“Try taking your bag of pennies to a fancy restaurant and see what they tell you.” This is what Dr. Arnott told me after his receptionist told my daughter she wouldn’t take her “dirty coins”. I’m p... Read More
“Try taking your bag of pennies to a fancy restaurant and see what they tell you.” This is what Dr. Arnott told me after his receptionist told my daughter she wouldn’t take her “dirty coins”. I’m positive we were patronizing a vet clinic and NOT Chez Panisse. I can’t believe how rudly and condescendingly we have been treated after spending well over $1,000.00 just these past five months at Oaktree Vet. My daughter called ahead of the appointment and asked if they would defer payment until Friday (this was a Tuesday) and was told, “No, payment has to be collected at the time of the appointment.” Mind now, we have always paid Oaktree Vet on-the-spot for their services; and let it be noted we did, in fact, remit all previous payments with clean plastic cards. So we did kind of spring this multi-payment of “dirty coins”, cash and card on them. Last I️ checked, however, U.S. businesses were mandated to accept U.S. currency and coin as appropriate forms of payment, regardless of how distasteful the receiving party finds it. I called to complain because my daughter felt awful about her experience at Oaktree Vet and while this is her first time as a young adult caring and paying for a dying animal, this isn’t the first time the staff offered snobbish service. Last June, Dr. Arnott made an off-putting comment that I let slide without response or complaint. During our well check, he tells me, “I told my friend if he didn’t groom his dog, he’d look like yours.” The lovely British vet tech immediately said, “I think he’s adorable.” Because of her grace at that moment I easily let it go. But honest to God, snide comments are the worst from professionals when you are trying to establish a trusting bond. Anyone who has embarked on caring for a diabetic animal can appreciate the cost to your pocketbook, time and heartstrings. I had hoped the staff at Oaktree Vet would have appreciated that as well. I’ve concluded that Oaktree Vet has no empathy for their clients hardships, they maintain a rigid lunch hour at all costs, and they don’t like “dirty coins”. Whomever the Office Manager is, I commend you for intervening and diffusing this escalating conversation about dirty coins by mercifully deferring the payment. My daughter will remit full payment on her pay day. In the meantime, I’ll happlily take my business to a kinder and more humanitarian establishment. Read Less