Adventures with Madame Qwackers - There Seems to be a disconnect

The vet called the next day after the duck’s operation. The vet’s named renamed the duck Madame Qwackers. During our conversation, she mentioned Madame Qwackers received a wire in the front of her beak and multiple sutures.  After the operation, Madame Qwackers was up, eating and drinking. These were all good signs, but the vet wanted to keep her overnight and check her the next day before releasing Madame Qwackers to me.

On Friday, I called back to the vet’s office. The technician on the phone told me that Madame Qwackers was good to go. I hopped in my truck to go pick her up and take her to her new kennel. When I arrived, the technicians immediately smiled and let me know Madame Qwackers was ready to pick up. They just wanted to show me how to give her medication. While the technicians were retrieve the duck, the billing lady was unpleasantly waiting for me. With a smile she said,” How are you going to settle the remaining bill today?” 

I’m a little confused at this point, the vet and I had a discussion about this two days ago. I thought we reached an arrangement. I’d cover two hundred dollars for the duck. The vet would find a way to cover the remaining cost. Unfortunately, the billing lady wasn’t in this conversation. “Excuse me mam, I don’t owe anything today. The vet and I had a discussion about this two days ago when I paid two hundred dollars. I’m covering two hundred dollars. There seems to be a disconnect here.”

“Sir”, she exclaimed with a smile,” There isn’t a disconnect. You owe another two hundred dollars.”

At this point, her response irked me and gained my ire. Apparently, she didn’t understand what a disconnect was, and I was going to explain it to her.  “Mam, I just paid two hundred dollars for a wild duck that I could have eaten. It was my understanding with the vet that this is all I needed to pay. You’re telling me that I need to pay two hundred more dollars for this duck. This is what is defined as a disconnect.”

“Mr. Trevathan, you can raise money to help cover the costs.” She said. Wow, this lady was amazing. I just saved a duck’s life out of the generosity of my heart and the tears of my daughter. It looked like my generosity was unmatched by the billing lady.

At this point, she could see I was agitated as I explained the agreement between the vet and I. Basically, she said that’s great you and the vet made an agreement, but I’m here to collect the cash. The vet is not responsible for billing. Repairing Madame Qwackers’s bill was costing my a much larger bill than I planned for. Finally, we agreed not to settle, and the technician called me and my son, Cole back to learn how to give the duck her medications.

I’ll admit, the technicians made giving Madame Qwackers her medication look easy. Fill the surenge, the duck magically opens her mouth and willing receives her medicine, pet the duck a little and put her back in her kennel. Easy stuff.