I have an elderly, poorly cat who I took to the vet last week. Vet did a consult and said he wanted to run blood tests which I agreed to. He never said how much they were. £140 when I got to the desk which I nearly fell over at but paid. He said he would ring with the results either that evening or the next day.
I was out when he rang back and he spoke to my teenage dd. He admits he didn't clarify who he was speaking to. He told her some of the blood results and said he'd like to "do some more tests" He said he wasn't sure what was wrong and was going to speak to someone and ring back the next day.
He rang the next day to say he thinks the cat has a terminal condition, we can do more tests to confirm. I declined as when I asked how much it will be £hundreds. Cat is 15yo.
I've been back at the vet today about something not to do with the cat and they called me over and said I need to pay £48 for the extra blood tests. I asked what they're on about and they said they'd run an FIV test after the other tests. I said I hadn't agreed to this extra and wouldn't have done.
Vet came out and said he'd spoken to someone on the phone who said ok. DD said she had no idea it was another blood test, that it would cost more money. She thought when he said he wanted to do more tests that I would need to take the cat back in for these tests and that's what he was going to ring about the next day.
I haven't paid. They've said they will knock it down to £40 and give me till next month to pay. I am close to ringing them up and saying it's not happening. There is no way I would have said yes to another £48 of tests and dd had no clue he meant to charge more or that she was actually agreeing to anything.
Problem is if I fall out with them its 8 miles to the next nearest vet. So maybe I should just pay to keep the peace. But I did that 5 years ago when my dog died during a routine dental and they billed me £300 for the dead dog. Now I just feel like they're fucking useless and taking the piss.