ComplaintsforAnimal Dental Clinic

• Initial Complaint

  10/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 8/25/22, Dr. H*** at Animal Dental Clinic charged us more than twice the estimate that they provided for the dental services for our cat without disclosing in advance that the original estimate was inaccurate. Dr. H***’s failure to inform us that his services would be $2,700.47, more than double his original estimate of $1,300, was deceptive and wrongful. Dr. H*** knowingly omitted this material information with the specific intention of inducing us to proceed with the dental surgery for our cat without the benefit of complete information that he could have readily provided. Had we known that his charges would more than double, we would have reduced the scope of the procedure to stay at the $1,300 estimated fee. On 9/14/22, Dr. H*** acknowledged that he intentionally did provide my daughter with an updated accurate estimate. Dr. H*** had a duty to act fairly and to disclose a material (more than double) increase in his charges. Dr. H*** acknowledged that if my daughter had been provided with the updated cost information, she would have likely changed the scope of the procedure – an outcome he desired to avoid for his financial benefit. On the evening of 8/25/22, Dr. H*** also failed to provide any estimate of his anticipated charges for 12 hours of “emergency services” he ***egedly provided for our cat. When asked for an estimate of the charges we would incur for the overnight “emergency care”, he affirmatively said “no charge”. Based on the enclosed copy of the cat’s records, it appears that absolutely no care was given to the cat between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. We question whether Dr. H*** actually stayed with the cat all night at his clinic. On 8/26/22, we were charged $1,983.24. On 9/14/22, refused to reduce any of his charges and wrongfully denied his prior statement of “no charge.” Dr. H*** routinely engage in these wrongful and deceptive trade/pricing practices. See enclosed customer reviews that show this pattern of wrongful pricing practices.

  Business response

  10/10/2022

  Please find attached a complete timeline and response to all of the complainant's comments. We are very saddened and appalled by her statements. They are untrue in many cases. She was not even the customer. Her adult daughter was. Her adult daughter never once complained about billing as she was aware that costs were changing throughout the process. However, once her mother became involved, they suddenly had "problems." I hope this information resolves the issue. Feel free to reach out to me *************) should you have any additional questions.

  Respectfully,

  Cristal W**********
  Office Manager
  

  Business response

  10/21/2022

  Please see our response attached above. Feel free to reach out to us should you have any other questions or concerns. I can provide a full timeline upon request. Respectfully, Cristal W*******, Office Manager

  Customer response

  11/03/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
  November 3, 2022  
  
  The central issue in the complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau is that Animal Dental  Clinic and Dr. H*** engaged in unfair and deceptive pricing and trade practices in the manner and  for the amounts that they charged us for their services for our cat. The objective of this  complaint is to put others on notice so they can avoid these unfair practices by Dr. H*** and  Animal Dental Clinic and avoid the same experiences we faced. The specific information  relevant for this complaint is that they wrongfully charged us almost $5,000 (1) for “routine”  services they initially estimated would be close to $1,000, and (2) for subsequent emergency  services necessitated by the procedure Dr. H*** performed on our cat, for which Dr. H*** told us  there would be no charge. The long litany and recitation of the “facts” provided by Dr. H***’s  office manager in response to my complaint is largely not relevant to this complaint and  obfuscates these wrongful pricing and trade practices.  
  1. While not relevant to issue raised in this complaint, I confirm that I am the legal owner of  our cat who was brought by my daughter, **** ********, to Animal Dental Clinic for  dental surgery on 8.25.22. I adopted our cat from the ******* ****** Animal Shelter and  I am the owner of record of our cat. I paid the fees to adopt our cat. I also paid for all of  the Animal Dental Clinic charges in question in this complaint. Our cat was a family pet.  On the evening after our cat had surgery with Animal Dental Clinic, both my daughter  and I took our cat back to Dr. H*** in the face of the emergency our cat was experiencing.  There was no requirement imposed by Animal Dental Clinic that the legal owner bring a  pet for services. Animal Dental Clinic never required my daughter to show proof of who  legally owned our cat. Further, Animal Dental Clinic had no problems accepting  thousands of dollars of payments from me notwithstanding its current assertion (and  incorrect assumption) that my daughter was the legal owner of our cat. In any event, this  fact is entirely irrelevant to the issue at hand, which involves the unfair and deceptive  pricing and trade practices engaged in by Dr. H*** and Animal Dental Clinic.  
  2. Dr. H*** and Animal Dental Clinic knew that the initial estimate that they provided to my  daughter was materially inaccurate based on the scope of services that Dr. Hall ultimately  performed on our cat (based on Dr. H***’s emphatic recommendations). Neither Dr. H*** nor any of the other staff members at Animal Dental Clinic advised my daughter of any  changes to the initial estimate to keep her informed about the anticipated actual cost of  the procedure which ended up being $2,700 - almost 3 times the initial estimate.  Professional service providers have a duty to affirmatively advise their clients about  anticipated costs to be incurred particularly after they provide an initial estimate that is  wholly inaccurate. Absent this duty, which is to be borne by the provider and not by the  client, the provider is acting unfairly and deceptively since the provider knows the client  is moving forward with a procedure without the complete information the provider has  about the associated costs. This practice renders the client unable to make a fully  informed decision about the services for which Dr. H*** and Animal Dental Clinic are  requesting the client to approve. The fact the paperwork (Client/Patient Information  Sheet) that my daughter was required to sign when she brought our cat into Animal  Dental Clinic indicated that she had the right to ask for an updated estimate does not  absolve the provider of this duty to act reasonably, fairly and honestly – and to not  knowingly withhold material cost change information from clients.  
  3. When I spoke with Dr. H*** on 9/14/22, he admitted to me that he knew the initial cost  estimate for the procedure was inaccurate and that he did not provide an updated estimate  to her. When I asked him why that was the case, he indicated that had the actual cost  been provided, my daughter may not have proceeded with the scope of the procedure he  told her was needed given the amount of the charges we would incur. There is no  question that she, in consultation with me, would have narrowed the scope of the services  to be provided by Dr. H***, thereby reducing the charges we faced (and the fees to be  realized by Dr. H***). Dr. H*** intentionally and knowingly (by his own admission)  withheld material cost information from my daughter (and, therefore, me – as I was  paying for all of these costs) for his own financial benefit. This is an unfair, deceptive  and wrongful practice. Dr. H*** actually told me on that call that he avoids providing  updated pricing information to all of his clients– that it’s up to the clients to request  updated accurate estimates. As a consequence, on a routine basis, the clients of Animal  Dental Clinic and Dr. H*** face thousands of dollars of unexpected charges when they  come to pick up their pets from this facility. Again, this is an unfair, deceptive and  wrongful practice routinely engaged in by Dr. H***, by his own admission.  
  4. Subsequent to the initial procedure, after our cat was taken home, he began bleeding  profusely from his mouth, and that bleeding continued for hours afterward, even after my  daughter and I took him back to Dr. H*** that same night for emergency follow-up care.  When my daughter called Animal Dental Clinic about this extensive bleeding, they told  her not to worry and that some bleeding was normal. It was only after several repeated  calls to them, that Dr. H*** did tell my daughter to bring the cat back to Animal Dental  Clinic.  
  5. On the evening of 8/25/22, despite my daughter’s request, Dr. H*** also failed to provide  any estimate of his anticipated charges for 12 hours of emergency services he claims that  he subsequently provided for our cat when the cat began bleeding as a result of the  surgery. Dr. H*** subsequently charged us $1,983 for this 12-hour period. 
  6. Specifically, before we left the cat with him on the evening of 8/25/22, my daughter asked Dr. H*** for an estimate of the charges we would incur for the overnight “emergency care”. He affirmatively told her that there would be “no charge” and he never provided any estimate of the charges we would incur. Animal Dental Clinic is now disputing that this conversation occurred. I confirm that, in fact, that is what Dr. H*** told my daughter who immediately relayed it to me. If necessary, both my daughter and I would be willing to sign a sworn affidavit confirming this to be true under penalties of perjury. If Dr. H*** or his office manager were to sign such a sworn affidavit controverting these facts, they would be committing perjury. 
  7. We assumed that Dr. H*** as not charging for this overnight stay expressly because he knew something was terribly wrong with our cat as a result of the surgery he performed. We believed him when he said he would not charge us because we thought he felt responsible for our cat’s dire condition. 
  8. In addition to failing to provide us with an estimate for his charges (and specifically advising us there would be “no charge”), Dr. H***’s actual charges for that twelve hour period were excessive when compared to subsequent charges we incurred for the cat’s care from Friendship Hospital for Animals, an established and recognized veterinary hospital in DC. Dr. H***’s charge of $1,983 for his purported 12 hours “emergency services” exceeded the $1,909 of charges we incurred for 2 days of the cat’s subsequent hospitalization with ********** Hospital for Animals. 
  9. Please read the reviews I previously submitted from other clients of Animal Dental Clinic who faced excessive charges from this provider without having been given the benefit of complete pricing information. Dr. H*** and Animal Dental Clinic appear to routinely engage in these wrongful and deceptive trade and pricing practices and procedures that harm people’s pets. I question how, based on the response you received from Animal Dental Clinic, there is a legitimate, accurate and truthful justification for every single negative review posted on **** and ****** Reviews by clients of Animal Dental Clinic. Why would someone take the time to post a negative review if they have never been a client of this facility? How is it possible that every negative review posted is wholly inaccurate? Perhaps, where it was noted that the reviewer was never a client, that review was are posting under a false name for privacy purposes?
  10. Finally, notwithstanding anything outlined in the response provided by Animal Dental Clinic, the dispute I filed with our credit card company concerning the charges in question is still pending and has not been finally resolved. This is another inaccurate assertion by Animal Dental Clinic. 
  Please let me know if you have questions or require further information. 
  

  Sincerely,  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩