So the latest is an email from the vet/dentist’s wife who says HO called and paid 2/3s of the bill with the next $100 coming in February. So progress has been made.
I will see how things go. I have been expecting her (before I knew all about the non-payment) to look for less expensive accommodations elsewhere. I am not offering field board currently and she may be better off with that.
I think I just need to question people a little better when they inquire about boarding.
I had a vet/dentist give me a quote for a float when she was there for another service. Made an appointment and when I got the bill it had all these extra things on but weren’t administered and that I didn’t agree to like vax that he didn’t need, dewormer, etc. The bill came out to over $400 when I was quoted $250. I went around and around with their office about how I didn’t agree to this and I will pay what I was quoted. The receptionist asked who quoted the amount, and I said the vet did. I heard her in the background and the receptionist got a stern talking to about padding the bill. Next time I called someone new answered the phone and said I just owed $100, (I had already paid part of it). Found out the vet fired everyone in the office for this practice.
Good to hear your boarder is stepping up & paying the bill.
Hopefully you’ve both learned something & future transactions will go smoother.
I used to use a vet that could take up to one year to send you a bill. One person even got a bill for a coggins 2 years later. Even if you called them multiple times with credit card in hand.
A vet I recently used took 2 months to send me a bill, after I’d reached out twice and gave up.
So yeah, I agree with not having to chase down a business. My credit card is on file for a reason.
A one-off instance is not an informational analysis point.
This is the urban legend method of deciding normal operational procedures. Even if the event was real. People default to some one thing that happened to them, or to a rumor or gossip anecdote that has been floating around, as a reason to choose a policy or procedure for frequent tasks. When in truth it is so rare that it doesn’t apply to ordinary procedure, except in the one instance of legend.
A common decision error that even happens in governmental and business policy, as well as our own lives.
Good. Once that bill is settled would be a good time to give her notice. In the meantime I would quietly compile a list for her of available places that might suit her to begin her search
I think the chasing down a business thing really depends on the situation. Yes, the client should make efforts to follow up with the business if they know that money is owed for services rendered, but there’s only so much follow up that is reasonable, especially if the amount owed is unclear.
If the amount to be paid was already communicated and there’s a mailing address or e-transfer information available, it could be reasonable just to pay.
If the exact amount owed is unclear, and it seems clear that an invoice should have been received, it’s reasonable for the client to follow up a couple of times to ask about it, but should they have to keep doing so indefinitely?
For example, we called a local independent HVAC technician to come out and tell us why our furnace wasn’t working. No website or physical address, just a phone number. Turned out to be a quick and easy user error issue, and we asked if he wanted to be paid by cheque before leaving. He said no, and confirmed my husband’s email address for billing.
We didn’t hear anything, so my husband attempted to contact the technician to ask how much was owed and heard nothing back.
A year later, the furnace started to act up again, and we called the same guy, again offering to pay for the previous service, but no bill was sent or amount owed communicated. He came out, and gave us an estimate to replace some pipes (he said the exact amount was TBD once he had completed the work but that it would be maximum $X amount). We agreed, he got his supplies, came back and did the work. We asked if he wanted to be paid immediately. Again, he said no and confirmed my husband’s email address for invoicing.
Again, we heard nothing back, with no response to the follow-up.
At this point, I don’t think it’s our responsibility to keep chasing. We’ve made multiple attempts to offer payment and to ask how much is owed, and either the guy is very generous or needs some help handling his billing (likely the latter). I feel guilty, but also feel that this technician needs to come to the table himself if he wants to be paid.
Not that any of this is relevant to the OP’s situation, but just something I think about when I hear about the client’s responsibility to follow up.
Exactly. It can and does happen. Especially with vets that are in charge of their own operation. It’s not relevant to the OPs situation, but chasing down a provider happens and eventually I stop chasing. The bill eventually shows up (usually) and I pay immediately.
Given that the horse owner paid 2/3rds of the bill, I lean towards a complication of personal/mental health issues along with some communication issues and no ill intent. Depending on the operation, I would not necessarily think this is a cause to give someone notice but we all have different risk levels.
As far as “she should just be a responsible adult and handle her affairs”…well, that just really reminds me of the “just pull yourself up from your bootstraps” rhetoric that is generally looked down upon here.
I am going to remind everyone that we do not know these individuals or what they face, as well as different individuals are able to deal with different stressors more resiliently that others. It is a combination of genetic make up, how we learn to cope (or don’t) growing up, and what support structure we have in place to help us cope.
A lot of small businesses, including veterinary practices, have pretty minimal support staff. As, for example, this dentist whose wife is (apparently) his business manager. This is a Mom and Pop organization that probably doesn’t have the time (or the capacity) to chase down delinquent clients as a regular part of their practice. A good client remembers to pay their service providers without having multiple emails and phone calls (or the intervention of a third party).
This problem of managing the business end of a practice is one thing that is driving the acquisition of veterinary practices by big business and private equity funds. When this happens, you’ll see bills increase not because the services are better, but because they have more office staff (to run the business) and the investors want to make a profit.
Just an aside, lots of small businesses like dentists and vets often have a family member on staff to deter theft. The family member often does the billing. My former dentist had his wife as office manager, a friend who is a vet has his son on staff and formerly his wife.
I think this is pretty common. My dad had issues with an office manager funneling money off many years back and my mom ended up running the show for the last 20 years or so before my dad retired.
And also a huge increase in expensive diagnostic work to confirm what they already know, in my experience.
Interesting take. That isn’t my experience. The vet practice I use has 21 vets and operates in multiple states but I find their prices in line with smaller vet practices in the area.
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