Should I be hot about this?

[Sarah616]

Also, OP, have you ever worked in a vet clinic? The one I worked in would take hand written notes of calls from patients and give them to the vet (or whomever needed to return the call). There are so many reasons your return call could be going to your home number instead of your work number:

1. by the time the vet gets the message they assume it’s outside work hours and call the home number
2. they see the gist of the note and just pull up your file, which has your home number listed
3. the note taker wrote a number wrong or the vet read it wrong, and when that number didn’t work, they went to your home number.

Regardless, call or email and put a note on your file that says “use this number between the hours of x and y, otherwise use this number” or “please email invoices to this email address”. So simple to take care of.

[Amberley]

@Posting_Trot

I have a credit card on file with the vet. That makes everything a lot easier. They still send me the invoice/receipt, but they go ahead and charge the services to the card. That means they get paid right away, and everyone’s happy.

That is no longer legal most places fyi. They have to ask you before charging the card.

[Posting_Trot]

In fact, the vet has always either told me while I’m there that the office can charge my card, or for the couple of times I wasn’t able to be there, the office has called me before charging. So they’re adhering to the law.

[OnAMission]

Oh I can understand feeling caught short in my own trap… which I think is what happened to the OP. I think had they slept on it they would understand and see too. It feels a bit like the spotlight got turned on you but in day to day it’s a pivot point, get out ahead of the next bill and tweak absorbed.

[Baybear]

In this situation I think you’re over-reacting. You admitted you were late with first bill, overlooked items on another bill, are an out of area/not local owner. You also complain that they called your landline vs your cell. Do you have a landline like me - one that I never ever use and i forget to give vets and other businesses my cell number ? This can happen to any of us. I’ve thought I’ve paid bills online thinking I’d hit all the final, pay now buttons and come to find out whoops didn’t finish the payment. Apologize and move on.

[trubandloki]

@Amberley

That is no longer legal most places fyi. They have to ask you before charging the card.

After my vet is done as they are inputting things in the computer the vet has always said something like - We charge your card on file, correct?

Simple ask and answered.

[fivestrideline]

I usually get a call when they process the invoice, asking if they can charge my card on file. Super easy!

To OP, yeah you’re overreacting. From the vet office perspective:

• client was late on a bill
• did not pay the next one in a timely manner
• office was unable to make direct contact using the info on file
• office reached out to the next point of contact (BO)

Technically that’s two strikes on the client’s account, without direct communication with the office about how they were honest mistakes. All of this can be super benign, but from the office perspective it also can be a sign of a client about to skip out on bills OR that something is wrong (contact info, client is in hospital or out of the country, horse has sold, etc).

Anyway, get a credit card on file if possible (makes the office happy, they can run it immediately once they contact you vs waiting on a check), update your contact info (phone numbers and times to use them, plus an email that you check daily - I’ve not received a paper bill in years, everything is email), and try not to throw away mail from them without opening it.

ETA: you(g) can always have a card on file but use a different form of payment most of the time. The card is just for emergency/timely payment purposes, and they can’t run it without your express permission each time in most places.

[findeight]

Learned having vet bill me directly worked better overall then running everything through a third party (trainer) worked the best. Don’t know if OP does that or not. Also always spoke to the vet office ASAP if there would be any payment issues.

In most better barns, barn management/trainer is involved in making sure direct bill clients pay their bills so vet will continue farm calls to that barn. So, no, OP should not get hot over this. In many areas, vets don’t do farm calls, especially for only one or two horses. Same with quality farriers. Important to keep a good relationship between barn and quality providers.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

Forgive yourself OP. If you are still there everybody else has .

[RedHorses]

The vet clinic was definitely in the wrong here. First they should have sent another “outstanding balance” invoice at least once (probably twice) in the period between sending the original invoice and contacting your trainer. Basic business 101.

Second they should have called you before passing the message to your trainer about the outstanding amount. Again, basic business 101.

Third they should have sent you the invoice, not your trainer, when you called them and requested it after your trainer told you about the outstanding balance. Yet again basic business 101. Now there’s a possibility that your trainer said “Send me the invoice and I’ll make sure it gets paid.” at the time they told him about the outstanding amount, however, they still should have also sent you the invoice again after you called and requested it.

I wouldn’t get hot with them, but I would be making suure they had my phone numbers and email correct. I would also mention that I hadn’t received “outstanding balance” invoices for April or May, and remind them that I can’t pay if they don’t send me the invoice.

[Eclectic_Horseman]

You should be hot. It is an illegal debt collection practice to tell a third party about your debt. That’s because of the harm to your reputation.

Can debt collectors tell other people, like family, friends, or my employer,...

[trubandloki]

@RedHorses

I can’t pay if they don’t send me the invoice.

But they did send an invoice, the OP tossed it out with out opening it.

[Angela_Freda]

Agree, I would not be happy.
They have your contact info for a reason.
Do not share my payment habits with other people, thanks.

[RedHorses]

You’re taking that phrase out of context. I said

@RedHorses

I would also mention that I hadn’t received “outstanding balance” invoices for April or May, and remind them that I can’t pay if they don’t send me the invoice.

The clinic failed to send outstanding balance invoices. The clinic failed to call regarding an outstanding balance. The clinic also failed to send the client the outstanding invoice when directly asked to do so by the client. The client can’t pay an overdue account if the provider won’t tell them what is owed.

The phrase you quoted is a gentle way of saying: Contact me regarding outstanding balances so that I can pay you.

Because the person who answers the phone isn’t the one setting clinic billing policy and doesn’t deserve a dressing down.

[clanter]

@RedHorses

The phrase you quoted is a gentle way of saying: Contact me regarding outstanding balances so that I can pay you.

wasn’t it said that the vet office did call the phone number on record and had sent a paper invoice that was trashed ?

Personally I would not want to piss off the vet or farrier that they wish to use that is why I prearranged a method for the trainer who was acting as my agent to pay for services render my horse who was a thousand miles away.

The twist in this becomes when the vet tells the trainer to go to hell since his clients are difficult

[trubandloki]

@RedHorses

The clinic failed to call regarding an outstanding balance. The clinic also failed to send the client the outstanding invoice when directly asked to do so by the client. The client can’t pay an overdue account if the provider won’t tell them what is owed.

The clinic did call the OP back, which the OP is mad about that because they called the wrong phone number.

The short version of this is - it is not the fault of the place not being paid when you (general) do not pay. They should not have to send you endless forms of communications in only the way you like for you to pay them.

The OP has not answered the question I asked up thread about who arranged for this work, but they did say that they are an absentee owner, so I am guessing the vet reached out to the trainer because the trainer asked for the work to be done, so in their opinion is responsible for paying for it now that the OP has not paid for this second bill in a timely manner.

[red_mares]

I can take the answer that this is normal.

It’s just not what I’ve had happen in many years of being a non-local owner. Mostly, I’m embarrassed to have put my trainer in this situation and a bit blind-sided. Turned out the vet sent an email notice*. I don’t do e-bills for things unless they are on auto-pay. I’m not sure how that got turned on, but it got turned off.

The vet’s office did get the hint when I left a message saying ‘call me back at this number, because if you use the other number I won’t be there.’

*They also sent a copy to the trainer, who opened it, so they saw it as “read”, even though I never opened it.

[BeeHoney]

Yeah, this is normal. I wouldn’t be that embarrassed either, it sounds like you are a good client and it was just a mixup. Just apologize and pay, and I feel confident that your standing as a client has not been affected.

I have out of town clients that are very busy and in the past I handled all of the vet bills for their horses. They would have had no idea if any of the charges were correct or not. With this model I was also often able to negotiate better prices for diagnostics and procedures. Over time, I switched to having the vet’s office bill clients directly. I just let the client know at the time via a text message what we are doing so they can reference it later. Still, if there is ever a payment issue, the vet’s office will contact me right away. It’s quite common for clients to move or for there to be a mixup over phone numbers or when someone changes their payment method.

[Djones]

Why do they have your home phone number if it’s going to make you mad that they called it?

[Kyrabee]

I had a few billing issues with the vet I am using currently. Apparently they don’t do paper billing anymore. I realized there was a visit 2-3 months before. I called, got the amount and immediately sent the balance. Next visit…no invoice 1 month out. Call them again and viola, they had my email wrong which is how they send statements.

I don’t have a trainer so don’t have extra people in the way. If I forget and don’t have any statement it doesn’t get paid.

Susan