What do you think?

[89Bronco]

We are having a little situation with the vet clinic we bring our dog to. When we go out of town we normally bring the dog to a reliable boarding place that we are very happy with, but last week we found out we had to be out of town for the weekend and we knew that our dog did not have his bordetella shot. So we called our vet and they told us they could board him for the weekend for $16 plus they would do the bordetella as well. We asked at that time if there was anything else our dog needed and they said no.

On Saturday morning, running a little late of course, we go to drop him off expecting it to be no problem. Well, a worker comes out and says he also needs a fecal sample tested. She's looking at us like we're going to pull one out of our pockets. She says, well, we can do that over the weekend. Then she asks if we want his nails clipped. We both said no. Then she asks if we have given him Frontline in the past 30 days. I ask in January? She says he needs it to stay. Like I said before we were running a little late so we said fine whatever. By this time we are a little miffed. I give her the bottle of meds that our dog takes, which this vet prescribed, and told her he needs it once in the morning and once at night. She said OK, we can do that. Nothing else.

Imagine our surprise when we pick him up on Sunday and the bill is $120!!! They charged us for the boarding and bordetella, which I had expected because that's what they told us up front, plus the fecal and Frontline, which I think is a little shady because they did not say anything about that until we were there leaving the dog, plus they did clip his nails when we said NO and charged us for that, plus they charged us three times for giving the meds, which I think is totally B S because they never told us there would be a charge for that. My wife just flat out told them we are not paying this bill and we left with our dog.

My wife has been on the phone with them all day today trying to get a hold of someone who is in charge and they gave her the run-around all day..."call back at lunch...call back at 2:00 they'll be here then...call back at 4:00...oh, they've left for the evening try again tomorrow."

I know this is a long rant...thanks for sticking with it...but I want to know is this normal??? I feel this is very unprofessional and I know we will not go back. Is there a place around the Saint Cloud/Waite Park/Sartell area that you would recommend? I don't mind paying a fair bill but I just feel we got ambushed on this deal and now they don't want to talk to us about it.

[gspman]

They didn't do a very good job of communicating their boarding requirements. I'd suggest next time at any new boarding place to ask them to itemize the requirements and what it costs and when you sign up to review the list of exactly what they will do and will not do and what it will cost.

[deerminator]

I ditto the communication factor but do think its a two way street. You need to ask those questions too. I would have been a little teed off as well as you were at the time because of the suprises but I don't think most of what they suggested is unreasonable by any means. The flea and tick preventative is pretty much standard no matter the time of year when we've boarded dogs before. As is the bordetella shot. I guess I've never heard the fecal sample one before. What were they testing for? And charging for giving the meds you purchased from that vet is ridiculous.

How much do they charge a day for boarding? Just interested. We go with a place we like in Willmar and its $12, which I think is unbelievably cheap but I feel a lot better with my dog there than at the vet boarding facilities in town since its much more cramped and noisy there. And the vet is $20 a day!

[Ralph Wiggum]

I guess I've never heard the fecal sample one before. What were they testing for?

Intestinal parasites (worms, giardia, etc).

[89Bronco]

Quote:

I ditto the communication factor but do think its a two way street. You need to ask those questions too. I would have been a little teed off as well as you were at the time because of the suprises but I don't think most of what they suggested is unreasonable by any means.

I totally agree. We did ask when we first called and they said there was nothing else that needed to be done. And we knew about the bordetella, otherwise we would've gone to our normal place just outside of town, which by the way has never asked us about Frontline - summer or winter. I guess I thought we had done our part, but maybe didn't ask specifically or often enough before we went in? We've boarded our dog many times and have never had a problem like this.

Quote:

How much do they charge a day for boarding?

The original quote they gave us over the phone was $16 Sat.-Sun. plus the bordetella shot. It ended up being a little over $120 with all the extras thrown in. The dog has a bigger bill than we did on our trip!

[deerminator]

Per the fecal exam, I guess I wondered if they were looking for any specific parasites but that must be fairly routine. I think the place we go to requires a CURRENT fecal exam, so as long as he's had a physical in the past year, we're good.

Per the frontline, they're probably assuming that you may have traveled to a warm climate with your dog or that someone else could have, or the fact that fleas can live inside during the winter, and if so, it just takes one dog to infest the others.

Dogs can throw you some expensive suprises. I just finished paying a $250 vet bill for Pancreatis a few months back. And we got off cheap compared to what it might have been if they'd done more tests and required hospital time. Anyway, our dog only gets dog food and occassional "sanctioned" snacks since his Pancreatis episode.

[CJH]

The boading place we go to in the Cities only requires Bortedella shot. Anything under $20/day is cheap in my book. We pay more than that.

Haven't heard of the Frontline or fecal sample before for boarding.........and we have boarded at our vet before as well.