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might be in the wrong section sorry.. understand it may be moved 
OK in a nutshell hubby and I have changed jobs so have had help from WTC and CTC.
We took on a kitten that was born unexpectedly to a relatives cat when cats protection League CPL didn't want to know, CPL gave us a voucher though for neutering the cat worth £40.
February the cat was 5 months old so I called the Vets and asked the girl on the telephone if we could book her in for vaccinations, micro chipping and neutering. I said we had a CPL voucher so the lady quoted me for vaccinations and micro-chipping.
I asked if they accept CPL vouchers and she said yes, I asked if they cover the cost of the neutering and she said yes so I booked the cat in for vaccinations and the following week neutering.
Took cat in at 8am, collected her at 6pm. We were taken in to a side room where a Nurse had the cat in a cat box. She said she had put a buster Collar on her (think lampshade) and I said "Oh, we've never had one of those before after neutering is she bothering her wound?" and the woman said no it was a precaution I asked if it was included in the operation costs and she said yes.
The Nurse then held out a bottle of Metacam and said we were to give it to the cat if she was in pain, I again asked if it was included in the operation costs and she again said yes. My husband by now was cringing that I was making it obvious we don't have money but I said "This is so good, the other vets didn't give us anything for our others cats!" to which he nodded and the Nurse smiled and booked us in to see her again 2 days later.
we went up to the reception and i said "I need to pay for the neutering" and handed the receptionist the CPL voucher, she took it, read it, looked up at me, smiled, nodded and said thank you. i said something along the lines of see you in two days and off we went.
Two days later we went back for a post op check, everything was ok, I told the nurse i had only used one dose of the metacam and hadn't used the collar at all as it distressed the cat. We booked our other cat S in for micro chipping and left the room.
We went to reception to ask if anyone had reported they had found our other cat K and sadly they had and he was dead.... they asked for £58 for cremation or we could take him home to bury him, we said we would be back in two days to collect him, on Monday.
Two days later we went back to collect K, spoke to the reception team and left.
ten days post operation we get an invoice for an outstanding balance, £28 more for the operation, £15 for the 3ml (yes 3ml) of metacam (cat ibuprofen) and £3 for the collar.
I wrote back (signed for) stating that I had been told the operation was covered by the CPL voucher and that the 'extras' were included in the operation costs. I also returned the collar and leftover metacam and asked that my invoice be scrapped.
No surprise that they replied saying they had asked all staff involved, the reception wouldn't have told me the CPL covered the operation and the nurse wouldn't have told me the extras were included. They can deduct the collar costs but everything else is to be paid for.
The letter asked me to refer to their T&C.... well when I found their T&C on their website I discovered that
I contacted CAB who are the first port of call when you require Trading Standards. They said that in their opinion I do have a case and have passed it to TS... However I have heard nothing from TS.
When the third invoice ARREARS DEMAND arrived on Monday I emailed the vets saying thank you for the letter and that I have passed this issue on to TS.
But what do I realistically do now? Pay up and kick myself for being caught out or stand my ground and insist my contract was agreed on the telephone, reinforced when collecting the extras and further reinforced when 'paying'?
They could have mentioned the outstanding when we 'paid' or when we went back 2 days later for the post op or when we collected the dead cat but they didn't.
Interestingly when I mentioned it to a friend her and her hubby both said "That happened to us, they quoted us £x and when we went to collect the cat it was a lot more!" but I have no proof of that, only their word.
OK in a nutshell hubby and I have changed jobs so have had help from WTC and CTC.
We took on a kitten that was born unexpectedly to a relatives cat when cats protection League CPL didn't want to know, CPL gave us a voucher though for neutering the cat worth £40.
February the cat was 5 months old so I called the Vets and asked the girl on the telephone if we could book her in for vaccinations, micro chipping and neutering. I said we had a CPL voucher so the lady quoted me for vaccinations and micro-chipping.
I asked if they accept CPL vouchers and she said yes, I asked if they cover the cost of the neutering and she said yes so I booked the cat in for vaccinations and the following week neutering.
Took cat in at 8am, collected her at 6pm. We were taken in to a side room where a Nurse had the cat in a cat box. She said she had put a buster Collar on her (think lampshade) and I said "Oh, we've never had one of those before after neutering is she bothering her wound?" and the woman said no it was a precaution I asked if it was included in the operation costs and she said yes.
The Nurse then held out a bottle of Metacam and said we were to give it to the cat if she was in pain, I again asked if it was included in the operation costs and she again said yes. My husband by now was cringing that I was making it obvious we don't have money but I said "This is so good, the other vets didn't give us anything for our others cats!" to which he nodded and the Nurse smiled and booked us in to see her again 2 days later.
we went up to the reception and i said "I need to pay for the neutering" and handed the receptionist the CPL voucher, she took it, read it, looked up at me, smiled, nodded and said thank you. i said something along the lines of see you in two days and off we went.
Two days later we went back for a post op check, everything was ok, I told the nurse i had only used one dose of the metacam and hadn't used the collar at all as it distressed the cat. We booked our other cat S in for micro chipping and left the room.
We went to reception to ask if anyone had reported they had found our other cat K and sadly they had and he was dead.... they asked for £58 for cremation or we could take him home to bury him, we said we would be back in two days to collect him, on Monday.
Two days later we went back to collect K, spoke to the reception team and left.
ten days post operation we get an invoice for an outstanding balance, £28 more for the operation, £15 for the 3ml (yes 3ml) of metacam (cat ibuprofen) and £3 for the collar.
I wrote back (signed for) stating that I had been told the operation was covered by the CPL voucher and that the 'extras' were included in the operation costs. I also returned the collar and leftover metacam and asked that my invoice be scrapped.
No surprise that they replied saying they had asked all staff involved, the reception wouldn't have told me the CPL covered the operation and the nurse wouldn't have told me the extras were included. They can deduct the collar costs but everything else is to be paid for.
The letter asked me to refer to their T&C.... well when I found their T&C on their website I discovered that
- all fees are to be paid in full on the day....
- no credit is given..
- £16 is added on to invoices if they have to chase payment up...
- well, when I handed the CPL voucher to the receptionist and she read it and said thank you and goodbye I assumed I had paid in full. Why wouldn't I?
- no one mentioned any credit, I wasn't shown any credit agreement and I haven't signed any credit agreement, therefore I had no idea I had been permitted to leave before 'paying in full'.
- I have had three invoices now, neither of them contain any £16 'penalty' fee.
I contacted CAB who are the first port of call when you require Trading Standards. They said that in their opinion I do have a case and have passed it to TS... However I have heard nothing from TS.
When the third invoice ARREARS DEMAND arrived on Monday I emailed the vets saying thank you for the letter and that I have passed this issue on to TS.
But what do I realistically do now? Pay up and kick myself for being caught out or stand my ground and insist my contract was agreed on the telephone, reinforced when collecting the extras and further reinforced when 'paying'?
They could have mentioned the outstanding when we 'paid' or when we went back 2 days later for the post op or when we collected the dead cat but they didn't.
Interestingly when I mentioned it to a friend her and her hubby both said "That happened to us, they quoted us £x and when we went to collect the cat it was a lot more!" but I have no proof of that, only their word.
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