In March I noticed a tumor growing on my seven year old German Shepherd's front leg. I asked the already extremely rude male receptionist if he could give me an estimate on how much the biopsy was going to cost, and he appraised "$300-$500". I brought her in in the morning and the female receptionist heavily pressured me to add expensive add-ons like $50 for IV fluids and $100 for a Lyme disease test. When I said that I didn't think these were necessary, she wouldn't take no for an answer. Fast forward 6hrs and the man at the counter has been consistently rude to me about when I can pick her up. Finally, I was allowed to pick her up (at 5PM, when I was originally told around 2PM) and Dr. Hays explained that based on her X-rays, he was certain that she has cancer. Finally, after waiting and crying in the lobby I got to the counter to pay. They handed me an invoice for $950. Here are some of the charges: $16 for a table covering, $33 for a catheter, $15 for gauze, $30 for the staples, $132 for the time of the surgery, $27 for a surgical pack, $22 for surgical site prep, $22 for use of the surgery room, $5 for gloves, etc. I asked how they can charge me over twice what I was quoted in an estimate, and the things they said to me after this point were so unbelievable that I had to keep my husband on the phone so he could hear it. It was absolutely the most unprofessional experience I've ever had at a business. Of course, they threatened to keep my dog hostage until I pay. Then they said things like "You should have known how much it was going to cost", "You love her don't you, what's the problem?" and several other things, including cursing at me. They called me a liar directly to my face, and told me that the man never gave me an estimate. And then after a VERY shady exchange, they started haggling with me. "How does $750 sound?" "500?" "We knew money was going to be a problem with you." I'm actually REALLY well off, money is no issue for me- I just don't dress like it. And when I take my dog to the vet I drive a very old car because she can't jump up into my SUV anymore. When I told them that I was going to spread the word about their business they lowered their price to $230, because "that was the price of the biopsy".
Moving forward, after a week I started calling every two or three days asking about the results for her biopsy because they told me it should take a week at most. I kept getting short, rude answers from the male receptionist, so finally I stopped calling. Three or four more days went by, and I began to think they were withholding the results. I called, and the female who answered took a look in our file. It turns out they were just sitting on the results, which had been in for days. She told me the results were just "benign". I then took my dog to another vet for a second opinion.
Second opinion: The three-inch, *seven staple* gash that Dr. Hays left on my dog's wrist was apparently completely unnecessary- but I'll get to that in a moment. The biopsy results were not actually "benign"-- they were inconclusive/non-diagnostic. That means that there was not a good enough sample taken from her to get results. They completely butchered my dog's leg for no reason. Due to the unsatisfactory bone sample taken at Button Brand, I had to subject my dog to yet another biopsy. This time, I took her to Ruidoso. Ruidoso was able to take three separate bone samples and get this-- each one only needed ONE stitch, and their incisions were no more than two centimeters. WHY DID BUTTON BRAND CUT HER OVER THREE INCHES!? Finally, Ruidoso charged me $500 for her biopsy, where Button Brand invoiced me for over $900.
Bottom line: Using Button Brand for her initial biopsy may have cost us extremely valuable time in our attempts to save her life. My dog was operated on pointlessly by him because the sample was inconclusive, and the cut was massive. Waiting and waiting while they were sitting on her "results" cost me weeks in trying to treat what other veterinarians are telling me is most likely cancer. I'm not even convinced that they were sent off to a real pathologist, because our new vet has not been able to reach the pathologist who wrote the report. Dr. Hays has no business treating pets, and his staff is rude in a way that is utterly shocking. He price gouges and will charge you for the air he breathes while operating on your animal ($15 for gauze!?). Not to mention that they blatantly told me they didn't think I could afford her care. I would not trust him to operate on any pet, judging by the massive 7-staple wound he left for one biopsy, where another veterinarian was able to make with one tiny stitch. Stay away! This is a shady business! read more