As an animal lover and pet owner for many years I have had my fair share of experiences with vets, both bad and good.
Having an animal put down is always an extremely stressful and delicate time, par... Read More
As an animal lover and pet owner for many years I have had my fair share of experiences with vets, both bad and good.
Having an animal put down is always an extremely stressful and delicate time, particularly around Christmas, and at first I thought The West End Veterinary Practice handled my cat's euthanasia with care and professionalism.
Up until I picked up the ashes, and was met with a bill that was almost double what I had agreed with the vet.
The receptionist got confused as to which cat was mine, despite me phoning ahead, then could not give me a satisfactory answer for the change in price.
She soon scuttled off to return with a supposedly more senior member of staff, who also could not give me a satisfactory answer. I pointed to the price list they have in the waiting room that says 'Cat euthanasia and cremation= 113', but they could not tell me why my bill was nearly 200.
At one point, the elder member of staff said that they had changed company recently, but after a few more questions it became clear that this was before my cat's euthanasia and actually should not have had any effect on what I was charged.
I mentioned that it is illegal to put up prices that are incorrect, and they both shrugged. None of the staff have apologised and my dispute is yet to be settled.
They are dependent on people being too upset to argue with them about being overcharged and I think it's disgusting how they take advantage of people.
At the very least I would have expected an apology, but for now I would recommend to stay away from this practice for good unless you want your trip to the vet to be twice the price and twice the stress.
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