Which?: Owners face ‘David and Goliath battle’ resolving vet complaints
Which? found the third most common issue was the quality of care (23%), followed by customer service (22%), not being given the relevant information (16%), being charged the wrong price (11%) and the vet or vet practice making a mistake (11%)
Pet owners are facing a “David and Goliath battle” in order to resolve vet complaints as the current system is “designed to protect vets”, according to Which?.
The consumer champion found that in a survey of over 1,000 pet owners who have faced some kind of problem with their vet or vet practice in the past two years, pricing was the most common issue experienced.
Over half (53%) said the price of care or treatment was excessive, while a quarter (27%) said the price was higher than they thought it would be.
Which? found the third most common issue was the quality of care (23%), followed by customer service (22%), not being given the relevant information (16%), being charged the wrong price (11%) and the vet or vet practice making a mistake (11%).
Which? said The first port of call when making a complaint about a vet or vet practice is usually the practice itself, which can make the process “awkward at best”. Many of the pet owners in the Which? survey who had been put off from making a claim said they did not think they would be successful (38%), did not want to fall out with their vet (33%) or did not know how to complain in the first place (16%).
It also found that very few pet owners then go on to escalate the complaint. Those that do, however, find that the options available are “often inadequate”.
Rocio Concha, Which? director of Policy and Advocacy, said: “Millions of people in the UK consider their pets to be part of the family, so it is completely unjust that many pet owners feel not only unhappy with the service and treatment received by their vet when their pet is taken ill, but also lack the means to make a complaint that will be properly investigated.
“It’s clear that the regulation of vet services is outdated and needs an overhaul in order to work for pets and their owners. Vet practices need to be completely upfront about pricing and the treatment needed as well as provide pet owners with the information they need to make a complaint and escalate it if necessary. There also needs to be a veterinary ombudsman to provide a comprehensive and mandatory alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme for when issues cannot be resolved at the practice level.”
Which?’s research comes at a time when the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the veterinary services sector for pets amid concerns that pet owners are “not getting a fair deal”.
