I will give credit where credit is due here. They did fit us in on short notice for a somewhat emergency visit. Our dog had a pretty good gash on her foot that required stitches, and they were the onl... Read More
I will give credit where credit is due here. They did fit us in on short notice for a somewhat emergency visit. Our dog had a pretty good gash on her foot that required stitches, and they were the only place that could get her in that day. For that, we are very appreciative.I will also say that as far as we can tell so far, they did a great job with her wound. All the staff were generally kind, competent, and respectful. Our biggest issue is that we feel they have extremely unfair pricing, and took advantage of an emergency situation, since they knew we did not really have much other choice. The initial estimate for the stitches was over $500. I felt like this was totally absurd. After changing a few things they were able to get the estimate down to around $400. This was obviously better than $550, but I felt it was still really high. I respectfully expressed to them my concern about getting taken advantage of because we were in a pinch. They assured me that their pricing was very fair. They offered to let us return the cone if it was in reusable condition. They of course did not offer us a discount for buying someone else's used cone...They also offered us financing, which they said was an option they provide for the customers convenience. To me it seemed more like a way for them to charge really high prices and make sure they still get paid. Upon looking over the invoice and comparing with other vets, most of the charges were on the high end, but not totally unreasonable. The one that I did find totally ridiculous was $42 for a bandage. Any other vet in the area found this laughable. We did have an issue with the dog getting at the bandage because the cone they gave us was too small. The dogs head was pretty much totally sticking out of the cone and so it did not serve its purpose at all. When we called north torrington to ask about this, not only did they say it would be another $42 to reapply a new bandage, but it would be another $61 for the office visit "evaluation", even though we were there the day before, totaling $100 to replace a bandage that was only damaged because they issues the wrong cone. To resolve this issue, we ended up going to our regular vet, whose evaluation fee and bandage application total, were less than north torrington's charge for the bandage alone. UPDATE: our regular vet included a new, very similar bandage in the cost of our quick visit to evaluate how the stitches were healing. Total - $25. Almost half what north torrington charges for the bandage alone...not including office visit.Overall I don't think they are a bad vet by any means, but I do feel like the pricing is very unfair, and would not suggest going to them unless it is an emergency and you have no other option. Read Less