• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

vets who wont let you pay in bits

Crystal butterfly

Warren Veteran
well my vets closed down in my town and merged with another further up the road in the middle of no where :roll: when the vets were in my town iknew them all well and was able to pay in bits on the buns vet bills, Crystal is in for another dental tomorrow im having to pay for a taxi to get there and i asked them today if it would be possible to pay half tomorrow after the op and the other half next wed the dental all together will cost £60-£65 obviously cheap compared to what other pay and the receptionist said that all small animal bills will have to be payed in full on the day :? im skint i cant afford to pay bills in full especially when im going to be spending £15 there and back in a taxi just to get her there for the op! my vet is good and i trust him completely with my buns but i dont think i can continue using these vets because of my money situation do yous think its wise i move on and look for a vets near by who will let me pay in bits? :?
 
good luck if you can find a vets where you can pay in bits. The vets around here make you pay for ALL on the day which is not fair, espec when you could take you pet in, not knowing how much the vet bill is going to be at the end :?
 
thing is though if i ever ended up with another £250 vet bill theres no way i could pay all at once :shock: ive been part of those vets for 10 years now and have been paying my own vet bills for the last 5 years and ive never let themdown to this day maybei just need to gain their trust :? i dont understand why rabbits are classed as small animals :roll:
 
i work at a vets and their argument is you would never leave a supermarket without paying for your shopping. There are too many people who come in saying, oh I havn't brought my purse etc etc. And then weeks and weeks later you are still chasing them for money so you can see why they want people to pay in full on the day. After all, they are a business. Our vets do allow it in certain circumstances though.
 
i think my vets have the pay in full policy.... i dont think im allowed to ask for credit with them :( i thought all vets were the same.... itd be a god send to find vets who allow credit
 
I've been allowed credit at all the vets I've used (4) but I always pay on the day unless OH picks buns up and then I'll call next day and pay over the 'phone. Tbh I don't see why vets should allow credit, except for if a bill is high (over £200 for example) as they are running a business and animal owners know the costs that can be incurred and usually have an idea of what they will be charged. For example if I know that my bun is going in for something, I usually know roughly how much it will be (give/take a bit) and if I'm not sure then I ask beforehand. Maybe that's just me though - that's only my take on it.
 
I always pay in bits at both vets! Im glad as with Blackies bill being over £400 and then Fudge having a dental at £95 and having to stay overnight at £71 including meds i couldnt afford to pay in full.

It does say on the wall ALL bills to be payed on the day of appointment but ive not had a problem paying in bits!
 
I always pay in bits at both vets! Im glad as with Blackies bill being over £400 and then Fudge having a dental at £95 and having to stay overnight at £71 including meds i couldnt afford to pay in full.

It does say on the wall ALL bills to be payed on the day of appointment but ive not had a problem paying in bits!

I definately understand paying in bits for bills like that, especially 2 close together. It's the more 'routine' bills (dentals etc) that i think should usually be paid on the day.
 
I don't agree w/ spending money in taxi, I rather have a friend drive me, and if I can't find it, pay GBP 5 for a neighbour to drive is still cheaper. Find a kid that has a car who's willing to make a small amount. It doesn't make sense at this recession time to spend any $$ at all on taxi while you are concerning about vet bill.
 
Could you set up an account with them? This is effectively what I have at my vets, I pay them by standing order each month and that’s it. My vets are really good though, I currently owe them about £240 and that doesn't include Sam's recent treatment. Could you ask them if you can pay a set amount monthly? They should allow it especially if they have farmers etc on there books, no farmer can pay his vet bill all in one go.
 
i undersand whats being said but the fact im paying for a house and only earn £700 a month with all my debt and food bills on top of that a £65 dental is something i have to save up for, £65 may sound nothing to a few people but there is alot of people like me who struggle with just £65 for a vet bill, when my vets were open in my town the receptionists knew me well and knew about my money situation and i was allowed to pay half one day then the rest come pay day (i get payed weekly) and i never let them down and this new vets is really putting a strain on my money situation completely im going without food shopping this week for myself just to pay this bill in full :(
 
What about seeing if you can find a credit card which does 0% apr for an introductory period, so you can pay on the credit card and then pay that off as you 'save'. Obviously you don't want to grow your debts and you'd need to be really disciplined about its use, but it can be useful to cover a short term gap, especially if you can get one that won't charge interest for an initial period.
 
I am lucky with my vet as I can pay as and when! I have been with them for many years and they get a lot of money from me anyway, so I guess it doesn't make too much difference to them.

I have however also started saving in a special savings accounts for vet bills, so if I have to use the emergency vet clinic for example (where immediate payment is required) I have the money available.

So it might be worth just putting for example £20 a month into a savings account for such situations.

Vera
 
Does any of the vets from your old practice work at the new one, if so it may be worth having a word with them to see if they can sort something out. Unfortunately your financial affairs aren't anything to do with the vets so you can understand where they are coming from even though it is a pain. They may well let you have credit once you have been an established client with them:D
 
ive just set up a savings account for £20 a week to go in im hoping this is the answer for all my vet bills from now on :?

Crystals now at the vets having her dental have managed to borrow £30 from work to help pay for her dental :oops: i think i just took the paying in bits for granted when i was allowed to.

my vets all work at the new vets but the receptionist doesnt she was old so its possible shes retired :?
 
The vets i use have to be paid in full at the time.

My mum was paying for jelly once and he card didnt work, it was split n she didnt realise and she had to phone me and get me to do over the phone because unless i paid they wouldnt let me have Jelly back!! they are strict!

But, the vets my mum n dad use for the dogs, let you pay 70% if the bill is over £200, doesnt sound like much for 30% off a £400 dog bill is alot if youre skint. and we have 30days to pay the rest.
 
The vets i use have to be paid in full at the time.

My mum was paying for jelly once and he card didnt work, it was split n she didnt realise and she had to phone me and get me to do over the phone because unless i paid they wouldnt let me have Jelly back!! they are strict!

the emergancy vets do that.. they didnt bring Alvin out until id settled the bill and i had to pay £150 deposit when he was admitted
 
If you asked a receptionist, they will just quote from a rule book. Perhaps if you wrote and explained your previous relationship with your old vet and see what they say. Often, if its a huge company, they won't do it.

I would ask if their policy is detering people from getting immediate vet help. Explain some people are not on benefits, but that doesn't make them rich, and they cannot use the PDSA. Perhaps in a credit crunch, they could have more animal friendly policies. Explain if you need to find a new vet, they lose out on revenue. Their fear might be that people will owe them money and default, but if they look at your old records they can see this isn't the case.

Good idea to put some money aside in case you need it.
 
Back
Top