Pittsboro Animal Hospital

Quoted price for a spay of $150, when we arrived for appointment was given a much higher price. Told low cost spay only done on WednesdayWe setup an appointment to have our puppy spayed and clearly indicated we wanted the low cost spay option and was quoted $150 as the cost for the spay. We was told there was an additional $59 for the microchip we wanted. They told us they only scheduled spays for Thursdays so setup our appointment.When we arrived to drop off our puppy we were told the price would be $330 for the spay plus $59 for the microchip. They are now saying they only do the low cost spay on Wednesdays. They told my wife she could pay the full price or take our dog and leave.My wife initially left because we had waited 2 weeks for the appointment and had taken time off work to drop off and pick up the dog. She called me and told me what happened and I told her to go back and get our dog and we would find another vet. She got back to the office between 5 and 10 minutes after leaving. They told her that they had already started blood work and made her pay $50 before returning our dog. Our puppy showed no signs of having blood drawn from her neck (where they said they drew the blood from) such as wetness from an alcohol swab.Desired SettlementThis office should be very clear about quoted prices when scheduling appointments and should be very clear about what prices are available on which days. If confusion arises, this business should try to correct the situation instead of trying to force the customer to pay the full price of a low cost spay. I would like a refund of the blood draw/test that was barely started, but understand I may not ever see that.Business Response Firstly, let me apologize for the confusion. We offer three different spay options. One is through voucher programs the county and CARE offer, the second is our own "low cost spay" option (clearly explained on our website, and we are the only veterinary facility in Pittsboro that even offers this cost saving option to pet owners) and the third is a "full price spay" option. Our "full price spay" includes an IV catheter, pre-anesthetic blood work, different anesthetics (that are more costly and require the IV catheter for administration) and pain medication to go home. Any of the "low cost options" (including the Vouchers) do no include an IV catheter (and hence different anesthetics), no pre-anesthetic blood work and pain medications to go home are an additional fee (usually around $10). This was explained over the phone while making the appointment, but clearly there was a misunderstanding (which can happen with so much information being dispensed in a short phone conversation). When your wife dropped your puppy off to be spayed today this was explained again and she fully understood the differences between the options and that the appointment today was for a "full price spay" ($330.00) and not a "low cost spay ($150). She was given the option multiple times to reschedule on our low cost day if she did not want the catheter, blood work, etc. Due to how we structure our surgery days and to keep our work flow consistent (which is what is safest for our patients) we do low cost procedures on Wednesdays only. However, she chose to keep todays appointment as a full price spay (and actually $59 of that increased price estimate today included a microchip that you wanted implanted). We took your puppy to the back and pulled blood (via the right side jugular) and started the CBC portion (which you were charged for) but had yet to start the Chemistry portion of the blood work (which you were not charged for). Your wife then returned about 10 minutes later and said she prefered to take your puppy home. As we had already started the CBC we had to charge for services rendered (results of which will be emailed to you for your records). I hope that explains all our different spay options for you and the series of events that took place today. I am sorry that the offer to reschedule on a Wednesday wasn't chosen, nor a sufficient resolution for you. I wish you the best and again am happy to continue to discuss any concerns or further issues you may have via email at [redacted]@pittsboroanimalhospital.com. Thank you.Consumer Response I want to describe exactly what happened one more time so there is no confusion:* My wife called to setup an appointment and clearly described she wanted the low cost spay option* The vet staff clearly quoted her a price of $150.* The vet staff clearly stated they only did spays on Thursday and scheduled our appointment. At no time did they mention low cost spays were only on Wednesday despite my wife clearly stating that was what she wanted and having clearly quoted us our price of $150 for the spay* We arranged to drop off her and pick up on the appointed Thursday - I personally took a day off of work to arrange for the pickup and my wife arranged to go to work a little late to drop her off* When my wife showed up to drop her off we were told the price would be above $300 for just the spay. After arguing for several minutes and being told they only offered low cost spays with a county issued waiver they finally said they only did low cost spays on Wednesdays* My wife initially agreed to this because of all the extra effort we did to arrange to drop off and pick up our puppy.* She left and immediately called me and I told her to go get our puppy and we would find another vet.* When she returned in about 5 minutes they said they had already done a blood test and demanded we pay $50 to get our puppy.* My wife eventually paid and left.The vet office clearly messed up scheduling our service, we were very clear we wanted the $150 spay and were quoted that price, but they scheduled us on Thursday.In addition the vet put a comment in our puppy's medical records that says:"O came in after dropping P off for spay- stated that she did not was spay done due to price. Advised O that bw was already started, that would need to be paid for. O was very unhappy about this but I advised that it was a service that was rendered and needs to be paid for. O wants results sent to her."This comment about my wife being unhappy was not about paying for a service rendered but by having a vet office mess up our schedule or try to rip us off. I am not sure which. This comment about her attitude has no place in our puppy's medical records and appears to be an attempt to make it harder for us to get good vet care for her.We have now had our puppy spayed at another vet and had no issues. We were even advised the blood test was purely optional and was not even recommended for her since she is in a low risk category by our new vet.To fully resolve this to my liking I would like:* A redaction of the comment about not being "happy" form our puppy's medical record. Either a full redaction or include a comment indicating the vet office messed up our schedule and an apology to us for the considerable disruption to our planned day. Please forward this updated copy to us and our new vet.* A refund of the blood work test of $50 Thanks[redacted]