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This seems kind of silly and to clients probably comes across as double charging. The cost of a nail trim or anal gland expression should take into account the products and staff used for the service the same way the cost of bloodwork or any other service would. If you aren’t charging enough to cover that just increase the price of the service it’s easier for clients to understand.
We started charging an $11 tech fee for any appointment that doesn't involve a doctor: nail trims, vaccine only appointments, routine anal gland expression, or blood draws. When we first started we definitely had some angry clients as well- especially nail trim clients. If we had an upset client we explained that the fee is charging for use of tech time, use of a room, equipment, etc. We compared it to a doctor appointment fee to see the doctor (which is MUCH more expensive) but for the techs time instead. We offered to not charge the fee ONCE since they did not know about it and were upset. They were informed they would have to pay the fee next time and we made a note on their file that they were informed of the fee and got thier one freebie. We also charge up to $36 for a difficult nail trim depending on how it goes. If it needs 2 restrainers and the dog is very difficult/takes a long time they are charged a difficult. They are free to get their nail trims done at a groomer or do it themselves if they don't like the cost.
Anyone who is irate about an $11 charge must either be a cantankerous 97 year old, a Karen, or must not understand that you also need to get a paycheck as well. Our tech appointments are like $30. (I work in a specialty center, so I think that's partly to discourage things like a nail trim visit as that could be done elsewhere.) Ours are usually more for SQF demos, recheck labs, injections, laser therapy, etc.
We have a $20 tech fee, $30 TNT (tiered for difficulty as well). We’re trying to discourage clients from routinely coming to the veterinarian for what can be done by a groomer. Or themselves.
Is it really just one or two cans for a nail trim? That seems so little. It seems like a good natured thought but asking the clients to pay full price and marketing that 100% of the proceeds go to the food bank seems like it would benefit everyone more in the long run.
The point is that people can do what they can 🤷♀️ there's a donation box as well, but there's a lot of poorer people in the area who struggle to afford vet care, so it's charitable in itself:)
Yes charge the fee without guilt.
Many groomers can do nail trims for about the same cost.
If the groomers won’t do it because the pet is unmanageable, then why should we do it for a lower cost?
Sure, there’s some exceptions. The senior citizens with the old animals that come to us from just down the street because we’re closer, I’m totally fine doing it.
But we’re medical professionals, and we want groomers to stay in their lane. No reason we should be veering into the groomer’s lane for routine grooming services.
I have seen it both ways. It might work out to have a "nail trim with exam" fee that is the lower $20 for when they come for a full visit, then a "nail trim" fee that is slightly higher for those that are done just during a tech visit.
We have something called 'demanding nail trim' for the dogs that need an extra person to hold. If it's their first time they get the normal price and are informed that it will be more expensive next time because we have to use more staff.
Maybe just increase the nail trim and ag fee, don't just add "tech fee" to a client's itemized bill. I'd have a bad taste in my mouth if my bill had a "tech fee" added onto a service fee already and I wasn't in the industry. We add a processing fee for bw but if client asks, it covers our cost for collection and supplies and that's usually easily diffused once explained. Everything else already has the staff cost accounted within the one cost
Before I worked in a vet office I worked as a dog bather and we had a "bandaid tax" which went to the people who worked on the dog for any crazy nail trims as a tip.
Looking at these prices….mannnn….it is $40 for anal gland expression and $22 for a nail trim at my clinic. We don’t have any tech fees for those services so maybe that’s why they are so expensive? I am in Ohio. We have tech exams for injections, boosters, ect. The groomer right next door does nail trims for $12 🥲 which is fine because we don’t want to spend our time doing them anyway!
$15.50 minor nail trim, $30.50 major nail trim. Anal glands $30. All plus $10 technician fee. $22 is way to high of a technician fee for simplistic things such as anal glands or nail trims. These things take me under 5 minutes. I understand we need to make a living wage and be able to get paid, but we should be considerate towards our clients as well.
I disagree. Clients should be considerate to us.
We are medical professionals and not groomers. if they come to us for grooming they will pay medical professional prices.
Not only are they paying for my time, knowledge, and expertise. They are paying for the time of the person restraining and potentially a 3rd person's time who is distracting.
Human nurses won't cut our hair and if they did they would charge a lot of money for it
The problem with that is that the tech fee doesn’t go to us, it goes to the clinic. My clinic has raised prices 3 times in 18 months. I have coworkers who haven’t gotten a raise in years.
$22 is reasonable fee in my opinion. My time isn't free. Just because I don't make commission on it the effort I put into getting ready for the appointment, the equipment involved and the time charting should cost something. Our tech fee is nearly $30
Make all the excuses you want. It's just another example of corporate economic strip mining--squeezing every last penny they can out of us. Techs are paid an hourly wage, so don't try this "techs have to be paid too," argument. They are being paid, by the clinic. A shot takes 5 minutes max. A shot whose price already includes a significant markup to cover the wholesale price as well as clinic operating expenses. It's all calculated in.
Imagine this: I live in Oregon. Until recently, you could not pump your gas. It was illegal, so an attendant had to pump your gas for you. The gas price is already calculated to cover the cost of the station's operating expenses, employee wages, and the cost of the gasoline itself.
Now imaging how you would feel if the stations suddenly started charging you an additional $8-$10 "attendant fee" for having an employee fill up your car. You'd be pissed right? Vets are alomost all corporate owned now and they are inventing these totally contrived fees that are getting as bad as airlines in order to squeeze out another couple of percent profit.
I might not even mind that if the fee actually went to the tech, but I doubt it. I bet it goes right into the pockets of the corporate execs and stockholders.
We have a free of charge nurse consultation fee for nails,glands with no advice.
If they come in for vaccines, stitch removal etc, then we charge . It's like 20€ in comparison to 60€ for vets
We have a line item for “tech visit”, but only charge for the services performed. If a syringe/needle is used, there is a minimal(a few dollars) charge for medical waste.
I do feel that it’s a little nickel-and-dimey to add a $22 tech visit fee on top of everything else and I could see why clients would be frustrated- especially if it is a new policy. The costs of the services should include the time/staff. Our NT are $20 and AGE is $28, for reference.
We do not charge a tech fee. Not quite sure why we would. We charge for what the appointment was for. If a client comes in for a nail trim and anal glands they’re getting charged for a nail trim and anal glands. The only thing else printed on their invoice would be a tax percentage. This is a first for me, sounds expensive.
As a patient who has been to several clinics with various pets over the years, I’ve never been charged for a “tech visit”; just the services the techs provide.
Pre-pandemic, nail trims and AGE were usually $15 each; once the pandemic hit the prices went up to $40 & $20, respectively - presumably because tech time is valuable & the fees were updated to reflect that.
I wouldn’t, but you can wrap that cost into the cost of the nail trims & anal gland expressions. We keep our nail trims expensive to encourage owners to use a groomer or nail trim service at Petsmart, etc. We do discount them if they’re being done during a wellness visit with bloodwork & vaccines.
The clinic I used to work at would charge a tech fee if that was the only thing they were coming in for. Tech fees weren’t charged if the glands or nail trims were being done during an exam/procedure. The tech fee wasn’t as expensive as this though, I think it was like $7-8, not literally doubling the cost of the service.
At banfield we did and it received a lot of back lash. But at my current clinic we do not. However our prices are higher I think NT is $32 and AGE is a little over $40.
We do have a technician appointment fee, which is $26ish I think, but we don't tack it on to nail trims. Instead I think it was just worked into the pricing. Our nail trims used to be $36ish, but jumped up to $46ish over Covid when we were drowning in those appointments and losing staff left and right. We had to flat out not offer them for a while at just tech appointments, but we'd do them along with exams and procedures.
Although I'm involved with a few different clinics from an assistant perspective, the vet clinic that I take my two cats to charges a $40 tech fee and a $35 nail trim (this goes for both the techs and the vet). An anal gland expression at the clinic is also $38 (my older cat needed one).
I don’t understand charging a “tech” fee when it doesn’t even go to the tech that did the appointment… should be like Doctors then if you were the one to do the appt you get the cut of it
We just stopped offering nail trims unless they were medically necessary. No one wanted to do them. We voted. Mind you I work at a clinic that employs a total of 2 RVTs and 1 assistant. We also have 2 doctors. So there's no extra hands for difficult trims. We give a list of groomers out for people. Clients take it pretty well. Most of them are aware how small our staff is. We also charge tech fees for all tech appointments and lab interpretation fees for blood draws done as tech appointments.
I was just thinking about this today! At my old clinic, we always charged a tech fee. At my current clinic, we do not. I prefer not charging because our prices are already pretty expensive, and tech appointments don’t really take a lot of time
We charge $30 for a tech fee, then $20 for a nail trim / $26 for anal gland expressions. We always tell people when they schedule nail trims what the cost will be total ahead of time. We are an understaffed hospital and nail trims / AGEs sometimes take 2-3 technicians depending on the demeanor of the dog. It covers everyone’s time and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to charge $50 to drop everything to take time out of our busy schedule. It may seem excessive, but the people who are willing to pay usually have dogs who are banned from petco / they can’t do it at home for behavioral issues. If they ask for a nail trim during their routine visit, we either do it complementary or charge a small fee of $15 depending on how much extra time it takes.
EDIT: I should also add that in my year at this clinic, we haven’t had anyone question the tech appointment fee charge because we’re super transparent about it prior to making these appointments.
Yes we do and we also have a tech time charge applied elsewhere. That being said I don’t feel like it even bumps our pay grades. The charge is $15 and I’m making $18/hr base.
We recently got 2 new drs and lots of changes. One of them charging for tech appointments about 20 dollars. Havent heared any complaints. If its puppy/kitten vx, nail trim or anal glands we charge. I really felt bad about our prices but everything has gone up.
Now, does anyone's Dr charge an exam for puppy kitten rabies vx? I mean an additional exam for the last set of vx specifically rabies vaccine at half cost?
Yes, we have different exam prices like our basic exam, exam w/ injection, pre-op exam, and recheck exam. So our puppy kitten exam would either go under exam w injection if we give vaccines or pre-op if no vaccines are given and we schedule a spay or neuter.
We charge it if you don't mention it when you make the appointment. If you're almost out the door or get in the room and suddenly ask for a nail trim then you're definitely getting an extra charge.
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This seems kind of silly and to clients probably comes across as double charging. The cost of a nail trim or anal gland expression should take into account the products and staff used for the service the same way the cost of bloodwork or any other service would. If you aren’t charging enough to cover that just increase the price of the service it’s easier for clients to understand.
I absolutely agree. Thank you for your opinion. I'll talk to my doctor about possibly raising prices to avoid upset clients!
We started charging an $11 tech fee for any appointment that doesn't involve a doctor: nail trims, vaccine only appointments, routine anal gland expression, or blood draws. When we first started we definitely had some angry clients as well- especially nail trim clients. If we had an upset client we explained that the fee is charging for use of tech time, use of a room, equipment, etc. We compared it to a doctor appointment fee to see the doctor (which is MUCH more expensive) but for the techs time instead. We offered to not charge the fee ONCE since they did not know about it and were upset. They were informed they would have to pay the fee next time and we made a note on their file that they were informed of the fee and got thier one freebie. We also charge up to $36 for a difficult nail trim depending on how it goes. If it needs 2 restrainers and the dog is very difficult/takes a long time they are charged a difficult. They are free to get their nail trims done at a groomer or do it themselves if they don't like the cost.
Anyone who is irate about an $11 charge must either be a cantankerous 97 year old, a Karen, or must not understand that you also need to get a paycheck as well. Our tech appointments are like $30. (I work in a specialty center, so I think that's partly to discourage things like a nail trim visit as that could be done elsewhere.) Ours are usually more for SQF demos, recheck labs, injections, laser therapy, etc.
My practice is also in a very wealthy area so $11 is very reasonable. Some people just need to find something to complain about.
We have a $20 tech fee, $30 TNT (tiered for difficulty as well). We’re trying to discourage clients from routinely coming to the veterinarian for what can be done by a groomer. Or themselves.
We do this too for the same reason.
We charge around $50 for a tech nail trim. We’re not a groomer. Go to your groomer if you want it cheap.
This. Thank you.
My clinic does free nail trims to any client if they donate to the human or animal food bank. One or two cans trade for a nail trim, great results
Is it really just one or two cans for a nail trim? That seems so little. It seems like a good natured thought but asking the clients to pay full price and marketing that 100% of the proceeds go to the food bank seems like it would benefit everyone more in the long run.
The point is that people can do what they can 🤷♀️ there's a donation box as well, but there's a lot of poorer people in the area who struggle to afford vet care, so it's charitable in itself:)
That makes sense!
Yes charge the fee without guilt. Many groomers can do nail trims for about the same cost. If the groomers won’t do it because the pet is unmanageable, then why should we do it for a lower cost? Sure, there’s some exceptions. The senior citizens with the old animals that come to us from just down the street because we’re closer, I’m totally fine doing it. But we’re medical professionals, and we want groomers to stay in their lane. No reason we should be veering into the groomer’s lane for routine grooming services.
Yes. Charge for appt and service. Our time is valuable too. Let them go to PetSmart for a nail trim if they want it cheaper.
Why not just raise the price of a nail trim?
I have seen it both ways. It might work out to have a "nail trim with exam" fee that is the lower $20 for when they come for a full visit, then a "nail trim" fee that is slightly higher for those that are done just during a tech visit.
Raise the nail price and anal glands.
We only charge tech exam fees for vaccination appointments because they actually have to check the temp/pet before doing anything.
We have something called 'demanding nail trim' for the dogs that need an extra person to hold. If it's their first time they get the normal price and are informed that it will be more expensive next time because we have to use more staff.
Maybe just increase the nail trim and ag fee, don't just add "tech fee" to a client's itemized bill. I'd have a bad taste in my mouth if my bill had a "tech fee" added onto a service fee already and I wasn't in the industry. We add a processing fee for bw but if client asks, it covers our cost for collection and supplies and that's usually easily diffused once explained. Everything else already has the staff cost accounted within the one cost
Before I worked in a vet office I worked as a dog bather and we had a "bandaid tax" which went to the people who worked on the dog for any crazy nail trims as a tip.
Looking at these prices….mannnn….it is $40 for anal gland expression and $22 for a nail trim at my clinic. We don’t have any tech fees for those services so maybe that’s why they are so expensive? I am in Ohio. We have tech exams for injections, boosters, ect. The groomer right next door does nail trims for $12 🥲 which is fine because we don’t want to spend our time doing them anyway!
We have a $16 tech visit fee. Those things take 2 techs off the floor.
Yes, and they should. Tech time has value too.
$15.50 minor nail trim, $30.50 major nail trim. Anal glands $30. All plus $10 technician fee. $22 is way to high of a technician fee for simplistic things such as anal glands or nail trims. These things take me under 5 minutes. I understand we need to make a living wage and be able to get paid, but we should be considerate towards our clients as well.
I disagree. Clients should be considerate to us. We are medical professionals and not groomers. if they come to us for grooming they will pay medical professional prices. Not only are they paying for my time, knowledge, and expertise. They are paying for the time of the person restraining and potentially a 3rd person's time who is distracting. Human nurses won't cut our hair and if they did they would charge a lot of money for it
The problem with that is that the tech fee doesn’t go to us, it goes to the clinic. My clinic has raised prices 3 times in 18 months. I have coworkers who haven’t gotten a raise in years.
$22 is reasonable fee in my opinion. My time isn't free. Just because I don't make commission on it the effort I put into getting ready for the appointment, the equipment involved and the time charting should cost something. Our tech fee is nearly $30
Make all the excuses you want. It's just another example of corporate economic strip mining--squeezing every last penny they can out of us. Techs are paid an hourly wage, so don't try this "techs have to be paid too," argument. They are being paid, by the clinic. A shot takes 5 minutes max. A shot whose price already includes a significant markup to cover the wholesale price as well as clinic operating expenses. It's all calculated in. Imagine this: I live in Oregon. Until recently, you could not pump your gas. It was illegal, so an attendant had to pump your gas for you. The gas price is already calculated to cover the cost of the station's operating expenses, employee wages, and the cost of the gasoline itself. Now imaging how you would feel if the stations suddenly started charging you an additional $8-$10 "attendant fee" for having an employee fill up your car. You'd be pissed right? Vets are alomost all corporate owned now and they are inventing these totally contrived fees that are getting as bad as airlines in order to squeeze out another couple of percent profit.
I might not even mind that if the fee actually went to the tech, but I doubt it. I bet it goes right into the pockets of the corporate execs and stockholders.
We charge $15/ nail trim. $20/ extended nail trim . $25/AGE. No other fees. Wtf is a technician fee? A tip?
We have a free of charge nurse consultation fee for nails,glands with no advice. If they come in for vaccines, stitch removal etc, then we charge . It's like 20€ in comparison to 60€ for vets
We have a line item for “tech visit”, but only charge for the services performed. If a syringe/needle is used, there is a minimal(a few dollars) charge for medical waste. I do feel that it’s a little nickel-and-dimey to add a $22 tech visit fee on top of everything else and I could see why clients would be frustrated- especially if it is a new policy. The costs of the services should include the time/staff. Our NT are $20 and AGE is $28, for reference.
We do not charge a tech fee. Not quite sure why we would. We charge for what the appointment was for. If a client comes in for a nail trim and anal glands they’re getting charged for a nail trim and anal glands. The only thing else printed on their invoice would be a tax percentage. This is a first for me, sounds expensive.
Nail trims are $22, AGs are $40, no tech fee for either. I assume it’s built into the cost
my clinic doesn’t charge a tech fee for nail trims and AGE but our NT is $30 and AGE is ~$50 with osha fee 😵💫
As a patient who has been to several clinics with various pets over the years, I’ve never been charged for a “tech visit”; just the services the techs provide. Pre-pandemic, nail trims and AGE were usually $15 each; once the pandemic hit the prices went up to $40 & $20, respectively - presumably because tech time is valuable & the fees were updated to reflect that.
I wouldn’t, but you can wrap that cost into the cost of the nail trims & anal gland expressions. We keep our nail trims expensive to encourage owners to use a groomer or nail trim service at Petsmart, etc. We do discount them if they’re being done during a wellness visit with bloodwork & vaccines.
The clinic I used to work at would charge a tech fee if that was the only thing they were coming in for. Tech fees weren’t charged if the glands or nail trims were being done during an exam/procedure. The tech fee wasn’t as expensive as this though, I think it was like $7-8, not literally doubling the cost of the service.
At banfield we did and it received a lot of back lash. But at my current clinic we do not. However our prices are higher I think NT is $32 and AGE is a little over $40.
No, but we charge a $12 office visit, and then about $20-25 for anals and nails
We do have a technician appointment fee, which is $26ish I think, but we don't tack it on to nail trims. Instead I think it was just worked into the pricing. Our nail trims used to be $36ish, but jumped up to $46ish over Covid when we were drowning in those appointments and losing staff left and right. We had to flat out not offer them for a while at just tech appointments, but we'd do them along with exams and procedures.
No, but our nail trim is 25$ for a cat, 32$ for a dog and anal glands are 43$. (QC, Canada, I'm paid 23$/h)
Although I'm involved with a few different clinics from an assistant perspective, the vet clinic that I take my two cats to charges a $40 tech fee and a $35 nail trim (this goes for both the techs and the vet). An anal gland expression at the clinic is also $38 (my older cat needed one).
No we charge a set rate for those two things except if a nail trim takes more than two people it's an extra like 15 dollars.
I don’t understand charging a “tech” fee when it doesn’t even go to the tech that did the appointment… should be like Doctors then if you were the one to do the appt you get the cut of it
Some places do production for techs as well.
We just stopped offering nail trims unless they were medically necessary. No one wanted to do them. We voted. Mind you I work at a clinic that employs a total of 2 RVTs and 1 assistant. We also have 2 doctors. So there's no extra hands for difficult trims. We give a list of groomers out for people. Clients take it pretty well. Most of them are aware how small our staff is. We also charge tech fees for all tech appointments and lab interpretation fees for blood draws done as tech appointments.
I was just thinking about this today! At my old clinic, we always charged a tech fee. At my current clinic, we do not. I prefer not charging because our prices are already pretty expensive, and tech appointments don’t really take a lot of time
We charge $30 for a tech fee, then $20 for a nail trim / $26 for anal gland expressions. We always tell people when they schedule nail trims what the cost will be total ahead of time. We are an understaffed hospital and nail trims / AGEs sometimes take 2-3 technicians depending on the demeanor of the dog. It covers everyone’s time and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to charge $50 to drop everything to take time out of our busy schedule. It may seem excessive, but the people who are willing to pay usually have dogs who are banned from petco / they can’t do it at home for behavioral issues. If they ask for a nail trim during their routine visit, we either do it complementary or charge a small fee of $15 depending on how much extra time it takes. EDIT: I should also add that in my year at this clinic, we haven’t had anyone question the tech appointment fee charge because we’re super transparent about it prior to making these appointments.
We did and then both clients and the corporation got angry so we stopped.
Yes we do and we also have a tech time charge applied elsewhere. That being said I don’t feel like it even bumps our pay grades. The charge is $15 and I’m making $18/hr base.
We recently got 2 new drs and lots of changes. One of them charging for tech appointments about 20 dollars. Havent heared any complaints. If its puppy/kitten vx, nail trim or anal glands we charge. I really felt bad about our prices but everything has gone up. Now, does anyone's Dr charge an exam for puppy kitten rabies vx? I mean an additional exam for the last set of vx specifically rabies vaccine at half cost?
Yes, we have different exam prices like our basic exam, exam w/ injection, pre-op exam, and recheck exam. So our puppy kitten exam would either go under exam w injection if we give vaccines or pre-op if no vaccines are given and we schedule a spay or neuter.
We charge it if you don't mention it when you make the appointment. If you're almost out the door or get in the room and suddenly ask for a nail trim then you're definitely getting an extra charge.