Hi If anyone remembers I posted a few weeks ago about our beloved lab Toby who had problems peeing and upon xraying located 2 gold balls in his stomach. Well I'm looking for some advice regarding the vet who carried out the operation. The vets called us to book Toby in for the procedure. They quoted between £1200-£1300. My husband took Toby today and the vet went through what would happen. He was going to try and remove the gold balls via an endoscopy but if he couldn't then he would have to cut him open. He believed the bill would be around the £1300 mark. He also asked if they couldn't remove them via endoscopy could they do the surgery by cutting him open. My husband said yes no problem. A few hours later my husband who is rather unwell himself was at the hospital when he received a call from the vets saying they had failed to removed the gold balls and they had to cut him open. They said they needed a instant decision as Toby was still under sedation. My husband said he had already agreed to this with the vet earlier on. So they said we'll do the surgery but it's an extra £800. My husband was very shocked as he was lead to believe £1300 was the maximum he would pay. Feeling under pressure he agreed as he just wanted Toby sorted. Now please don't get me wrong Toby is insured and even if he wasn't would have found the money to sort him but I feel the way the vets handled this was very poor. We paid for a consultation which the vet should have gone through everything with my husband instead of putting him on the spot wanting an immediate decision. Do I have a reason to complain about how this was handled? Toby is staying in overnight but when they cut him open they found 2 golf balls and a rotten tennis ball. He should be back with us tomorrow which can't come quick enough as his brother Alfie is moping round the house missing him. Any advice would be great Joanne
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Hi Joanne, sorry you have had this stress with Toby. I don't have any particular experience with this sort of thing, but I would have expected to have had that kind of information up front. Particularly as they had briefed you for that eventuality. At the end of the day, I am not sure where a complaint would lead....other than a deterioration of your relationship with your vet. On the other hand, pointing out how bad the whole scenario made you feel would hopefully prevent it happening to someone else...... Anyway, hope you get your boy back super-quick.
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Yes, having read the last response, your relationship with the vet may go downhill if you complain. However, they may respond more favourably to some helpful customer feedback. A subtle difference :-\ If you present your feedback in a factual way, saying this is what happened and this is how we felt, it's informative rather than just complaining. We all do things differently but someone once advised me to avoid knee-jerk reactions; maybe let a few days go by and write to the manager of the vets. Having said that, it's blooming annoying isn't it?!
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Hi thanks for your advice. I shall write a letter in a few days. The vets who carried out the surgery isn't out local vets but a vet we were referred to. I'm just glad he's ok. Sometimes they are more worry than children. My youngest daughter came home from school and said are we going to get Toby now. She was upset when we said he was staying at the vets for the night. We even caught her trying to sneak Alfie into her bed so he wouldn't be lonely.
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Hi Joanne, whatever you and your husband decide to do I hope that Toby is OK, recovers well and comes home quickly. No more golf or tennis balls please Toby their not good for you xxx Get well soon, hugs from us xxx
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Poor Toby. Glad the op went well - bet you can't wait to get him home. About 4 weeks ago I had a similar thing with Molly in that the vet thought there was an obstruction, she had a scan under sedation, but thankfully nothing there. (Turned out to be just a bug) However the vet went through costs with me in great detail first, in case they had to go ahead and operate and in fact gave me a written quote. I'm not insured so I don't know if that made a difference. It was blooming expensive but not more than the quote.
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Poor Toby, I hope he is back with you quickly and heals up quickly. They should have given you that information up front. And it is odd that they called to say it would be an extra £800. That doesn't seem like a good thing to have done - no-one would say no, in those circumstances, really. It would be understandable had they called you to say that, as discussed, they would be performing the additional procedure and the charges would be as they had explained earlier. The point is though, what would complaining (as opposed to giving feedback, which you certainly should do) achieve? Your complaint would be that you had been misled about the price. If your complaint were to be successful, the normal redress would be to put you in the position you would have been in had you not been misled. So, if your husband had been told that the cost might be £1300, plus £800 if they had to cut Toby open, would he have said "no, sorry, I'll go elsewhere"? If not, then you don't really have cause for complaint (in a formal sense) as such. That's not to say that you shouldn't write and say you thought they could have made their charges clearer, and the surprise was most unwelcome, and they really should do better next time. You should definitely do that.
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Well we have Toby home. He's sporting what can only be described as a rubber ring round his neck to prevent him biting his stitches and has a few antibiotics and tramodol. He just doesn't know what to do with himself and can't settle but I imagine he's in quite a bit of pain. They retrieved 2 golf balls and a larger ball from his stomach and judging by the colour they've been inside him a while. He's back in 12 days for a check up. Than you to everyone for your advice. It was greatly appreciated.
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval I hope he recovers really quickly. If you think the pain relief is inadequate at any point call the vet and ask for something more to help him. I'm sure he'll feel so much better once he recovers, without those objects in his stomach.
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval It must be a relief to have Toby home. My vet always does a post op check at 3 days, so do keep an eye on your dog if you are going to have to wait 12 days.
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Good grief,you'll need to keep your eyes on Toby.....thank goodness they found out and could help him.hope he feels better today x
Re: Toby's golf ball retrieval Poor Toby. :-\ You will have to keep a close eye on the cheeky chappie you would think it would but I bet it won't put him off snacking on those golf balls. . Tasty things you know.
