Awful vet

[Dogvetman]

I’d like some opinions. This is more of WWYD scenario.
So, I have never had issues with this VET however I have heard that some have. It generally has good reviews with some comments that staff can be rude. It is not a chain, but an independent vet.
I called this morning as I needed to collect some routine medication for my dog (to prevent worms etc) Initially I was going to ask for it to be posted but when the receptionist mentioned the cost, I changed my plans for today and said I’d collect. She said she was there until 1pm. All good.

i arrive 12.30 and another lady was in front of me. There was no acknowledgement of me arriving and there were probably 5 staff behind the counter eating there lunch, the smell was really strong, pasties etc I thought this was odd, but whatever. So I waited and waited and waited, watching them eat, as the other lady was being seen to.

15 minutes later another lady came into the vets and went to the counter and someone jumped up to serve her straight away. The lady in front of me turned around and looked at me to kind of acknowledge albeit unknown to her, she had jumped the queue. Still no one stepped in to acknowledge I was waiting. The main vet/owner was also eating his pasty.

The counter is really high and the lady who jumped up to serve may not have seen me as I was maybe of of sight, due to stuff on the counter. Once the lady in front looked at me, it triggered me to say something. I was very patient! So I said,’ I don’t think they can see I’m here ‘

The main vet/owner who I have witnessed being rude to his staff, then proceeded to serve me…. Very slowly. I felt this was on purpose if I’m honest as I dared to say anything.

So. The next part is what I want you opinion on.

So he’s on the computer and prints out my dog’s prescription and the lady goes to collect from the printer. She comes back through and says ‘are you happy with what has been written on here’ and he replies ‘yes I am very happy with what has been written’ I clocked this straight away, something felt off with the tone.

i checked the prescription, one was correct for a 10kg dog the other was incorrect for a dog up to 5kg and said ‘small dog’ next to it. My question is, given what he said, his general attitude to his staff and the lady clearly clicking the prescription was incorrect and checking with him, do you think he did it on purpose? Is it ridiculous to think that?

it’s really made me question the integrity of this vet, given he should be professional and has prescribed incorrectly. I don’t think it will be detrimental to my dog, but still..

is this one to leave or question and complain? Any opinions welcome, thanks

I think he didn’t like the staff member politely asking if he’d made an error. He didn’t want to own up to it and was basically telling her not to question him again in front of customers.
I don’t think it was anything to do with you and your comment at all tbh, but if you didn’t think it was right, you should have said ‘actually, I’m not sure this is right for my dog’
Sounds like he’s had a crap morning and regularly takes it out on his staff.

All the staff (including the owner/manager) stuffing their faces with pasties at the front desk? That's a very unprofessional image and I would imagine the smell was pretty off putting for clients. It's also not a sight you'd expect to see in a medical environment. Combined with your other concerns I would change vets OP if at all possible.

thanks for your comments. I clocked something was off with the comment. He prescribed the wrong dose though, surely as a professional vet he should have checked and corrected. I didn’t realise it was wrong at the vet, I only checked when I got home as something didn’t feel right. It was the ‘what you’ve written’ maybe he was getting his own back and calling me a ‘small dog’ 😂
I honestly feel he did it on purpose. When I checked their website they actually close at 12 on a Saturday, which might explain why they were eating lunch. But like I said the lady on the phone said they’d be there for 1pm. Unbelievable that they all continued eating in front of me really. It took 5 mins to confirm my name, print the labels and stick on the medication.
Something about his tone. I wouldn’t normally check the dosage but intuition made me do it and I was right. I wasn’t sure if to write an email or just move vet. I feel he intentionally did it, so is capable and must be against Vet practice

I think if you’re not getting good vibes, just move vets. You don’t want someone who seems uncaring to be looking after your dog. All vets I’ve ever encountered are nice people!

5 assistants?! No wonder they have to charge so much.

Our vet works alone. His wife is sometimes answers the phone though. His practice has an area in the back for horses and cattle. Pens, chutes etc. When you take an animal in there you are the assistant. We have cattle, horse and pets. We've been going to him for over 40 years, so I'm really good at putting dogs in headlocks, or pushing a cow into a chute with a broom on her bum. He doesn't charge much at all, because he doesn't have to pay staff. He took out a big tumor from one of dogs and charged $250. My daughter-in-law, said to him, you meant to say $2500 right?

We had a new puppy had a grass seed deep in her ear. As we were going to another town for something else, we thought we'd see a vet there and have them pull it out. This vet's had a fancy (empty) waiting room and lots of staff sitting around. They said to remove the seed it would have to be like a full on operation and quoted a large number! So we took the pup to our vet. He gave the pup her routine vaccinations and pulled the seed out with a second thought, as he talked about the current price of cattle. (I had the pup in a headlock). He only charged us for the vaccinations.

All the vets here used to be like him. He's the same age as us, in his 70's. I dread the thought of him retiring, or worse yet, dying.