Our Return Policy

     We are extremely lucky as a hospital that new members of our community reach out to us for their pets’ healthcare needs. We have a high volume of phone calls that are specifically about bringing pets in for an initial visit.

     However, it unfortunately has become common for individuals to schedule an appointment with us, only to not show up for the appointment, without calling us to reschedule.

Whenever an appointment is missed, time is lost that could have been utilized to help another pet in need. It also strains our technician staff.

     Because of this, we ask for a pre-payment of $65 for any new patient, regardless whether or not the client is brand new or long standing. This pre-payment goes towards your pet’s care, no matter what is included in their treatment plan for that day. 

     For any patient that is being seen by our urgent care team who is not an established client with us, we take a non-refundable $206 deposit, which covers the cost of the doctor's exam, instead of the $65. This is a common practice for urgent care facilities and we remain compliant with industry best practices. This deposit is collected before the exam or any other treatments are performed and is non-negotiable.

     If a scheduled appointment is missed without a 24 hours’ notice of cancellation, the pre-payment will be absorbed by the hospital as a cancellation fee and is non-refundable. We can be reached directly at info@happytailsvethospital.com.

     Clients must notify us by email, phone, or Otto Vet messenger that they are unable to make their appointment at least 24 hours before their appointment is scheduled to begin. If an appointment is missed, and we do not receive 24 hours’ notice, a $35 “broken appointment fee” will be charged to the card we have on file.

     If you are scheduling a surgery or ultrasound with us, we will collect a non-refundable $250 deposit at time of booking which will be used towards your scheduled services. We are able to reschedule your appointment without penalty, the $250 deposit will still be credited to your new scheduled time. If you outright cancel the appointment then we will absorb the deposit as a cancellation fee.

     If a client calls but must leave a voicemail, it will be recognized as proper notice, as long as the time stamp on the message is at least 24 hours in advance.

     If a client calls and would like to reschedule their appointment for a later time in the day we will waive the fee, but only if we have the availability for your appointment. If we do not have the availability, then we will still charge the broken appointment fee.

     This policy only applies to patients that have already had at least one completed appointment with our hospital.

     We would like to thank all of our clients, old and new, for their time, patience, and understanding.

     We are currently partnered with Scribblevet, which is a speech-to-text AI software our doctors use to record their exam and treatment notes for every patient. This encrypted software records conversations and dictation from our team members, and formats the recordings into a SOAP format (the most common format for veterinarians to take exam notes).

      Our doctors and team members, whoever is the first person at your appointment to begin recording, will ask for your permission to record the visit for note taking purposes (if you have never given consent before). The software will note if permission is given by you, the client, to record the visit. Each recording is kept on a heavily encrypted cloud-based portal that only our veterinarians have access to. We treat each recording with the same respect to privacy as any other medical record or financial record. Scribblevet does not participate in data-mining practices, a modern advertising tactic we do not take lightly.

     This software is incredibly crucial to our appointment flow and our doctors' note-taking process, saving more than 4 hours every day devoted to typing exam notes. As per Maryland law, we must have your consent to record. If you decline us recording the visit, the veterinarian has every right not to service you for the appointment, it is ultimately up to their discretion.

      Our team loves this software, it is a time-saver and aids in accuracy and follow-through. We thank you very much for your understanding and your cooperation!

     We are a privately owned professional practice, therefore we have no obligation to service clients who do not take their time with us seriously, who are violent or abusive, or who do not pay their bills or keep their appointments.

The following extreme behaviors by clients will not be tolerated. They will result in our termination of the Veterinarian-Client-Patient-Relationship immediately. If you are to engage in any of these behaviors then we will release your medical records and deny service to you and your pets, current or future.

• Using offensive and demeaning language including curse words, derogatory or belittling speech, or discriminatory slurs targeting our staff or doctors (sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc)
•  Being physically violent or threatening physical violence. We consider bother verbal and physical cues as well as written word when determing what a threat is. This can include, but is not limited to, things like saying you will fight a staff member in an exam room, writing a review where you threaten to harm a staff member at a later date, or lifting your fist in a staff member's face, among other threats. If you harm a staff member on premises, during or after business hours, we WILL contact the police.
• Refusing to intervene when a pet turns violent, or making light of, making fun of, or laughing at a staff member's distress or injuries when the pet becomes violent.
• Consistently- for three executive appointments- declining treatments for any reason. We understand that people have financial and time contraints, however, for some, rejecting treatments is a pattern. We do not have the time or capacity to keep treating pets whose owners will not work with us on providing the actual care a pet needs.
• Negotiating pricing in any way. Our prices are what they are and they are non-negotiable. We will not tolerate haggling or the bartering of services or goods in exchange for free or reduced care for your pet.
• Consistently paying bills late or not paying bills at all. If you are unable to pay for goods and services upon discharge on three separate occassions, we have a right to terminate you.
• Having 3 no-call-no-shows in one year's time will be grounds for termination. If you are not able to keep your scheduled appointemnts and do not grant us the courtesy of informing us of cancellations or rescheduling, it makes it nearly impossible to have a Veterinarian-Client-Patient-Relationship.

We thank all of our respectful clients who take our policies seriously and greatly appreciate everyone's business.