Angel Animal Hospital of Durham

i.e., A local favorite, or highly recommended becauseI used to go there and I Was pretty happy until this year that I took my dog because he was sick with diarrhea. I wanted to wait until the dr could see him but They told me to leave the dog that they would call me as soon as the dr, could see him. As they claim they only accept cash, I clearly asked the receptionist how much was the consultation and she told me $41.00. This was about 9.30Am. Nobody called me at all until I decided to call around 2PM and I was told that they gave my dog fluid and other things and that my bill was $709. What?? Nobody called me to ask me authorization to do anything on my dog, much less authorize the expense of $700. I went there to pick up the dog and told them I was not going to pay for services that I did NOT authorize. While waiting another lady came very upset because they overcharged her as well. She left saying she would come back with the police. As I told that I was not going to pay that amount the receptionist told me that if I didn't pay they wouldn't give me my frog back. That for every day the dog was there they would charge me $100 boarding per day and after 10 days they will send the dog to the shelter. Nice way of threading me! I told them that I was calling the police, so I did. By the time the police came the bill went down to $500+. Unfortunately the police told me that since it was a civil matter they couldn't do anything but writing a report. I asked the receptionist to show me the charges but it looks like she is not allowed to print the invoice until it is paid. This shows Lack of clarity on the billing. Anyway she was nice enough to show me the invoice from her computer screen and there was a $100 charge for shaving my 12 pounds little dog's leg, about 1 inch shaved. We continued going back and forth and at the end it was long passed their closing hours so the bill went down to $454 that I paid ONLY because I wanted to get my dog and get out of there but with the clarification that I was going to dispute the charge and opening a formal complaint in the Better Business Bureau. I did both things and I am waiting. Please spend a little more money and go to another vet. You will save money and the problems!