ComplaintsforAffordable Pet Care

• Initial Complaint

  10/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I was charged $165.32 on October 3, 2023. I never received service that day from them. My dog has not been seen in almost a year at this vet office. Someone in office used my information and withdraw $165.32 on my card. That day on October 3, I went to the office to tell them what happened. No, one in the office was able to help me. I asked around with other people in the area saying the same thing. That this happened to them to. Where they were charged extra fees on service they never received. They to refused to help them. I hope that something can be done to resolve this problem, so it never happens again to someone else.

  Business response

  10/31/2023

  Dear BBB,
  I am greatly dismayed by the experience this client had and by the frustrating misinformation we received from our credit card processing company (hereafter, CC co.).  The amount this client was charged erroneously could easily be a grocery bill or a car payment. And we take that very seriously.  Unfortunately, a new employee made a huge error, which was further compounded by my CC co. not being thorough and by my absence, as I am usually the one who handles refunds. 
  

  It is my understanding that this client came into our vet office to purchase flea and tick preventative on 10/2/23.  The person at the front desk was a new employee and, though this purchase requires a current exam (within the last year), she added the charge and swiped a credit card.  In our records, this pet was last seen on 8/30/22. Our new employee's trainer overheard the transaction and intervened.  The new employee voided the transaction but, being new, she failed to click on the button marked "void and refund." So, in our records the invoice is marked "voided, funds not returned." 

  We reconcile our financial records regularly. So, a week later on 10/11/23, another employee noticed we had received funds from this client that should have been refunded.  She initiated a refund directly through the CC co. 
  
  On 10/16/23, the client came in asking why her refund had not gone through yet. Two experienced employees called the CC co. (multiple times) and confirmed that the transaction had been initiated correctly on our end and gave her a confirmation number.  Further, a CC co. representative spoke with the client.  My employees reported that the rep said the refund was done and "it will just take time" for the funds to appear in the client's account. 
  
  When I returned, I checked the CC co. records looking for the Authorization (initiation) and the Settlement (completion) for both the charge and the refund.  I found both entries for the charge but for the refund I only found the Authorization. It never settled.  

  In short, my new employee made the first mistake: charging a card and then not immediately voiding and refunding the amount.  Then my subsequent employees, not having been trained to refund directly, reached out to CC co. to remedy the situation since I usually handle these things and were told the refund was done.  The client was told this as well. This was completely incorrect.  The refund was initiated but not settled.  By the time our client called to double check (10/16/23), employees of our CC co. would have been able to see that the refund had not settled, and could have corrected the error.
  
  I have corrected the error today by initiating and settling the refund directly from the original transaction.  I accept responsibility for training my new employees better.  I have also shown an experienced employee how to double check the CC co. so this does not happen again.  I completely agree with the client that this is inexcusable and strive to make sure it does not happen again.  The fact that this took 29 days is just terrible.  I cannot apologize enough.
  
  Sincerely,
  ***********************

  Customer response

  11/01/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Its Nov 1, I have still not received my refund. I'm hoping to receive in a timely manner. Thank you for your consideration.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩