The One With the Letter
I'm sending this to Dr. Boneysocks' boss. Can you guys read it and give me any feedback if you think it's too harsh or should be condensed or something. I'm going to call her as well, but I wanted to have my complaints in writing. She's telling me that my treatment is done, even though she's done nothing to help me, and it will cost more money from here on out. I've already spent $1,000 on this. Anyway, here's the letter with all name references changed for privacy.
Dear Dr. Boss:
In July, I scheduled an appointment with you because of a referral I received from someone in my dog training circle. Because I live in Los Angeles, I was scheduled with Dr. Boneysocks on the one day a month that someone from your office visits AVCC. I brought you my Akita mix, Muggsy, who I have been working with for several months on desensitization and classical conditioning, because the poor guy is constantly stressed. I cannot seem to work with him below-threshold because he is stressed out by every noise he hears and every situation he finds himself in. I was worried that he was hypothyroid and wanted a blood test. I also wanted to discuss the possibility of anti-anxiety medication in the event that we have done all we can do from a training standpoint. I spent several months desensitizing Muggsy to a muzzle and teaching him a go-behind-a-door exercise that would allow us to draw blood in preparation for this visit. I attended with my boss, who has 14 years of experience in training dogs, specializing in aggression issues.
From the beginning, it was clear that Dr. Boneysocks did not have the experience necessary to properly treat my dog. Her only new training suggestion for me was to teach him targeting, and she was very hesitant in handling him behind the door. Since Muggsy is very gun-shy with medical professionals, especially those who are nervous around him, blood could not be drawn. She was very timid with him, making it clear to me that she had very little experience in dealing with aggressive dogs. In addition, she showed me the wrong way to hold his leg for the blood draw as I was later corrected by a vet tech at another veterinary facility, where, I might add, the blood draw went very smoothly. Though I had stated that the decision to medicate Muggsy was a hard one for me because I would prefer to train him and though I mentioned that Muggsy had not been to a vet in two years because of his nervousness toward veterinarians, she still suggested if necessary, we could put Muggsy on medication without a blood test. I find this appalling. Everyone who has heard this story finds this appalling. I returned with Muggsy to get a blood draw with vet techs who had confidence in handling him, which ended up costing me an extra $300 more than the initial $450 appointment in lab costs and tech handling fees.
After the blood draw, Dr. Boneysocks was attending a conference and did not return several e-mails or phone calls. It took a week and a half to get the results of the blood test, and I got them from AVCC. Two phone calls after receiving the blood test, Dr. Boneysocks finally returned my calls to discuss these with me. This was almost a month where I was receiving no treatment from Dr. Boneysocks.
The results of the blood test came back with Muggsy’s thyroid level labeled “gray area.” According to several studies I have read by experts, his level would require thyroid treatment. Dr. Boneysocks told me that she refused to treat him for thyroid but would not answer any of my questions why. When pressed, she responded, “You have to trust my medical expertise. If you don’t, you can go see someone else.” I find this completely unacceptable. I have had medical problems throughout the years and always question my doctors on my treatment. Not one of them has ever made me feel like Dr. Boneysocks . It took more than a month for her to tell me why she didn’t agree with Dr. Expert's thyroid testing practices. If she felt strongly about this, she should have helped educate me on the best medical care for my dog. That’s what I was paying her to do. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t research their diagnosis by a medical professional and question it. Any reputable doctor will have no problem answering those questions and certainly won’t tell someone to just get another veterinarian if they question their diagnosis with legitimate questions. She made catty comments at both me and my boss, further making me feel small and troublesome. I was so displeased with her treatment that I sought a second opinion, which cost me another $150 in blood tests. For the record, I got excellent treatment and received the results with a call from the doctor herself, not the vet tech, the very next day.
Because of the money I have spent with your company, however, I have elected to continue my treatment with you. She has written me a prescription for Paxil, which, because of her time at the conference and time in getting a second opinion due to her incompetence, I have just introduced into Muggsy’s system. A week into it, there is no change in Muggsy’s behavior at all, which I know is completely normal.
However, she has informed me that my last chance for a follow-up without additional charges is September. She has informed me that you or Dr. Other Doctor will be doing that follow-up, not her. It’s clear that she no longer wants to deal with me. After all I have dealt with, I can’t believe she is being so inflexible with my follow-up appointment. There won’t be anything to talk about in early September, and it would be much more beneficial to have a follow-up appointment once the medication has made changes in Muggsy’s behavior. In addition, I will have to pay $75 to have e-mail correspondence with her after this? When it is her job to treat Muggsy and she has done nothing so far to contribute to his getting better? I need someone to help me adjust dosage if necessary or change medication if this doesn’t prove to be the right match. She has suggested that I just pass this task along to my local veterinarian, but I went to a specialist because I wanted the additional expertise. She has done nothing to earn her $450, and I’m certainly not comfortable passing this along to a regular veterinarian when I haven’t received any care from her.
Half of my three months have been wasted waiting for her to return phone calls and work with me on medication. I can’t justify paying even more when I haven’t received my money’s worth from the initial appointment. At the very least, I would like to request working with you for my follow-up and any future communication because I would like a doctor with enough expertise to properly access my dog. I deserve that, at the very least. She clearly doesn’t have the experience to work with a difficult dog like Muggsy, and instead of treating me with the respect that I deserve and telling me that she is not the right person to work with me, she handled it by putting me off and insulting me with catty and condescending comments. My dog deserves the best care that money can buy. I certainly haven’t gotten it here.
By the time you read this, we will have already discussed this, but I wanted you to have my complaints in writing. My dog’s care is very important to me, and I should feel that it’s important to you as well.
Thank you,
Rachel Green and her dog, Muggsy
Dear Dr. Boss:
In July, I scheduled an appointment with you because of a referral I received from someone in my dog training circle. Because I live in Los Angeles, I was scheduled with Dr. Boneysocks on the one day a month that someone from your office visits AVCC. I brought you my Akita mix, Muggsy, who I have been working with for several months on desensitization and classical conditioning, because the poor guy is constantly stressed. I cannot seem to work with him below-threshold because he is stressed out by every noise he hears and every situation he finds himself in. I was worried that he was hypothyroid and wanted a blood test. I also wanted to discuss the possibility of anti-anxiety medication in the event that we have done all we can do from a training standpoint. I spent several months desensitizing Muggsy to a muzzle and teaching him a go-behind-a-door exercise that would allow us to draw blood in preparation for this visit. I attended with my boss, who has 14 years of experience in training dogs, specializing in aggression issues.
From the beginning, it was clear that Dr. Boneysocks did not have the experience necessary to properly treat my dog. Her only new training suggestion for me was to teach him targeting, and she was very hesitant in handling him behind the door. Since Muggsy is very gun-shy with medical professionals, especially those who are nervous around him, blood could not be drawn. She was very timid with him, making it clear to me that she had very little experience in dealing with aggressive dogs. In addition, she showed me the wrong way to hold his leg for the blood draw as I was later corrected by a vet tech at another veterinary facility, where, I might add, the blood draw went very smoothly. Though I had stated that the decision to medicate Muggsy was a hard one for me because I would prefer to train him and though I mentioned that Muggsy had not been to a vet in two years because of his nervousness toward veterinarians, she still suggested if necessary, we could put Muggsy on medication without a blood test. I find this appalling. Everyone who has heard this story finds this appalling. I returned with Muggsy to get a blood draw with vet techs who had confidence in handling him, which ended up costing me an extra $300 more than the initial $450 appointment in lab costs and tech handling fees.
After the blood draw, Dr. Boneysocks was attending a conference and did not return several e-mails or phone calls. It took a week and a half to get the results of the blood test, and I got them from AVCC. Two phone calls after receiving the blood test, Dr. Boneysocks finally returned my calls to discuss these with me. This was almost a month where I was receiving no treatment from Dr. Boneysocks.
The results of the blood test came back with Muggsy’s thyroid level labeled “gray area.” According to several studies I have read by experts, his level would require thyroid treatment. Dr. Boneysocks told me that she refused to treat him for thyroid but would not answer any of my questions why. When pressed, she responded, “You have to trust my medical expertise. If you don’t, you can go see someone else.” I find this completely unacceptable. I have had medical problems throughout the years and always question my doctors on my treatment. Not one of them has ever made me feel like Dr. Boneysocks . It took more than a month for her to tell me why she didn’t agree with Dr. Expert's thyroid testing practices. If she felt strongly about this, she should have helped educate me on the best medical care for my dog. That’s what I was paying her to do. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t research their diagnosis by a medical professional and question it. Any reputable doctor will have no problem answering those questions and certainly won’t tell someone to just get another veterinarian if they question their diagnosis with legitimate questions. She made catty comments at both me and my boss, further making me feel small and troublesome. I was so displeased with her treatment that I sought a second opinion, which cost me another $150 in blood tests. For the record, I got excellent treatment and received the results with a call from the doctor herself, not the vet tech, the very next day.
Because of the money I have spent with your company, however, I have elected to continue my treatment with you. She has written me a prescription for Paxil, which, because of her time at the conference and time in getting a second opinion due to her incompetence, I have just introduced into Muggsy’s system. A week into it, there is no change in Muggsy’s behavior at all, which I know is completely normal.
However, she has informed me that my last chance for a follow-up without additional charges is September. She has informed me that you or Dr. Other Doctor will be doing that follow-up, not her. It’s clear that she no longer wants to deal with me. After all I have dealt with, I can’t believe she is being so inflexible with my follow-up appointment. There won’t be anything to talk about in early September, and it would be much more beneficial to have a follow-up appointment once the medication has made changes in Muggsy’s behavior. In addition, I will have to pay $75 to have e-mail correspondence with her after this? When it is her job to treat Muggsy and she has done nothing so far to contribute to his getting better? I need someone to help me adjust dosage if necessary or change medication if this doesn’t prove to be the right match. She has suggested that I just pass this task along to my local veterinarian, but I went to a specialist because I wanted the additional expertise. She has done nothing to earn her $450, and I’m certainly not comfortable passing this along to a regular veterinarian when I haven’t received any care from her.
Half of my three months have been wasted waiting for her to return phone calls and work with me on medication. I can’t justify paying even more when I haven’t received my money’s worth from the initial appointment. At the very least, I would like to request working with you for my follow-up and any future communication because I would like a doctor with enough expertise to properly access my dog. I deserve that, at the very least. She clearly doesn’t have the experience to work with a difficult dog like Muggsy, and instead of treating me with the respect that I deserve and telling me that she is not the right person to work with me, she handled it by putting me off and insulting me with catty and condescending comments. My dog deserves the best care that money can buy. I certainly haven’t gotten it here.
By the time you read this, we will have already discussed this, but I wanted you to have my complaints in writing. My dog’s care is very important to me, and I should feel that it’s important to you as well.
Thank you,
Rachel Green and her dog, Muggsy
posted by Rachel at
7:20 PM
3 Comments:
I thought the letter was excellent, a little lengthy, but states all the facts in the proper order, calmly explains your side of the story, references the proper people w/out dropping names (isn't the new doctor you went to like the top of the heap?) The length is probably necessary to fully explain the situation. Personally, I would ask for a partial refund for the poor service received, or at least spell out exactly what you expect: when you expect to be responsible for follow-up charges, including visits and phone calls, i.e. how many follow-up visits you would like to receive without charge.
I think your requests are more than fair and she's lucky you're only reporting her incompentence to her boss and not some board of veterinary care. Good luck. I hope her boss has more sense than she does!!!
By
Monica, at 9:25 AM
This is a terrific letter. Maybe it will do some good - if you were a boss wouldn't you want to know this about your employee. At the very least, it will be a learning experience for Dr. BS (Boneysocks). At the most, you'll get a break on your bill - but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.
By
Diana, at 11:25 AM
Yeah, I didn't like the length either, but I wanted all the facts out there. I don't expect a refund, but I would like to have a little more flexibility on my follow-up appointments since so much time has been lost on Dr. BS's incompetance. I would also like to work with a different doctor. I think I made that clear. I'll let you know what happens. I'm calling today and then sending the letter as well. Thanks for your comments.
By
Rachel, at 11:58 AM
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