Vets complaints service for pet owners ‘completely unjust’, says consumer body
Britain’s pet owners are being underserved by the vet industry’s complaints service, according to a leading consumer body.
Which? found that the complaints process is “often stacked against pet owners”, with owners put off making a complaint and limited help for those that do.
The findings come amid a watchdog probe into the vet sector, which is looking into concerns that pet owners aren’t getting value for money from vet services.
In its most recent published papers on the topic, the watchdog found that customers had a limited choice of services and said that the price of vet services has risen faster than inflation.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: “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.”
More than half of pet owners surveyed by the consumer body said the price of treatment was excessive, with more than a quarter reporting that the cost was higher than expected.
The third most common issue was the quality of care received, followed by issues with customer service, missing information and incorrect pricing.
Vets face more complaints
Which? said that consumers who wanted to complain were put off by their pet’s vet or did not know how to complain, with “very few” escalating the issue.
In February, the Competition and Markets Authority said that while it was “aware that this is a sector which has undergone significant changes over the last 10 year [but] consumers face difficulties in making informed choices about the services they buy.”
“There appears to be limited information available to pet owners about price, options available, quality of services and (in some cases) ownership of vet businesses,” it said.
In its response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s February findings, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, suggested that a “requirement to have an internal complaints policy and to report complaints data to the regulator by theme”, could be an effected way to monitor price.
The industry body also “agree[d] that it could be mandatory for practices to have a complaints-handling process”. It also supported the establishment of a veterinary Ombudsman to handle complaints.