rip off vets

[WingedAngel19]

Our Bird initial appt was £50.00+ just for feeling body to check for lumps !!!! Local vet recommended avian vet in another county as non near by. Looked at the vets reviews after using them, they are excellent rated, but noticed a comment you have to be able to afford them as expensive.

 

Mind you our pet was worth it to us but he died anyway

[geoffthechef]

Was it richard jones?...Best in the country for birds...

[WingedAngel19]

No not Richard Jones, just vet practive who said they treat birds whereas many dont round me. First parrot we took to vet was for nail clipping as rehomed him and he had overgrown nails. Vet cut them back way too far,even we could see that and asked him to stop after one foot was done as blood would not stop. Vet said it would stop soon and kinder to do both feet.

 

Within half an hour wrapped in a towel at home, our blue fronted amazon bled to death. Neighbour who had birds also looked and was horrified how far cut back. Mum so distraught she did not even call the practice up to complain, he also charged us over £50.00 whilst the bird was bleeding away and told us to trust him it would stop, yer right

 

Now our 19 year old amazon has died, not the vets fault, I just hope tests done were necessary and not overkill. Seems our pet was beyond saving after research which is a bit late suspecting after the fact. You do anything you can to save them when told birds can just bounce back in same breath as very seriously ill. I dont know perhaps miracles do happen. But I know mum has said she will never have another bird, despite years of a happy parrot.

[olliebear]

I'm new here, but I have found this thread most interesting.

 

I am currently in the process of moving from my current vets, for a couple of reasons. My cat Ollie was recently diagnosed with a potentially life threatening illness, HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy). After all the usual tests (x-rays, ultra sound, etc), I was chargeda hefty £373.85, including some medication. Now, I understand vets are commercial enterprises, and I understand they are profit making organisations. However, I was shocked when I discovered that the medication Ollie was being prescribed was being offered via an internet supplier (myvetmeds) at less than half the prices the vet was charging.

 

He also had some medication for a skin complaint, called Allerderm, which the vet charged an eye-watering £28.00 for. Unbeknown to me, the very same product is available via the internet for just £11.99, including free p&p. The most infuriating issue for me are the fees for written prescriptions, though.

 

The vet charges £13.50 PER ITEM. Even though the internet supplier stipulates in their conditions that more than one item can be included on a prescription, my vet refuses to allow that, therefore charging me £27.00 every 12 weeks. I have downloaded a couple of prescription forms from internet suppliers, and they could not possibly take more than a few minutes to fill out. The vet also said that Ollie would be on the same medication for the rest of his life, and a near certainty that he would be on the same dosage, but again refused to even contemplate repeat prescriptions. In fact, in the course of one sentence, the vet contradicted himself regarding this issue, which I found somewhat startling.

 

When I go to the vets and sit in the waiting room, I see so many people buying food and medication (and most of them are uninsured, like me), and it struck me that most of them, especially the older folk, have no idea that they are paying massively inflated prices.

 

In conclusion, I have to go to the vets to procure the prescriptions, and I have to take Ollie to them every 12 weeks for a 'check-up'. That's over £200 per year before a single tablet is purchased for Ollie. If every vet charges roughly the same price for a prescription, charges roughly the same price for consultations (£27.00 in my case), and roughly the same price for medication, then consumers are faced with a virtual monopoly.

[citizenB]

http://www.petprescription.co.uk/pet%20prescription/faqs/

 

FAQ's on this website suggest asking vets to put more than one item on the prescription. It does rather seem to me as though your Vet is penalising you for purchasing cheaper online.

 

Prescriptions are valid for up to 6 months as well if I understand things correctly.

[olliebear]

'It does rather seem to me as though your Vet is penalising you for purchasing cheaper online.'

 

That's exactly what they are doing.

 

'Prescriptions are valid for up to 6 months as well if I understand things correctly.'

 

Yes, that's true, but that doesn't stop vets insisting that they are issued every three months, which happens to coincide with the 'check-up' consultation. Same with multiple items on one prescription.

 

It really p****s me off how customers are squeezed like this, because as I said before, if all vets carry out this practice, you are faced with a monopoly.

 

This sharp practice is, in my opinion, no better than being ripped off at a used car garage, or a mechanics, or by a dodgy builder. It's just that vets have letters after their name.

[citizenB]

I am fortunate in that I do have insurance for both by dogs - but I also have the Vet's own insurance which provides for free half yearly check ups - free worming/flea treatment and discounts on all treatments and prescriptions (not covered by the insurance).

 

It is sad to hear that not all vets are as good as mine

[lancslucy]

We will write a prescription for one month of meds, but allow it to be repeated x number of times up to the time of the next check. I think it's reasonable to charge a fee for a written prescription - we charge £10.20.

 

When pet owners compare the price paid at their surgery for prescription medication to the price they can purchase for online, I can understand the initial reaction is vets being greedy and over-inflating their prices. Yes, POMs, food etc. are marked up - the same as all retail products are. The overheads of an online pharmacy are a fraction of those of a bricks-and-mortar veterinary surgery: for a start, we have to keep a large range of meds in - some of them quite expensive - just in case an animal needs these during the course of the day, whereas your online guys will keep a more limited range, but they have the advantage of being able to bulk-buy - a small independent surgery just doesn't have the buying power to negotiate to match these prices. To illustrate this, I've seen online shops selling drugs out at less than we can buy them in for from the wholesalers. We also have the costs of staff - veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses, auxiliary nurses, receptionists; providing a 24 hour service so we're there for you at 3am on Christmas Day or whenever; surgical facilities, laboratory facilities (the cost of the equipment honestly would make your eyes water); insurance (in case we get sued)....the list goes on. So yeah, products and services are marked up, and I see no reason to apologise for this.

 

I do object to the claim above about vets "trying every trick in the book to string out treatment". I've worked in practice for 13 years and I've probably worked with over 50 vets in that time, and I can honestly say this never, ever, EVER happens - it would be completely contrary to the declaration that all vets undertake that their "constant endeavour will be to ensure the health and welfare of animals" committed to their care. Yes there are a variety of blood tests that can be run, but a full panel is more expensive to run and thus more expensive for the pet owner, so it makes sense to use a process of elimination - in a lot of cases the answers can be provided at minimal cost to the owner. Believe me, if we ran a full general health profile plus all the additional options in each case, we'd get a lot more complaints!

[olliebear]

It's partly the system that needs looking at. The fact that clients have to get a written prescription from a vet to get supplies from cheaper online sellers is one of the problems, hence the increasing costs of written prescriptions. My new vet took precisely five minutes to scribble out two prescriptions - and I was charged £20 for the privilege. The medication I require for my cat is a fraction of the cost what the vet charges. My previous vet gave me some Allerderm for a skin condition for my cat, and my new vet tells me it was completely unnecessary. Guess what - I was charged £29.00 for a standard 6 pipette box of Allerderm - nearly THREE times the price I can get from an internet supplier. It's not even a prescription drug, but I won't fall for that trick ever again. In my opinion, that sort of sharp practice is no better than a car mechanic adding work for a car to pass an MOT, the only difference being vets have a string of letters after their name. Do I believe vets charge for medication and treatment that is not necessary? Yes. Do I believe some of them deliberately scare monger? Yes, I absolutely do, because I've seen it with my own eyes on numerous occasions at many practices over the years.

 

The problem is that the vast majority of customers are extremely deferential, and are often raw with emotion when they visit a vets, and their judgement is clouded, when in most other circumstances, they would be far more skeptical. The public also happen to very polite, and it's quite tough for some people to question a highly educated professional like a vet. They should question everything, especially treatments and prices, and whether the same items can be purchased online. I also reckon most vets, if not all, would refuse to give prescriptions if they didn't have to. I do know that they have to issue them as long as the animal is under their care and they have agreed to the treatment. It's a virtual monopoly, whichever way you cut it. The only people who lose in this situation are the public, always.

 

I don't object to commercial enterprises making profit, obviously, I work for one myself. Our customers are more price conscious now than they have ever been, and unless we compete, we go out of business, that's life I'm afraid. Vets aren't unique in having costly overheads, or providing out-of-hours service. Nobody's interested in a company's overheads - they are interested in service and cost. I do not believe veterinary practices are a special case, nor do I believe any other private enterprise should be. Vets have a right to charge any price they like - and customers have the right to question them, criticise them where appropriate, and come to forums like this to get others to open their eyes and ask searching questions. The public need to use their sense of reason and common sense, rather than the emotional attachment to their animals which vets exploit, there's no question about that.

Edited October 10, 2014 by olliebear

[hightail]

There was a trial golden era when vets had to provide scripts for free so clients could get the prescription meds from any chosen supplier without penalty. It lasted about three years (I think) and when it ended vets started charging heavily. I don't think it unreasonable for them to make a nominal charge for the one or two minutes it takes them but it is fairly obvious they are deliberately pitching their rates to make it uneconomic to buy elsewhere.