Has anyone refused to pay a bill and then changed vet?

[vetprob]

I'm unwilling to pay the final part of our bill due to the surgery not having been completed to the agreed standard.

Has anyone moved vets with something like this in the background? I realise notes may not be passed along, but I'm hoping that won't necessarily matter.

Is there anything actually wrong with the tooth that they have left because it seems a bit unethical to do a dental clearance if the teeth are ok . WRT moving vet I wouldn’t think anyone local would touch you with a very long pole , vets don’t like non payers .

What absolute con artists. Tripling the price without so much as a courtesy call. What if you genuinely couldn't afford the increase?

Send an official complaint disputing the bill and see what they say. If they're no use follow the complaints procedure to the next stage.

True, its whatever OP signed that matters, I know when I sign at the vet its pretty wooly and means they can charge whatever. However, our vets tend to check if its much over but with a pet under GA they may not always be able to

We agreed to remove all teeth to prevent future infection. He only had a few left anyway.

@vetprob I expect they will argue that you're responsible for making sure you have adequate insurance or the funds necessary to cover any bills.

I'm not saying that's necessarily right, but that's what they'll say.

If vet practices are sharing details about a customer/potential customer between them which are incorrect or defamatory, then they can open themselves up to legal challenge.

ANY bills?

I'm not a bank, nor are the other millions of pet owners in this country.

If the facts are shared though I can't see how its an issue
Also, it could well be a Private conversation between 2 vets and OP could never know or prove it happened

I once paid a vet’s bill that was 50% more than the estimate I’d been given. I then told the vet he’d lost a customer.

I was going to suck it up.... and then leave. But now it's transpired the work wasn't even done properly. I'm now rethinking my options.

I had this happen in real life to my leg on the nhs, the used the wrong size pin, it cause 5 further operations, 4 years of not being able to walk and permanent disability, I had a specialist consultant look at it and they said it definitely caused the problem but the nhs closes ranks and they will never admit, two solicitors said the same.

so it ended my career at 40 instead of being on £50k which now would be closer to 100k in on minimal benefits and despised by ‘society’ for scrounging off the state and you don’t look disabled syndrome despite associated spinal surgery and nerve surgery as well

Have you had a meeting with the practice manager to see if it can be resolved amicably - and then leave .

Yes, this will be my first step.

Sorry to hear that @tropicalkitkat, sounds absolutely awful 😢

Sure, but if no vet would take her on as a customer then you'd be reporting them to their professional body and then they would have to disclose the reason for this.

I don't recall the vet even asking for previous vet details when we changed.

The first thing is to submit a written complaint to the practice and ask for a response from the practice manager. They will take advice from VDS (veterinary defence society) who provide their liability insurance and can often mediate informally to resolve complaints. If you are not happy with the outcome you can escalate to the RCVS mediation service https://www.rcvs.org.uk/concerns/veterinary-client-mediation-service/
Whilst the figure given was an estimate it should have been worked out properly based on the anticipated treatment and include a contingency figure. It should also be very clear about what treatment was agreed - if it said ‘extraction of all remaining teeth’ and one was left and may later require extraction then you need to know why that happened.
The insurance not covering it isn’t really relevant to the complaint, (I understand it makes a big difference to you) as the agreed level of cover is between you and the insurance company. You are much more likely to get it resolved to your satisfaction if you go down the lines of why the bill was so much more than the estimate and whether that was communicated and agreed at the time.
www.rcvs.org.uk/setting-standards/advice-and-guidance/code-of-professional-conduct-for-veterinary-surgeons/supporting-guidance/practice-information-and-fees/

Thank you @Miloarmadillo2 l appreciate all your input and will have a good look.

Best case scenario they will waive the remaining bill. It gets murkier because they reworded the quote to try and get more from the insurance... pointless in the end because we more than reached our limit there. 😒 I will be very interested to see how they can explain it when written down. Vet spoke a lot of word salad incredibly fast while I was in a state of shock before.

@SharpOpalNewt but it wouldn't be incorrect - OP is planning not to pay her bills.

@vetprob - yes, of course any bills. And I'm not a bank either - that's why I have insurance that pays out up to 15k per year for each of my animals.

I am not sure you could report any profession to their industry body for refusing to accept your custom

And if your bill came to £20k or £30k? You'd be ok with that.

@vetprob whether I would be okay with it would depend on the circumstances around receiving such a massive bill, but I would accept that my animals are my responsibility and that it's not the vets' fault if I don't have sufficient funds to cover my bills.

I've been in the situation where my bills have been way more than expected by the way - I had to stick it on a credit card in the end. Yes, it stung like fuck and I wasn't exactly thrilled to get the bill, but ultimately my pet was sick and it was either surgery and an expensive bill, or euthanasia. He's still alive many years later so it was worth it in the end.

@coffeesaveslives on that occasion did they do the work they were supposed to do?

Sure, but if no vet would take her on as a customer then you'd be reporting them to their professional body and then they would have to disclose the reason for this.

Can you really report a private business for not wanting to accept someone as a client?

It's very common for businesses in a certain area to have a group where they discuss problem clients - sometimes in order to get advice but often to warn people away from accepting certain jobs because the client hasn't paid them or has kicked up a huge fuss over something.

I'm not sure that "being refused service for refusing to pay your bills" counts as being discriminated against.

@vetprob they did - they also did a lot more than was originally discussed because they found more problems while he was under anaesthetic and he would have died otherwise.

I'm confused as to what your argument is - half of it seems to be that you're pissed off with receiving a large bill (which has nothing to do with them leaving a tooth behind) and the other half is that they didn't complete the agreed surgery.

But you haven't said (unless I've missed it) why they left a tooth in - was it too difficult to remove? Did they forget? Was your cat showing signs of stress under anaesthetic?

The reason will be relevant as to whether you can pursue this going forward.