Awesome vet's bill
Discussion
My cat has to go in for a check-up with a vet.
Consultation if I take it in: £62. Fair enough, we know they're not cheap.
But cat is really not keen on being stuffed into a carrier and driven anywhere so I asked how much a home visit might be. 'It depends on mileage' they said. 'I live 1.5 miles away' I reply. After a brief check they come back: '£212'.
The poor receptionist couldn't grasp that I declined on the grounds that it was barkingly insane.
Is there any other profession that charges £50 a mile?
Consultation if I take it in: £62. Fair enough, we know they're not cheap.
But cat is really not keen on being stuffed into a carrier and driven anywhere so I asked how much a home visit might be. 'It depends on mileage' they said. 'I live 1.5 miles away' I reply. After a brief check they come back: '£212'.
The poor receptionist couldn't grasp that I declined on the grounds that it was barkingly insane.
Is there any other profession that charges £50 a mile?
barryrs said:
TBH I would expect anyone similarly qualified to be charging around £150 an hour labour only, so in that case it doesn t seem unreasonable.
I'd buy that. The consultation (check-over for a repeat prescription) will last 5 minutes and the journey is no more than 5 minutes each way as well.
zetec said:
For the record. I have two more tabby cats. They don’t like the vet much either.
Badda said:
A home visit for a cat?! 
Yep, we do. We have 5. One of which is so nervous outside her environment, that she managed to harm herself in the carrier enroute once. It’s also not too extortionate when the vet comes to see all 5 for checkups and jabs etc. If anything serious needs doing, they will come here and sedate the nervous one and transport her both ways. Sounds OTT but I couldn’t give a toss about the money, just the end result.HTP99 said:
It's not really £50 per mile though is it, the vet going out to your place, for a check up or whatever, will be missing out on at least 2 other appointments.
Yeah this is the point the OP is missing. They can no longer run back to back appointments, so they are missing at least the sessions before and the session after the OPs appointment. And at £62 per appointment for a check up - the absaloute minimum cost to the vets if £186, plus fuel etc. I would actually wager that it would be significantly less profitable to do a house visit at £212 per visit, than just run in house appointments.
Back in the late 90's my friends parents were hippies who also were vets. They had met while at university and opened a small practice in our village. They were passionate about animals and not money. This was before it was normal to have pet insurance.
Through their passion, they were highly recommended and their practice became too popular. This became a problem so they looked at ways of balancing demand. They first opened a bigger practice and hired new vets. Demand still grew. They then doubled the prices. This only doubled the demand.
They felt they could not be vets anymore and ended up putting a manager in charge and stepping away from the business. They retired to France very wealthy but not doing what they were passionate about.
That is what money/insurance did to vets in England.
Through their passion, they were highly recommended and their practice became too popular. This became a problem so they looked at ways of balancing demand. They first opened a bigger practice and hired new vets. Demand still grew. They then doubled the prices. This only doubled the demand.
They felt they could not be vets anymore and ended up putting a manager in charge and stepping away from the business. They retired to France very wealthy but not doing what they were passionate about.
That is what money/insurance did to vets in England.
Badda said:
Simpo Two said:
Some people have no transport, eg disabled, elderly, blind etc.
And if those people have no way of getting to a vet, or the means to pay for a home visit, they shouldn t keep an animal. Where do I denounce those breaking it?
Paying a highly qualified, highly regulated professional his fees? What are you complaining about? You want the convenience of said professional coming to your home but don’t want to pay it?
Should he come to you for free because he loves animals or can’t the vet warn his money in line to his qualifications/experience and under the heavy regulated profession.
That seems reasonable for the home visit have in line the context. A vet is quite a difficult degree and it’s heavily regulated. In comparison an electrician or plumber charge similar or more and have less painful regulation/code of practice or full time university degrees. A doctor, dentist or vet are always too much to pay in this country. People seem to have a problem in paying professionals accordingly.
Should he come to you for free because he loves animals or can’t the vet warn his money in line to his qualifications/experience and under the heavy regulated profession.
That seems reasonable for the home visit have in line the context. A vet is quite a difficult degree and it’s heavily regulated. In comparison an electrician or plumber charge similar or more and have less painful regulation/code of practice or full time university degrees. A doctor, dentist or vet are always too much to pay in this country. People seem to have a problem in paying professionals accordingly.
CrgT16 said:
Paying a highly qualified, highly regulated professional his fees? What are you complaining about? You want the convenience of said professional coming to your home but don t want to pay it?
Should he come to you for free because he loves animals or can t the vet warn his money in line to his qualifications/experience and under the heavy regulated profession.
That seems reasonable for the home visit have in line the context. A vet is quite a difficult degree and it s heavily regulated. In comparison an electrician or plumber charge similar or more and have less painful regulation/code of practice or full time university degrees. A doctor, dentist or vet are always too much to pay in this country. People seem to have a problem in paying professionals accordingly.
Calm down, of course the vet got paid his fees. The issue was more that when the sum of £212 for a consultation was proffered and questioned, it was not explained. Driving in a car for 1.5 miles requires no veterinary skill, and very little time or petrol. When I was trading I didn't charge the same rate as I did for photography - in fact I charged just 50p/mile - because I wasn't practicing my profession whilst driving. THE ACTUAL REASON and the one which wasn't offered (until I posted here) is that they'd lose the £62 consultancy fee from the appointments before and after mine. In short, they can make more money by staying put.Should he come to you for free because he loves animals or can t the vet warn his money in line to his qualifications/experience and under the heavy regulated profession.
That seems reasonable for the home visit have in line the context. A vet is quite a difficult degree and it s heavily regulated. In comparison an electrician or plumber charge similar or more and have less painful regulation/code of practice or full time university degrees. A doctor, dentist or vet are always too much to pay in this country. People seem to have a problem in paying professionals accordingly.
You and I both know that much of the issue behind current veterinary prices is the corporate buy-outs, so we are not just paying for vets and practice overheads, but for the profits of huge companies sitting on top. And so pet owners are not just paying for ABC Vets Ltd, they are paying for (in my case) Independent Vetcare Limited, trading as IVC Evidensia, a major European veterinary care provider based in Keynsham, UK, operating around 2,500 clinics and hospitals and focusing on acquiring independent practices while centralizing services. IVC Evidensia is majority-owned by the private equity firm EQT. Other key shareholders in the group include Silver Lake (a technology-focused investor), Nestlé (a Swiss multinational which manages over 2,000 brands including KitKat, Nescafé, Maggi, and Purina), and Berkshire Partners (a Boston-based investment firm.
That's why vets' bills are expensive.
Hilts said:
Badda said:
Simpo Two said:
Some people have no transport, eg disabled, elderly, blind etc.
And if those people have no way of getting to a vet, or the means to pay for a home visit, they shouldn t keep an animal. Where do I denounce those breaking it?
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