Not literally but interested to know what industries have made you say that. Had to take the cat to the vet yesterday - very listless and off his food which never happens. And a very upset mum so off I went. Don't get me wrong, they are great. Got him home last night after antibiotics and a blood test which led to thyroid medication and a couple of other jabs. Much more himself now.
Decided that as it would likely be around £200, I would make a judgement call on using insurance which is £99 excess and 20% co payment. Needn't have worried as it was £410!
Every 2 injections were £18. That doesn't include the medicine. Cost of him staying there for 8 hours? £40. £120 gets you a half decent hotel room. Blood test was £150. Doesn't take many of them to pay for the machine. Maybe modern costs for staff mean it is fair but seems a tad steep.
So what other industries do you feel use the same mark up because they can? Beer at big events and service stations taken as read.
Another vote for dentists.
About 7 years ago I hadn't been to a dentist in about 15 years. Never felt the need to. Told my then girlfriend that fact and she flipped out and insisted I went right away. To keep the peace I registered with a local surgery and went for a check up. All fine except the dentist told me I grind my teeth in my sleep and I needed a night guard. Was charged £280 for basically a gumshield which I could have got in any sports shop for a fiver. Wore it about five times and it was bloody uncomfortable and I would always wake up with it on my pillow in the morning.
Fast forward 5 years and I'm still going to the same practice but only once a year. Turn up for an appointment and my previous dentist has left and been replaced. Have the check up and she tells me my teeth are fine......but I grind them and need a mouth guard. I tell her in no uncertain terms I do not and she starts giving me a load of waffle about trying a different brand and how they have improved in the last five years. I still point blank refuse at which point she tells me I need a filling! 5 minutes ago my teeth were fine! I had the filling but haven't been back.
Last year I chipped a tiny bit of tooth off so just wanted the tooth smooth off. Registered with another practice who gave me a 30 minute check up for the bargain price of £30!! This place had all the toys and he was showing me an xray of my teeth on a giant TV and pointing out everything that was wrong with them....you can see here blah blah blah. I couldn't see a ****ing thing because I'm not a ****ing dentist. Long story short that £30 check up ended up costing me £480!
I'm going back to my theory if there is nothing wrong with them then I don't need to see a dentist.
Dentists
My lad had an emergency appointment yesterday at the dentist, for a searing pain in his jaw.
Dentist fitted him in an hour after his call, took a look, identifying an infection caused by wisdom tooth pushing through - wrote him a prescription for antibiotics, and didn’t charge anything.
Seemingly not all bandits.
Vets (and dentists) have to study and train for about 8 years I think? And the equipment and medicines they use take highly qualified and experiences people ages to develop and test. Is it any wonder they’re expensive?
Could this have something to do with this organization I have heard about called....what is it? National.....National Health Service!
Sadly it will never catch on.
And there's the classic confusion. NHS dental treatment is NOT free!
It is for kids though
Pay peanuts get a monkey…wouldn’t want one of those doing my teeth….obviously lack of NHS dentists drives some people into going private.
No one likes paying …This won’t apply to dentists, but how many times have I heard “how much for cash”….course it doesn’t matter that it’s cheating the system ….by not paying a tax that in part goes to fund the NHS.
Fortunately the ‘private’ one i go to isn’t outrageous..still expensive mind ..but I’d never criticise the service they give ..especially when I’m in the chair ..mouth wide open and she’s got a drill in her hand
In these circumstances :
Under 18, or under 19 and in full-time education
Receiving low income benefits, or you're under 20 and a dependant of someone receiving low income benefits
In a previous life I investigated NHS dentists and later was involved in chasing people who had incorrectly claimed free NHS dental treatment.