To leave the vets due to the rude nurses/receptionist

[blondlygoshferatus]

Every single time I call them, I feel horrible coming off the call.

All I want to know is how to take care of my 1 cat and 1 dog throughout the year - ie the fleaing, worming, ticking, prescriptions, weighing etc. I admit, I am not brilliant at working out the cheapest option, so at one point I was on their pet health plan, but this pricey and included stupid things I'd never have, like trimming their nails etc.

I just want friendly advice. The lady today was a total dick, with her 'Oh. Well. I thought you wanted this' when I was asking about alternatives for pricing and speaking to me like I am about 5 years old on every question. Simply unfriendly, unhelpful and impatient. I feel embarrrassed and stupid again today.

I get this from the doctors (in the past, as my current dr surgery the receptionists are lovely and I've heard them being super patient with even the most muddle headed member of the public).

But the vet is fucking expensive, aibu to leave the practice and find somewhere else. And tell them exactly why?

(Only reason I am loathe to is because most vets in the UK are owned by larger corporate groups and this one is the only independent in my town)

We don't (and never have) treat for fleas unless they have fleas.
With our current dog we have only done it once, during a really hot summer we had a few years ago
All those repeated chemicals can't be good for them

But all dogs and all cats don't need worming or fleaing a specific number of times a year. They're all different? And how would the receptionist know anything about it? They're not a clinician. There are hundreds of different products for those things as well.

She sounds a bit rude but I think the nature of your questions weren't what she could give meaningful answers to. And they'll get told off for being on a call for too long that doesn't involve someone actually booking a paid for service.

She is veterinary nurse. I've just been in as I did need a weight check to get the correct flea stuff for my cat.

Not even say thank you when I pay for the (eye-watering) 2 pipette. That's not ok.

I was totally normal and polite, said thank you, and she didn't. grrr

I don't understand why you think she should say thank you after you paying, that's not a normal exchange be it in the vets, or anywhere else you pay eg supermarket.

Why would she say thank you for that?

@blondlygoshferatus . Do you have specific treatments that you are keen to use?
I think we can help you with the schedule if you give more details.

I currently only have dogs, but for mine I use a monthly prescription flea/tick/ worm tablet treatment, which is Simparica Trio. It covers almost all worms but not tapeworms, so I also give Droncit every 3 months. Droncit is not prescription.

There are other tablets, spot on treatments (like Advocate which I used to use) and collars which are prescription too. Most over the counter flea treatments are not considered effective any more due to drug resistance but there might be one or two available that still work reasonably well. Not everyone treats regularly, but I do, and my vet and the rescue I adopted them from supports this.

To be fair, if you can set up and account on here and start a thread youre perfectly capable of googling the answers

Yes, they shouldnt be rude but the whole situation is totally avoidable

Not sure why the OP needs to ask if you can change your vetz of course you can for any reason or none at all

If the receptionist was rude to you, that is not okay.

However, if you want an in-depth, over the phone conversation, on the weekend before Christmas is really not the time, they will be slammed, over the phone, and in person.

My vet charges £30 for a prescription so unless the medication is very expensive it's not worth it. They wanted to charge us £180 for a bottle of gabapentin which we could buy from an online pharmacy for £60 so the extra £30 was worth it.

Routine stuff use the internet the speak to the vet.

if they are rude and deliberately rude tell them. Excuse me I really don’t like your tone towards me a client

If you’re after a consultation to ask a lot of questions about multiple pets… ring reception to book a consultation.

If you’re after booking a consultation to do this… ring the receptionist.

Exactly - receptionists aren't there to just give you loads of free advice - you need to book in to speak to the vet or a nurse!

Yeah she sounds miserable. But she could just be having a bad day. It depends on how much cheaper it is than the chain, and how much better the vets are, if you want to continue to use it.

My local independent lost my business as the vet himself was actually horribly rude a few times to me.

YANBU I would have though price plans etc would be something they could discuss. You don't need to book a vet appointment (at cost too) for that.

I left mine after they wanted £18.25 for a care plan when I’ve had cats all my long life, never needed to trim nails or do a tape worm wormer. The other one in town is great and don’t nag or beg for money. The only thing they did do last time was the vet looked at her jab record and said the first jabs weren’t done using a company catteries require. I soon put her straight that she’d been in a cattery last year and I’d had no issues. Oh and she charged me £5 for administering a wormer tablet because I can’t do it due to arthritis.
The best rip off I’ve had recently was last August when my horse decided to colic, out of hours of course, and I had to fork out £450 up front. And there was another £80 tagged on to the bill later. And they wanted to come back to check him. I took the day off work, it was cheaper. So yes, you do need to watch them for trying it on. 😉

But price plans will vary depending on the type of medication, the size and age of the animal, how often they need to be treated and any other medical conditions they have - it's not a simple "one size fits all".

A receptionist isn't there to provide loads of medical advice for nothing. That's why you book in and see a vet.

Yes, that is true. That is the sort of thing I would bring up with a vet/nurse if I was there anyway, but not book a separate appointment.

Yep, me too :) I often save up random questions and ask at our annual appointments lol. They don't seem to mind so I assume they're well used to it!

Its not cheaper than the chains i don't think. Just like to support local if I can.

Yeah I mean surely that receptionist isn't there all the time. Or she might be nice usually?! Her husband might have just got run over by a bus for all we know. So it's up to you if it's worth keeping using it.

I would expect a vet receptionist to be nice all the time. Sometimes someone will be making that very difficult call to ask for their pet to be put to sleep.

You sound like hard work and that's the vets job to advise on prescribed medication not the receptionist or the nurses.

Also not every routine treatment is routine they are prescribed depending on health needs, lifestyle etc.

It's not their job to deal with a stingy owner and if you already know why are you bothering them. It sounds like it's a regular thing.

Yeah you're not wrong. But people do have off days.

A vet receptionist should be professional and courteous at all times, but crikey, it can be hard. Especially when you are slammed because it's the weekend, and not all surgeries are open, people are even pissier than usual and trying to get their animals seen before they go on holiday, and want them seen NOW, when actually, a week ago would have been smarter because now that paw with a grass seed in it has got infected. And that receptionist is also the frontsperson dealing with medical emergencies, which can be bloody horrific, and animals being put to sleep, which is always sad, as well as trying to ensure appointments are met or rescheduled.

People may want to have a leisurely exploration of what bespoke maintenance their multiple animals need, while retaining grave suspicion of the veterinary practice and profession, but that doesn't mean that the receptionist has the same leisure to indulge their yen at that particular time.

If you do not like the practice's manner of doing business or treating your pets, it genuinely is as easy as finding another practice, and calling your old practice to authorise them to transfer your animals' pet histories to the new one.

She shouldn't have been rude but it does sound like you were wanting a lot of information for free rather than booking and paying for a consultation with a vet or a vet nurse.
You're blocking the phone line when people might be needing to get in touch urgently or just wanting to book appointments.

What's the vet like? Because if the vet is excellent I'd put up with a rude receptionist. However, if you aren't happy with the practice in general you can move somewhere else.

I moved my cats to another practice because the vet was shit and kept pushing homeopathy all the time.