it clear that they would not reduce the cost of the bill. I again pointed out that I only wanted to pay for the services we asked for, not the services that were provided under this vet’s discretion and without permission from the owners. I explained to the vet that since she was responsible for giving him too much anesthesia the first time, we did not trust this doctor to provide treatment, which was why we wanted to be notified.

When asked why we didn’t trust the vet, I explained the situation from above (treatments we weren’t notified about) and the situation from our dog’s first surgery. The vet immediately denies that there was ever any issue not having the proper tools. I pressed on, asking if it was possible for something like this to occur. I received no answer, instead I was told there are only two people that assist on surgeries and the rest of the staff would not know what they are talking about. I asked why one of their employees would tell such a lie in front of me, The Sheconomist, and The Sheconomist’s mother. She had no answer. In the interest of making sure that none of their employees lie to their customers, I offered to let the vet know which employee allegedly lied to us. The vet was not interested in knowing who did this.

Sometimes there is no negotiating with people. Despite personal promises made during an emergency, if we’re billed for something that we actually received, we do need to pay for it. That is only right, and I don’t feel like having to deal with a bill collector someday down the road. So I decided to pay the bill , get my dog’s medical records, and leave.

The few hundred I had to pay is no sweat off my back, but the principle of the situation and me wanting the vet to be honorable forced me to confront the vet about the bill. Here is a summary of what happened:

First emergency – given too much anesthesia and heart stopped. Someone lied about it. Whether the vet or the employee, but why would the employee lie about such a thing? Regardless, the vet didn’t want to know who said it. (note: I can only suspect this is because the person that said it was the person sent to get the missing tool, but this is only suspicion.)

Second emergency – returned to original vet office hoping to see different doctor that was also familiar with our dog’s sensitivity to medications. Surgeon that almost killed him the first time is available. We ask (because we don’t trust this person) to only to x rays and call before any other services are provided. Vet provides a few hundred dollars of additional services, without consent. When confronted the vet is defensive, argumentative, and not interested in learning who told us about the incident from the first emergency.

When I said I paid my bill and left, that was not the end. It’s only just the beginning. We live in a town where there are many vets, but reputation is everything. The Sheconomist and I will be letting everyone know about our experiences with this vet (telling only the facts), we’re also posting reviews on every website we can find, and will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. We don’t wish any malice on the entire office, nor any personal malice to this vet. We want to make sure that everyone knows someone lied to us at this office, and the vet/co-owner was not interested in knowing who. We’ll also make it clear that this vet will not honor requests to only provide certain care, and will just do what they feel like doing.

The lesson here is two-fold. If you are taking your animal to a new vet, research that vet and make sure you don’t find a review or complaint that sounds like my story. Also, if you’re in a position where your reputation relies on the perception of the community, it’s probably best to make amends with customers instead of kicking them out of the door. There’s a 3rd lesson that I’ve already known. When you are forced to deal with stuff life this, it is always best to remain calm, professional, and inquisitive. Do not attack, avoid questions, or simply be rude, despite the accusations of the other party. It kills your credibility.

Needless to say, we’re done with this vet. We’ll also been sending a letter to the vet to let them know our complaints formally, and to outline the message we will be sending to the community about the office.

Back tomorrow with something less “ranty”.

By The Weakonomist

The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics.

categories: business, personal