clients with no money

Re: clients with no money

Kim Buckley — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:16:33 GMT

We had a 6 week old greyhound puppy in. Owner is on benefits and can't afford the £700 bill that has been run up. They already have at least 5 other dogs on their records! Why the hell did they go out and buy another one???? AHHHH!

Re: clients with no money

Dreamcatcher — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:53:49 GMT

Urgh... I had a lady ring up over the weekend... wasn't really in the mood anyway as wasn't supposed to be working the weekend. Her rabbit "Wasn't himself" and she was enquiring about the consult fee. I explained the price but as always, told her that the likelihood would be that he would need treatment, such as antibiotics which would be extra. "Right well how much is that going to cost me?"

"Well I really couldn't even give you a rough cost... the vet would need to assess the rabbit, it would depend on a number of things including the rabbits weight and what was actually wrong with it etc etc"

"Well can't you just give me a really rough idea?"

"No I'm sorry, without seeing the rabbit, there's no way of saying what he would need..."

"Yea but you can give me a rough idea?"

"No I'm sorry, like I said, there's lots of factors depending on what treatment the rabbit would require and how long for, I simply couldn't say I'm afraid"

"*huffs* Well the thing is, I'm on benefits, got alot of problems at the moment, but maybe I could pay on Monday at the earliest?"

"I understand, I'm sorry to hear that but we always ask our clients to pay upfront. Have you considered the PDSA at all?"

"I can't take the rabbit to the PDSA. I take my three cats there. They won't see any extra animals, and I've got six. I can't come right now anyway, I'm not dressed yet." (This was at 12:30pm) "Maybe if you explained my situation to the vet, he wouldn't mind if I paid on Monday?"

"I'm sorry I really can't help you. You can still take your rabbit to the PDSA, they might still charge but they will be more help towards your financial situation than we are BECAUSE THEY ARE A CHARITY AND WE ARE NOT!!!!!!!!"

That was the short version. She was on the phone for about 40 minutes repeating everything I said to her and simply not being able to grasp the concept of paying for stuff!

AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!! By the sounds of it this woman can't even afford one animal, why is it that she is allowed to keep SIX of them?!!?!?!!?!?!?!

xxx

Re: clients with no money

Deemus — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:31:36 GMT

I just have to have a small rant (sorry guys)

We've had a Dog's Trust scheme "client" in today. Young guy with his Akita X (although not entirely sure it was a cross). Dog is unruly and then aggressive when trying to exam. Lucky me gets called in to help the Vet. Can't even get a muzzle on the damn thing. Cue Benny Hill sketch with the vet, me and the owner trying to hold this whirling dervish of tooth and nail for a ClamLA. I'd previously got a history of him owning the dog since Feb and since then it's had intermittent d+ with occasional v+. Lovely. Had the scavenging chat, the diet sensitivity chat, the behaviour chat, the training chat and the neutering chat.

He proudly announces that he will under no circumstances get his dog neutered (I forgot to mention that he tried to mount me in the waiting room, dog not Owner) as it turned his last dog (a staffy) savage. Hmmm. He then says that his friend with the bitch wants to breed, the bitch is a lab x GSD. I ask him to think about it carefully as it costs loads to do it properly, potential problems etc etc etc. He politely(?!) informs me that he's got the male dog so it ain't his problem (luv). I try to politely try to inform him that if he doesn't neuter the dog that the Dog's Trust will stop paying for his treatment. At this he goes mental "I'll get the money, my dog won't suffer" etc etc.

Well I'm sorry mate but he's already had raging squits for months and voms his heart out every couple of days. Man, the guy was just impossible. On the tip of my tongue was to ask him for the money rather than bill the Dog's Trust but I wimped out as he had knuckle dusting soverign rigns on

Some of our clientele do my box in. Is it too early for a drink?

Re: clients with no money

loopylou711 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:30:06 GMT

any one ever look at pet on gumtree or any place tht do adds for animals. Theres add for people wanting free pets or fairly cheap dog/cat wanted. If they can't afford to buy the pet then they can't afford to keep the pet. Makes me so mad!!! People should do their research and realsie that animals cost money and it aint cheap!!!

Re: clients with no money

Mac Feather — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:52:55 GMT

[quote user="jan"]

& my favorite ever A long time ago

"thats 18.00 for the vaccination please" "18 quid, 18 quid ! how d'yer expect me to find that? I've just paid £300 quid for this puppy, I can't aford 18 F***in' quid"

[/quote]

Oh thats a classic! I recall a client buying 2 pedigree cats and didnt vaccinate as couldnt afford it. Both got cat flu and owner couldnt afford to treat them so both were p.t.s. Just awful.

Re: clients with no money

Fiona Leathers — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:16:28 GMT

Had a classic phone call today... woman calls saying that she's been given our number by another vets cos we're closer to her sister-in-law....she's phoning cos her sister-in-law can't - its her sis-in-law's dog. She starts the conversation with "dog's not registered with anyone & its peeing blood and looks really bad" she keeps yapping about how bad he is and then it turns out she is talking about one of our clients who was in on Monday night, kept us all back cos they are f*ckwits that have no money. They supposedly got paid on Wednesday, so we made an apppointment for then to take bloods etc.....didn't turn up.......phoned on Thurs complaining that the dog was worse but they still didn't have any money now until Sat, adv we need to see dog but would like some money up front & we could do the Green Form from PDSA for the rest. Owner made appt for Sat instead of coming in.

Now she's been phoning round vets to try and get someone to see her, claiming dog isn't registered!!!! I was quite abrupt with her and told her exactly what had happened and that they still owed us money and that this had been going on all week, and they weren't following advice! This lady seemed mortified that her sister-in-law lied to her and said she would phone back.......strangely enough she hasn't called back!!! WOnder if they'll turn up for their appointment tomorrow???

Re: clients with no money

jan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:59:15 GMT

& my favorite ever A long time ago

"thats 18.00 for the vaccination please" "18 quid, 18 quid ! how d'yer expect me to find that? I've just paid £300 quid for this puppy, I can't aford 18 F***in' quid"

Re: clients with no money

jan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:57:14 GMT

We've had a Shar pei breeder (what else!!!) in this week. Still owes for her last two ceasers wanting rabies vaccs doing. We said no & she said ~ how do you expect me to pay you if i cant get the full price for this pup etc etc etc & then went on to boast to another breeder how much she'd sold the last litter for (4 times what she owed us!!)

Re: clients with no money

Sarah Cahill — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:47:43 GMT

We had a horrible man come in today, firstly he wouldn't speak to me because "i'm just a girl".... then ranted about the price of Noroclav 250mgs which "didn't work, and were far too big".........he demanded to know our mark up (which we duly told him) then suggested we wrote to Norbrook because "some brainbox there didn't know what they were doing" EH NO I THINK THEY DO LOVE!!!!!!

And then he didn't pay. He's coming in on Monday though, oh the joys!

Re: clients with no money

Claire Cameron — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:40:59 GMT

[quote user="Nick Shackleton"]

ppl who have money are tighter those without!

[/quote]

yup, thats normally how they've ended up with money

Re: clients with no money

Nick Shackleton — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:39:24 GMT

ppl who have money are tighter those without!

Re: clients with no money

Fleabee99 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:37:26 GMT

we had a guy recently who boasted that he owned a group of hotels every time he came in and had a lovely set of sports cars on his front lawn, including a ferari and a land rover sport but when it came to payment our male nurse had to drive to his house to demand payment, the payment was for an individual crem and therefore the dog was still in our freezer and couldnt be sent off till payment was recieved

suffice to say he was never in when the nurse went round and when he was called he said oh i wont pay just leave the dog on the lawn and il sort it

my exact words were....super glue the invoice to the wind screen of his ferari and he might take more notice

Re: clients with no money

Saskia Quinn — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:39:11 GMT

[quote user="little demona"]

[quote user="Fluffy"]The RSPCA recently did a big push on neutering - anyone could go along to the roadshow and get a voucher for neutering and then went to a participating clinic to get their neuter. So there we are with NO previous history neutering all sorts. Makes me mad when the guy in the YSL jeans comes to collect his pedigree Husky in his convertible BMW all on the RSPCA - its criminal and shouldn't be allowed, but i guess it's how the people with money hang on to it.[/quote]

isn't that past the point?... isn't the point of such a campaign to get ALL (or as many as possible) people to neuter their pets to prevent any unwanted/unplanned puppies/kittens?....

[/quote]

I understand what you mean Little Demona, but I think that Fluffy was trying to say basically if people can afford to pay full price for neutering their pet - then that is what they should do and not abuse the resources of charities.

Re: clients with no money

Sal the 1st — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:11:51 GMT

I find the saddest part of this is when the client doesnt pay - its the patient that ends up 'paying' ultimately through lack of meds, lack of treatment or lack of care, but a veterinary practice is a business and if it is to survive it has to make a profit - as already mentioned we are not the NHS. I hate it when clients have said in the past 'Can't afford it - so ... will have to go without' or worse still 'cant afford the op so put it to sleep' and try and push the guilt onto the practice.

Re: clients with no money

Anneke Kuipers — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:08:19 GMT

isn't that past the point?... isn't the point of such a campaign to get ALL (or as many as possible) people to neuter their pets to prevent any unwanted/unplanned puppies/kittens?....

Re: clients with no money

Laura Ringsell — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:40:37 GMT

The RSPCA recently did a big push on neutering - anyone could go along to the roadshow and get a voucher for neutering and then went to a participating clinic to get their neuter. So there we are with NO previous history neutering all sorts. Makes me mad when the guy in the YSL jeans comes to collect his pedigree Husky in his convertible BMW all on the RSPCA - its criminal and shouldn't be allowed, but i guess it's how the people with money hang on to it.

Working with charities can be frustraing and rewarding but I hate to see insufficient care because of insufficient funds - they are the ones that get given the ood drugs and are only scheduled for one weekend check bcause of the money - just can't do it so check them anyway and don't charge for it!!!

We also do a no pay no meds policy. It amazes me too how many people either come in with no method of payment or ask if they can pay after their visit tomorrow - i so want to say "try that at Tesco" but have never been brave enough...

Re: clients with no money

Nick Shackleton — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:17:39 GMT

Know wot you mean wiv the DC thing!!! We only do DC with particular insurance companies (deff stay clear of E&L!!!) We had a fracture case referred to us reccently that had insurance, the owner reckoned they had 5k on the insurance, so we were we might do a DC althou ins with E&L, but need to check with the director! Turned out they only had £500!!!! These insurance companies really need to buck up their ideas poor clients thinkin they have done well and turns out not covered for anything! Also think before referring cases on referring vet surgeons need to ensure that ppl have the means to pay either with own cash or with correct amount of insurance.

Re: clients with no money

Dreamcatcher — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:10:50 GMT

The thing that bugs me the most, is when very occassionally a cheque from a direct claim is accidently sent to the client by the insurance company... and you're chasing it up to discover it's gone the the client. Then you ring up the client only to discover they "can't pay you this month". This has happened a few times recently! What is wrong with people? It's not their money to spend! Needless to say, we won't be doing direct claims for these particular clients anymore!

Also it bugs me when people tell you they've lost their job in the same breath as telling you they've just bought a new puppy.... grrrrr!

xxx

Re: clients with no money

Deemus — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:39:03 GMT

Are these the very same clients that drive up in their newish cars, dripping in gold and wearing designer clothes?

It makes me so angry. We generally withold medication until the bill is paid. We have even been known to withold an animal if the bill is for an op. This has casued major problems and led us to putting "I agree to pay for treatment at the time of discharge" on our consent forms.

We also now take every new clients first name as well as the surname. We had a problem with the debt collection agency being unable to recover monies owed due to various people in the househlod claiming not to be the person they were after.

Does anyone else deal with the Dogs Trust Hope Project?

Re: clients with no money

Claire Kellett RVN — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:56:11 GMT

I've lost count of the amount of times that people have asked if our practice is part of the NHS????? erm NO!!!

some people just expect everything for free

Re: clients with no money

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:15:14 GMT

The place I work, if the animlalneeds meds, then they dont get the meds until they pay.

Re: clients with no money

les punton — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:52:35 GMT

we give them the invoice away and we are not ment to see the anaimal again until they pay (however if it needs seen it needs seen and i book it when i know my managers not going to be about)

Re: clients with no money

lisajane — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:10:18 GMT

Im not a vet nurse yet. Hopefully i will be in the future. Just so i know for future, when i get into the profession. How do ye all get the money of the clients that claim they have no money or wallet on them?

Re: clients with no money

Steph Phillips — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:08:04 GMT

[quote user="Button"]

Yeah me too. It almost makes me laugh "Oh.... what me? Oh right, I have to pay. What I pay right now?"

Ummm.... now let me think.... YES!!!!!!!

Might try that next time I go to Tescos

[/quote]

hahaha.. think i might try that too :-)

Re: clients with no money

Mac Feather — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:03:24 GMT

[quote user="ellie"]

wot frustrtaes me is when a breeder client of ours always comes in over half hr late, wnats triple or more the alloted appointment time, brings in extra pets (like three or four) then complains its evryone elses fault he has no money to pay us.

well dont breed the bloody animals!!!!!!!

[/quote]

oh that sounds familiar- I remember one breeder like that, actually demanded that coz he brought a whole heap of extra animals in (when the appointment was only to have 2 dogs wormed and yes he wasnt on time) he should somehow be entitled to a discount as he wasnt made of money............