ComplaintsforAnimal Care Center of Polaris

• Initial Complaint

  12/27/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On December 4, 2021 our 6 month old kitten was brought to this vet for an initial exam and to have her examined for tapeworms. Everything went well and at checkout we were informed that they would be able to see ****, the kitten, the following Friday for her boosters (which they said she needed and cost 3x as other places) and to spay her - all in one day or else we would have to wait until January. At that point she could go into heat, which they told us would make it worse on **** in her later life if she did not get spayed beforehand. All of this information and support led us to believe that they truly wanted to help us, especially myself as a first time pet/cat mom - I informed them of this every time we spoke so that they knew why I would ask lots of questions and was nervous (first time mom gitters). They provided us with an estimate of $400-$570 for all services. They day of her spay, December 10, I dropped her off by myself and was given forms to sign before leaving. The estimate had almost doubled that morning but the front desk told me it had to before I leave, along with a form of optional services. Again mentioning that this is my first time and I’m not exactly sure what all I need to do, etc. An optional service, or so I was told, was a fecal sample - so I did not approve it. Leaving the vet and on my way to work the front desk calls and tells me that the fecal sample is mandatory if anything is to be done with ****. So I approve - she needs to be spayed and apparently in a rush before her first heat. Fast forward a few hours and I am left s voicemail by the doctor stating that there were some findings she needed to discuss with me - how scary because I called back and she was in surgery with another* animal and couldn’t talk. Getting a call back they tell me they couldn’t spay her because of tissue covering her cervix - the tubes could’ve been cut! At this point she is out of surgery and pick her up with a $600+ bill. Nobody will speak to us since

  Business response

  01/11/2022

  ********/ *********** cat **** came in on 12/10/2021, ********* dropped off and signed an estimate for the surgery and consent form for a spay.  During surgery we were unable to perform the spay, due to incorrect physical anatomy of the patient.  So PACC discounted the fee for the exploratory procedure that was done.  ******** was unable to come to pick up ****, but called and paid for the procedure over the phone, providing CCV, address verification, and zip code verification.  On 12/17/2021, Andrea the Regional Director spoke with the owner over the phone discussed the procedure that had been done.  ******** stated we had charged him more than originally quoted for the spay, pulled the signed consent form from the owner that original estimate was over $900, we had discounted actual surgical cost, all other invoiced items had been performed and there was no reason to refund them  would talk to managing DVM and discuss case.  Owner called back on 12/27/2021 demanding to speak to a managing DVM, since owner was so upset and had not come to a resolution, we offered resolution of refunding the cost of ear cleaning and cerenia injection which totaled $87.50.  A refunded was immediately issued to the card on 12/27/2021.  Owner agreed to accept the refund and asked our Managing DVM for our legal/ liability insurance team to look at this case.  On 12/31/2021, a case was crated with our legal team/ lability insurance to further asses the case and asses if refund should be issued to ********/ *********.

  Customer response

  01/20/2022

  First, this is an unacceptable response as it does not address the issues of the misinformation, dishonesty, deception, and unethical professional standards we experienced. We have spoke with the NVA in regards to this and they too are investigating the situation. Multiple vets have also told us the vet that performed the surgery should’ve been able to to at least perform an ovariectomy while she was open, which is commonly taught. This again goes back to the lack of experience the vet had, which they misled us on. 

  The original estimate was not over $900. We were quoted $480-$570. I would be happy to provide that estimate. The charge for the spay that was not completed was ~$200 higher than the original estimate. The attending vet also did not discuss the charges with us as we have found out they are required to do so and they called us after we left and told us the optional charges were no longer optional. 
  

  Business response

  01/20/2022

  I will address the billing issues, as that is what the complaint is regarding.  The original consent form and estimate were signed for the $719.95.  If the owner did not consent to the items then our consent forms would be circled “Do Not” and initials would have been made next to the “I Do” circles of the team member that talked to the owner and verbally Ok’d all changes via phone. However the consent form signed a drop-off has all items circled “I Do” so they would have been circled before the owner left.  The estimate would have had those items removed that were note requested by the owner or agreed upon.  It is our standard procedure to take off all items not approved by the owner (i.e. the nail trim, they did not consent to) on the estimate and have them sign before leaving.  We did however call the owner to relay that **** was not current on a fecal and would need to have that completed. 
  The original estimate given to ********* and ******** on the date of their pre-surgical exam was out "standard spay" estimate.  It has cerenia, microchip, and nail trim as "electives" to add on to their surgery for their pet.  We do require vaccines to be up to date, which we were told at that time they were.  On the day of surgery, only the rabies vaccine was up to date, so we added the FVRCP that is required as well as a fecal which was not added.  Leukemia is an elective vaccine and not required for surgery with our hospital, but the owner elected to update that vaccine as well.  The ear cleaning was also added at the owner's request.  The estimate signed for was signed at the time of drop off, we would not have had a signed surgical consent form and estimate without the owner present.  Again the phone call made after ********* left our hospital was to discuss the fecal that needed to be updated, which the team member wrote under that the owner Ok’d.  As you can see without the extra vaccines, microchip, cerenia, and ear cleaning.  The price would be within the range of the original estimate.  The consent form and estimate were signed at the time of drop off. 

  Customer response

  01/21/2022

  this is becoming ridiculous and consuming way too much of our time because the practice refuses to take responsibility for their actions, dishonesty, and deception. This complaint is not just about the charges. *********, myself, repeatedly told everyone that I spoke with that this was my FIRST time ever having a pet and that I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing for a kitten of this age  So it felt as though my “newness” to the pet parent world was taken advantage of and that is hard to handle because I trusted the company with my baby girl. Additionally, **** has been in heat TWICE since the attempted spay - occurring every other week! Just disappointed because the ovaries could have just been removed (as told by another experienced vet at MedVet) and there would have been no problems  Unfortunately half of the typical spay surgery (removal of ovaries and uterus) could not even be performed and that speaks more to the veterinarians and business in general  

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