Letter to the Editor: East Suburban Vet Clinic deceived us

 
Letter to the Editor: Most all of us love and adore our pets.  We will do anything to be sure that if they are in pain that we do what is recommended by our vets to resolve their issue.
 
My husband and I took our cat, Chester, in for his yearly check up and vaccines. During his check up the vet informed us that Chester had a small case of gingivitis. We were told that he was in pain and that he needed to have a dental procedure to resolve his problem.  
 
We were quoted that it would cost anywhere from $750-$2000. We were quickly introduced to the Health Pet Plan and that if we signed up then and there that it would cover the procedure and the visit that day.  Who would not run to that HPP plan?  
 
It cost us $49 sign up and a $70/month charge for a year. Well after Chester had $90 in pre-surgery labs, $157 in full-mouth X-rays and the procedure, we received a call that Chester was out of surgery and that they found “NOTHING wrong.” Well, wait a minute, we purchased the almost $900 Healthy Pet Plan to take care of what they initially said was “wrong.”
 
I shared my concern with the tech and was told that normally it would have cost me out of pocket approximately $300-$400.  Well, that is a lot cheaper than their plan we purchased based on the outlandish quote by the vet. They could have begun conservatively with an antibiotic for the gingivitis but they were eager to deceive us and rush us to apply for their Health Pet Plan.  This is deceptive, and they preyed on our love for Chester.
 
I would encourage everyone to get more information before simply running to their HPP plan. Five-hundred fifty dollars later, we have absolutely nothing to show for this procedure to quote “address Chester’s problem.” I did ask them to reimburse us for even half of the bill, but to no avail.  
 
I hope that losing our business with three animals over the past few years and future visits is worth $550 to the clinic.
 
 
Shirley Braatz
Martin