BEWARE OF HIDDEN COSTS WHEN APPLYING FOR PERMITS

I have some horses that have been sold so I rang the DPI office in Orange NSW regarding permits I told the chap they were due to have the second shot in a few days ,he told me when the vet comes to get a copy of the vaccination certificate and get them to do a nasal swab. If the swab came back negative to send a copy of it and vaccination certificate along the permit form in and they would grant a permit to move the horses.
This same story was also told to a lady buying one of them when she contacted the Orange DPI office herself to see what needed to be done regarding getting a permit
The vet took the swabs then rang me that afternoon to say there was a charge because I asked for it to be done ,he didn't know how much the cost would be and told me to check with the DPI lab which I did and was told the cost was $95.95 each. I then rang the vet back and told him to send them away for testing.
The 3 swab results all came back negative, when the paper work was sent away for the first horse they refused the permit even though everything was done the DPI chap said to do , so it wasn't hard to work out it was a waste of time sending the others away. Both myself and buyers reckon due to the fact that the DPI gave two of us false and miss leading information regarding that the permits would be granted if all the paper work was in place why should the test have to be paid for after all it was just a waste of money doing what the DPI said and feel I was ripped
I rang the DPI over a week ago and told the lady in the liaison office I spoke to what had happened and that I didn't feel I should have to pay for the swabs because of the false and miss leading information given by the DPI , and it was just a waste of money doing what he said as they wouldn't grant a permit , she agreed with me and took my number and said she would see what she could do and ring me back it's been over a week now and she hasn't rang me back so it's not likely I will be getting a phone call now , but you would think they would at least have the manners to ring back
And to make things worse last Friday I got a bill for $455.40 I got not bad since I was told by the DPI people $95.95 per swab for 3 horses which should have been $287.85 when I went to school but no they have charged $345.40 plus $20 for freight plus $90 consultation fee.
I rang the vet and asked how could they charge a $90 consultation fee when they were already at the stables giving the horses their second vaccination shot, he told me it was for paper work because I asked for the swabs to be done.
In saying this why was I told by the DPI people the cost per swab was $95.95 when in fact I was charged $115 per swab and why wasn't I told about the extra charges to start with . As far as myself and other people I have spoke to about this along other things regarding the way the DPI are handling things say it's a joke , only I am not laughing because the joke was at my expense
I along with many other people are P...D of being treated with the way we are by the DPI
I suggest to anyone being told by the DPI to do anything that will cost you money in regard to getting granted a permit to check for hidden costs involved first, or you might be out of pocket more than you expect
A .W