stop payment of check

[mkt101269]

Hello,
About 3 months ago, I had a problem with my dogs puppies, she was 1 week old and she had gotten a very bloaded belly. I took her to an emergency vet hospital and they wanted to keep her for a few days and I had to put a deposit of $240 down for her care. I did it even though I didn't like it. I had asked them if they could tell me what was wrong with her,they said that they didn't know. I asked them to drain the fluid out of her stomach and to take good care of her. The next day, I called them and asked them how she was doing, they said they didn't know what was wrong with her and that she still had a bloated stomach which i had before asked them to drain. I think she was in pain. They said there was nothing to do really for her and that I should have her put down. I agreed, Then when I got off the phone, I just didn't feel that they did what they should have for the puppy. So, I stopped payment on the check. Now, they are threatening me with criminal prosecution for illegally stopping payment on a draft. I don't see how they can do that since,I didn't think it was illegal to stop payment on a check.
The check was done in Missouri when I was there but now I am out of state. Should I just pay them and hope not to get arrested or what.
Thank You for any information.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I don't think the chances are high that this will be any type of criminal prosecution but you should take care of the matter. You did pay them a deposit for services that may or may not have been appropriate. What makes it difficult here is that you don't really point to any negligence or malpractice -- you gave them an idea of what you thought might be appropriate but apparently, in their professional opinion, your suggestions were not appropriate. This does not mean they shouldn't get paid for services rendered. Additionally, if you felt sure that they should do something, you need to state that immediately and not, after the fact, convey what you really wanted them to do. If you had confronted the hospital the following day and found the service unsatisfactory, you should have pulled the dog out immediately and received a second opinion elsewhere.

What does "put the puppy down" mean? Are you talking about putting it to sleep? Would you not want a second opinion? A second opinion could point to a justification why to withhold payment. Otherwise, I'm just not sure that you have a case, just that you are understandably not happy with the outcome. I hope that things work out with your dog and the puppies but think about where you think you should end up given the above points. Feel free to discuss and you can decide whether you really have a dispute or not.

In general, it is never a good idea to put a stop to a check without alerting the payee. By alerting the payee about the stop check status you are avoiding any attempting cashing of an NFS check.

 

[mkt101269]

I looked it up in the state of Missouri and there is a law that you can't stop payment of a draft. If I were to pay them there money and if I do have a warrent out, would that take care of it?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I doubt that a warrant would be issued so soon if one could be issued at all. I'd want to take care of things due to potential liability in civil court and collection costs, potentially also punitive damages awarded (unlikely but possible since your act was intentional). It would seem that the point would be why bother prolonging this matter if you do owe the money for the services rendered?