Holistic Pet Vet Clinic

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
First, and most important, she is admitting there was a special for $149.50, and she did inform me, later she says she never quoted me this price, at all The fact of the matter is, I called to book an appointment and when she informed me of the price change to $210.00, I was hesitant and did not book an appointment, but then Mari K*** called me back and said there was a special for $149.50, and so I consented to book the dental cleaning, at her behest on 02/03/2016, but all the appointments were taken in February and Mari K*** said since I booked in February, she would honor the price on March 23, I also asked her to put me on a cancellation list to get it done soonerNote: Since this transpired on February 03, (which was months, actually under), and October 23, was my last appointment, it would have been the month period; applicable to the special. This is a lack of transparency in their billing and when I checked out that day Mari K*** denied any knowledge of the $price at all, or our conversation and that she called me to inform me of the special; after I asked for billing clarification and a price schedule, I got the letter asking to change to another veterinarian. Note: her timeline is way off and the prices did not change until the first of the year to my knowledge, so any advance price change, was not known until I called in February 03, to book an appointmentThis why she called me back to tell me of the special, because I was caught off guard then and not back in October 2016; I would not have brought my dog in unless I knew how much I was paying before hand. Mari K*** did not apologize and denied she ever booked me at the $149.50, and the dental technician marked the services as “INITIAL”, which means first time
One of the reasons I asked not be separated from my service animal was her high anxiety/fear level, and the fact that none of the new techs (since all the old capable staff was replaced), could handle my dog to simply cut her nails (she is a 7lbdog and does not bite, but fights to flee response in fear), and this is indication of lack of training, because not every dog is calm and vet techs should be trained properly to handle all kinds of situations like this and know how to calm the dog, they did notI wanted to make sure she was being handled correctly, and that the work was "actually" being done. Holistic Pet Vet is more concerned did not display any concern about the well-being of my service animal or granting a reasonable accommodation request for a non-invasive procedure. I even requested that I have the permission to put my camera in the room to see how my dog reacted without me being in the room, and they declined, this is not transparent practices. I stood outside the door and never heard my dog make a sound, and she would protest. I have concerns that my dog had her teeth cleaned, and the behavior of the staff at Holistic Pet Vet Clinic seems to contribute to this concernI have had my dogs teeth cleaned in the same manner with other vets and was granted the ability to pto see how she was doing with no problem
Saying, “This client has repeatedly been rude to staff, has made unreasonable demands, and was generally difficult to deal with”, is complete fallacy and obfuscationI have had one experience with a rude tech, "Crystal", when she was first hired, and Mari K*** apologized and resolved the matter. My poor dog was hard to handle due to anxiety, and for them to say this only reflects their lack of training and professionalism After my regular veterinarian, DrRachael T*** left, the whole staff changed and the new techs hired by Mari K***, did not seem to know how to handle anxious animals, which is a part of their training, if they are trained professionally and certified; this is why I would not allow the techs to collect a urine sample because they did not know how to handle an anxious dog I would always have to hold my dog, which stressed me out in order to simply get her nails trimmed, they seemed untrained and when they hit the quick on her nails making her bleed, this was not notated in the chart. This increased my dogs’ anxiety even more and no special measures or calming techniques were ever offered. Previously, if my dog got anxious, DrT*** would step in and calm her as any caring vet would have, this never happened with the new staffIt seems that Ericka R*** DDS, was misinformed and biased by the fallacies perpetrated by Mari K***, which her statements seem to validateHolistic Pet Vet Clinic’s request to go elsewhere seems to be retaliation by Mari K***, for questioning their billing practices and pricing. IMPORTANT: There is nothing in the chart referencing, “This client has repeatedly been rude to staff, has made unreasonable demands, and was generally difficult to deal with”, and any professional vet office would have documented this for their protection, but the fact that it never happened is why it was not in my chart. I am informed by other Professional Veterinary Offices that it is standard practice to note problems with clients in order to protect the business If there were such incidents, proof would need to be produced with dates to validate the claimswith details
Sincerely,
*** ***
Attachment:

When I called this client to advise her of our PDCA special, I had encouraged her to look at our Webpage and Facebook postings for specials that we have monthly. Below is the posting from our Web sitefor February. At no time did she request that I send her a schedule of fees. Had she done so, I...

wouldhave sent her this screen shot from our Web page. I read her the various "categories" of cleanings, whichare set by Animal Dental Care, an outside provider, by the number of months since the previouscleaning. At that time it had been four months since her dog's last cleaning.
On 10/23/15 she brought her dog in for a PDCA. She was caught off guard by our new rate of $210, anddescribed to me in detail how she budgets every single expenditure each month because she is on alimited income. I told her that for that time only ( 10/23/15) I would charge her $180, the old rate. Becauseshe had made me aware of her circumstances, I called her (2/3/16) to let her know about the discounts.As mentioned, her dog had had a POCA four months previously. I told her that appointments bookedduring February for a POCA in either February or March would still receive the appropriate discount, andthat I would put an alert on her account. I read her the reduced charges by month category, and I thoughtthat she understood that scheduling an appointment for a later time would put the charge into a highercategory (five months, instead Of four). The client elected to wait until the end of March-another7 weeks-for her dog's POCA.I did not tell her that she would be charged $149, as she claimed at checkout when she was paying.
She was invoiced incorrectly; the charge should have been at the five-month category. However, ourcharge for five months is the same charge as for six months. The invoice says "PDCA-6 Month and over(normally $210)". That was a mistake made by the person who checked her out after the POCA. I doapologize to the client for that. The invoice is incorrect, but the charge was not Had she beenovercharged I would have refunded her the difference.As to her claim that 'I believe they were discriminated against me, because of my disabilities and myrequest to not be separated from my service animal," we have a number of clients with disabilities, andwe make every effort to help them. As to her complaint that she was denied her request to not beseparated from her service animal, we must abide by Animal Dental Care's policies, which do not allowthe client to be in the room with the animal. The dental tech was very kind and accommodating to thisclient, taking her back to the room, showing her the instruments, and offered to let her sit outside thedoor while she was cleaning her dog's teeth. She even described what she was doing in order toreassure the client.This client has repeatedly been rude to staff, has made unreasonable demands, and was generallydifficult to deal with, which is why, on April 12, 2016, the decision was made to notify the client that wefeel that we are not the best clinic to serve her and her dog's needs, and that she needs to seekveterinary care elsewhere. A letter, signed by Dr. Erika R[redacted], was sent, along with a completecopy of her dog's records.Please contact me should you have any further questions.Sincerely,
Mari K[redacted]Clinic Manager