Animal vaccines - bait and switch legal?

[CriticalThanking]

Question for the vets out there.

I recently went to a local feed store to get the standard non-controlled shots for my puppy. An example of a controlled shot around here is rabies vaccine. My vet and I refer to these non-controlled shots as 7-in-one as they contain 7 different vaccines: distemper, hepatitis(?), lepto, parvo, corona, and some others I can't remember (DHLP-parvo something-or-other is the other name I have heard for the combo). The vet specifically told me to include lepto as it is making a resurgence in our area.

When I got home I found I had been given a 4-in-one that did not contain lepto or corona. When I went back, the feed store told me that the remainder of the diseases are now uncommon enough that they are not standardly given any more. In addition, because I left with the shot, they could not take it back because I "might not have kept it sufficiently cooled during transport." When I suggested they tell the customer that they are intentionally not giving the customer what was asked for, they brushed it aside saying I was the 1% that might notice the difference. Grrr....

Is it common to have non-pharmacies change your prescribed medications without telling you? Do you have any recourse? Would you as a vet want a word with the feed store if they did this to your patients? Isn't my puppy just the cutest thing? I'd post pictures, but the camera keeps melting at the sight.

Thanks,

CT

[luchog]

Is it common to have non-pharmacies change your prescribed medications without telling you? Do you have any recourse? Would you as a vet want a word with the feed store if they did this to your patients?
Aside from the medical issues, bait and switch is simply illegal. Most likely not worth pursuing legally, but I would make sure to send a strongly worded letter to the owner, and take your business elsewhere if possible.

It certainly should not be common practice for anyone, pharmacy or not, to change prescribed medications. They should be giving you precisely what the vet says to give, no more and no less. I've certainly never had it happen with my local feed store (back when I was living at home and helping raise horses).

Isn't my puppy just the cutest thing?

He looks pretty close to eating size. (More of a cat person, myself.)

[Katana]

Aside from the medical issues, bait and switch is simply illegal. Most likely not worth pursuing legally, but I would make sure to send a strongly worded letter to the owner, and take your business elsewhere if possible.

It certainly should not be common practice for anyone, pharmacy or not, to change prescribed medications. They should be giving you precisely what the vet says to give, no more and no less. I've certainly never had it happen with my local feed store (back when I was living at home and helping raise horses).

He looks pretty close to eating size. (More of a cat person, myself.)

I agree with all of this except for the 2nd to last sentence.

Your puppy, CT, is absolutely adorable.

[CriticalThanking]

LOL. My apologies. I completely forgot I'd gone to a puppy theme in my avatars. That is actually not Sasha, my "40 mph couch potato." I have a greyhound puppy (all legs, teeth, and tail) that is either running at full speed, teething on someone or something, or asleep. I will take pictures this weekend.

My vet was trying to be diplomatic when he suggested that feed stores may not have the latest information on diseases and vaccines. This feed store is just one block away, so I'd hate to have to stop going there. I may have to make some not-so-subtle hints about checking to see I am getting what I am asked for.

Still looking for an unofficial comment from a vet or two.

Thanks,

CT

[Dogdoctor]

If your vet says lepto is making a comeback then you want to get a vaccine with 4 serotypes of lepto which is the best you can do for that disease.

Also how can you trust a feed store to handle your vaccine properly when they are going to rip you off in the sale of it? They won't take it back because you may not have handled it properly? What is to say they did? They just ripped you off by giving you the wrong vaccine and who is to say they didn't also rip you off by not taking proper care of the vaccine?

[CriticalThanking]

If your vet says lepto is making a comeback then you want to get a vaccine with 4 serotypes of lepto which is the best you can do for that disease.I am probably limited to what is available regionally. I may need to start searching for a vet supply place. I'll ask my vet about the types of lepto vaccines he recommends (and are available).

They won't take it back because you may not have handled it properly? What is to say they did? They just ripped you off by giving you the wrong vaccine and who is to say they didn't also rip you off by not taking proper care of the vaccine?I think this is a statewide legal requirement. Any vaccines that must be refrigerated cannot be returned once they leave a controlled environment. At least that is the consistent anecdote I'm getting from the other feed/farm stores.

Thanks,

CT

[Dogdoctor]

Well that is interesting that the state legislature would bother regulating that aspect of vaccine sales. I bet however the state regulates bait and switch sales.

[Zygar]

Well that is interesting that the state legislature would bother regulating that aspect of vaccine sales. I bet however the state regulates bait and switch sales.

Exactly. I'd consider reporting it to the Better Business Bureau if nothing else. The BBB won't do much unless they have a large number of complaints lodged, but it's something.

They sold you something under pretext of it being something else. Last I checked, that is illegal in all of the United States.

[Dark Jaguar]

That's pretty terrible. They didn't examine your puppy, they have no idea what vaccines it needs. Your vet does. He wrote the prescription. That's the point of requiring a prescription, making sure that not just anyone can get them and that if it's needed, there's some sort of check that was done to confirm as such.

I can't say anything as to if this is standard procedure or not, but it certainly shouldn't be acceptable procedure even if it is standard. I would definitly stop going to that store immediatly. I would likely even go beyond that and make a fuss with someone in charge there, making it clear exactly why you won't go there any more (and if you intend on checkin up later due to wanting a convenient place to go, what conditions they need to meet to gain you back as a customer).

The very most you can say about them is they didn't give you something else entirely, just less. Still, that may be enough if the medications were meant to interact with each other in a special way. Though I don't think vaccines interact like that, others probably do.

Terribly irresponsible.

[Amapola]

I'm not a vet...... but I have side-stepped this issue by ordering vaccines through the mail or internet. Some vaccines are regulated and you need a prescription from your vet to get them, but many are not regulated and you as a pet owner can purchase and administer the vaccine yourself. Here's one site: Valley Vet canine vaccines (http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_product_group.html?CGUID=30E080DC-7B6A-11D5-A192-00B0D0204AE5). This has worked out really well for me, they get things to me quickly and pack them well. (However I don't have dogs, so I don't use those types of vaccines...... I buy vaccines for sheep, goats and horses.)

A long time ago I bought vaccines from the feed store...... big waste of money. The vaccines were NOT handled properly at this particular place. If in addition they had pulled the bait and switch on me and then refused to take the wrong vaccine back, I would have gone ballistic. That's just plain wrong. The excuse your feed store came up with is interesting. The excuse I used to hear was "They don't make that one anymore" which was an out and out lie. What they were actually struggling to say was "We are out of that one right now and need to get this one off the shelves before it expires."

[casebro]

I think this is a statewide legal requirement. Any vaccines that must be refrigerated cannot be returned once they leave a controlled environment. At least that is the consistent anecdote I'm getting from the other feed/farm stores.

Thanks,

CT

I'm a skeptic (Duh!) Especially when somebody quotes "The Law". Ask them to tell you which part of the Business and Professions code, or is it the Health code that deals in animal vaccines? Then I guess you could point out the B&P code about misrepresentation. The feed store should refund you, then discard the vaccine if it isn't kosher anymore.

[Dark Jaguar]

Well to be honest I fully agree and expect that sort of restriction of "can't take it back once it's left controls". That said, I don't think they were so caring about it so much as they were just in a "What sequence of vocalizations must I string together to make this flesh thing go away?" sort of mode.

[scotth]

I am probably limited to what is available regionally. I may need to start searching for a vet supply place. I'll ask my vet about the types of lepto vaccines he recommends (and are available).

I think this is a statewide legal requirement. Any vaccines that must be refrigerated cannot be returned once they leave a controlled environment. At least that is the consistent anecdote I'm getting from the other feed/farm stores.

Thanks,

CT

I would say that it is their problem. They refund your money and toss the product in the trash.

[Katana]

I would say that it is their problem. They refund your money and toss the product in the trash.

Agreed. They didn't give you what they claimed, you discovered that, they should eat the cost.

[luchog]

Well to be honest I fully agree and expect that sort of restriction of "can't take it back once it's left controls".

I don't agree. It doesn't sound right.

Typically, laws state that a product subject to controls such as specialized storage requirements are not allowed to be sold, and possibly mandating that they be destroyed, if there is a reasonable expectation that those controls have not been properly maintained. I have never heard of a law that disallowed returns and refunds on such products. Refusal to allow returns on products that cannot be resold is a store policy, not a legal policy. And while these policies are generally legal, they are overridded by state and federal "lemon" and "bait and switch" laws.

Any business that tells you that they're not allowed to accept returns by law is very likely lying, or doesn't understand the laws, unless your state's laws are dramatically different from any other state laws I'm familiar with. (IIRC Canadian regulations are similar.)

[CriticalThanking]

Hmmmm.... got some digging to do. I'll let you know what I find out.

Thanks all.

CT