I took my rescued dog in for an annual exam by Dr. Blackmer last week. The exam was ok, but just ok and underwhelming compared to the exam conducted last year by Dr. Monce, who seemed much more concer... Read More
I took my rescued dog in for an annual exam by Dr. Blackmer last week. The exam was ok, but just ok and underwhelming compared to the exam conducted last year by Dr. Monce, who seemed much more concerned and was willing to give us than just the few minutes we were given this time. My dog is (quite obviously) handicapped and this time her condition barely came up during the exam. Besides looking in my dog's mouth and running hands over her belly, the exam was far too brief for the fee. At the exam's conclusion I was told that my dog needed a teeth cleaning. Her teeth looked like stalactites, so I expected that. We discussed the price of a cleaning and I established expectations. I asked that I be contacted if the ~$200 cleaning (which I learned later is expensive) yielded any need for more procedures, and therefore additional costs, and all obliged. Then I went to the front desk to book the teeth cleaning for the following week. Again, I spelled out my expectations: I expect to incur the $200 charge for the teeth cleaning (which included anesthesia, IV fluids) and reiterated to the front desk staff that I be phoned for approval should anything beyond the cleaning itself be deemed necessary.I had my phone on me all day, anticipating a call. I even ran four miles during my lunch break with my phone in my hand so I wouldn't miss a call from PetSound. No calls came. At 3pm I called, as instructed, to see how things went. I was briefly told everything was fine and to come get her at 4:30.When I arrived, the front desk staff was friendly enough, but I was really rubbed wrong when the gal checking me out said to me in a weary tone, "Soooooo, are you ready to hear your total?" Nice delivery...She tells me I owe over $350. OVER $350?! Why? Because they pulled out two teeth.Back and forth we went as my blood boiled. When I explained the multiple conversations that I had with several staff members about the protocol established, I got: "Well, who did you talk to?" Really?! Is it the Customers' job to manage vet staff to ensure that the left hand talks to the right hand? None of their staff wore a name tag. Her approach seemed to be to find a scapegoat on staff to blame for the confusion. At this point a brunette I've not yet met comes out from the back to discuss all this and offers me a 10% discount, which was just insulting. When I told her that would not do, that I'd be paying only what I was set up to expect to pay, she went back into the room behind the desks and had an inaudible conversation with someone(s) that never showed their face(s), and then explained that yeah, they'd give me a discount, and this time she says it's 20% off and I say, "Well 20% beats the 10% off originally offered" and then she says, "Oh no not 20%, I did not mean to say 20%, just 10%". Unbelievable. It got worse.Out came the nurse/vet assistant person to explain to me what was done to my dog. She showed me a diagram of a dogs mouth and teeth, on which are two arrows pointing to the two teeth they extracted. I look at the invoice they'd presented and there were charges for 3 extracted teeth, one of which is for a canine tooth to the tune of $48.00. I look at the invoice - charging me for 3 teeth, and back at the diagram, which shows that there were two teeth removed. At this point any remaining faith in this company or a satisfactory resolution has been snuffed. I ask, "Are you sure you're even talking about MY DOG?! Come on guys!" I was coerced into paying the teeth cleaning fee, so I left them a $200 check, grabbed my dog and got out of there and I will not be back.There are far better, more professional veterinary outfits in the Triangle. This morning, just to put some checks and balances on pricing, I called several vets to gauge the cost of a teeth cleaning and learned that $200 is about twice as much as other vets charge.Take your fur babies elsewhere. Pet(UN)Sound was a disaster. Read Less