What is the name of your state? Virginia
I'm asking this for myself and my adult daughter who is autistic. I pay for the veterinary bills and she takes care of the pets. She recently took our cat to the vet and signed an estimate for a procedure. The cat was estimated to be in the hospital Monday through Wednesday morning. The cost for the estimate was $2300 (I rounded up here for simplicity).
The estimate stated the following things relevant to what I'm asking:
1) In the event of unforeseen complications, I give permission for the doctors and staff to take reasonable measures in treating my pet and accept all charges that are incurred as a result of such action.
2) I understand that by signing this estimate, I agree to pay for all charges +/- 10% of the fees as shown on this Estimate
3) This is an ESTIMATE in good faith for this visit; however, unforeseen circumstances could arise necessitating additional emergency medical care. Attempts will be made to contact me if there are additional charges greater than 10% of this estimate.
The cat's problems were more serious than originally thought and required a longer stay (Monday through Saturday). Throughout the course of treatment my daughter asked 2-3 times about extra costs, specifically asking if the cost had exceeded the estimate. There was no indication it had until maybe later in the week. They said it had a little bit. By this point we were in too deep and couldn't refuse further treatment, and they knew this. The cost ended up being around $2850 which is more than 10%. It's more like 25%. I paid an extra $345 that was not part of the estimate.
In addition to that bill, there ended up being extra costs the week later that we had not been told about despite my daughter asking if there would be additional charges for this treatment. It's unclear if they could've predicted that or not. She was also told these additional treatments would be $50 per treatment, but then ended up getting charged and extra $80 for an office visit charge she wasn't informed of.
Additionally, there were two things they did that we are not happy with. One is a vaccination that shouldn't have been given to a cat with systemic infection. The other is a test that was unnecessary and we did not authorize. The total for both is around $135. That test was really ridiculous considering the cat was at a bigger risk for rabies which they can't test for.
The clinic made no attempts to inform us of the extra $345 charge. However, I do feel that charge is extremely fair all things considered. I would at the very least like to get reimbursed for $135. I'm not sure I should squabble over the extra $80 charge for that office visit. I would be more than happy to accept an account credit rather than a credit back to my credit card. They aren't completely losing money by doing an account credit.
Every conversation was audio recorded and I can verify everything my daughter said to be true. Do we have any grounds to ask for at least a partial reimbursement? It seems like either they should've not charged me after they reached 10% or they should've called to inform us of additional charges.
I'm not looking to make a big stink about this, I want to settle this fairly and amicably.
I'm asking this for myself and my adult daughter who is autistic. I pay for the veterinary bills and she takes care of the pets. She recently took our cat to the vet and signed an estimate for a procedure. The cat was estimated to be in the hospital Monday through Wednesday morning. The cost for the estimate was $2300 (I rounded up here for simplicity).
The estimate stated the following things relevant to what I'm asking:
1) In the event of unforeseen complications, I give permission for the doctors and staff to take reasonable measures in treating my pet and accept all charges that are incurred as a result of such action.
2) I understand that by signing this estimate, I agree to pay for all charges +/- 10% of the fees as shown on this Estimate
3) This is an ESTIMATE in good faith for this visit; however, unforeseen circumstances could arise necessitating additional emergency medical care. Attempts will be made to contact me if there are additional charges greater than 10% of this estimate.
The cat's problems were more serious than originally thought and required a longer stay (Monday through Saturday). Throughout the course of treatment my daughter asked 2-3 times about extra costs, specifically asking if the cost had exceeded the estimate. There was no indication it had until maybe later in the week. They said it had a little bit. By this point we were in too deep and couldn't refuse further treatment, and they knew this. The cost ended up being around $2850 which is more than 10%. It's more like 25%. I paid an extra $345 that was not part of the estimate.
In addition to that bill, there ended up being extra costs the week later that we had not been told about despite my daughter asking if there would be additional charges for this treatment. It's unclear if they could've predicted that or not. She was also told these additional treatments would be $50 per treatment, but then ended up getting charged and extra $80 for an office visit charge she wasn't informed of.
Additionally, there were two things they did that we are not happy with. One is a vaccination that shouldn't have been given to a cat with systemic infection. The other is a test that was unnecessary and we did not authorize. The total for both is around $135. That test was really ridiculous considering the cat was at a bigger risk for rabies which they can't test for.
The clinic made no attempts to inform us of the extra $345 charge. However, I do feel that charge is extremely fair all things considered. I would at the very least like to get reimbursed for $135. I'm not sure I should squabble over the extra $80 charge for that office visit. I would be more than happy to accept an account credit rather than a credit back to my credit card. They aren't completely losing money by doing an account credit.
Every conversation was audio recorded and I can verify everything my daughter said to be true. Do we have any grounds to ask for at least a partial reimbursement? It seems like either they should've not charged me after they reached 10% or they should've called to inform us of additional charges.
I'm not looking to make a big stink about this, I want to settle this fairly and amicably.
