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I am thoroughly disgusted with Banfield Pet Hospital and their so-called money saving Wellness Plans. First of all, they are ALL about sales. They will sell you services, vaccinations and meds that are not all necessary. They are commonly called, "ball-washing Banfield" in my household. Once, my dog cut the webbing in his foot. They wanted to charge me $200 anestesia, $30 for stitches, $15 for the wrap, $60 for the meds. When I told them to forget it, they agreed to one staple in his foot for $12 and I bought a wrap at Walmart for $5.
Another time, I needed pain pills for my dog because he limps and their vets can find the problem and insist on regular meds... at $60 a month. Those same meds are on PetMeds for $20 but Bainfield REFUSES to give me a prescription. They will however, match the price INCLUDING S&H. What crap.
Their wellness plans are rip offs. They charge extremely high rates for their services and meds. And even with a so-called discount, they are still HIGHER than many other places. And that contract... well, read the other posts and good luck trying to cancel!
I am one regretfully sorry sucker.
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Banfield has the biggest racket going on! Conveniently located inside Petsmart they rake in the people and also the bucks. They are 4-5 times more expensive on any treatment than any other vet. Their procedures? 265 to neuter a small male dog? Hello? That is a $50 procedure anywhere else. They use the cheapest Ft Dodge vaccines that are available over the counter in feed stores for around $1. But Banfield charges $27.95 apiece for them! Think that wellness plan is saving you money? No way when you add up what you are paying in a year. They over vaccinate dogs until their immune system doesn't even work anymore and they are sick for life with *allergies* skin infections and ear problems. Humans aren't vaccinated for 10 things every year because it last for life in most cases and it is the same for dogs! Banfield is taking your money and damaging your dog to boot.
Google in are we vaccinating our pets too much if you don't want to believe me. You will get an eyefull. Banfield is a BIG corporate money making chain. Don't be sucked in.
Bullcrap to both of you. I have worked for two vets, one of those being a Banfield. Banfield has the exact same vaccine schedule as the other vet I worked for. Banfield does NOT overvaccinate.
And they price comparitively as well and the wellness plans sure as hell save you lots of money. The vet I worked for charged mostly the same prices as Banfield.
I'm not sure I buy the $200 for anesthesia, but they were right in working up a plan for anesthesia (do you want someone stapling or stitching your skin without any pain relief), stitches and antibiotics. If the antibiotics cost around $60, I'm guessing you have a large dog. Well guess, what? If your dog weighs more it is going to need more medication just like an adult human needs more medication than a human baby. Stitches also hold better than staples and antibiotics help prevent infection. Your dog's food is dirty and a breeding ground for bacteria.
The reason they just went with a staple is because they wanted to SOMETHING for your dog...just to help him a bit since his owner thinks she knows more than a DVM.
And those low cost clinics that do spays and neuters for $60 probably do no bloodwork whatsoever to make sure the pet is healthy enough to go under anesthesia. I would worry about their sanitary standards and anesthesia monitoring systems. I bet they also give no pain medication or antibiotic injections. Quality and caring spays and neuters are going to cost more.
All the horrid general comments about Banfield here make me sick. Yes, I'm sure there are some bad doctors and employees out there, but I know for damned sure the office I worked for was great. We truly did care and wanted the best for all the pets. The doctor was awesome.
It is patently unfair to write off every hospital in the United States because of the actions of one...especially when you have no clue about veterinary medicine.
Wow, calm down. Everyone is entitled to write about their experience.
I wish I had read all these complaints about Banfield before I ever took my dog to the Banfield in Oxnard, CA 7 yrs ago. Somehow, I just realized how expensive they are & how they constantly have a need to vaccinate my little lhasa apso. The doctor is very nice --- he's in his 70's & should be retired. That's why they keep him --- they work him to death & he needs the money so he stays. Constant blood work too. I'm a 67 yr old female with cancer ---- and my medical bills are not that high. Also, all my bloodwork & exams are fewer than my poor little dog. I'm lucky my dog is still alive! NEVER GO TO BANFIELD. Also, Their Wellness Plan is a SCAM! I will now find an honest, caring local vet who doesn't rip me off.
My experience with Banfield has been very positive. All of my five pets are patients and some are on plans and others are not. (I have both cats and dogs). I have always received knowledgable and courteous care from drs and pet nurses and other staff. They do not try to sell me. As a matter of fact, I rushed my 18 year old cat to the vet this past Saturday. The dr gave me a bottle of pills at a lower rate because he said the other way is sold by the pill so it wouldve been more money that way. Other vets Ive seen there wouldn't charge me for certain things or gave me a discount (and my 18 year old cat isn't on a plan). My cat isnt vaccinated for anything other than rabies because of his health. With my other dogs, there are several shots I do not want or think they need and the vets respect my wishes and don't push it. Maybe these are bad vets and nurses at your location, but Ive never had a problem with them or their services or the plan itself at the South Florida/Palm Beach location.
Banfield employee I'm sure!
I worked for a few of the Banfield Hosptals in Colorado as a "pet nurse" for over a year. Banfield does over vaccinate. My wife is currently in vet school and they are taught to go by American Animal Hospital Association ( http://www.aahanet.org/) and they give guidelines for core vaccines for cats and dogs. They recommend the core vaccines rabies, distemper, and parvovirus for dogs and non-core vaccines like bordetella depending on certain risk factors for your dog. Most boarding facilities require you to get a bordetella vaccine before boarding (some allow subcutaneous which can be done yearly and some only accept intranasal which is only good for six months.) Your dog definitely does not need the 10 vaccines every year that Banfield recommends, therefore, their Wellness Plans are a waste of money. A comprehensive exam is no different than a basic exam that they do in the room. They may use a tono pen and what they call a "rectal exam" which is no different than getting feces for a fecal exam.
Pet nurses, Doctors, and Client Service Coordinators all get bonuses for signing people up on Wellness Plans depending upon which Wellness Plan a person purchases. You're definitely not getting quality veterinary medicine at these clinics due to the high volume of clients and the quantity that they see. You're better off going to a privately owned clinic that doesn't have sales quotas, bonuses, and teach sales tactics to their employees. When you have 20 "drop off's", four surgeries, and still accept walk;in clinets, can you really expect these people to practice good, safe, and quality veterinary medicine? There just isn't enough time in a day. We often just had to fly through people in the back and weren't allowed to spend more than 7 minutes in the room with a client before the veterinarian came in. Client Service Coordinators also get a bonus if they sign in at least 4 clients an hour. Pet Nurses get bonuses for making $80 an hour for the hospital. I'm not sure how doctors got bonuses but they were paid more for being efficient i.e. spending less time per patient.
I worked with two doctors, one who sold his private practice after a divorce, and another who was just out of vet school at Colorado State University. The doctor who sold his practice was constantly in trouble formaking up his own drug compounds (to save clients money and because he didn't think the meds (made by Hannah Pharmaceuticals or GlenHaven which are also owned by Banfield.) The other doctor was told that she didn't have good enough "people skills" because she didn't get enough "production" or didn't sell enough Wellness Plans. Her priorities were in the right place and she wanted to keep the treatments as cheap as possible.
One last thing... pet nurses are trained to bring the client an estimate and are not supposed to take no as an answer. If you continue to argue with them and the doctor then they will eventually give in and only do what is necessary for your pet. If they don't, then go somewhere else. You should go somewhere else anyway.
I had been taking my dog there since he was 8 weeks old and I got the wellness plan nobody told me that it renewed automaticly which is fine I got over that so I got it for another year and when I went to cancel it they said no problem it will cancel in febuary and I had to keep paying the monthly payments til then fine I got over that then I get a call from the collection agency! So I was curious why it was sent there when my payment info has been the same for 2 years! Not to mention my dog had been going there for 2 YEARS and after the last time I took him there I was reading the notes the vet had wrote and it said "Thanks for bringing Bailey in today she was really good" WTF MY DOG HAS BEEN GOING THERE FOR TWO YEARS AND THEY DONT KNOW ITS A MALE DOG REALLY! Why am I wasting my money on a vet that cant even tell the sex of my dog! I will never be using banfield again!
Brought my 11 year old Chihuahua in to have her teeth cleaned. I got the Pet Insurance routine and I bit. It was cheaper to have the insurance - or so it seemed. It turned out not to be an insurance plan - but a Wellness Plan. It only gives you a percentage off your bill. A bill that is unnecessarily high to begin with. So, they said my dog needed a tooth pulled because she had an abcess. They diagnosed this BTW, without an exray. I asked for antibiotics instead. They said come back in a few days for the cleaning. When I returned, I asked where the estimate was from the other day. They didn't have it - couldn't find it - the front desk person didn't know how to get it! My dogs mouth looked Ok, no sign of abcess, so I said "no" to the 'extra' $382.00 it woudl cost to get the tooth pulled.! While examing my dog the vet mentioned that my dog had a heart murmur - grade 1. I said "OK", he then scheduled her for her cleaning even tho it was done 9 mths before). Long story short - I got my dog back; for three days she refused to eat. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she was so lathargic she couldn't go for her walk. She just stood and looked like she was on another planet. I took her back, the vet said they needed to do an exray, blood work, put her on oxygen and a heating pad as her body temp was down to 97. After 30 minutes they called me back in (I was walking around the store waiting) and said he had aproblem and they wanted to do an echo cardiogram. I said - how about an exray first - let's do one step at a time. The exrays showed a very enlarged heart - she ws in congestive heart failure. He then says, "Well, she was very high risk because of her murmur and her age." I asked - "When were you going to tell me? Why now? Why not BEFORE you did the cleaning - I would have said NO!" Bottom line, I have a plan for my dog who is about to die, I have a dog who 4 days ago was well, and now is near death. NEVER GO TO BANFIELD! AND, THEIR WELLNESS PLAN IS CRAP!
I agree with all the comments above.. I too brought my cats to Banfield and was quoted an initial price for both cats (~140.00 with wellness plan included) and the initial first visit bill came to 650.00 above the quoted price, after questioning the bill it was reduced to 290.00. however, from their initial visit they found problems with both my cats - who are seemingly very healthy - which require hundreds of dollars in vet bills.. I feel as tho I am being soaked. I recommend bringing your pets to a regular vet who is honest and not interested in scamming every last penny out of you..
MCLauderdale,
Thank you for providing this feedback, and I am sorry that you have had an unsatisfactory experience at one of our hospitals. We'd like the opportunity to discuss your experience with you and help us better understand the situation. Our Client Advocate Team can be reached at [protected]. Thank you, and I hope your cats are doing well.
I brought home a kitten she was a couple months old she had never been to a vet so I took her to Banfield here in Plainfield, IN. I paid for her first visit for vacinations and overall check up and also some de-worming just to be safe. First of all I have been there for few visits since then and when the doctors go through there questioning with you over your pet they treat you like you are doing everyhing wrong, they never like the brand choice in food or flea protection and always want you buy the brands they sell that cost top dollar. I guess thats just a matter of opinion. After paying for her shots and check up I also purchased there wellness plan that covers getting my kitten spayed, cause it was important to me make sure it was done for her. It was also suppose to cover next year follow up shots, I took her in this January for check up relating to something else and they were going to go ahead and give her those shots while we there instead of needing to make another appointment, I agreed it was a good idea. After they did some checking the said it was to soon she was not due until February, I said ok lets make the appointment and I asked the doctor and the lady who made the appointment specifically if shots and appointment is at no cost because of the wellness right? They said "YES" I said great and set the appointment for February 24, 2012, so my husbands get our kitty together and bring her in this morning and they say oh no your not covered under that plan anymore it expired February 6th of this month...GRRRRRRRR so he brings her home and tells them no I dont want them done then I will go somewhere else, he gets home I call beck up to Banfield to ask whats going on...the lady tells me well we cant do anything about it cause its past the expiration date, thats crap they told me it was covered and the next appointment was made according to the wellness plan...funny little tricks to rip people off...I have several family members and friends I will be notifing to warn them to watch out. I didnt pay the hundreds of dollars for the wellness plan to not use it and get ripped off cause of the timeline mess up on there part. I am done with Banfield if this problem is not resolved the lady told she would look in to it and call me back about what can be done...for some reason I'm pretty sure that call wont come. Save your money people cause they couldnt even work with me to help resolve the matter just blew me and my husband off.
@Jennstt30- based on this information I am unable to identify your account. Please email your posts to our Wellness Plan Team along with the full name associated with your account so we can appropriately append your concerns to the right Team and look into this for you. The email address is WellnessPlanRelations@banfield.net.
All Veterans of the Armed Forces on a fixed income, , Beware, , take your business somewhere else other than Baynesfield!, , the fees are exorbitant and the meds are are marked up so high you will spend your rent money buying them from them! Initially Banfield gave me the impression they cared but that is a total overstatement, , all I needed was a script for a pain reliever called Ultram for my pet to be comfortable when his corneal infections arise as with infections of his anal area due to his stool aggravating that area, , I use Prep H ointment to relieve but he still hurts during these time thus the pain management I wish to afford him, , I tried to order meds from a discount outlet and ask Banfield to help and once they found out I was wanting the meds from somewhere else I suddenly needed to bring him to them and get the whole rollover bit without a kiss before they would consider writing a script and allow me to purchase the meds from them, , I am so disgusted how businesses do shady practice and act as they are your best friend when they are in your pocket but when you need help they turn on you, , whats the use in trying to save money from an outlet if Baynesfield will not assist, , They made me feel as though I wanted the meds for myself, , heck, , the outlet sells in quantity and not like a few pills at a time which I would have done if possible, , but, , thats not the only reason, , their prices and the way they overcharge when they know you are in a somber mood when your pet is needing attention is unspeakable, , go to a smaller practice that shows true concern even if you have to drive a little ways out of your way to get good services, , pet hospitals are no different from large scale human hospitals now, , the more the merrier with on average about fifteen minutes per patient if your lucky, , whether it be dog or human! Find an older veterinarian that believes in his creed rather than your pocketbook, , there is some still left, , Domingo Bustos, , US Army Veteran
I agree Banfield does charge a lot. I have a wellness plan for my dog and was told that the neutering would be covered. Well it was. However; they charged me $40 for anasthesia $20 bucks for the pain meds And they wanted to charge me $30 for a cone which I know I can get elsewhere for $5. They seemed unpleased when I told them o would no longer be buying prescription strength flea and tick medication. The tick infestation in my area had calmed down and I feel my dog is well protected with the over the counter flea meds.
All that said, they have great customer service. They treat the animals very well almost as if they were their own. I feel comfortable letting them care for my pet. This review is mostly as a response to a bad experience with another vet. I will be writing a bad review about that other vet. Banfield treats the animals very well.
Banfield's Wellness plan is a RIP-OFF and a SCAM!
I would be more than willing to put together a case to SHUT THEM DOWN!
BUYER BEWARE - THEIR WELLNESS PLAN IS A SCAM! DON'T DO IT!
Brian Wasem
510.637.9467
Banfield almost killed my puppy
Banfield employee I'm sure.