{"id":38492,"date":"2026-08-11T11:59:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T06:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38492"},"modified":"2026-08-11T11:59:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T06:59:49","slug":"doctor-shares-creative-excuses-people-use-to-avoid-paying-consultation-fee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38492","title":{"rendered":"Doctor shares creative excuses people use to avoid paying consultation fee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"storyParagraphFigure\">\n<p class=\"content\">A doctor has called out patients who try to avoid paying her consultation fee, highlighting the creative excuses some people use to get a consultation for free. Dr Prabhleen Kaur, who is based in the Chandigarh tricity, shared an Instagram video in which she recounted how one couple tried different excuses to meet her without paying the consultation fee.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"artImage leadImage\">\n<div class=\" \"><picture class=\"leadImageClass\"><source media=\"(min-width:768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2026\/08\/11\/960x540\/Image-52897_1786421490578_1786421508310_2bb36f22-4ebb-48bf-9ebe-a5482ab06e9f.jpg\" alt=\"Dr Prabhleen Kaur urged people to pay the consultation fee. (Instagram\/@dr.prabhleen.unfiltered)\"\/><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2026\/08\/11\/400x225\/Image-52897_1786421490578_1786421508310_2bb36f22-4ebb-48bf-9ebe-a5482ab06e9f.jpg\" alt=\"Dr Prabhleen Kaur urged people to pay the consultation fee. (Instagram\/@dr.prabhleen.unfiltered)\" title=\"Dr Prabhleen Kaur urged people to pay the consultation fee. (Instagram\/@dr.prabhleen.unfiltered)\" width=\"360\" height=\"202\" loading=\"eager\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"\">Dr Prabhleen Kaur urged people to pay the consultation fee. (Instagram\/@dr.prabhleen.unfiltered)<span\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"content \">A consultation fee is the amount a patient pays to meet a doctor for a medical evaluation and advice. It compensates the doctor for their time, expertise and professional services.<\/p>\n<div class=\"content \">\n<h2>The couple\u2019s excuses<\/h2>\n<p>Dr Kaur urged people not to try getting out of paying the fee. She cited the example of one couple \u2014 referring to the wife as an \u201caunty\u201d who entered her clinic and told her staff that she wanted to speak with the doctor regarding <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/topic\/laser-hair-removal\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"laser\">laser <\/a>treatment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"content \">\u201c<i>Ek aunty sair karte-karte humare clinic pahunchi. Bolti hain mujhe doctor saab se laser treatment ke liye baat karni hai,<\/i>\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">The doctor\u2019s staff told the woman that she could speak with her after paying the consultation fee. The woman refused to do so and left the clinic. A few moments later, she returned with her husband.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">According to Dr Prabhleen Kaur, the husband then proceeded to try a different tactic. He told the staff at the clinic that he wanted to meet the <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/topic\/doctor\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"doctor\">doctor <\/a>to inquire about her wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">\u201c<i>Husband aate hain aur bolte hain mujhe doctor ka haal-chaal poochna hai,<\/i>\u201d the doctor revealed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">When the clinic staff asked him whether he knew the doctor personally, the man answered in the negative. He was then told that he could meet the doctor after paying the consultation fee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"content \">Instead of paying the fee, the man continued insisting that he wanted to meet the doctor with no ulterior motive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">\u201c<i>Arey, humko haal-chaal poochna hai. Haal-chaal poochne ke bhi paise lagte hain kya? <\/i>(I just want to inquire after her wellbeing. Does that also cost money now),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">When the staff asked him if he would not ask the doctor about laser, the man admitted that he would.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Dr Kaur ended her video by highlighting the irony of people paying for \u201canything in this world\u201d except a doctor\u2019s expert opinion.<\/p>\n<div class=\"content \">\n<h2>Video sparks debate<\/h2>\n<p>The doctor\u2019s plea sparked a debate in the comments section.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"content \">\u201cI don\u2019t care what you think, but if someone just wants to know the price of a treatment, there shouldn\u2019t be a consultation fee! They\u2019re not asking for medical advice. They\u2019re not getting treated. They\u2019re literally just asking about the cost,\u201d wrote one person.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">\u201cAdvice from a fellow doctor. Stop ranting and venting about consultation fees on social media; nobody sympathizes and nothing will change. Charge your fees and let the non-payer go to government hospitals,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">\u201cEvery day, I send a couple of people back\u2014and honestly, I don\u2019t feel guilty about it anymore,\u201d a doctor revealed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A doctor has called out patients who try to avoid paying her consultation fee, highlighting the creative excuses some people use to get a consultation for free. Dr Prabhleen Kaur, who is based in the Chandigarh tricity, shared an Instagram video in which she recounted how one couple tried different excuses to meet her without&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2026\/08\/11\/1600x900\/logo\/Image-52897_1786421490578_1786421508310_2bb36f22-4ebb-48bf-9ebe-a5482ab06e9f.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}