Have I been overcharged?

[BrigitsBigKnickers]

I took my dog to the vets and three medications and the consultation fee came to £208! I know there is a mark up on medications but they have charged me three times more that I could have got the same medicine for online!

I have just taken her to a different vet ( got fed up of totally conflicting advice and never saw the same vet) and the consultation fee and one medication was just over £50. This was with a vet who specialises in her condition. This vet also said that the medication given by the previous vet was wildly inappropriate for the condition and so we have paid a fortune for medication she didn't even need!

Does this sound right? Do vets really mark up prescriptions by this much?!!!

Every time we have had to go to the vets it's been over £100 and the medicine when I look online is always at least half the price..

Depends, I live in an expensive area of London and the consultation fee is still only I think £35/£40x

Medicines are never really less than about £20 - then it’s if they had to use anything for testing etc while they’re there.

I live in Essex and the standard consultation fee at both vets is £35 so they have charged me £173 for medication that I could get online for around £55- exactly the same medication and same dose.

We have to get my dog insulin and from the vet it’s £26 a bottle last time we went we asked for a prescription it was £10 than I went online and got 3 bottles for £28 including delivery. So even taking into account the prescription charge we have still saved £40.

Vets can’t buy them as cheaply as they’re available online btw - so no, they’ll not be marking them up as much as that.

There's a useful post here explaining why vets are not able to match online prices, and I know from experience that they often literally cannot purchase them in for the prices online pharmacies offer them at. You are always welcome to request a written prescription and to obtain the medication yourself.

I totally expect they will mark stuff ups- haven't got an issue with that- that's how they make some of their revenue but triple the price? Come on that's just extortionate!

One of the meds my dog was on was over £400 a fortnight at the vets. They did apologise and explained that they are tied into a purchasing contract, so have to pay the going rate from their supplier and as it was a medication that was rarely used, they couldn’t buy it in bulk, so the cost to them was higher. Vets have much higher overheads than an online store as well and it will cost more per hour, iyswim, for their staff to dispense meds than it does an online warehouse type operation.

We bought the first couple of doses from them and then they actually suggested they should give us a prescription which covered the next few months worth, for a one off £8.00 fee. Online I could buy a month’s worth for less than half the fortnightly cost from the vets.

I would do the same for my elderly dog’s regular med but, being a very common medication, they are only slightly more expensive from the vets and given the support we’ve had from them over the years, I would rather support my vets than pay a couple of pounds less per month. However, if I was on a strict budget I would order online.

Think that the meds dispensed were wildly inappropriate for the condition is more of a concern, you could still raise it with the practice manager.

This CAM talk covers the behind scenes finances of a vet practice

We always pay for prescriptions then buy the meds online. Saves a fortune.

Cost depends on the drugs. Some cost pennies, others that could be used to treat the same condition are £££

I am going to call the original vet on Monday and ask for an invoice. They don't take payment at the time because of COVID and you call up and pay over the phone so I didn't get an invoice.

After two days on these meds my dog was really quite unwell ( vomiting not eating and incontinent!) and I called up to ask what to do. They suggested altering the dose. When she was still unwell two days later, the vet said perhaps the meds needed to be changed to a different brand but when I said ok so can I hand back the unused packs and get a refund they said no - as they couldn't be sure they hadn't been tampered with?!!Was told
The vet would call to discuss but this never happened- So they give totally the wrong meds- charge me a fortune then won't refund??

If she continues to need some sort of ongoing meds with the new vet I will pay for the prescription and get them online. Thanks for all your advice.

Perhaps like human pharmacy they can't really reissue unused meds once left premises as even if packs look untouched as be liable if was a problem.

Sometimes even the right meds just don't suit that individual dog, common NSAID's can cause vomiting/diarrhoea in a few who then have to discontinue & try a different med.

Hope can get it resolved with the vets.

My bills get sent off direct to insurer, but i only see the value not the invoice there so if they did make an error & overcharge me, I probably wouldn't notice unless massive. I never remember to ask for copies even pre-covid.

I take it you’re not insured?

What medications had you been given?

Vets have traditionally relied on big mark ups on drugs as they generally undercharged for surgery etc. With online pharmacies taking over vets will have to increase fees elsewhere so expect consults etc to become much more expensive in the near future. And don't forget 20% of your bill is vat. You could always have asked for a written prescription, the fees for this should be available in reception.

@BrigitsBigKnickers I had an issue with my vets. I didn't see my usual vet and was charged a high price and not told how much it would be. It didn't solve the problem so i had to go back again to the vets and saw a different vet and charged all over again plus had to pay for more medication that was completely different. I complained to the vets and was spoken to in a rude manner by a snotty receptionist so I complained to a higher authority. I was refunded and changed my vets. There are rules vets must follow. I complained heres a link www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/complaining-about-misconduct-or-negligence-vets/

Could you not look at the pet clubs vets do.
You pay a monthly fee for flea and wormer treatments but then unlimited consults and vacinations are also included I pay 23 pounds a month for a large dog . You would only then need to pay for the medication

Nowadays I always pay for a six month prescription for any ongoing medication & buy online. Recently paid around £159 plus price of prescription for six months of three heart drugs for one of my dogs that would have cost £600+ from the vet direct.

If you feel you have not recieved the care you feel your pet deserves then you need to raise that as a complaint to the practice. I would recommend doing this in writing if possible.

The issue of medication costs is entirely a different issue, please dont confuse the two. Vet practices cannot purchase medications at anywhere near the price that online pharmacies sell them. The regulations stipulate that vets must buy from certain controlled companies which means that they are confined by the price those companies sell the drugs. Vets pharmacies have to contain sometimes very small amounts of each drug they may require. As practices cannot buy in the kind of bulk that pharmacies do they cannot get discounts and as such they cost more. I suspect vets and online pharmacies put the same mark up on drugs.... just that vets start from a higher point.