Ray Builders,Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/06/03) */
The client came to our office to have sutures removed, which I did on 5-13-16. My receptionist's notes are "Owner says [redacted] is doing well and have no complaints. Owner are wondering if sutures can come out." I decided it was ok to remove...

sutures and then left the room. My assistant then told me the owner wanted vaccines, but did not want to pay for an examination fee since I already "examined" the dog at no charge. (Removal of sutures is always no charge, but I did NOT perform a full physical exam as we do before vaccines are given.) The owner refused to pay for an exam fee so I told my assistant "that's fine" we just won't do the vaccines today. The owner evidently threw his hands up in the air and said he's never coming back. (That was his decision)
On 5-19-16 He came back wanting vaccines, which I saw him and I acted as if we did NOT have any "issues" before. I stated [redacted] should also get her rabies and he declined that (legally whenever a dog is over 3 months old the dog should be vaccinated for Rabies) He then stated I'm not leaving the room this time like I did the first time (I have no idea what this meant as all I did on 5-13 was remove sutures). He said this in a very aggressive manner and I generally don't deal with aggressive clients (who say I'm not leaving this exam room implying kidnapping? hostage taking?). He then began to complain about the ear cropping procedure. He was holding one ear up with much more pressure than the other ear and stating that one ear is taller than the other. Often after ear cropping a cartilage on one ear bends more than the opposite side giving the appearance they are uneven. We generally put a splint/foam to hold the ears up and hopefully the ears correct just by the splinting procedure. When I held the ears up without applying uneven pressure they looked very equal. The client was belligerent and I was not going to deal with his attitude so I asked him to leave. He refused to leave so I asked our receptionist to call the police which He responded by saying that's real good because he was going to report me to the police. He did settle down and spoke civilly to our manager but would NOT accept my judgment that he was being very impatient with the ears. Some dogs need to come back 4-5 times to have their ears propped up; others never need to have their ears propped up. It is NOT predicable ahead of time how much effort it will be. I NEVER guarantee ears will stand or that they will STAND EQUALLY. This is an inherent risk with cosmetic surgery.
In conclusion, no refund is being offered because the services were provided and the owner has been belligerent and does not listen to recommendations.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/06/13) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The ears are two different sizes. One is taller and wider then the other. Both ears stand up good . It is not because she holds them different and one is not weaker then the other. I guess he doesnot guarantee that he can cut them the same. I did not get her shots done because I did not want him to touch her. I can take my dog anywhere to get her shots. I have already got a second opinion from another vet and he sees the difference in the ears. I hired Dr [redacted]. He did not perform the service I paid for. ONE EAR IS BIGGER THEN THE OTHER. I HAVE MANY PICTURES TO PROVE THIS PLUS THE SECOND OPINION VET HAS ALREADY PUT IN HER FILES THAT HER EARS ARE TWO DIFFERENT SIZES AND IS WILLING TO CORRECT THE ONE. when dr [redacted] took her stichs out he use some high powered magnafing glasses maybe he should have worn them when he cut her ears. And yes we are mad. The dog cant talk so we are her voice. The ears are TWO DIFFERENT SIZES.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2016/06/23) */
The major problem I have with resolving this complaint is Mr. [redacted]'s road rage explosion in my office. When he and his wife (who was very civil) came in for removal of sutures, nothing at all was said about dissatisfaction with the surgery. His attitude was 100% fine, until I told him I would not vaccinate his pet at a reduced price (up to this point nothing hostile was said or done). He eventually was upset, threw his hands up in the air and said he was never coming back. This was reported to me by one of our veterinary assistants and was not witnessed by me personally as I was not going to debate our standard fee charge. I thought that was the end of the incident. At this point he left and no charges occurred.
Several days later they returned requesting vaccines. I recommended Rabies and routine Distemper/Parvo Virus. They were both very cordial. He declined Rabies. At this point, he asked me what I plan to do about the ears (This was the 1st time any mention of the ears was made). I cannot remember the exact words but he stated the ears were not cut equally. He was still acting very calm at this time. I had no idea what was about to ensue. Very often, the ears look different right after stitches are removed because the ear edges are still healing and often one ear dips at the base of the ear. I gently lifted each ear and made a very benign statement that they looked even to me. I was not acting defensively and my total time was probably less than 5 seconds. I didn't have a chance to really give them a good look but merely made a 1st, non-defensive (I thought) statement. I was not done with resolving the possible problem but at least in my 1st exposure to a potential problem they looked even to me. Total time so far was 5 seconds or less and I had not made any final disposition. I really was blindsided by what was about to happen. Mr. [redacted] grabbed the left ear and yanked it out of my hands and essentially did a road rage explosion. He caught me off guard and just went off bellowing. I really don't remember his exact words but essentially was like a Dr. Jeckle/Mr. Hyde. That is when I asked him to leave and he refused so I told him I would call the police. In all my 41 years as a veterinarian I have probably threatened to call the police 2-3 times, never for something like this. I never was given a chance to look at the ears critically. I never made any hostile comments. I merely said the ears looked even to me when I held them up gently. If they really were uneven I would work with them to correct the surgery but never got a chance to really examine the ears well. At this point Mr. [redacted] sounds like he will not allow me to even look at (pictures can be made to look anyway he wants them to look) the ears and examine them in greater detail. I have pictures of the portions of each ear I removed and they look very even. Dogs can have different sized ears just like people can. Some dogs that have ears that stand naturally such as german shepherds, very often have one ear that stands up and one that doesn't stand. This can happen to dogs that have their ears cropped and in the vast majority of the cases we can splint the ears up and they look fine but timing is everything to get them to stand. To agree to what Mr. [redacted] wants would be to enable his road rage behavior to dictate what I don't even know is a real problem. What I would be amendable to doing is re-examine the ears but NOT with Mr. [redacted] present. His wife seemed much calmer. I don't want him on our clinic property. He is unstable in my opinion. If there is an uneven sized ear I would attempt to correct the problem at no charges. I literally had 3-5 seconds to look at the ears and was not able to make any disposition except to state that they looked eve to me before he grabbed the ears out of my hands and yanked the left ear up in an inhumane manner for his pet. His response would indicate he is not going to let me at least look at the ears and try to correct any problem that he thinks exists. I will NOT reimburse his money as I see this as enabling terrible behavior. It is possible the dog had uneven ears to begin with or that I did not cut them correctly. I have been doing this surgery for over 33 years. I've had one other person think I cut the ears uneven which is why I take a picture of the ears after they are cut. I've had one other person get angry when the ears were taped up by one of our other veterinarians and they thought the ears were taped incorrectly (not that they were unevenly cut). I mark the right ear where I plan to cut the ears. I have a surgical assistant hold both ears up holding the 2 tips evenly and then opposing the base of the leading edges together so that when I snip the mark on the right ear I snip the (hopefully) exact same spot on the left ear. I then complete the surgery on the right ear. I draw a line with a sharpie pen on the left ear and before I cut it I lay the right ear piece I just removed as exactly as I can as a template. If they look even I then cut the left ear. If not, I redraw the line on the left ear until it looks exactly the same. It is not an exact science but is how I was taught to do it. Sometimes I have had to tape ears up 3-5 times to get them both up and looking even. I never guarantee they will stand or stand equally but in over 95 % of the time (probably higher than this) my clients are happy.
So to recap what I am willing to do to resolve this is Mrs. [redacted] is welcome to return (Mr. is NOT). I will be friendly and will try to resolve this issue to the best of my ability. I will NOT reimburse them as this would amount to "enabling" his bad behavior to dictate something I never had a chance to examine.