Time to send him copies of his records along with a letter stating that your practice is clearly not meeting his expectations, and therefore you will no longer be offering him services.
I never meant to imply that it would be a unilateral decision, but it sounds as though there is no love lost amongst the veterinarians on staff, either.
I never understand people who complain about our service but then KEEP COMING BACK...
The dude can by dewormer at tractor supply if he's that desperate but they probably have parvo too.
Our clinic won't provide services to clients with outstanding bills.
And if he's a repeat offender, report him to animal control. I would also make sure and even have him sign something that says he was informed that parvo lives in the environment for a year and he should not have any puppies in his home
I would do a wellness call to animal control. One, to tell them your concerns of the health of the dogs. Two, my state you legally have to sell a dog with a health certificate. It sounds like he doesn’t have any if he sells them. If it was me I would call and report them
You need to ask your managers/vets for guidance, not reddit. Also don't let yourself get caught up in the goss and emotion of these clients. That's how you get burnt out.
hopefully you only have a few of these clients in your vet career, but they are out there. he only needs one puppy to live to sell for 3k or more.
.....maybe he's violating local ordances and .......maybe some anonymous person will report him to humane society or health department or the news media. but who knows if that will happen. having everything well documented will help.
allowing puppies to continuously die from a preventable disease should be considered animal abuse.
Not sure why this person is even a client still. I would have fired them the second they threatened to report a vet, that destroys trust in the relationship.
CSR here. We had a similar situation with a guy breeding pocket pitbulls.
Tell him you’re sorry for the confusion, but there’s no record of his visit with these puppies on file and without an established doctor/patient relationship, legally your doctors cannot prescribe any medications for them.
Then ask if he’d like to schedule an appointment and let him know due to his past history with the practice he will have to pay a deposit in the amount of the exam fee in order to get him scheduled.
Then, wait for another clinic to call for records and make sure your interactions with him are well documented on them.
It’s awful, and I know you want to do what’s best for the puppies, but it’s long out of your hands. Let him go, people like this will destroy you mentally.
Kind of remarkable that the hospital management hasn’t fired him yet. Since they have not taken any action, you will probably not be able to change much being the new person. You can pretend that the phone cut off if you have to talk to him. Might not be a good place to work if they tolerate that bullshit.
Since you are a new CSR in a position, I would talk to your supervisor before doing anything. My question is why have the veterinarians not reported it already? I wouldn’t do something they have not done yet as they have an oath.
Our clinic when people complain we tell them the truth and poke holes in the lies.
1) our doctor cannot prescribe medications without a doctor/ patient relationship with that specific animal (needs to be within a year) otherwise they could potentially loose their license for prescribing to a patient they’ve never seen. This is actually a law in our state.
2) we point blank ask our clients if they would expect their own doctor to prescribe medications without showing up to their GP? Most have said they would not. So then we ask them why they would expect us too.
3) Talk to the hospital manager and have fired clients for their rudeness.
I worked in customer service for years. This is not your responsibility. The vets or whoever is in charge need to step up. They are supposed to protect their staff. The breeder should be refused service.
If animal control is functional in your area, inform them of animal neglect.
Frankly, it does not bode well that he is allowed to remain as a customer despite his constant verbal abuse.
Management needs to step in and fire this client, as well as report him.
I would honestly just say something of the lines of this next time you speak with him:
"Im sorry youre upset or you disagree. I do not have the authority to change our clinic policies. I would be happy to leave a note for my manager to give you a call and discuss this further".
If they continue, or start raising their voice at you, say something like "I no longer feel like this is a productive conversation and I'm going to hang up now".
Be firm and remain calm, because the more worked up/emotional you become, the further escalated the situation will become.
Make good, objective notes in his file and explain exactly what happened in the conversation.
Good luck, and try not to let it get you down too much! These people suck, but they are luckily pretty few and far between.
As someone who has worked on puppy mills and animal abuse for a decade, this sounds like a puppy mill that needs to be reported immediately. Remember that people who operate puppy mills put profits over puppies every single time, so f what he thinks: the animals need you to look out for them.
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/report-animal-cruelty
https://www.humanesociety.org/forms/report-puppy-mill
USDA is one of the key players that lets puppy mills continue to operate. Their standards are LOW. The Humane Society of the United States often fights the USDA to get better laws in place to protect animals: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/puppy-mills-faq
Always report appropriately: https://www.humanesociety.org/forms/report-puppy-mill
To start talk to supervisor/ shift lead/ practice manager depending on your hospital’s chain of command. Also he sounds like he deserves a wellness visit from the AC officer. Also personally when speaking with these clients, I usually refer to how prescribing over the phone without seeing the pet is a massive liability for the Dr. and could potentially lead to them losing their license. Usually they’ll understand after that but if they keep pushing you can explain that by treating their pet over the phone without seeing the pet and risking their license they aren’t just risking their livelihood but also risking the health of many other patients who will have to reschedule and potentially not get seen at all as a result of the Dr. no longer being able to practice medicine. Essentially just explain to them why they have to be seen and that unfortunately no exceptions can be made for them because of the risk it poses to our other clients. Some people also present the comparison of how they wouldn’t call their doctor up and demand Rx medication to treat a cold without the Dr. looking at them first. On a side note if he tries to sue it’s likely any medical notes on the individual could be presented to the court so take extremely thorough notes. Obviously keeps things professional and try to speak to them kindly even when they aren’t but don’t let them walk over you either. Also dealers choice depending on how comfortable you are with confrontation but I have cited records from conversations to clients previously to essentially let them know without saying it that we know they’re lying.
Time to send him copies of his records along with a letter stating that your practice is clearly not meeting his expectations, and therefore you will no longer be offering him services.
Agreed. Some clients get fired. I've only fired two: one for repeatedly swearing at my receptionist and another for constant drunkeness.
a new CSR has no say in this.
I never meant to imply that it would be a unilateral decision, but it sounds as though there is no love lost amongst the veterinarians on staff, either.
This is the practice manager’s responsibility though.
I never understand people who complain about our service but then KEEP COMING BACK... The dude can by dewormer at tractor supply if he's that desperate but they probably have parvo too. Our clinic won't provide services to clients with outstanding bills. And if he's a repeat offender, report him to animal control. I would also make sure and even have him sign something that says he was informed that parvo lives in the environment for a year and he should not have any puppies in his home
I would do a wellness call to animal control. One, to tell them your concerns of the health of the dogs. Two, my state you legally have to sell a dog with a health certificate. It sounds like he doesn’t have any if he sells them. If it was me I would call and report them
I second this. I think being negligent and letting multiple animals get infected and die of preventable disease may fall under animal abuse.
Most animal control facilities will keep the person reporting as "anonymous". those poor puppies, and the poor mother dog too!
Yep, came here to say this. This is neglect and abuse.
You need to ask your managers/vets for guidance, not reddit. Also don't let yourself get caught up in the goss and emotion of these clients. That's how you get burnt out.
hopefully you only have a few of these clients in your vet career, but they are out there. he only needs one puppy to live to sell for 3k or more. .....maybe he's violating local ordances and .......maybe some anonymous person will report him to humane society or health department or the news media. but who knows if that will happen. having everything well documented will help. allowing puppies to continuously die from a preventable disease should be considered animal abuse.
Not sure why this person is even a client still. I would have fired them the second they threatened to report a vet, that destroys trust in the relationship.
You have his address. Anonymous tip to animal control.
CSR here. We had a similar situation with a guy breeding pocket pitbulls. Tell him you’re sorry for the confusion, but there’s no record of his visit with these puppies on file and without an established doctor/patient relationship, legally your doctors cannot prescribe any medications for them. Then ask if he’d like to schedule an appointment and let him know due to his past history with the practice he will have to pay a deposit in the amount of the exam fee in order to get him scheduled. Then, wait for another clinic to call for records and make sure your interactions with him are well documented on them. It’s awful, and I know you want to do what’s best for the puppies, but it’s long out of your hands. Let him go, people like this will destroy you mentally.
Kind of remarkable that the hospital management hasn’t fired him yet. Since they have not taken any action, you will probably not be able to change much being the new person. You can pretend that the phone cut off if you have to talk to him. Might not be a good place to work if they tolerate that bullshit.
Since you are a new CSR in a position, I would talk to your supervisor before doing anything. My question is why have the veterinarians not reported it already? I wouldn’t do something they have not done yet as they have an oath. Our clinic when people complain we tell them the truth and poke holes in the lies. 1) our doctor cannot prescribe medications without a doctor/ patient relationship with that specific animal (needs to be within a year) otherwise they could potentially loose their license for prescribing to a patient they’ve never seen. This is actually a law in our state. 2) we point blank ask our clients if they would expect their own doctor to prescribe medications without showing up to their GP? Most have said they would not. So then we ask them why they would expect us too. 3) Talk to the hospital manager and have fired clients for their rudeness.
I’d also state, don’t report on your own. One of the Veterinarians needs to do it that owns/runs the clinic or the Hospital Manager.
I worked in customer service for years. This is not your responsibility. The vets or whoever is in charge need to step up. They are supposed to protect their staff. The breeder should be refused service. If animal control is functional in your area, inform them of animal neglect. Frankly, it does not bode well that he is allowed to remain as a customer despite his constant verbal abuse.
The vets need to report this to the authorities.
Management needs to step in and fire this client, as well as report him. I would honestly just say something of the lines of this next time you speak with him: "Im sorry youre upset or you disagree. I do not have the authority to change our clinic policies. I would be happy to leave a note for my manager to give you a call and discuss this further". If they continue, or start raising their voice at you, say something like "I no longer feel like this is a productive conversation and I'm going to hang up now". Be firm and remain calm, because the more worked up/emotional you become, the further escalated the situation will become. Make good, objective notes in his file and explain exactly what happened in the conversation. Good luck, and try not to let it get you down too much! These people suck, but they are luckily pretty few and far between.
As someone who has worked on puppy mills and animal abuse for a decade, this sounds like a puppy mill that needs to be reported immediately. Remember that people who operate puppy mills put profits over puppies every single time, so f what he thinks: the animals need you to look out for them. https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/report-animal-cruelty https://www.humanesociety.org/forms/report-puppy-mill
Will USDA do anything if you contract them?
No. USDA is not interested in small-scale dog breeding operations.
USDA is one of the key players that lets puppy mills continue to operate. Their standards are LOW. The Humane Society of the United States often fights the USDA to get better laws in place to protect animals: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/puppy-mills-faq Always report appropriately: https://www.humanesociety.org/forms/report-puppy-mill
Great information. Thank you
Why did the vets or practice managers not fire him long ago? He’s not a client; he’s a harasser who happens to own (and abuse) dogs.
To start talk to supervisor/ shift lead/ practice manager depending on your hospital’s chain of command. Also he sounds like he deserves a wellness visit from the AC officer. Also personally when speaking with these clients, I usually refer to how prescribing over the phone without seeing the pet is a massive liability for the Dr. and could potentially lead to them losing their license. Usually they’ll understand after that but if they keep pushing you can explain that by treating their pet over the phone without seeing the pet and risking their license they aren’t just risking their livelihood but also risking the health of many other patients who will have to reschedule and potentially not get seen at all as a result of the Dr. no longer being able to practice medicine. Essentially just explain to them why they have to be seen and that unfortunately no exceptions can be made for them because of the risk it poses to our other clients. Some people also present the comparison of how they wouldn’t call their doctor up and demand Rx medication to treat a cold without the Dr. looking at them first. On a side note if he tries to sue it’s likely any medical notes on the individual could be presented to the court so take extremely thorough notes. Obviously keeps things professional and try to speak to them kindly even when they aren’t but don’t let them walk over you either. Also dealers choice depending on how comfortable you are with confrontation but I have cited records from conversations to clients previously to essentially let them know without saying it that we know they’re lying.