New Client Prepayment
As of 3/30/2022 we will require any new client to prepay for their pet’s exam to get on the appointment calendar. This prepayment will go towards your final balance at the time of your appointment.
Why the new policy? Like any other practice that works by appointment, we have always had the occasional “no call no show” client who has failed to show up to a scheduled appointment. Sometimes an emergency or unexpected delay occurs, or the client loses track of time, or simply forgets. We understand. Life happens!
Unfortunately, as demand for veterinary services has increased and scheduling backlogs have built up during the pandemic, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of scheduled appointments that are neither canceled nor kept- particularly among prospective new clients.
In addition to all the usual reasons for failing to keep an appointment, we believe pet parents are calling multiple practices and scheduling multiple appointments, planning to attend the one that best suits their needs. Unfortunately, they sometimes neglect to cancel the appointments they don’t plan to keep. This leaves veterinary teams waiting to care for a patient that never arrives. We find this especially frustrating at a time when there are so many clients that would have been happy to attend that appointment time, and we could have cared for our patients sooner rather than later.
We hope that by implementing this advance payment policy for prospective new clients, we will encourage them to be more mindful of the appointments they make and reduce the number of appointments that go to waste.
This policy also may apply to established clients who have a history of failing to keep scheduled appointments.
If you are asked to prepay for your visit over the phone, we just ask that you contact us 24 hours in advance if you need to change your appointment. If you need to cancel, we are happy to refund your payment. If you need to reschedule, your prepayment will carry over with that appointment. If you fail to notify us of any changes in a timely manner, your payment will be processed and donated to pets in need.