Banfield Pet Hospital

Banfield Pet Hospital Reviews

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Banfield Pet Hospital Reviews

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    Page 13 Reviews 2035 - 2235

    Reviewed Aug. 1, 2009

    We had found a kitten that was malnourished and had chronic diarrhea to the point that its anal and genital areas were inflamed and swollen. We took it to Banfield, where we waited a long time. We had a stool sample with us. The kitten had eyes that had not changed color yet and barely had teeth. I suspected it to be a little over 3 weeks old. The boisterous receptionist said she was at least 6 weeks. The kitten weighed one pound. The stool sample indicated that the kitten had coccidiosis, and she was dehydrated. I mentioned that her meow had become a bit raspy too. They gave her a shot of antibiotics, oral medicine for me to administer daily. I told the vet I had been giving her 3 drops per day of Kaopectate and he said that was fine. He prescribed the Rx food to maximize calorie intake.

    While we were getting the items we needed, we talked to the volunteers from Sad Sac, who told us about the KRM, which my book had recommended and about putting some Neosporin with pain relief on the inflamed area. The kitten was really coming around. She was eating like a pig and drinking her water. It was clear that she wasn't used to drinking out of a dish. She walked around and loved to be held, and even took her medicine without too much difficulty. She even groomed herself and used the litter box. On her follow up visit to the vet 4 days later, they wanted to do the labs for FIP and FLV, which I knew were costly, and could easily give a false positive or negative due to the kitten's age. They said she was doing well, and in that time had gained .2 lbs. We got more medicine for the coccidiosis, as they had not mentioned how easily it could recur, and the safety measures that needed to be taken.

    In asking about the Neosporin use that seemed to be working, though slowly, the vet advised me to get some ointment used for diaper rash that contained zinc. We used cotton to apply it, once in the morning and once at night. The next day, the kitten seemed a bit distressed as she was wanting to be held more. She ate. But she didn't eat with her normal vigor. When I got up in the morning to get her, she was sprawled in her litter, gasping faintly for air. She was limp and her mouth was white. I tried to make sure nothing was in the airway. She looked at me, gasped, and then I saw her pupils blow. I tried CPR to revive her, but got nothing. I spent the majority of the morning crying, "Why?" I then looked at the tube of ointment that indicated that if it was ingested, call poison control. Then, I revisited the veterinary book I keep on hand and the internet, finding multiple warnings of zinc ointment toxicity to both cats and dogs, though cats are more likely to lick it off. This kitten was a little trooper, who would still be alive if not for the negligence of another Banfield vet.

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    Reviewed July 29, 2009

    We have been regular patients at this location for over two years. On a recent follow-up visit, my dog (their regular patient who always gets raves from how awesome he is) was muzzled by the new doctor in spite of her just playing with the dog just before. Her muzzle reaction was due to him backing away from her. Her story became, "he growled at her," which was a total lie as he did no such thing. This was in spite of our question on the necessity of the action as it would certainly upset him and our suggestion that she give him a cookie because he is a shy dog and this is the routine that he hass grown accustomed to there.

    They are the ones that got him used to getting a cookie before they do anything with him and this is the only reason he was backing away - he was looking for his cookie. This is the most sensitive, lovable, gentle lab/boxer mix who had been severely abused when we adopted him at 11 weeks. He's 2 and 1/2 now and he's never been aggressive with another person or animal - he will back away if he's scared. This whole muzzle act caused him to vomit for the next six hours as he was so stressed by the situation.

    The office also pushed repeatedly to sell product - heartworm medication when I had just told them 3 weeks before (at the pet's regular checkup) that we didn't need more due to losing a dear friend - pet who was on the same medication. I even told them when I would need it again. Then came the push for prescription pet shampoo and some other product for his skin when I had just asked about his skin 3 weeks before and was told that "it was fine. He was a little dry but it's common and seasonal and would go away on its own."

    Considering that this pet has been their patient for over two years, I'm shocked at the lack of accurate record keeping and general knowledge of my pet - to me, it's irresponsible and inappropriate. When I called to voice the complaint and request to cancel my 'enrollment' in their pet plan since they obviously do not agree with my opinion of their care, the only action I have seen is to hear them repeatedly say that: 1) they aren't canceling the plan (there are only two months left for a total of $32); 2) they maintain that they acted appropriately; 3) I could request and they could note on their file that I only see a certain doctor; and 4) I'm responsible for paying out the plan or they'll send me to a collection agency. This is the most unprofessional organization and they are clearly only out for the buck, not for your pet's best care.

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    Reviewed July 27, 2009

    On 3/7, my cat was looking pretty sad and I took her in to Banfield. Reception said they were pretty busy but she would take the cat back to the doctor's office. She came back and told me my cat only had 20 minutes left. I was stunned and asked, "What do you mean?" The girl yelled at me and said, "Your cat doesn't want to be here anymore." She told me to get her to this other emergency hospital where they ran tests and then asked if I wanted to let her go. I said yes and this would be the most humane thing to do.

    When I called to speak with the manager, she expressed concern. So she went back and asked the reception if she had done this. When the manager came back, she had a whole different demeanor. She almost called me a liar. I told her there was a crowd and I was so upset and stunned I could hardly move, to which she said, "Yes, my employee says you wouldn’t leave." The doctor there ** also spoke with me and said if I continue to be difficult, they would not want my business anymore. I was to apologize to the manager and the reception would apologize to me but getting an apology from someone that doesn’t believe she said this doesn’t mean anything to me. And the doctors turned on me. It also was handled very unprofessionally as the whole office knew about this situation.

    Well, my dog's appointment came up and we got a confirmation to come in but that I was not to come since I have frightened the whole staff. I told this doctor ** that I thought this was dead and forgotten; yet, he brought it all back up and he had an attitude with me. I now have found out this particular Banfield is probably doctor owned so that is why they both said they wouldn’t want our business anymore. My cat died on 3/7 and I don’t feel this staff cared enough about a sick cat. I will be taking my business elsewhere as soon as my dog's wellness plan is up. I don’t ever want to deal with such crazy, inconsiderate, and unprofessional people with no integrity. And that the fact I have scared the staff, this means they don’t belong in this field.

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    Reviewed July 17, 2009

    I went to get my dogs vaccinated and for some reasons, my debit card didn't work and Marian told me that if I don't pay before 7:00PM, she was going to send it to collection. We have been customers for years and we spent good money at Banfield because we have 2 dogs. She did not have to threaten me, so I called my bank and they came to Banfield and brought me cash. But the point is the way I was treated, it's not right. So I will never use Banfield's service again.

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    Reviewed July 13, 2009

    I was reading all the complaints related to Banfield Veterinary clinics. When I moved to the city where I now live, I tried three vets before settling on Banfield. I would bet you could come up with a story of a bad experience at any vet's office. With a network like Banfield, the staff varies with each location and I'm sure they're not all equal. However, I think it's wrong to just put down on the entire network. I switched from my third vet in my town to Banfield on the high recommendation from friends. The vet I was using was supposed to be great. The staff there was aloof and uncaring, the fees were a disgrace and I could go on and on with my stories from there.

    Another vet's office had no idea what PKD was when I asked, so I knew I was in the wrong place. My particular Banfield vet is awesome, as is most of his staff. I've never had a group work so well with me. I breed cats, so I'm at the vet's office for kitten shots, tests, etc. on a regular basis and good, affordable care isn't so easy to find. My recommendation would be that if you don't like the vet, staff or care at the Banfield you've gone to, don't think that's representative of the entire network. Larger cities have more than one location. Try another one, and make them aware of the problems you had at the other location.

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    Reviewed July 11, 2009

    I took my dog in for surgery due to his Cherry Eye. I requested the gland be removed and they told me they could not remove the gland due to the the eye not producing tears. They did not do a good job on the surgery and upon picking up the dog, they referred me to a specialist. The next day, the dog could not see out of his eye and was in great discomfort. We took the dog to another vet who said that the procedure the vet did on his eye was incorrect. He had to clean up everything the vet at Banfield did and in addition, remove the third eye lid of the dog.

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    Reviewed July 10, 2009

    In October 2007, I took my cat in for a routine teeth cleaning. All appeared to have gone well and I picked her up as soon as I was called and notified that she was ready to go. After being home for about two hours, I noticed that her tummy was swelling up at an alarming rate, so I called Banfield back and was told to bring her back in at once. I did so immediately and after about 45 minutes was advised that she had gone into acute kidney failure and she would need round the clock hospitalization and ICU treatment that Banfield could not offer. They charged me for this visit, which I didn't pay for at the time, because the life of my beloved cat was more important. I left Banfield and took her to an emergency vet nearby.

    After a six-day stay and over $1500 in hospital charges, she came home and has been fine ever since. Banfield called every day not to ask how she was, but to badger me for more money! After going through this for about three days, the manager at the time settled the payment and I paid what was agreed upon. I shouldn't have given them a penny, because I found this whole thing had been a result of negligence on Banfield's part failing to properly hydrate my cat during and after the procedure. Anyway, they have now placed a collection on my credit report. I am sure that hell will freeze over before they get another penny out of me. They are lucky I didn't sue them, but I just can't afford to.

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    Reviewed July 10, 2009

    It's quite a simple and heartbreaking story. I took my pet (details withheld due to pending litigation) in for a simple tooth cleaning. Banfield Pet Hospital sent her home with a dislocated hip. They refused to acknowledge they might have done anything wrong or were in any way negligent and/or simply unobservant. The total charges for this simple tooth cleaning came to over $1,000, but lucky me, with the Wellness Plan, I "only" had to pay $350. The real vet I took my pet to informed me that a normal tooth cleaning on a small pet is actually around $150 to $200 at any reputable vet office.

    Tomorrow, my pet will be sedated in order for her new, caring doctor to take the appropriate x-rays to determine the extent of damage and if/when my pet may have to have hip surgery. I will continue to pursue Banfield Pet Hospital in order that no other pet will have to go through what mine is going through right now. Banfield Pet Hospital does not care for your pet or for your feelings when your pet is injured by their negligence, ignorance, and stupidity.

    In order to cancel the Wellness Plan (What an oxymoron!), I will have to pay $240. I actually cursed the lady on the phone this morning when she told me that! They want me to pay them for injuring my pet? What a load of crap! I will continue to spread the word regarding these facts and about why I hate Banfield Pet Hospital and why you should, too.

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    Reviewed July 10, 2009

    On Saturday, May 30, 2009, I brought my cat in for his annual vaccinations according to his wellness plan (a free visit). During the visit, I was told my cat had an outer ear infection. He had not demonstrated any signs of this at home, no scratching his ears, redness, inflammation, discharge, smells or shaking his head, but I took their word for it. They poked around his ears with a q-tip then proceeded to take him to a treatment area, at the back, outside of my view, where they said they would clean his ears and give him antibiotics. All of this cost me $128. Makes me wonder. Once home, he seemed okay but within an hour, he began to hold his head tilted to one side and started stumbling when he walked. He got so bad that he could barely walk and would not eat.

    I returned to Banfield the next morning and asked how my healthy cat became so sick, when the only change had been their "caring" for him. They could not explain. They said he must have an inner ear infection and they would need to run tests, etc., which are not covered by my wellness plan. They also wanted to shoot him up with more meds. I did not feel comfortable leaving my cat with them overnight and without my supervision because of what had happened with his ear. Later that evening, I noticed my cat had gotten worse. He could not get up from the floor without falling and his eyes were jumping back and forth rapidly. I brought him to the emergency vet who told me his eardrum had been punctured and there was "cleaning" fluid in his inner ear. She gave me some antibiotics and told me it may be 2-6 weeks before he gets better. She diagnosed him with ototoxicity, inner ear infection due to chemical poisoning. She also noted he had no evidence of ever having any kind of ear infection in the first place.

    Bottom line, it has been 6 weeks. My cat now has permanent balancing and gait problems thanks to Dr. ** and the pet nurse at Daytona Beach Banfield. I have filed a formal complaint with Banfield. They offered to give me the $121.00 I paid for an emergency vet, but only if I signed a paper saying that they were not admitting guilt and were unable to treat him only because the emergency happened after hours. Did I not bring him back that morning and give them the opportunity to help? Also, they would not allow me to cancel the wellness plan, like I will ever bring my cat back to them. I am now out the charge for their "cleaning" of my cat's ear, the emergency room vet charge, the monthly fee for my wellness plan and future vet bills due to this situation. It isn't as much the money as it is the lack of honesty by these people in admitting they made a mistake.

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    Reviewed July 9, 2009

    This office diagnosed my cat with kidney disease and gave me a prescription to purchase the special food she needed. After consulting a friend, I realized that the vet did not explain the disease process well or offer treatment beyond the special diet. This inspired me to take my kitty elsewhere. The new vet was very informative and laid out a detailed plan on what I could do to keep my kitty as healthy as possible. For the next year, I continued to get check-ups at my new vet but I bought the food I needed from Petsmart because it is close to home and because the new vet doesn't sell food. When my prescription for the food expired at Banfield, they insisted I pay to have my cat get a check-up there before they would sell me anymore food. This is outrageous. It is nothing less than a money-making scam presented as concern for the health of my cat.

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    Reviewed July 7, 2009

    Took my Westie to the pet store with me to pick up a few things she needed. While in the store, she urinated and I realized she had a urinary tract infection. She has a regular vet, however, this occurred on a Saturday and the regular vet was closed. I asked the clerk if they had any medicine in the store I could give her and the clerk told me she could see the vet at Banfield. What I thought was a stroke of good luck but it turned out to be a 3-hour ordeal of systematically picking my wallet to the tune of $300.00 in three hours.

    The doctor would come in look at her for a few minutes, leave for 20 minutes, come back in, look at her for another couple of minutes, did a urinalysis, and proceeded to tell me that she needed to do more tests on her. When I asked her the result of the urinalysis, she told me she saw some bacteria but needed to do more tests. I asked if she could just give her an antibiotic to cure the urinary problem, but she refused since I wouldn't allow them to continue testing her. Seeing that I was upset, she offered some inflammatory pills to give her.

    The following day, I took my dog to her regular vet who gave me an antibiotic based on the urinalysis they did. It is my considered opinion that these people at Banfield are nothing but charlatans looking to take advantage of people in a most pathetic way and should be put out of business.

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    Reviewed July 7, 2009

    I am enrolled in the Wellness Plan at Banfield Hospital where you pay a monthly fee and vaccines,office visits and other expenses are at a reduced cost. My dog, Mister Bubbles, has a history of cancer for which he underwent two surgeries in 2008. He was seen by Dr. ** in June 2009 for Atopic Dermatitis. Dr. ** prescribed Atopica capsules and advised me my pet could take this for several months. Dr. ** was well aware of my pets history of cancer. I had provided extensive legible medical records, including pathology reports. I had even mentioned my pet's cancer that he was seen. Mister Bubbles received five doses of the medication. I happened to look it up on the computer, only to find that the only contraindication was a history of malignant neoplasia.

    I immediately contacted Banfield and a day later, Dr. ** contacted me, that he had spoken to an oncologist, but it wasn't very helpful. I then suggested that he contact the manufacturer. He did and that was also inconclusive. He told me that if the medicine works, it may outweigh the risks. I was appalled and stated that it is quite the opposite. Increasing my pet's risk of a recurrence of the cancer hardly outweighs the benefits of his allergy relief. I contacted Corporate on June 29, 2009, spoke to Duane and was advised I would be contacted in 3-5 days. I have not heard from anyone representing Banfield Hospital yet.

    On multiple occasions, I have found the staff disorganized, always in a hurry and misinforming. I am requesting that I be withdrawn from the Wellness Plan from June 2009 to its expiration November 2009. I have absolutely no confidence in this facility. My pet has gone through multiple surgeries in an attempt to remove all affected tissues.

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    Reviewed July 6, 2009

    I have been a Banfield customer for approx. one year, July 4th, 2008. I received a call from the receptionist on duty on July 1st, 2009, informing me that my dog was due for a yearly check-up which she felt should be done before her Banfield agreement is up on July 4th, 2009. So I made an appointment for July 2nd, 2009. Upon my arrival to the clinic, the receptionist on duty asked me if I was there for the Wellness program and I told her that I was not, that I was scheduled for my pet's yearly check-up that was scheduled for July 2nd. Her response to my comment was, "That is weird; we don't schedule check-ups on Wellness program days." My response to her was, "I was not aware of this."

    So, she told me to wait and someone will be with me shortly. Approx. 15 minutes later, she came back to me and told me to leave my pet with her and they will call me when she is ready for pick-up. I found this kind of odd because I had a one-on-one the first time I enrolled, and for me to leave my dog with them, I was not too comfortable. But she told me that being that Thursday was Wellness day, they are making an exception with my pet. So I proceeded to leave my pet and went on my way. They told me they will call me before they proceed with any shots - check-ups, etc. So I gave them my cell phone number.

    They called me and told me that they were going to give my pet two out of three shots - a Distemper Parvo DAP Vaccine and a Leptospirosis 4-way Vaccine. I had mentioned to the physician on duty that she had an allergic reaction towards one of those shots last year. So I warned her beforehand. She proceeded to give my pet the two shots. I picked up my dog and went home. Around 5:50 p.m., I noticed that my dog's nose was swollen and I called the clinic. The physician was leaving for the day and they told me that I had to take my dog to the closest emergency clinic and said their goodbyes. I was left with my pet having this reaction and I found myself having to take her to emergency because your physician could not instruct me to do what I had to do for her. I took her to the Country Animal Clinic and was informed that she only needed to take Benadryl. This exam cost me $177.25 which I feel was unnecessary for me to pay, having just taken my pet to see your physician and sign up for another year.

    I took my pet home and monitored her as the physician from the Country Animal Clinic instructed me. Sunday came along and my pet was vomiting throughout the day. My husband called the Banfield clinic and they informed him that he has to take the pet back to the emergency room because they were closing. Now, I am not satisfied with the service you have provided me and I would like to discontinue the 2009 - 2010 contract and my $177.25. You push the customer to sign the contract and the service that you provide when an emergency occurs does not meet my expectations. Thank you.

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    Reviewed July 6, 2009

    I signed up with Banfield via phone about June 23, 2009. On June 23, 2009, $88.90 was taken from my checking account. Well, I decided not to use Banfield. I had not yet used any services. I called this past weekend (July 4, 2009). I was told I had only been charged $18.00. That is not what my bank statement says.

    I called back today. Now, they say I had to cancel within 72 hours. Funny how the person who signed me up failed to mention this. I'm still fighting with them to get my refund.

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    Reviewed July 6, 2009

    My dog is a 4-month-old shelter rescue. I took him into Banfield because I thought he might have worms, a possible skin infection, and a cough. He was seriously malnourished from the rescue shelter as well. It took Banfield all of 15 minutes to do 3 tests, prescribe him 3 different medications, and send him on his way. There was nothing in the paperwork to explain why he needed any of the medications, which I paid dearly for. Also, the vet was out for lunch (at 3 pm) when I asked to speak with her so that I could find out why he needed these medications. A month later, he is still suffering from a skin infection, still has a cough, and has worms in his stool. They never even took a stool sample. We're going to a real vet today.

    Second, I'll respond to Jacqueline of San Clemente, CA's comment on June 12, 2009. Jacky stated: "First of all, there are over 700 Banfield Pet Hospitals in the United States. You can not judge every clinic based off of one bad experience. Banfield veterinarians are just as good as a 'real vet.' That's because they are real vets."

    Jacky, Banfield Pet Hospitals are a chain. Because of this, they all have the same codes, same hiring practices, same training, same procedures, and the exact same treatment plans. You absolutely can judge all of them from a bad experience at one. If you get a hamburger from McDonald’s that you don't like, you can say, "I don't like hamburger X from McDonalds," not just, "I don't like hamburger X from McDonald’s at this address with this person making it." That's foolish. They carry the name and a mark on one is a mark on all - as it should be.

    Also, you're right, there are "real vets" at Banfield. But, they are the bottom of the barrel. With 700 locations and a company with thousands of owners, the dollar is the bottom line. Their vets are not the top of the class, they are sub-par, and Banfield is where you end up after vet school if you have no other options. In sum, a mark on one should be a mark on all when dealing with a massive corporation that is uniform throughout. Also, they are out to make money, not to make your pets better. They will upcharge where they can and they will not give you the help you need for your loved one when you need it most, as the vast majority of the accounts here have shown. Also, with hundreds of negative reviews, many of them devastatingly tragic, from all over the country, how is it that you can even think of saying something along the lines of, "You haven't brought your pets to all 700 locations, so don't judge”? Foolish.

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    Reviewed July 3, 2009

    We brought my cat to the Banfield vet services inside the Petsmart store. It was recommended to us by the a local animal shelter, that it was reasonable. We had to wait about 10 minutes to get into the room. A nurse came in, took information and then we waiting another 10 minutes for the vet. The vet checked him and said he had infection on his paw and she needed to do blood work. Our cat was old and was looking was very weak, but we okayed the blood work to see if he were dying or he just had an infection.

    We waited about another 25 minutes because we got an estimate on the blood work cost. They told us we needed to leave the cat because the blood work would take awhile. We were told that around 8:30 p.m. we could pick him up. They never called us, so we called and they said the cat was okay, but they were running one more test. I was already on the way to pick up my cat. When I got there, the vet told me he had a fatal virus and there was no cure. We knew that cat was old and he was not drinking or eating and we did not want him to suffer anymore, so we put him to sleep. It was about 9:00 and the store was closing, so my cat had to wait until the morning to be put to sleep.

    What really upset me was, why the vet did not complete the blood work and why they were telling us the cat was okay and also giving him an antibiotic injection for his paw when he was dying anyway. I feel they just tried to drain for any money they could get. My bill was $565 to put him asleep and the blood work. There are over $100 in expenses that would should have not occurred. We are people hearts. To put my cat through this really stinks. They are overpriced.

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    Reviewed July 3, 2009

    My two Maltese dogs are patients at Banfield Pet Hospital (PetSmart). I am extremely happy with the services provided there and with the professionalism of the employees, especially Jenna, a vet tech, and Dr. Atwal. They are thorough, compassionate and take the time to explain things to me. I feel the price for the insurance is very reasonable and it covers just about everything. I would recommend this location #0772 to anyone.

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    Reviewed July 2, 2009

    On June 26, I took my pet maltese to Petmarts to be seen for symptoms of allergies she had been having. When I walked up to the counter, I spoke with Juliet of client services and asked was it possible for Morgan to be seen. Juliet asked some questions about Morgan like if it was her first visit and her name. I asked how much was the visit. She said the office visit is free from the hours of 2-4 p.m. and any vaccinations or other diagnosis are additional.

    I stayed for the visit which they tried to get me to sign up for the wellness plan but I never made a final decision that day. The vet told me that Morgan had an ear infection and prescribed medication for about three different things. He told me the total for the meds came to 122 dollars. When I went to pay for the meds, I realized they prescribed a medication that Morgan was already using so she discarded it and was about to charge the same amount. I asked why the price would be the same if I'm not purchasing one of the items any longer, so she made the proper deductions. When I got home and looked at the invoice, I noticed that I was also charged an office visit that was supposed to be complimentary for the first visit.

    When I called, I was connected to Mimi who said she is the supervisor and her title is a Maryland field trainer. While explaining to Mimi the situation, she interrupted and told me there's nothing they could do and that I should have checked my invoice. She also said that the visit is free for healthy pets. I asked why wasn't I told that before the visit and she said, "I'm not the one who processed you." She told me that I shouldn't have signed for the doctor to treat Morgan.

    They lied to me to get my money and I don't believe the diagnosis is right either. I lost $86.38 for a visit that did not solve the problem. Morgan had to be seen once again by a vet to get the right diagnosis. This has been too expensive and time consuming.

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    Reviewed June 30, 2009

    I signed my 13 week old Maltese puppy up for a wellness plan. I went for one visit, which included a shot and a fecal sample. I found them incompetent. The exam was largely done by a poorly trained assistant. The dog reacted to the shots, they lost the dog's previous vaccination records from the breeder. The assistant also recorded inaccurate information into the computer. When the doctor came in, he read the computer instead of examining the dog properly himself. I wanted to cancel the one year contract after this incompetence.

    I have since taken my dog to a private vet who is much better and cheaper. Banfield claims that those services were $251 if ala carte. My vet charged $75 for a proper exam, by a doctor, and shots. I was unable to cancel the contract so far. They make it impossible, on purpose, giving you the "choice" of paying the trumped up "ala carte" charges for initial service or paying the entire year contract, which is roughly the same - $25.91 monthly charge from your credit card for a year whether you use them ever again or not (I never did). They then tell you to file a written complaint, but no one knows how that would be done. It is just a time-consuming runaround.

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    Reviewed June 29, 2009

    Don’t buy the wellness contract. When you cancel it, they keep charging you. Read the entire thing with a fine tooth comb. Seriously, it will rake you over the coals. When you call to cancel it, get an email confirmation! Don't expect them to be polite about it either!

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    Reviewed June 22, 2009

    On February 2009, I signed my two dogs up for the Banfield wellness plan. I was told what a wonderful plan it was and how I would save roughly $1900 by having them on it. I was also told that I would receive discounts on other services by having the wellness plan. After signing my dogs up and after thorough examination, they told me that one of my dogs had heartworms, tapeworms, ear infections, etc. The other dog had tapeworms, ear infection, etc. I was told I need worming medicine, ear infection medicine, flea and tick medicine, etc. My grand total for one day is $468. I gladly paid because still I'm thinking this is such a great deal.

    Needless to say, every time I went after that, I had to pay for something beside the fee for the heartworm treatment. There was always something wrong every time I went. To make a long story short. I've paid about $1500 to Banfield from February '09 to June '09. I took my dog to get sprayed on June 18, 2009. On June 19, 2009, I found my precious dog dead in my backyard. I was told she probably threw a clot or it may have been from heat exhaustion. I called to cancel the plan because I have already paid an extreme amount of money in such a short time. I was told I could not cancel until February 2009 even though my baby is gone and I can no longer attend anymore of her doctor visits. Please do not take your dog to Banfield unless you are prepared to lose to them.

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    Reviewed June 19, 2009

    My cat became ill in May. Having a Wellness Plan with Banfield, I took her in for vet services. The vet could not identify what exactly was wrong with my cat. After prescribing antibiotics and other medications, blood work and x-rays, she was sent home without a diagnosis. Because my cat had been seen during the year, I had to pay for services costing me approximately $800. My cat continued to lose weight and not eat. After several weeks I had to have her put to sleep.

    I called Banfield Corporate Office to cancel my Wellness Plan, the representative told me I owed them $325.00 because my Wellness Plan had renewed on the 12th of May, and my cat had received services, therefore I am responsible for the difference between the discount fee and regular fee. I explained that my cat was deceased, and did not understand why you would force pet owners to pay for deceased pets. She said she would send me the contract to prove that I agreed to the terms and conditions.

    At the time I signed the contract, I was approached in PetSmart and told about this great contract. I was told about the savings and nothing about if your pet die or you cancel the Wellness Plan, they will hold you obligated to pay. Banfield is a true rip-off and I encourage everyone to use a regular vet, do not sign a contract with this company. There are some good vets, but the corporate office is there to steal your money and take advantage of pet owners. I would be happy to speak to an attorney or participate in a class action suit. Banfield is deceptive and dishonest. I believe Banfield is engaging in consumer fraud.

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    Reviewed June 17, 2009

    They sold me a $300-$350 Wellness plan for my dog. When I brought her in several months later when she'd swallowed a raw hide and couldn't pass it, I asked why I never got any reminder calls for her wellness services. I was told, "You should be." Today, I received a letter stating that her Wellness Plan was up for renewal and that it was time for her wellness exam, vaccinations and fecal exam. The letter stated, "These services are part of your Wellness Plan that have already been paid for so be sure to have your family call us and schedule a drop-off appointment at the earliest convenience." I called them today, the day I received the letter, and was told my Wellness plan was up for renewal and she could only receive services if I signed up for another plan. I asked to speak to the manager and they said she was busy and they'd leave a message.

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    Reviewed June 16, 2009

    The reason for this letter is to explain the chain of events which resulted in the loss of my very best friend and companion, Coby, my eight-year old kitty. My goal is to have assistance in an investigation of Bansfield/Pet Smart for possible animal malpractice by any or all media outlets, including any applicable pet rights groups. His sickness was a time sensitive one that I regrettably depended on Banfield/Pet Smart for help and answers. My cat suffered from pulmonary edema (fluid filled lungs) due to some unidentified condition of the heart which resulted in labored breathing, depression and anorexia. After doing my own research on the web, I took Coby to Banfield’s 4 days after I had noticed the progressive changes in his breathing. At first, I thought it was just me and I was being a paranoid mother.

    The doctor and assistant at Banfield’s acted like he was breathing fine and it was his weight that was the culprit. I specifically asked about x-rays on his lungs. They suggested blood work and said they could find out more that way. Being in a position to do what ever it took to help him, I agreed, though I was surprised that’s how they wanted to move forward. I had the blood work done and waited by the phone to get the results, to my dismay. I received a follow up call from someone completely different that wanted to know how Coby’s vomiting and diarrhea were doing. He never had these symptoms to begin with, so obviously their means of health intake are skewed and unreliable.

    Finally, I get some results from the doctor stating that he had a urinary tract infection and special food, along with oral meds were necessary. I went directly there to pick up the supplies and paid $136.00 on top of the $322.00 I had just paid for the blood work and exam. Coby graciously took the pills and ate what food his body would permit the next two days.

    Waiting to hear results from further testing at Banfield, I watched my precious little guy fade before my eyes. Not seeing time to wait any longer, I frantically searched for nearby veterinarians I could get him to in emergency. Luckily, I found the best vet in Houston closest to me, but it was too late at this point. The new doctor checked his pulse, tapped his side twice and wrapped him in a towel to rush him back to ICU, which is down the hall a few steps from the exam room.

    His words were, “This cat is in critical condition. We need x-rays stat!” I lost composure as he showed me the condition of Coby's lungs. 20% lung capacity at that point was all he had to his advantage. Unfortunately, that was not enough to sustain life any longer. Coby passed away in the ICU at the new vet, which I will return to as long as I reside in Bellaire. The point of all of this is to make pet owners aware that Banfield may be good enough to take your pet for grooming or getting their claws trimmed, but never ever depend on their experts to save the life of a beloved pet. Don't let the time come that you urgently need to seek help for your pet. Find a real good family doctor as if you were taking your children. I can not have babies so my pets are my family and I have learned a very hard lesson with the loss of my beautiful Coby.

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    Reviewed June 15, 2009

    While walking my dogs through the neighborhood, my dog Sunshine was attacked and injured by pit bulls. It happened directly behind the Banfield clinic where she receives her regular care, so I quickly walked her there for care.

    Even though she stood dripping blood onto their floor, they refused to treat her or even check her out to see if she was okay to walk home. They initially claimed it was because they were too busy dealing with another emergency. That emergency turned out to be a constipated cat. But as I sat there and waited, the assistant came out and told the young woman who was waiting for the cat that the cat was using the litter pan and would be okay. So clearly, they were not too busy to at least look at Sunshine and there were no other people or patients waiting at the time. After they refused several times to even look at her, we left, but Sunshine was bleeding so badly on the walk home that I went back and begged them to look at her.

    They then took her in back for a few seconds and returned with her stating that she might need stitches and that might take too long so they weren’t willing to help her. This is from a company that boasts about legendary client service. I ended up walking all the way home with Sunshine and then driving her to the University Small Animal Hospital for care.

    Why did Banfield behave this way? When I’d bring my dogs in to Banfield for care, they would always pressure me to leave them at the clinic, no matter how minor the problem. This allowed them to charge double because they’d charge for both the visit and the stay. They could also then fit additional appointments in to what should have been my 15 minute appointment. I eventually started to question this practice (other area vets don’t do this) which was unnecessarily expensive and very stressful for my dogs. I also didn’t like one of the vets, who had recommended $700 worth of x-rays for an allergy problem. They were unhappy that I voiced my concerns about these and other issues, and I believe the vet in charge that day was being vindictive because of this.

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    Reviewed June 14, 2009

    I have a great concern regarding their emergency medical procedures due to an incident that occurred in your facility on May 28, 2009, Thursday morning regarding our cat, Princess. My father brought her in because the cat was not eating for approximately 5 days, in addition to not having any bowel movements. Although no one was able to assist my father since Ms. Susan **, the office manager, informed my father that it will cost him an approximate total of $300 including the medicine fee just to examine her (x-ray and enema). What is very strange is that Princess, the cat, was physically examined on March 19, 2009 by one of their staffs during her yearly exam, which states on the report that the cat was normal with the exception to her weight - she was a little overweight, required tartar control for her stained teeth and had a mild pigmentation on her left eye, which the staff stated in parenthesis "normal". Also, the medical report had no signature from an attending veterinarian and/or staffs. Nothing on the report stated any major ailments.

    We currently have a health insurance plan through Banfield in order for Princess to receive her annual examination. We chose Banfield since we purchased Princess when she was only a kitten through PetSmart. During their adoption period, which we already built our trust with PetSmart, it was not a difficult choice to choose Banfield Pet Hospital as her primary care facility due to its affiliation with PetSmart. As of Friday, May 29, 2009, Princess passed away in the early morning. Her caused of death was unknown due to Banfield's veterinarians in Oxnard neglecting to assist her further on Thursday, May 28, 2009, when my father brought her in. The only way they were going to perform the examination was to charge my father with a $300 bill. This cost would have put a financial strain on my father as he is on a limited budget income. My father did inform Ms. Susan ** of this financial strain, but she was unwilling to help without my father agreeing to pay the $300 examination fee. Her neglect caused our pet cat Princess's chance of survival.

    Prior to the Banfield Pet Hospital visit in Oxnard, my father performed his own physical examination of Princess, but he was unable to locate any visible cause of her ailments. No bug, spider and other animal bites, no open wounds, etc. In addition, Princess was a house cat so we never had her roam outside, not even on the patio or in the back and/or front yard. Princess was not a cat that would also run outside when the door was open. So in conclusion, Princess was not eating for an approximate of 5 days, no bowel movements, no vomiting and sluggish physical movements prior to the pet hospital visit on May 28, 2009. She died early morning on Friday, May 29, 2009. Her last physical examination with Banfield Pet Hospital in Oxnard, CA was on March 19, 2009.

    I feel this neglect is an inhumane treatment to any animal, especially at a time when she really needed urgent medical care. If this is a facility whose main reason of business is to treat and care for these animals, then the procedure to assist Princess would have never been neglected. It should not have been the deciding factor if my father was able to pay for the cost of $300 or not in order to treat Princess's illness. I feel their company took advantage of my father and put him in a position to choose over his financial strain or pay $300 in hopes your pet hospital would be able to help her, which there was no guarantee. If their facility follows and believes the main reason of business, then perhaps Princess would still be alive today. No doctors and/or staffs should be working at any of these facilities where care and treatment for these animals is a priority and if these people are only working in these careers just for income purposes and they don't have the passion and belief in caring for these animals in order to save them.

    An examination cost at any amount should not be placed as an obstacle in order to make the right decision to treat an animal with urgent medical care. Their facilities require extensive training for all staffs including office managers to perform their actions in a humane way and be reminded that they are hired to care and treat these animals, not as disposable items but with respect, compassion and understanding. Your company should not hire anyone just because they have a certification and license, but mainly because of their desire and passion to work, care and treat all types of animals in general.

    In the past, when we have taken "Princess" in for her annual exam, we recalled on one occasion that she was returned to us with some parts of her body covered in her own vomit and feces. We spoke to one of your staffs, which they responded that they had no knowledge this occurred and was apologetic although this incident should have never occurred if they only took better care of her. We specifically informed them to omit from feeding her wet food and milk products. But we had no proven facts if they did or not. The health insurance plan cost my father $16.95 per month, which was being deducted from his bankcard. He has been a customer with Banfield Wellness Plan for a few years. If your company hired adequate people who really cared for these animals, then "Princess" would possibly still be alive and they would not have lost a customer.

    Father is requesting to cancel the monthly Health Insurance Bill of $16.95 commencing as of Friday, May 29, 2009. Please apply this request immediately. I have already contacted the corporate office located in Portland, Oregon on Thursday, June 04, 2009, and spoke to one of their representatives, Janell, who stated that I would need to forward a correspondence requesting to cancel the insurance in order to stop receiving the monthly bill. She said they will apply it as soon as they receive the request. Our pet cat "Princess" died due to the neglectful actions from Banfield, The Pet Hospital in Oxnard, CA.

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    Reviewed June 12, 2009

    First of all, there are over 700 Banfield Pet Hospitals in the United States. You cannot judge every clinic based off of one bad experience. Banfield veterinarians are just as good as a "real vet." That's because they are real vets. They've been to school just like someone who owns a private practice. You are treating hundreds of hospitals (with multiple doctors at each hospital) as though it is one place.

    Additionally, Banfield doesn't offer "pet insurance," they offer "wellness plans" and the contract that you sign when you sign up for one tells you exactly that, in addition to the services and discounts included. If you have a problem with the way the contract is written, maybe you should read important documents before you sign the dotted line.

    My cat and dog have two different vets at Banfield and they are both amazing individuals that I trust completely with my beloved pets. They are both extremely intelligent men with excellent bedside manner. I'm not saying that some of you haven't had horrible experiences, but you are generalizing too much to be fair.

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    Reviewed June 9, 2009

    My dogs, Meg and Sadie, visited the Banfield Clinic from July 2006 through December 2008. Meg suffered from chronic scratching and constant shedding and an occasional infection. I was told she had very sensitive skin and was very likely reacting to flea bites. I was advised to spray the yard for fleas, use a special medicated shampoo, and use a prescription flea repellant sold by the clinic. After saturating my yard with pesticides and regularly applying the flea medication and probably over washing my dog, the condition persisted.

    Both dogs were signed up for the Banfield Wellness Plan on January 15, 2008. After moving out of the area in April of this year, I took Meg to a local veterinary clinic, where she was diagnosed as having a thyroid imbalance. The thought of the years of discomfort Meg has gone through because of poor medical attention misdiagnosis and becoming dissatisfied with their service and moving, I decided to cancel the Banfield Plan. When I called the home office to cancel the plan, I was told the plan could only be placed on a "non- renewable" status until a $400.00 balance was paid. When I requested a written statement explaining the balance, I was told this was not possible. At this point, I advise anyone considering the Banfield Wellness Plan to be very careful and do much research.

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    Reviewed June 6, 2009

    On May 1, 2009, I took my cat in to be checked out since one day prior he had eaten a toad. He had had toxic smelling diarrhea for two days. I took him in on the second day. The employees were in their weekly meeting. Two different vet assistants came out and looked into his cage. One of the assistants said, "We are closed now for our meeting and will reopen at 3pm." This was more than an hour away. I was very insistent he see the vet. One of the vet assistants said, "Let me get the nurse." She came out, opened his carrier, felt around on his head like she was petting him, and closed the door. She then said, "If we get done with our meeting early, then we can take him in as an emergency walk-in," and there would be an extra charge since I did not have an appointment. After waiting more than an hour, he is finally seen by Veterinarian C. **. I repeated my story about him eating a toad the day prior and about the diarrhea. They listed over $500 worth of test to do.

    I am unemployed right now. I got laid off. I said, "Let's start with an x-ray first to see what we are dealing with." This whole time no one has told me about toads being poisonous. I found out on my own through the internet research. The vet prescribed Carafate and Probotic Powder and their prescription food. I did everything she told me. He seemed to be getting better through the week and the diarrhea was gone. Then as days went on, it seemed he was not feeling well. He was still eating and drinking water so I thought he was still recovering from the extreme bout of diarrhea. He was now down to 5.1 lbs from 12lbs. Into the fourth week, he was breathing as though he was going to heave up a fur ball but he never did. Other than that, he seemed okay.

    By beginning of June, he was still breathing this way so I was taking him back to the vet, where on the way to the vet, he started acting as though he was choking and no sound was coming out or air. I immediately opened his carrier where I felt him to see if he was breathing, he was not. Once I arrived at the vet, the man vet pronounced him DOA. When I spoke with Dr. ** , he sure could do the spinning talk.

    My complaint was that they made me wait that day and that no one, even the vet C. **, knew all toads were poisonous. The manager vet and the other man vet knew. Maybe if she had be trained properly, maybe she could have tried to induce vomiting or given him something to help absorb the toxin. But she did not. Dr. ** went on and on and on about how much training they go through and how they close down every Friday for one and a half hours for meetings, for training. Dr. ** kept dancing around that he would have animals dying everyday if they had eaten a toad. He said it just does not happen.

    Since then, my husband and I have spoken to many people we know and many of them had bad experiences with Banfield vets as a whole. I do not usually have the need for a vet because my cats stay indoors and are not exposed to other animals. This toad got into the house after a rain storm. I made it very clear that I would tell as many people as possible to stay away from Banfield vets. And since Petsmart sponsors them under their roof, I told the assistant manager Michelle, that I would no longer be shopping at their store.

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    Reviewed June 5, 2009

    My dog was not eating and was acting strange. Because it was a Sunday and my regular vet was not open, I took my dog to Banfield. After 3 hours, he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and was given antibiotics and special food which totalled $345 with the office visit and tests.

    After two days, he seemed worse. I brought him to my regular vet and the vet found he has a back problem (thru x-rays and a physical exam) and was flabbergasted that he had been diagnosed with pancreatitis because he did not have any of the classic symptoms. I am livid that my dog suffered for two more days because of a bad diagnosis. My paperwork states that at Banfield, he exhibited normal behavior and no physical complaints which was obviously wrong because if you touched my dog anywhere on the back, he yelped! I want a refund and an explanation. I am going to go back to Banfield to complain and if nothing is done, I am writing the company.

    It makes me so mad and sick to my stomach to find out that this seems to be a major problem for Banfield. That was $345 down the drain, a waste of time, misdiagnosis, 2 more days of pain for my dog, 3 hours of my time. I could have brought my dog to an emergency vet and most likely found comfort for my dog.

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    Reviewed June 4, 2009

    Previously, I have used Banfield in Tigard, OR with no complaints. This time, I took a 14- year-old cat in to be put down. I called and made the appointment, which they couldn't find. Then the vet took so much time trying to convince us how bad we were and how she wanted to do all these labs and ultrasounds, etc. I told her 3 times very clearly we just wanted her put to sleep. Eventually, the cat bit one of the techs, which caused all kinds of chaos. It ended up costing us $400, that’s without getting the cat given back to us, and taking 4 hours. It was distressing to the cat, and horrible for our family. I will never go back to a Banfield again. To add insult to injury, the bottom of the estimate had a paragraph suggesting we get pet insurance for her, and how much it would save us for today’s visit. How insensitive is that? And, of course, after the bite, she told my hysterical daughter that they would have to cut the cats head off and send it in for testing! We had already told them we didn't need the cat returned to us, so why even say that?

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    Reviewed June 2, 2009

    I took my dog in after 3 days of progressively getting sick with hindquarter weakness, vomiting, no appetite. She had a lump that was biopsied to see if that could be the problem. Blood was drawn also. That was the only things done to her. She was wearing a muzzle at the time and we had also given her 15 mg. of Valium before bringing her in.

    Along with the sedation and muzzle, in addition to the weakness from being ill, she was in no shape, and did not offer much resistance to anything that was done. We were there during the complete and total time that she was there. Physically with her at all times. Most control of her was done by myself, my husband & our son. They said she needed x-rays but their machine was down and they would call me as soon as it was functioning.

    I got no call to return for x-rays. No other tests or procedures were done other than described above. I was given a receipt for services that were not performed at all. I wasn't charged for all services that they had listed but they were supposedly done - they were not. The list is too long to go into but I would be more than happy to talk with an attorney if deemed worthy. The worst thing about all of this mess was that, I am now having to take my pet to a private vet and time has been wasted to what damage to my baby is yet to be seen.

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    Reviewed May 31, 2009

    DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY...Go to a REAL vet....My puppy bit into a battery and I rushed her in to see what I thought was a good vet, and they closed at 5:00 and it was 4:45 he refused to see my puppy. The only thing I heard him say was "check that dog in cuz she is pating emergency fee" Now I thought vets were to care about dogs and not the money as much...Wrong, he didn't care if my puppy died, he didn't ask what kind of battery or nothing just MONEY MONEY MONEY....Well I am canceling my wellness program cuz it is just a crock. They will never get another dime out of me. He lost me and anybody I talk to will know the same thing...DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY
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    Reviewed May 30, 2009

    I have been taking my pets to Banfield for many years. In November of 2007, while in for routine care for my three pets, the young female assistant suggested I sign up for the wellness plan for my dog and two cats. I proceeded to do so, and then had routine care for the pets for the next year. Just before the plan was set to renew, I called to schedule shots for the pets under the current year's allowances. They scheduled the shots.
    When I brought in the pets, they charged me for the shots, stating that my new plan actually started that very day. I stated that I had followed their instructions, and that they had made a scheduling mistake. They took a few dollars off the price. I asked to speak to the office manager. I was told she was not available. I asked that they have her call me. She never did. In the meantime, I called the corporate office and asked they remove me from the plan. The representative I talked to said that a different person had to handle that, and they would have someone call me. No one ever called. Shortly thereafter, Banfield began calling us several times a week at home using phone calls made by a computer and with a recorded message asking I call them back. When I called the number, no one ever answered, and no live person ever called me back. Finally, in May of 2009, Banfield referred me to a collection agency, which sent me a bill for over eight hundred dollars. There was no phone number on the bill. I went on Banfield's web site, and again found no phone number. I decided to try PetSmart's website, which had a 24 hour seven day a week customer service line. The pleasant and helpful young man on the other end assured me that they were in no way affiliated with Banfield, other than to rent them space in their stores, and kindly provided me with a phone number to Banfield's corporate office. I was able to get through to them today, and was, after several minutes of waiting, referred to their collections department. I then spoke to a female representative, and told her my whole story as briefly as I could. The representative said she apologized for my trouble with the Banfield location we patronized, but that she could do nothing to help me on that end. She then explained that I was being charged for back wellness plan payments as well as for the services my pets received in November and December of 2008 as well as adding the cost of the retail rate that they would charge for pet treatments for those who were not on the wellness plan. They had also canceled my plan, but not until several months after I had requested to be taken off. I then asked the representative if there were any law suits or class action suits against the company, as I felt their business practices were illegal, misrepresented their services, and so forth. At this point she stated I had a right to contact an attorney, but that she was willing to cut me a deal. If I would pay three hundred and sixty dollars, they would send me a letter stating that I had fulfilled my obligation to Banfield. I wondered when I would receive the letter. She stated most likely within a few days. I paid the lowered fee on the phone with my credit card. Since this last interaction was this afternoon, I don't know the outcome of this, or whether they will further harass me or continue to bill me. They assured me this would be the end of the matter.
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    Reviewed May 29, 2009

    Cancel policy billing problems
    After sever years of pet insurance and occurring over $800 of bills that were paid to Banfield, The Pet Hospital at the Yorba Linda pet smart Banfield, The Pet Hospital. We cancel policy and were told that this will be cancelled, we figured that was it. Several Months later we noticed we were still being charged for the Policy to which we informed are credit provider to stop any pay payments to this account. Next thing we know about 9 months later from date we cancelled, we received a collection notice for $36 for unpaid account balance. It appears after reading other complaints this may be the norm for this company. I noticed one comment about class action suit and would be glad to help support this effort. If anyone did anything wrong it would have been Banfield, The Pet Hospital for continuing to charge me for service that I cancelled and legal action should be taken. Now I’m dealing with collection agencies and fixing credit reports to which I had excellent credit ratings not to mention all the time and effort on this. ADVICE – stay away from This Company. You will find it cheaper to just save the monthly charges and use this money to pay what the services will require year by year.. You will find they do not really cover big incidents any way.
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    Reviewed May 29, 2009

    I have a 2 year old Golden Retriever that has been going to Banfield in Wesley Chapel, FL for quite a while now and was enrolled in their wellness plan. All was okay when all he needed were vaccines and a dental cleaning. However, last week he actually got sick. My dog did not eat all day on Tuesday and was lacking energy. We took him to Banfield on Wednesday morning. They charged me $120 for blood tests. They said his results were fine so there was nothing they could diagnose him with.
    On Wednesday he ate a handful of food only. On Thursday he didn't eat at all. The dog had no energy, wouldn't respond to his name, wouldn't play with his favorite toys, wouldn't allow us to handfeed him, and wouldn't even take a treat. We took him back on Friday, since they instructed us to go back in 2 days if he miraculously wasn't feeling better by then although they gave him no medication the first time to help. On Friday they took x-rays and tested for Pancreatitis and charged me another $270, and still did not give me any medication. The x-rays showed no obstruction in his stomach or intestines. Any publication you read or doctor you ask says that 90-95% of dogs with Pancreatitis vomit and/or have diarrhea, which he didn't have. So Saturday morning when they called to say his Pancreatitis was negative, I was not shocked. By the way, my dog did not eat on Friday either. They then suggsted I come back 5 days later on Wednesday to test for Addison's disease. I told them he would be dead by then because by then it would be 9 days in a row that he hadn't eaten. I went in that morning and paid $20 to get copies of the x-rays I had already paid them for the day before. Then I took him to another vet Saturday morning who gave him an injection and some pills. Within 24 hours my dog was back to normal. He was eating, playing, and had energy. Needless to say I will not be going back to Banfield. I called to cancel my wellness plan and was told I need to pay $329 to cancel it. I told them they were nuts if they think I am going to pay that and that actually they should refund me the $400 I spent there last week since they didn't do anything to make my dog better. They insist they didn't do anything wrong even though my dog was losing 2 pounds a day and hadn't eaten for 4 days in a row when they asked me to wait 5 more days to come in again and didn't give him medicine in either of the 2 visits. I don't know of any dogs that last that many days without eating and don't die. There was obviously something wrong with my dog and they couldn't figure out how to make it stop so I was forced to go somewhere else. My husband and I have no children yet so we love our dog as if he was our child and would not put his life at risk. I put in a complaint to their corporate office and am awaiting a reply. I will call the local newspapers and newstations and stand on the road with signs if they still insist on making me pay more money.
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    Reviewed May 26, 2009

    During the month of January we noticed that one of our three cats had started to loose hair on his back, and developed a rash. We brought Tino into Banfield Pet Hospital in Manahawkin and had Dr. Candela exam him. The Dr. took a culture for nearly $45.00 that was not covered on our Wellness Plan, and prescribed an antibiotic that was close to &80.00, with our Wellness plan discount. After a few weeks our other two cats started to have the same hair loss, and rash. We once again brought all three cats back to the Dr. more cultures at $45.00/cat, and more antibiotics at again close to $80.00/cat.
    Nino did not do well with the medication and started vomiting every time we would give it to him. We placed a call to Dr. Candela of Banfield and 3 days later he graced us with a return phone call. We brought the cats back into the office, still having the rash and were told to use this shampoo, $40.00 and wash all 3 cats on a weekly basis for the next few weeks. This treatment also did not work. Now the plot thickens, in march my wife developed the same rash, no hair loss though. Her Dr. Fiasco is another story though. Low and behold she was diagnosed after 3 months with ring worm. We went back yet again to the pet hospital (Banfield) to see Dr.Candela AKA Dr.Doolittle. We presented him with the proof of my wife's illness, and once again he wanted to do cultures at $43.00/cat 3 cats mind you. Not that this would be covered under our wellness plan. he decided that we should treat the cats now for ringworm and prescribed a medication that would cost us $166.00/cat we have 3 cats remember. Our pet cage was not secured when we left the illness center, one cat escaped when we arrived home, took us 48 hrs to collect him. The Dr. blamed me stating the cages were open on arrival. They were weighed hence the open cages. He then had the audacity to accuse my wife who got the rash 2 months after the initial cat contracted our mystery disease of infecting the cats, and bringing ringworm into his office. The examination room was not cleaned, having hair all over the table, disgusting. we are very dissatisfied over the treatment that both us, and the cats received. I believe that if someone brought a deceased pet into the office, they would want to run test after test, prescribe meds, it's all about the money to these people.
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    Reviewed May 26, 2009

    We had our dog prepared by Banfield Pet Hospital for export to the U.K. under the PETS Passport Travel Plan to avoid quarantine. They conducted the procedures laid out by DEFRA (the authortative body for pet imports) out of sequence. As a result, upon arrival in England, we were told that our dog would now have to be put in quarantine for 6 months at a cost of several thousands of dollars. We have since contacted Banfield head office with no response. We have also contacted Banfield of El Cajon where the procedures took place to be told the person we need to speak to is unavailable. Our pet, Rugby, has been in this 4 foot x 15 foot cell for over a week now. We have to travel 72 miles each way to visit hm. My wife is almost having a nervous breakdown over the whole thing. It's her child in jail. There seems to be no concern on the part of Banfield for our predicament.
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    Reviewed May 20, 2009

    I accidentally stumbled upon this consumer report site while looking for some Banfield numbers and wanted to leave my positive feedback; I did not read all of the complaints and my heart goes out to anyone and everyone that has had challenges with pet care, however I also wanted to submit my honest feedback regarding the Wellness plan and my experiences over 5 years with the Walker Rd. Banfield in the Portland/Beaverton Oregon area:
    I have had the Wellness plan since I adopted my Yellow Lab almost 5 years ago. I never incurred any "hidden costs" and was constantly impressed with how much care my sweet girl received consistently with little or no fees aside from the wellness plan. My dog received the regular 6month check-ups, and I eventually upgraded to include dental, which I also felt we benefitted greatly from. It was really important to me that I be able to afford my dog's health-care as I didn't want my lack of financial resources to affect her life, and I have surely saved thousands of dollars over the past 5 years, as well as received better regular care than I could have anticipated. I also wanted to note that her regular check-ups and exams that were part of the plan made getting reimbursed through a pet-insurance program I have also had for 5 years much easier.
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    Reviewed May 20, 2009

    We were given a coupon for a free visit to Banfields. We decided to use the coupon for our 3-legged Lab-mix that we got from Smiley Dog Rescue. We didn't have a regular vet for her, but we had taken her to V.I.P. for her shots & flea & heartworm meds. We have 4 cats now & they all go to Civic Feline Clinic in Walnut Creek & we have been taking our cats there for over 26 yrs & just love them. I have had dogs off & on for the past 50 yrs & cats for the last 27 yrs. So over the years I have had several vets. I have never been to a vet where I had to leave them & then pick them up later, except for when they were spayed or neutered or something similar. One of my cats is an insulin dependent diabetic & they usually take him out of the examroom & to the back to draw blood or urine. I could go back if I wanted to. They have an anniversary party every year & you can go everywhere, to the surgery, boarding area, isolation area, where ever & I have seen everything. The clinic is very clean & everyone is super nice. I have always been able to get a same day appointment if I'm concerned about something that I feel needs to be taken care of right away. When I was at Banfield I just didn't get a good feeling, the place didn't seem to be that clean, the Dr. seemed too young to be a vet & didn't seem confident & started talking about all kinds of tests & the Wellness Plan. I started adding it all up in my head & I figured that since all of our cats are indoor only & that Tala (the 3-legged dog) is only in the house, the backyard, walks on a leash & free time at the dog park, all she needs is an annual checkup & shots, that this wouldn't be cost effective. After just one visit I knew we would never take Tala back there again. I asked our vet at Civic Feline to recommend a vet & she said Four Corners Vets. I checked them out & they came out very highly rated. A few months later Tala was walking with her head down & funnier than usual. She is missing her right rear leg.We took her to 4 Corners & had a wonderful vet. He took a couple of x-rays & it turned out that her left rear hip is bad. He showed us her X-rays, brought in a medical book, he explained everything, answered all our questions & calmed our concerns. He even told us about a dog he had who was also a tripod & had the same condition only worse than Talas & he did very well with meds. From reading these posts
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    Reviewed May 19, 2009

    I signed onto the "Wellness Plan" in Feb 2009. I thought it would be a great help with my finances and the well being of my dog. Come to find out my dog had heart worms. We did the horrible treatments right away. I was shocked to hear there was a "PetNurse" fee(14.00), "Hospitalization Ward"(29.97), and a "Doctor's Supervision"(18.17)fee too! A grand total of $62.14, just for him to stay at the office for 9 hrs. I said fine....do what we need to do for my loving dog. Not to mention the injection is $105.99. So we do 3 rounds of this horrifying treatment. After his last treat he kept gnawing and licking near the injection site. He chewed a huge raw spot, and it got infected. I rushed him to Banfield Hospital. They told me that was from the last injection, it must have gone between a few layers of his skin. It itches and burns him (that is what they vet told me)I had to purchase ointment for the wound, from their mess up, and antibiotics.
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    Reviewed May 18, 2009

    After making the difficult decision to put my beloved cat to rest I was told by Banfield that his ashes would be available in 1 to 1 1/2 weeks. After 2 weeks I called and was told by the receptionist, "we have a lot of dead animals in the freezer". What a HORRIBLE thing to say to someone who has just lost thier pet child. It is almost a month later and I still haven't recieved his ashes. I keep calling and getting stonewalled by them. I am moving my other animals to another vet and will NEVER go back to this money hungry clinic that doens't care about animals.
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    Reviewed May 15, 2009

    I took my 7 year old Beagle mix to Banfield with an ear infection. -- A simple ear infection. I have had pets for 40 years and I am familiar with the normal cleaning and antibiotic routine. Not Banfield --- they rang up a bill of $236.00. I told them that was insane and won't pay it. Then ---- amazingly ---- it was reduced to $186.00. That is still way too high, but I paid it and will never go there again. I am a responsible pet owner and do have the money for his care --- however, I will not be ripped off by them.
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    Reviewed May 14, 2009

    I have had My Chihuahua Isabell on the Wellness plan, I always recommend they muzzle Isabell as she will bite when she is afraid, the muzzled her both times, this is her second year, the first time we went they took wonderful care of Isabell, I dropped her off and went back 3-4 hours later for her, they did her bloodwork, cleaned her teeth, gave her shots and called the next day to make sure everything was o.k. Well, this year, I bring her in for her annual checkup and they take her in back and give her the shots test for heartworm and bring her back. I asked the young woman how were her teeth, she said I dont know we had the muzzle on her. I asked about the bloodwork she said it was done, but I noticed Isabell leg was not shaved this time. I go to the front and we speak and tell them I need Isabell's heartworm for the year. She goes to the back and gets the heartworm supply for the year and they charge me about 125.00 for it, I pay as I do not want Isabell to get heartworm. They tell me her rabies is not due until April so I make the appt to bring her back in April a couple of days before I get a call from them and they ask if I can bring her in earlier then 4pm which is the appt as they have to do the bloodwork and teeth??? I mentioned they had already done the bloodwork, not on the chart is wasn't done. So I drop Isabell off around 11am, they tell me she is not on the schedule at first and they have all this confusing information saying Isabell needs her shots, I tell them she got everything but the rabies when I was here the last time, I bought her heartworm medicine for the year. They look and tell me I did not buy her heartworm, I stated I knew I did I paid 125.00 for it, I have the paperwork in my file at home. They drop the subject and take Isabell from me after muzzleing her. I got back at 4pm to get her, and before she comes out I am speaking to another nurse and she says I need to buy heartworm, I told her I bought in the last time which was in February, she shows no record, I have it at home. She looks into our file and show that I did not buy heartworm the person who went to the back brought me out flea and tick medicine not heart worm. I was very upset #1 Isabell had not had her hearworm for 2 months and I spent $125.00 on something I didn't want. She said to me why didn;t I check what I bought, I told them you are the trained professional's here, I asked for Heartworm and I got something that I don't even want! The lady went in the back and came out and apologized and said the owner would call me tomorrow to discuss this, so at that point I had to spend another $38.00 for a 6 month supply of heartworm. When they finally brought Isabell out they were holding her and when she saw me she started scratching and trying to get out of their arms, I took her and she was so scared, this is not Isabell, she was freakin out,I tried to hold her, but she wouldn't let me, I brought her out as soon as i could the whole time she was barking and growling at anyone coming near her, she doesn't act like this either, Within 5 minutes of Isabell being back with me I had a terrible allergic reaction, she either was in a cage that had had a cat in it and they didn't clean it or something was in contact with her that had cat on it, as i have a terrible allergy to cats. I cannot breath it is so bad. The next two days, Isabell laid in bed crying in pain and for 4 days isabell had a lump on her back left leg thetwice the size of a lima bean. Again, regarding the blood work they did not shave her leg to draw the blood? DId they do it or not? I never asked the owner to call me they volunteered, I thought that is pretty professional, I am still waiting on the owners call, one month later, I called the office a week later spoke to the "manager" of banfield, he understood and said he would check in to this and he or the owner would call me back, I asked if he wanted my name again and my phone number he said he had it, two weeks later I am still waiting for a telephone call. They say you need 30 days advance notice to cancel plan for the next year, I am canceling now and will resend everymonth to make sure it is done, I will never bring Isabell back there again.
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    Reviewed May 13, 2009

    I brought my dog in for an eye infection. They said to leave him for a couple of hours so they could administer some antibiotic shots and check a skin scraping for a possible fungal infection. I went home and a few minutes later they called and told me he was ready to be picked up. By the time I got there, only ONE HOUR had elapsed from the time I left him there. After I got home, I noticed a new charge on my bill for "Hospitalization Ward Fee." HUH??? I drove back and asked for an explanation, saying that I'd been a customer for the past year and a half and had never paid such a fee for any of my other animals who stayed for lab tests. I was told it was a "new policy for customers who were not on their Wellness Plan." What a rip off!!! I could have left my dog at the Doggie Day Camp ALL DAY in Petsmart where he would have gotten lunch, snacks, and supervised play time for the same $30!!! I wrote to the corporate office and they had someone call me back. They said the charge should have been applied all along, but they had just discovered it wasn't, and agreed to refund my money just this once. I told the woman that from now on I would sit and wait with my pet in the waiting area out front until they were ready to do shots or lab work, and I was told I would be charged the $30 anyway! Are they for real??? I will NEVER go back!!! They scheduled us for a follow-up visit in one week, which I canceled. They're not getting any more unnecessary money out of me. All the other vets in private practice I have ever gone to have NEVER charged such a ridiculous fee just to make money.
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    Reviewed May 13, 2009

    I brought my dog in for an eye infection. They said to leave him for a couple of hours so they could administer some antibiotic shots and check a skin scraping for a possible fungal infection. I went home and a few minutes later they called and told me he was ready to be picked up. By the time I got there, only ONE HOUR had elapsed from the time I left him there. After I got home, I noticed a new charge on my bill for "Hospitalization Ward Fee." HUH??? I drove back and asked for an explanation, saying that I'd been a customer for the past year and a half and had never paid such a fee for any of my other animals who stayed for lab tests. I was told it was a "new policy for customers who were not on their Wellness Plan." What a rip off!!! I could have left my dog at the Doggie Day Camp ALL DAY in Petsmart where he would have gotten lunch, snacks, and supervised play time for the same $30!!! I wrote to the corporate office and they had someone call me back. They said the charge should have been applied all along, but they had just discovered it wasn't, and agreed to refund my money just this once. I told the woman that from now on I would sit and wait with my pet in the waiting area out front until they were ready to do shots or lab work, and I was told I would be charged the $30 anyway! Are they for real??? I will NEVER go back!!! They scheduled us for a follow-up visit in one week, which I canceled. They're not getting any more unnecessary money out of me. All the other vets in private practice I have ever gone to have NEVER charged such a ridiculous fee just to make money.
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    Reviewed May 12, 2009

    I have had 2 dogs on the Wellness Plan for several years. I became unsatisfied with service and canceled both dogs' plans on 4/16/09 at 10:30 am via telephone to customer service at (888)649-2716 (I spoke to Janel).
    Janel canceled the plans and said the monthly charges on 4/12 would be our last and renewal would not occur on 5/9, precluding my card from being charged for the first month's payment for the next year's (renewed) plans. I called the credit card company to be sure no charge was made and found that Banfield did charge on 5/10 anyway. I had to reverse the charge and call Banfield again at the same 888 number.
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    Reviewed May 10, 2009

    This is more positive. I do have the pet plan and have for 5 years and has always paid for itself every year. With the yearly physical and minor stuff I have not had to lay out any money.
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    Reviewed May 3, 2009

    Banfield Pet Hospital killed my dog, then admitted that their negligence is the reason why my dog is no longer alive. Banfield knew they were so negligent that they refunded all costs that occured during my pets death from them. Almost $5000. They were quick to get me to settle because I had photos and kept records of the situation. It's been six months since my pet died, and I am still upset over his death. I believe since I signed a document that there is nothing else I can do, but I feel that their negligence was so extreme that it isn't right to not tell the world. I would hate for another pet owner to lose their pet. My pets death was a long two weeks. It started with an emergency surgery visit to Banfield. They executed the surgery ok and our pet was on the mend. After several days the pet was still not eating which was abnormal, but the vet assured us its fine. A few days later due to Banfield negligence the pet missed 24 hours of critical medicine that prevented infection. We thought we had gotten the dog back on track when 3 days later we noticed a swelling around the incision site. After mentioning this to the vet they said it was fine. A day later I rushed the pet to Banfield because of very pale gums. The vet said that was the normal color for the pet and everything was fine(a normal color should be bright pink). The next day I took the pet home after its daily doctors visit (since it was recovering from the surgery). Less than an hour at home the pet started convulsing and went limp. I rushed the pet back to Banfield where they said the pet was actually anemic and thats why the gums have been so pale. The incision site swelling was also still present so the vet decided that the pet needed another emergency surgery. The surgery was to figure out why the incision site was swelling and to give the pet more blood. At this point I had spent a little over $4000. We didn't have the money, but this dog meant so much to my family that it was worth the cost. The pet died within 1 hour after that last surgery. The pet was too weak from the previous surgery, being anemic (and not doing anything for two days), and from the swelling which turned out to be a large infection due to missing the medication that Banfield did not give for 24 hours. Once again, this pet was like a child, I would have gladly paid the almost $5000 if we had got to keep him, but since he died due to Banfields negligence I feel that I should try and warn others of their subpar service. I have been refunded the full amount of the whole scandal, but that does not make up for the pet, and I feel that by being refunded only the costs of Banfields care I feel like it was Ok to take a pet to Banfield and have them kill it.
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    Reviewed April 30, 2009

    This place is after your money and they don't care about your pets. Stay away.
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    Reviewed April 30, 2009

    This place is after your money and they don't care about your pets. Stay away.
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    Reviewed April 29, 2009

    I've been with Banfield for numerous years and have had nothing put success with their services. My dog's teeth where cleaned, had all his shots, blood work, etc. The once a year visit to have everything done. My bill came to over $1,000.00. My share of this bill was $0.00 due too a plan which I have been paying $27.00 a month. Vets are extremely expensive but the plans are worth the money.
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    Reviewed April 28, 2009

    I had purchased the Banfield Wellness Plan for my Little Bit over 3 years ago. At the time I felt it was a great deal to make sure that my older dog would have the care she needed. Each year something new was wrong, ear infections,poor teeth, overweight. It was always something that seemed small at the time, but now I wonder how true it was after reading other postings.
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    Reviewed April 26, 2009

    Whatever you do, DON'T agree to Banfield Pet Hospital's Wellness Plan. Six months into the plan, I had already realized that it is simply a means to get more money out of the consumer. I tried to cancel the plan and was ignored. A few months later I received a call from one of the rudest individuals I've ever dealt with, a woman that declared herself to be THE only person that I could contact about my complaint.
    I reported the issue to the Better Business Bureau, tried to compromise thinking that I might be able to save at least some of the money. The rep refused to compromise or budge. Since I had signed the agreement, it didn't matter that I had stopped using the wellness plan and had given the pet hospital notice. My pleas were completely ignored. It's been a lesson for me to never sign something or trust a seemingly innocent contract. A Wellness plan??? Please. It's a way for the Banfield Pet Hospital to receive regular free payments from the consumer while still charging the regular fees for procedures AND medication. Don't be scammed!!! I was. It should also be a lesson for the Banfield Pet Hospital. One, it's unethical to rip off the public. Two, just from my case alone, the Banfield Pet Hospital has lost thousands of dollars. Had it not been for being ripped off, I'd still be taking my pets there. Now??? No way!!!!!
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    Reviewed April 23, 2009

    On Friday, April 10 my 18 lb. Italian Greyhound mix dog was accused of biting a Banfield pet hospital staff member. There was no proof given but my husband was handed a Rabies confinement card (of which our dog has a current Rabies vaccination) and sent home. I was concerned about the accusation and immediately called the pet hospital. They told me that a staff member was bitten and that a Rabies confinement was standard procedure. I need to bring him back in 10 days later. I was told not to worry. No other information was given on the phone or in writing. No proof was offered of the incident.
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    Reviewed April 21, 2009

    Well, I brought my Bengal in for a UTI. They ran blood work, etc. All this I was willing to pay for because it comes as a responsibility of owning a pet. When it came time, the technician, who is an old woman, handed me three vials of Clavamox. One was made up for me already. She explained I would need to add water to the others to make them. I said that shouldn't be a problem. She then handed me a 15 mL syringe and showed me the line she had drawn with a permanent marker at the 14 ml mark. She said, "Fill it to here." I said that that was simple enough. And she asked if I knew how to give the meds to my kitty, and I said I was a seasoned veteran at getting a cat to swallow meds and she left me.

    I went home, read the instructions on the vet made label that said 1cc, filled the syringe to the 14 ml mark the nurse had marked, and gave it to my kitty. I did this the next day as well. When I was in the PetSmart that afternoon, I ran into the vet and asked if I was really supposed to give her the whole 14 ml her tech had marked for me because it seemed like a little much. She had me rush the cat back to her and the cat was lethargic and drunk looking.

    The vet ran bloodwork, charged me for it, charged me for the emergency visit, and told me my cat had slight liver problems. I asked them to pay for their mistake, and they wouldn't. I could not afford the mistake they made and figured that from the way the cat was acting before, it was better not to make her suffer, so I told them I would pay for her euthanization and they refused to do so. They wanted me to sign her over to them so they could treat her and adopt her out. I told them, "No! She is my cat and I want her euthanized so she doesn't suffer!" They gave me no choice, so I took their recommendations and I treated the cat with Adenosine for 14 days.

    The Dr. also had me for the days after that bring the cat in for IV fluids that were administered there in a bolus. During that time, they tried to re-prescribe my cat with more Clavamox. I consulted with a vet tech from Texas and she read the liver values, researched them, spoke with co-workers of hers, and determined the cat was in severe liver failure. Her values were at 243 when they should have been below 100. I went back to the vet and asked another secretary there to print out all of her notes about my cat from the computer. The vet even wrote on the report that my cat's liver was more severely damaged than I was told. I had had about enough of their screw ups, so I demanded to be present when they gave her the bolus so they wouldn't kill her.

    The vet tech, Kevin, refused. I asked for the bag of IV fluids I had purchased from them and he refused, saying it was against the law. I explained I wanted to bring it to my family vet in Apache Junction who had given me fluids to treat my elderly cat at home just before she passed away last year of kidney failure and old age. He refused. So I told him I will go somewhere else. He said, "Fine." I asked if he could administer the fluids that day so my cat would recover. He said, "No. You have to find someone else." And with a flourish of his hand, waved me through the open door. Dr. ** tried to rectify the first mistake by waiving the office fees for the IV fluids. She tried to rectify Kevin booting me out the door by doing a free blood panel for the cat while I watched through a window. She said she could not refund my previous monies spent.

    I have a witness that Dr. ** called her husband, a vet tech at a different local office, and complained about that mistake made by her elderly vet tech and that it was the elderly vet tech's fault. This is not all of the experience either, but I fear for the life of any animals brought to that Banfield location ... and I work at that PetSmart!

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    Reviewed April 16, 2009

    This is just in regards to what others have listed below. Pets are expensive. I don't understand why you get a pet without doing some research on the kind of pet you are getting to know about health issues. Also, especially if you work in the medical field, then you know that you are not going to provide any service without payment of some sort. Like an office visit, no doctor will see you without payment upfront. It's just the same with pets! Pets are expensive so don't get one unless you are willing to pay or submit to the fact that you may have to euthanize your pet. I don't feel it's fair to that hospital that someone thinks that they should get a free hand-out. They have yearly set ups where you can get vaccinations really cheap and there are special clinics for that as well. Banfield is more of an upscale do all necessary medical treatment places and probably wasn't the place for you. So, again, do some research before purchasing or adopting a pet!

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    Reviewed April 15, 2009

    On 4/15/09, I have had the unfortunate challenge of taking my dog to Banfield Pet Hospital located in Newport News, Virginia for the treatment of parvo for my pet. I tried two days before my puppy was diagnosed to get his routine exam but was not able to do so because of the miscommunication of staff. Before he received his treatment, I discussed in confidence with the nursing staff that I wanted to get him the treatment that was required to keep him healthy; one, because I did not want to incur additional cost that was not necessary and two, because when I took him in, I was not financially able to pay an extended amount for their services.

    As I was leaving the hospital, the pet nurse informed me that since I was unable to pay for their services, I could put him in foster care. I have worked in the medical field and I am fully aware of how these institutions increase the cost of medical service at the expense of the pet because sometimes families may not be able to afford the cost they are requesting. I called another Banfield in Williamsburg, VA and they wanted to charge me additional fees for services that I previously had and at the end of the day, the puppy is the one who is unfortunate not to receive the care he needs to get better.

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    Reviewed April 14, 2009

    On 04/13/2009, my fiance came home from work while I was at the airport dropping my nephew off. He called and said that our 13-week Teacup Yorkie was laying on his back with his legs stiff in the air. He then proceeded to bring our puppy up to Banfield vet located inside of PetSmart. I met him there shortly after they had taken Max (our puppy) back. They called me back and told me they wanted to try to save our dog but needed to do blood work. The cost of that was to be over 400 dollars.

    We explained that we didn't have that kind of money and that was the start of the visit. They then explained to us that our puppy may have liver shunt which if he did have it that he would need a 2000-dollar surgery. And that was not even going to guarantee his life. The vet told us that this puppy was suffering and we needed to make a decision quick. We had no other choice but to put the puppy to sleep. So we thought. After deciding to do that, the nurse came out with a 234-dollar bill to put Max to sleep. We then told her that we didn't have that kind of money either. She rolled her eyes and went back in with the bill, came back out and said we can do it for free but you will need to sign him over to us.

    We struggled with the decision for sometime and then decided that it would be best. It was going to cost a lot of money to keep this poor puppy up to par. We walked in the back and said our goodbyes. Both distraught, we walked out to our vehicles and were heading home. The lady from Banfield came out and asked us to come back in and that the doctor wanted to speak with us. This was after we signed the papers to have Max put to sleep. I can't remember what exactly he wanted but to throw more bills in our face.

    Shelby, a lady who works in PetSmart came out and handed us this number for a lady named Joanne **. She is the director of Li'l lapdog rescue of Central FL. She came rushing up quick. This lady was soon going to save our puppy. Shelby came out in the parking lot to explain what the nurse was saying at Banfield vet. After the vet nurse came out to get us, Shelby, a PetSmart employee, asked her what was going on for she had seen us in there before. The nurse said, "Well, they can't afford to get the puppy better so I guess I will be taking him home!"

    My jaw just hit the ground! I just signed to have my puppy who we all love so much put to sleep and that's not what they are even planning on doing? Who gave this woman the authority to keep my puppy? And it's to my understanding that I am not the only one this has happened to. Fortunately for us, we were able to go in and get Max and hand him over to Joanne so she could get him the help he needed. The nurse's jaw dropped when I went in and told her we were taking our puppy.

    Max's condition is still just stable but he is in great hands. After trying to rip me off with a $400 bill not including a $2000 surgery bill, these people have played with my emotions. They look down on you because you can't shell out that kind of money and then want to tell you that they are going to put your dog to sleep and slip him out the back door?! We have a full bred Yorkie, AKC registered, and this lady saw that as a money-making opportunity. I know that the PetSmart employee will talk as well as the gentleman who brought his puppy there too. And I hope if you help me with this, many others will speak up as well and we can to stop this from happening to other pet owners.

    I was told that if I complained to corporate from Shelby, the PetSmart employee, that they will just shrug it off and never investigate the matter. The office manager at the vet will be sent a letter and they will lay low for a while. Then when nobody is looking, they will try to screw another average working American family that is suffering with the economy crisis we have going on.

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    Reviewed April 12, 2009

    Okay. I just figured I should write to all these little comments about Banfield. I love how people are so quick to get on the internet and complain about bad experiences but when you have a good experience, you don't say anything about it. I personally have never had a single problem with Banfield. I think everyone that works there works just as hard as any of you, people. Everyone needs to understand that Banfield is a corporate company and there are rules and regulations that all employees have to follow or they will get in trouble, just as with any other corporate company. Certain illnesses or problems come with certain diagnostic testing or medication that is required by the certified board of veterinarians that work for Banfield.

    Everyone that comes in needs to stop complaining and threatening the staff because it really is not their fault. I personally do not think I have ever seen a group of people work as hard as this group seeing as the inside issues they have to work through. I am very proud of this group of people because they have pulled together as a team despite all of the things that have happened and actually made that place a good hospital. Everyone in that area needs to have some respect and maybe once in a while sit back and think that maybe you could write some good things on here or anywhere else for that matter instead of just the bad. Just because you don't get exactly what you want for an extremely cheap price doesn't mean you need to act like a spoiled brat and whine about it to everyone on the internet. Get over yourself! And if you are too cheap to pay for what your pet needs, maybe you shouldn't have a pet.

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    Reviewed April 7, 2009

    I recently got a rescue dog (a few months now) and have had a few appointments with Banfield under the wellness plan. Up until now, I thought they did a pretty good job. Unfortunately today was just awful. They were busy, so it took over 2 hours for our appointment. I was late for my appointment because of car trouble; but 2 hours still seems ridiculous. It's not like they were treating my dog for even half of that time.

    My dog has Giardia parasites; it’s not that hard of a test to do. Fecal exams are pretty easy and quick. They charged me over $32 (even on the plan) for a medication that I later found to be over-the-counter for about 1/3 of the price in an easier form than liquid; I have to force it in her mouth. The vet came in twice and told me the same thing both times. All I wanted to do was pay and get my dog, but there was only one person at the front desk and several people waiting in front of me. Some people just left, others asked for their pets back so they could go elsewhere. I don't think they handled anything properly, and they are not properly staffed. They even made me leave the exam room so someone else could be seen; I could have just left or come back!

    I used to work at a vet and we would get busy, but we would tell our patients what was happening and we had several people to assist with checking in and out in a timely manner. Waiting over 30 minutes just to pay is ridiculous. I didn't need the vet to explain over and over about a simple parasite; I am not an idiot. I have a vet manual at home so I can take care of my 6 pets without having to waste my money at vets constantly. I don't understand why it costs so much to do a fecal exam which I do at home with a microscope and solution that doesn't cost that much. My dog was doing very poorly after her dental cleaning recently. Today, she is not feeling well after the medications I assume. I felt so bad that she had to be there for 2 hours in a cage with no food or water.

    I am nervous about going back to Banfield and how much everything is going to cost. I just hope if my dog has anything more than a parasite that they know what they are doing and don't take days to do it. They have always called the next day to ask how my dog is doing. They are usually friendly. But my concerns are the costs; they don't give any information about medication side effects. My dog got vaccinated then got the parasite?! They are too busy; they don't clean enough, etc.

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    Reviewed April 5, 2009

    I came home one day and my Pit Bull puppy had a huge gash on its leg. The cut was about 4 inches long and at least 3/4 inch deep. I was so glad I had signed up for the Banfield insurance plan. I took him in and, in about 3 hours, the nurse came in and told me the bill would cost $1500 but since I had the insurance, it would be only $500. They told me both(?) his cuts would need stitches and staples. They didn't have time to do the procedure. We went in at 10 am. They sent him home and told me to bring him back.

    First of all, he only had one cut on one leg. Second, they told me that I didn't have to put a cone on him overnight. This made no sense to me. I called my parents' vet in Kensington and took him there. She told me they should have closed the wound immediately and that they had no business sending him home with no cone! In the long run. She stapled him up and gave him a cone in ten minutes. It cost $130.05. That's $1350 cheaper than their first quote! I couldn't believe it. They are scammers there. As far as the contract I signed, it will be cancelled. They gave me a number to call Monday!

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    Reviewed April 3, 2009

    I have to add a little to this. I started with Banfield because they seemed a reasonable alternative to the regular vets in the area who are going increasingly crazy with their prices. My problem with Banfield is that they use very young veterinarians, for the most part, who have never lived in the real world and have very little practical experience. The result is that they over utilize services and run up charges needlessly. If they worked in managed care in the human world, they would quickly learn to be more practical and reasonable. But hey, what do they care? You are paying for it, right?

    I also am a little put off with their attitude. They act judgmental and condescending, as if everything that is not perfect with an animal is the result of a "bad human". They also misdiagnose. For their monthly fee, they also do not or cannot do surgery. It is a lot like a people's "capitated" plan in that regard. If it is too much trouble, off you go to a specialist. Next! Like one of the other contributors, my experiences have not been all bad and certainly not all good! The docs turn over frequently, and so does the staff. They appear to not have good listening skills, or else they are not intelligent enough to understand. When it comes to med refills for a med my pet has been on forever, I get different opinions from different docs.

    They do not listen to my experience as a pet owner of what works and what does not. Some techs have to talk to the doc to refill, and others say "No problem, here you go!" The benefit for the monthly premium of the Optimum Plan keeps dwindling down. They are supposed to have a quality assurance program. But there is nothing published for the consumer as to what they are focusing on, and how they are making changes to improve. There is nothing that I can tell in the way of educating you on where to file a complaint with Banfield Corporate if you are unhappy with care at a local vet. This ought to be a minimum standard! Supposedly, they have this fund to help older people with pets pay for vet care. I cannot find anything that describes how you can recommend someone to this program, or how people are identified and enrolled in to it. I would be happy to contribute if they were a little more forthcoming.

    Recently, they diagnosed my dog with an infection in his leg that had surgery. They treated me like I neglected him. I did not! We kept his bandage changed as scheduled, and he was on ABX with the surgeon. I only went there because I thought that the dog had a GI or GU problem. They ran CBC, Lytes, Chem (thought those were the same, but they charge extra). They wanted to do x-rays, but I refused because they did not have access to the surgeon's prior x-rays for comparison. I told them that the surgeon said it would take months to heal. The vet acted like 3 months for a crushing facture with 3 rods should have been healed by now (puleeze!).

    Well, long story short, they did not even give me results. They did not fax to the surgeon. They just gave me ABX, changed the bandage, treated me like a bad owner, and charged me $179.00 for the privilege. I saw the surgeon 3 days later. The surgeon said there was no infection, but that the ABX change was okay. I had to ask Banfield to fax the notes to the surgeon, so much for continuity of care. They seem very good at making an appointment, getting your pet checked in, seeing your pet, treating your pet, charging you money, checking you out and giving you lots of papers, wellness care.

    They need improvement in listening, taking proper information down at check-in, communicating with you, looking at all options for care, and not just the most expensive and giving you choices and consequences of each. They need to improve on being more experienced in their profession, continuity of care, and communicating with all stakeholders in a case. Being transparent, they benefit subscribers and other customers. Posting complaint information and quality of care information.

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    Reviewed April 3, 2009

    I do not recommend the wellness plan Banfield has to offer. I took my 12-month Pomeranian to have her first round of shots done at Banfield, and they talked me into joining the Wellness Program. At the time, it seemed like the better choice to make for my dog's basic needs. Anyhow, I gave a letter to the nurse from my breeder stating that she does not recommend small dogs be given any boosters with Lepto, it being too stressful on a small dog. The nurse advised me that their shots do contain Lepto, and assured me that they administer this shot to small dogs all the time. I figured it must be okay, if the nurse was saying it was.

    A half an hour after I came home, I noticed my dog's head was becoming swollen and she was rubbing her head on the rug trying to stop the itch. By that time, Banfield was closed for the day and gave a number to a 24-hour emergency hospital. The person I spoke to stated that my dog was having an allergic reaction to her shot and I should take her in ASAP. When I took her in, they gave her a steroid and a shot of Benadryl. They advised me to give her baby Benadryl if the swelling didn't go down by the next day, something I could also do when she had her next round of shots.

    This emergency visit cost me around $125, in addition to the nearly $500 I paid for a year of the Wellness Program. They did contact Banfield and that following Monday, and the nurse from Banfield contacted me. He advised that the next time my dog came in for boosters, they keep her for three hours to monitor. This will cost me an additional fee of $90 to monitor her, and any other fee for any medication they gave her. I thought this was ridiculous! I said the vet told me I could give Daisy the Benadryl myself before and after her shot, rather than cough up some more money. I should not have been surprised when he told me that it was procedure, and they would not be able to give her the shots if I was not willing to let her stay for them to monitor her. For what, so they could just milk me for more money? From reading the other posts, they obviously don't care about the well-being of my dog.

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    Reviewed April 2, 2009

    My Yorkie was sick a week and a half ago. Banfield ran a ton of tests on him and charged me close to $400. They couldn't tell what was wrong with him after they got the results. So they wanted to run more tests, which meant more money. I couldn't afford all the tests they needed, so I did one which was close to $120. That test didn't give them anything either. In the meantime, his health got worse. There was blood in his stool, and I called Banfield and left a message for the vet. It took the doctor 3 days to get back to me. My dog passed away a few days later, and they didn't even bother to check on him. They seemed only interested in my dog's health when we were in the hospital spending money. I spent a lot of money, and I have no answers. I have another dog and I don't know if he will suffer the same fate as my Yorkie. Now, I have to pay for an autopsy to find out just what happened.

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    Reviewed April 1, 2009

    Four days ago, our beloved family dog, Godiva, swallowed some rat poison. She vomited immediately so I watched for any dangerous signs. There were none until this morning at 8 am. I called Banfield (she used to get her shots here) and told them the situation and was told the doctor would not be in until 9 am. We waited. I arrived at 8:59 only to have the receptionist ask me 6 times how to spell Godiva (we were already in the system so I don't know what the problem was). Anyway, 15 min. later, we were in a room and waited and waited.

    Finally, the same brain-dead receptionist came back in with a bill for $468-$569. I asked her what for, when no one has even looked at her. I then demanded a doctor and she said I would have to see a nurse first. I told her to "Go get someone, my dog is dying right here, right now!" She wanted me to sign off on the papers and I asked her what was going to be done to my dog. With that she answered, "I honestly don't know." I then asked, "How the hell does she know what it is going to cost if she doesn't know what procedures if any are to be performed?" I was losing precious moments with my dog. She died less than two hours later. My dog passed away due to the lack of care and speed of any type of care and their putting money ahead of animal health.

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    Reviewed April 1, 2009

    I brought my puppy in to get looked at. The vet was in the room no more than 5 minutes and the puppy was never taken out of the room and I was charged $250. There was not even as much as a Q-tip taken out.

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    Reviewed March 28, 2009

    On 03/17/2009 my wife took babygirl to Banfield HHospital because we were worried about some lumps on her chest. The doctor told her she had a plan that would pay 15%, this too long to talk about. I will make it short, Banfield don't give a ** about our pets, just the money. I've contacted my Attorney General and the B.B.B. And also a local T.V. Station they are looking into it. I advice you word of mouth will help prevent this from happening to someone else. Call your Attorney General. Tell anyone who has a pet.

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    Reviewed March 27, 2009

    I had my long-haired 1 and 1/2 year old female cat (indoors only) groomed at PetsMart - she got the lion trim. Shortly after the hair cut she developed a bald spot with dark, dry skin in one patch on the back of her neck, near the top of her back. I looked up possible causes online and all symptoms seemed to point to ringworm - probably contracted when she got her hair cut. Instead of taking her to our regular vet, I decided to try Banfield Pet Hospital since it was closer and was in the same Petsmart where she got groomed. They were very nice there - but barely looked at my cat's spot. They took her weight with her in the carrier, but never subtracted the weight of the carrier - so my 8 lbs. cat weighed 11.9 lbs. according to their records. After asking them if it was ringworm, they quickly dismissed it - even after explaining how she just got trimmed. Without much of an examination they determined it was just dry skin - even though it was just the one patch and the weather here was turning to spring. They had us buy some skin conditioning spray and told us to come back in 2 weeks. Instead of going back to them we decided to take the long trip to our normal vet. We told him the exact same things - that she got this right after her hair cut - he moved back her fur and took a close look - asked us some other questions and came to the conclusion that it was ring worm. He told us there were various tests we could do to confirm it, but that it was most definitely ringworm and to start her on topical anti-fungal cream right away. I called Banfield to tell them they misdiagnosed my cat and their reply was that they would've caught it in the checkup visit. My vet caught it right away and didn't need a month to diagnose ringworm - which is very common and easy to detect if they would have at least examined my cat instead of trying to sell me their insurance plans.
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    Reviewed March 27, 2009

    I am doing this as a service to other animals lovers. Stay away from them at all costs. I have a 4 year old cat who is on a prescription diet (suggested by her vet- a legitimate one, not Banfield affiliated) for allergies. She also has heart issues. It was suggested to me that I go to get her prescription diet here.... Was told that the cat had to be seen prior to getting a prescription card- had no problem with that...it was reasonable. The vet suggested I get her teeth cleaned (scaled)- again, not a problem. My cat does have issues with her teeth, so this was not new. Here is where the trouble began---- I dropped her off at 7:45am the morning of the 'cleaning'. I was told that I would get an update in a few hours. No one called. I had to call them at 2:00pm to find out what was happening. The nurse said the surgery was 'overbooked' but my cat would be taken back (..never would have left her if I was told the truth). Got a call at 4:00pm saying that my cat is 'out of control', 'very upset'----hmm, you think so, no food or water since the night before...I would be upset too). I get down there- no apology, no explanation-- I had to demand what happened! No one would answer me. From the explanation I got, people were afraid of her....very sad, considering she is only 10 pounds. If you are 'scared' or can't deal with a cat like her....then why are you even working with animals? To top it off-- they gave her pre-anesthesia, while she was angry!- I called the Vet emergency service that I use --- to run this by them. Shocking- those jerks could have killed her. Incompetence....giving medicine to an agitated cat with heart problems. Even better, I was told to leave her overnight- they 'claim' my cat will calm down once she is used to the environment. I find it HARD to believe....so another day with no water/food...and they expect her to calm down? Whatever vet programs admitted these fools need to be fined- they are capable of killing someone's beloved pet. The icing on the cake was that Julie (a doctor?) suggested that if I don't like it, take her some place else.... So I said, a professional--- you bet...should have done it in the first place. I just found out that they lied about calling her cardiologist- can't put it into words what I am feeling- liar doesn't begin to cover it.
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    Reviewed March 23, 2009

    I can say that all of my experiences with Banfield have not been positive but all are not negative either. I think for the service I require vacinations, occassional visit for skin disorder it works. My dog is only 9 years old and could live to be 14.
    The staff is reasonably friendly although no matter where you go there is that one or two that don't work well with others and bring in a bad rep for all in the office. One thing you have to remember because you pay up front their job is to sell to you. The try to sell services, and medicine and product whether you need it or not. That is a problem for me because it feeds on the fear of the owner if they don't buy. Just as I do with any Physician whether it is for me or my dog I question everything. Sometimes I even go home and research it before purchasing a service, product or medicine. Before I purchase a med I go online get the best price print it out and take it into the clinic and they will match the price. Otherwise Banfield will charge you a $12 prescription fee. This doesn't seem fair to me because I don't think I know of any People Physician that would charge you for writing a script. Because they have a percentage mark up of so they can give you a 15 % discount of meds they refuse to write scripts for free. This is crazy but they are in the business of selling. Once you get that engraved in your thought pattern as the Vet speaks to you and only then can you start asking questions so that you can make an informed choice. But you should not only do this with a Vet but with any Physician. It took my dog to several Vets high end and low end and the results was Banfield was a good value if I kept in my they are in the business of selling to you. I shopped around my area for the best Vet in my area for a Banfield. I found one who listened to me and showed compassion for my Dog and purse. This one was not the closest to my home but I was willing to travel 10 minutes more for the best service. Now that my Vet has retired I am not unhappy with the new Vets but the other staff is has turned over as well. They are busy talking to their boyfriends and never give you any feed back as to why you are waiting 30 minutes for the Vet when you have an appointment. Up until 2007 I was very happy with the service. They all seemed to work together as a team. Which is why I left the other two Banfield clinics because of the lousy service. But do not call customer service because they will not do a darn thing. I don't even think they write down the complaints. I assume they get alot of them because not all Bansfield's are equal. It you live in a rural area you may only have the choice of one but if you live in an urban area check out more than one clinic you might get good service. I am back on the prowl for a new Banfield, one just opened by me and I plan on checking them out to see if I can get a better service staff. Inconclusion, not the worst but not the best either. But that can be said about any facility.
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    Reviewed March 23, 2009

    My 6 year old chihauhau had a very sore mouth last week, he would not eat and actually hid under the table. He seemed to be in alot of pain. It was already past 6pm and I could not get ahold of any regular vets so I called Banfield. I brought my dog in and had to wait 60 minutes for the vet to come into the room. I told her that he screamed when I touched his mouth and that I thought that he might have an infected tooth or something similair. The vet did not even bother to open his mouth and look inside!!!!! She actueally acted like she was afraid my dog would bite her! A chihauhau???? Thank the Lord I did'nt bring in my Dogue de Bordeaux(Turner and Hooch pup). She prbably would have soiled her pants! How can a vet prescribe drugs to your dog and not even look inside the dogs mouth! Needless to say people....stick with a regular vet that isn't afraid to open your dogs mouth!
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    Reviewed March 17, 2009

    Do not use the puppy wellness plan! We had to cancel it due to an injury to my pupy that Banfield incorrectly tried to fix. My puppy broke her leg. They wrapped it too tight and when I brought her in for her final check up they removed it and they said the leg had to go due to infection. They then gave me a bill for 2k to remove the leg. I couldn't pay that amount because I've already paid over $1500 taking care of the leg thus far. We had to take the dog into the Humaine society and give her up so that they could try to fix her leg. That was the only way that she had a chance at living. I tried to cancel my puppy wellness plan and they tracked back on the amount that they said I saved and said I could be charged for that amount or the $200 I had left to pay on the plan for the year. Take you dogs to the normal vet. I wish I did and maybe I would still have my dog.
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    Reviewed March 12, 2009

    Money Hungry! Neeed I say more. I took my cat in for an eye infection. This is not her first time and I explained this to the very rude vet. She told me a list of things she would have to test for and came back with a bill for nearly $200.00 When I denied her the opportunity to rip me off and suggested just trying the antibiotic first, she barely responded. (as if I were the one who was absurd... Really?) She refused to give me the anitibiotic say it could be a number of things and she could not treat with out further investigation. So, I packed up my 7 year cat to leave. When I went to the front counter the young lady and I am using that term loosely proceeded to provoke me... by asking how my visit was and very rudely responded when I said I wasn't all to happy. (as if the ignorant doctor hadn't made me mad enough) When I cam home and looked the antibiotic up online I was even more pissed to find it treat each and every occurence she mentioned!!!! Seriously!!!! In these financial times to try and STEAL money from a customer who just wishes to take care of there pet is absolutely ridiculous! I am appalled and will NEVER go back to this place. I have ordered the medication online and it should be here tomorrow, and I will start treatment on my cat myself!
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    Reviewed March 12, 2009

    Although we had a decent vet, I switched to Banfield due to their convenient hours. They oversaw the care of my awesome cat nearly the entire four years we had him. He had had some minor issues that were treated and he came out okay.
    Over the last several months, he had been increasingly tired and lethargic acting. He ws also having more trouble getting around. I was afraid it was something serious. I took him in for a check-up but they said he was fine, just getting older. We already had him on a diet because they said he was too fat. But since he was losing weight everything was considered copacetic. Over the new year, his symptoms got worse. I brought him in again and, a few hundred dollars later, he was diagnosed with diabetes. I was ASSURED WHOLEHEARTEDLY that his condition was easily treatable and that he was otherwise healthy. Over the next several weeks I paid through the nose in order to bring in my poor cat again and again for glucose curves and other tests. Meanwhile, he kept demonstrating neurological symptoms that were getting worse. I kept bringing up symptoms and they kept claiming those issues were secondary to diabetes and would be resolved! But more $$$ tests were needed (weekly) to know for sure! Meanwhile his diabetes wasn't being managed AND his neurological symptoms got worse and worse. It got to the point where he stopped eating and drinking on his own, and he had to be rehydrated and hand fed. He dropped weight like Star Jones on a desert island. Then he couldn't walk well. Then he couldn't see, or balance. Then he started having accidents. I got more and more desperate. They responded with another estimate for almost $500 to retest him! I flat out said I couldn't afford it. I'd spent almost $1000 in 6 weeks already for a cat who was half dead by then. They deigned to knock a few bucks off the bill but from then on, every single sentence uttered by the Vet or the techs started with "SINCE COST IS A FACTOR," delivered in a tone of voice that suggested I was pilfering my blind Grandma's food stamps to buy rotgut tequila when I wasn't ruthlessly denying my poor cat needed medical care. I had no idea I was their only client who wasn't a millionaire and for whom cost was never a factor! I bought a glucose monitor myself for $40 (thus saving $300 for each 'curve')and started testing the cat myself and adjusting his dose in a desperate effort to control his glucose. He was not responsive and just got worse. After another week, my poor darling cat was too weak and sick. We knew he could not go on. We finally brought him in to be put down and end his suffering. Even though they quoted us $100, they turned around and charged us $160!! They charged us for a fathermocking OFFICE VISIT on top of the euthanasia, amongst other completely superfluous charges in our time of grief. My main complaints are as follows: 1) I got the impression that Banfield ever examined my pet for issues unless I specifically brought them up myself and suggested my own theories. Then they would just agree without any further examination or proactive analysis. Being a lay person, I have no idea if my cat is walking stiffly because they have arthritis or for another reason. I would have hoped that they might consider the symptom and make their OWN diagnosis. 2) I hated the way they ratcheted up all the costs without presenting alternatives that not only would have saved money, but that could have helped pinpoint my cat's problems sooner. Instead of telling me to buy my own glucose monitor, they had me drag in my poor cat and leave him there all day on several occasions so they could charge me $300 each time! Ridiculous!! 3) I think they purposefully played on my heartstrings as an owner to give me false hope and keep my wallet open and draining. Even while my poor cat was suffering so obviously, they acted just as chipper as if he were perfectly healthy and that if he wasn't getting better, it must be something I was doing wrong (or not paying for). The worst part is that since their home care advice consisted of a 30-second demonstration and a photocopied pamphlet, I could very well have done stuff wrong! The idea makes me sick that I might have prolonged my cat's suffering when I could have helped heal him or at least not made him suffer needlessly!
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    Reviewed March 11, 2009

    Needed vaccinations for both my dogs, Eros and Loki, asked information about their Wellness plan since my dogs had been on it when they were puppies. Explained that I would be moving out of the area and asked whether it would be easier to wait until I was moved in order to sign them up for the plan, or if they had a system where I could take them to any Banfield around. Was informed that regardless of where I went, I would be able to transfer the plan to that hospital, so I signed them up.
    Right now I just returned from the Brentwood, CA Banfield where I was informed that in order to transfer the wellness plan to their hospital, I still needed to extend it to a full year, and pay the difference. I explained to them that I may not be in this area for long and asked if I would have to do the same thing whenever I moved to another area. I was told that this was correct and was advised to just keep the plan with the Sunnyvale bandfield (more than 80 miles away) until I was settled in my new area, and then perform the transfer. Obviously, I will NOT be driving my dogs 80 miles to get a vaccine or an examination, so I called their 866 894 7927 number which was provided to me by the Sunnyvale Banfield in order to cancel my plan, and this is where things just took an infuriating turn. I was advised that even if I did cancel my plan right now, which is just over 2 months old and paid $1.047.05 for both my dogs, I would NOT receive a refund since the services provided had already exceeded the amount of coverage, which they list at $311 per dog. How is it that they exceeded their yearly plan after only 1 visit? Well, it's easy to see the battery of overpriced labs and examinations they claim to perform.
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    Reviewed March 8, 2009

    This Dr does not know how to speak to her clients. She talked over me and as the owner she did not want to hear anything I had to say about my pet. I will continue to go to this location because everyone else is very sweet but I will never see that DR again.

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    Reviewed March 8, 2009

    I brought my dog into Banfield The Pet Hospital (west Grand Ave in Chicago) this past Thursday because he had developed a cough. I was given some medications and took him home. After I got him home I noticed that he was limping and took him back to Banfield that evening after I had returned from work. It was found that he had a dislocated shoulder and the initial x-ray that had been taken earlier in the day clearly showed this. Of course they denied that anything like this would ever happen at their facility. They took him in the following morning and got his shoulder back in place. The poor little guy now has a sling on him that we were told has to stay in place for two weeks. We were also told by the manager that there was no charge for this procedure and that they were doing this as a courtesy. They pulled my dog's shoulder out of place, fix the problem they created and call it a courtesy? They say they're not responsible, but if they did this as a courtesy they're admitting their fault; they're just not coming out and saying it. The treatment that my wife and I received was terrible. It was nothing but a runaround and every excuse in the book. This is a terrible place to bring a pet. They wouldn't allow us to take his x-rays and we were treated very rudely. I want people to be aware of how they treat pets and their owners here.
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    Reviewed March 7, 2009

    This is my second and 'last' year on the Wellness plan. I thought about canceling at the beginning of the second year and regret I didn't. However, I only stayed with Banfield because the head vet is great and there is one other vet that's good. Even the Petsmart dog trainer told me she wouldn't go to Banfield if the head vet wasn't there. WOW! My issues with Banfield are they run an abundance of tests. On one occasion, the vet thought my dog ate something he shouldn't have so she wanted to run 5 tests. I was pissed because she called me and said the first 3 tests were negative. However, none of them dealt with what she thought the problem was. She was going to run that test next. Why didn't she run it 'first'?

    I know a pet can't tell you what's wrong but if you notice several dogs with particular symptoms and 99% of the time the diagnose is x, why not run the test for x 'first' and then go from there. If I left it up to Banfield, I would spend hundreds of dollars on tests. That's why I always ask for the head vet because he's the only one that seems to know off top what's wrong and doesn't run an abundance of tests. On another occasion, one of the vets wormed my dog, mind you I mentioned in our conversation I already wormed him. She told me, "You would be surprised how many people say they give their pets meds and don't." I told her I take care of my dog and she had the nerve to say, "I went ahead and wormed him anyway to make sure."

    Thank goodness he didn't drop dead! And another big issue I have noticed is it doesn't matter if I have an appt or not and if the only thing I am there for is a couple of routine vaccinations, I never leave the hospital under 1.5 hrs!! So I definitely have started researching local vet offices. Petsmart/Banfield is a business and a business is out to make money. I only hope the lead vet is still there through the end of my plan.

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    Reviewed March 3, 2009

    I had two dogs on the Wellness Plan. One was coming up to renew approxiately 2 months. (April 2008)for Barney. In March of 2008, Barney contracted a deadly liver infection an was put to sleep. Banfield, without my approval, EARLY renewal his plan. At that time, I still had my other dog on the Wellness Plan. So I told them to cancel Barney's account, and credit the difference. Corporate office said NO. So, I stop paying for the plan by blocking my Credit Card for Dipstick and advising them to transfer the funds from Barney to Dipstick. Again they said no. I've dealt with Heather and the Manager at the Hospital to view my pets history. I am pissed off for they have gotten both pet's medical history mixed up. Dipstick has Barney's teeth cleaning procedures on his records. Dipstick has only one cleaning but they are showing 3. Dipstick was new to the plan since he was in better health than Barney.
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    Reviewed Feb. 25, 2009

    The plan can be a good deal, but only if you have a generally healthy pet and a good vet at your local Banfield. And make sure that if you cancel, you realize that you will owe any remaining month's installments. So my to you is, if you can, don't cancel until your last month before you are up for renewal. Then you won't owe them any more $.
    My biggest problem with Banfield is that it is run too much like a business out to make $$ rather than a caring and compassionate facility that puts the pet and the owner's concerns first. I'm sure that the high volume of customers makes it even more impersonal. I was usually forced to make appointments several weeks, sometimes a month or more out!
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    Reviewed Feb. 22, 2009

    I was reading all of the complaints about Banfield Pet Hospitals and, while I believe that individuals who work at some of them might not be wonderful, in general they are great. And at my Banfield Hospital the staff and doctors are kind, caring and willing to work out the plan of care that best fits the needs of the pet and the needs and pocketbook of the customer.
    I have two dogs, and both have had consistent health issues. Fortunately the wellness plan allows for free office visits, covers vaccinations, and the prescriptions and other health/surgical services are discounted about 15%. One cannot expect a preventive wellness plan to be the same as insurance for accident or illness. When my older dog was injured and we were hard pressed to afford the treatments necessary the doctors helped us come up with a plan that helped my dear old doggy and that I could afford, all without any guilt trip.
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    Reviewed Feb. 17, 2009

    Banfield insists that I vaccinate my 2 dogs every 6mo for bordatella even though the vaccine is warranted for 1yr. Their boarding facility also attached to their vet practice insists it's necessary. I asked several boarding facilities and other private vet practices about this need for bordatella every 6mo and was told... Banfield wants the $$$$$ by requiring a shot every 6mo. This is over-vaccinating these dogs!!! The dogs get sick for several days and are very lethargic. I'll board somewhere else from now on...

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    Reviewed Feb. 14, 2009

    My cat, Java 17.5 years old, suddenly passed blood in her urine, and became incontinent. I took her to local Petsmart, where my Siberian had received excellent care. There was a new doctor who proceeded, after 30 seconds, to tell me that they would keep her overnight, do bloodwork, x-rays and a urine test for $700.00. If a stone was found I would be charged an additional $900.00 for surgery on my 17.5 year old baby. There was no discussion in his mind. When I asked if he could draw blood and retrieve urine while I was there to avoid kennel bill, he said if I could not afford to do it his way, I could adopt my cat out to give her a better chance at survival. Who would adopt my Java with a $1600.00 vet bill over her head? How dare this so-called DOCTOR try to intimidate me and my daughter into guilt!

    When all was said and done, after Dr. **'s many tries at GUILTING me to pay for his outrageous suggestions we agreed to a treatment of antibiotics and prescription cat food. Now that I have time to do some research, I find that the prescription cat food has MORE!!!!!!!!!!!! ash content than a commercial urinary tract health canned cat food. My Java is doing fine, no blood urine and no incontinence (2 months later) thanks to the Amoxicillin. Please do not take your beloved animal to Banfield in The Petsmart store Cortlandt Manor, NY without your resolve intact.

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    Reviewed Feb. 14, 2009

    What part of Package of services don't you people understand? A wellness plan is that, you use services you owe for those service. How do you think the hospital is paid? So let's say you buy a wellness plan, you opt for 12 installments, you no longer have your pet because of gave pet away, pet died, or whatever the reason, should you owe for the remainder of the the 12 payments? Well let's say you paid 43.90 toward 512.00 in services, the remainder of the wellness plan would be much less.

    Why don't people understand this is a package of services? What makes them think it's insurance and even when insurance is canceled don't they still owe the doctor's office for anything the insurance company did not cover??? What makes people think they can use over $500.00 in services and cancel something either little or no money paid? My next question if you don't understand the contract, why do you put your mark saying you do???

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    Reviewed Feb. 14, 2009

    I just wanted to post a message in response to all of the negative posts about Banfield Pet Hospitals. I have 3 dogs signed up on the wellness plan - 2 are on the basic plan and one is on the optimum plan because of her old age. I do not mind at all paying the average of about $50 a month for my dogs. I have only had the dogs signed up for around 2 years or so. During those 2 years my pets and I have experienced life threatening altercations. One had a very serious U.T.I., the other had demodectic mange, and the other was beaten and left for dead at a car wash. All 3 received care from the Banfield Pet Hospital. The care in which they received is indescribable. A very big thank you to the people at Banfield for taking care of my dogs.

    As for all of the complaints about Banfield, I find myself in agreement with the other postings on this site. You should have read the policy for the wellness plan a bit closer. It does not cover medical treatment, only preventative care (which includes A LOT). You can't expect to be able to take your pet that has just been struck by a car, or beaten up by a bigger animal, or anything of the sort to a vet and have the work done for free... It's just not in the cards. If that were the case there wouldn't even be a Banfield pet hospital. They would have went out of business before they even opened.

    The up side of the wellness plan, whenever I take my dogs to the vet for something to be taken care of, I RARELY have any out of pocket expenses. The staff at Banfield work with me on everything to ensure my pets' health is in supreme conditions. With having 3 dogs on the wellness plan, I have saved over $3,000 dollars in expenses for making sure my pets are in good health. Now don't get me wrong, I don't always get out of there without having to pay something, but 90% of the time, I am charged nothing. My out of pocket expenses are no more than $800. That includes blood work for a U.T.I., a skin scrape for demodectic mange, that includes all medicine prescribed to my pets, all special treatment shampoos, all flea treatments.

    Let's see you go to any other vet clinic and have work done for a cheaper price. I had to take my dog that contracted the U.T.I. to a 24 hour emergency vet place that charged me over $500 for a blood work test and a hydration shot. Took pet to Banfield the next day when they were open and had the same exact work done for the price of the blood work which was like $75. It would have been for free had I asked the emergency vet place for a copy of the blood work.

    Just because a select few of you have problems at what is in my opinion, one of the best places to take an animal for health care, don't try to ruin a reputation of a business that has worked hard for many years to build. And as far as the wellness plan goes, take a little more time to read before you sign on the dotted line. Don't think because you pay 20 bucks a month that the service is going to be free. Sure it comes out to $240 a year, but you get 2 FREE doctor visits, FREE vaccinations, and many other services FREE that will help your loved pet live for many more years. I would recommend Banfield to anyone that would like to see that their pets are cared for. Dr. ** and her staff at the Banfield in Memphis, TN are a bunch of friendly animal loving employees.

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    Reviewed Feb. 12, 2009

    I have sent both of my dogs to Banfield in Woodbury, MN since 1999. Both of my dogs had specific medical issues that required numerous visits to the Vet. I am usually at this Banfield location monthly for one issue or another. The posting of Pengfei regarding a Mr. ** from the Woodbury, MN Banfield location is puzzling me. I have known every Vet that has practiced at this location since 1999 and there has never been a Mr. ** there. From the time my 9 week old puppy broke his leg in 1999, to yesterday (Feb 11, 2009), this Banfield location has been beyond incredible. Yesterday I had to put down my second dog in less than 2 months. My first dog simply could not move around anymore and my second dog died of a broken soul because he missed his friend.

    On BOTH occasions, Dr. ** came in on her day off to personally handle the euthanization. The way in which the staff handled themselves was beyond professional. I would like to see anyone put down 2 dogs in less than 2 months with any Vet that would have been better. I doubt it would be possible. For those persons that are angry about their Wellness plans, they should have read the agreement PRIOR to signing it. The plan simply allows you to pay for services monthly at a reduced rate and not worry about paying for office visits for routine questions/issues. If you expected more, then you are wrong, not Banfield. Again, you should have READ the agreement. As with any business, there are good/competent people and there are idiots in every organization. The Banfield in Woodbury, MN is incredible because of its staff.

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    Reviewed Feb. 12, 2009

    I've read through the complaints about Banfield and they honestly surprise me. I work with a rescue organization and we use them for emergencies. Dr. ** has always been great. She is very courteous, understanding and knows what she is doing. She truly cares about the cat/kitten we bring in. Like I said, I'm surprised by this. She's a great vet! Please keep it up.

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    Reviewed Feb. 11, 2009

    Our dog was hit by a car and, as a result of the accident, passed away recently. Despite the fact that our dog is now deceased, Banfield feels it is their right to continue to charge my account for services that we will (obviously) no longer use (for an additional 6 months). Banfield claims that they have the right to do this as a result of the contract we signed. If this is true, this should have been made this fact MUCH more clear (I would never has signed the contract). In addition, I feel that the services we have received (prior to the death of our dog) were less than professional and certainly not worth the monthly cost.

    On top of the lengthy wait times, one vet had to inform me that she had mistakenly given our dog a vaccine via shot (despite the fact the vaccination was only supposed to be administered through the dog's nose). Oops. Thankfully, our dog did not develop an infection (which was a possible side effect of the mistake). Simply said - be CAREFUL. BANFIELD is NOT, in my opinion, a good place to have your loved one cared for.

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    Reviewed Feb. 9, 2009

    I took my dog in for her regular schedule vaccines, and told Dr. Amy ** at that time that I wanted to reduce my wellness plan, specifically omit the dental portion of the plan. Dr. ** told me that I should have my pet's (Sydney) teeth done first since she was due for a dental exam and then cancel the plan. So, I took her advice. When I called the number they gave me to reduce the wellness plan to the lowest basic plan, I was informed that since I utilized the service I was locked in to the plan until 11/12/09. Otherwise I would have to pay almost $252 to reduce the plan. Needless to say I was furious. Dr. ** encouraged me to have the work done before I cancelled the plan and never told me by doing so I would not be able to change the plan until 11/12/09 as a result. She told me I could have the work done and then reduce the plan immediately thereafter.

    That was downright unethical and with these difficult economic times, my family and I have to reduce our monthly cost wherever possible. I was dealt with completely dishonestly and as a result I never want to do business with Banfield again. Dr. Amy ** has added to the hardship my family and I are dealing with as a result of the economy, and I personally feel she should be held responsible not me. She completely misrepresented the terms of the plan and Banfield. This is just as bad as what the banks have done, taking advantage of the consumers for their own self gain.

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    Reviewed Feb. 9, 2009

    After finding out my previous vet had raised their prices and were selling to another owner I shopped around for another vet for my two dogs and my son's two cats. I called Banfield and was quoted a very reasonable price for vacs. When I arrived they pressured me to sign up for their wellness program, stated that it would save me money and include additional services as part of the wellness program. So I signed all four pets up, they received their vacs and appointments were made for the free checkups. Well I thought I was in heaven but as it turned out after the wellness check the vet informed me my oldest dog (7-8 yrs old) has a 'slight' abnormality in the blood test relating to my dog's liver and said it was very important to have a special test at $75.00.

    I paid the money and the test came back as inconclusive and that I should have the test redone. I question this and was told that my dog could die if this issue was not resolved. I refused the test since the first one didn't tell them anything more than the blood test and the $75.00 test. He then suggested that I put him on a liver support medicine (no prescription needed) and could be purchased for $300 for a month's supply (my dog would need to be on it for 6 months). I asked if there was another avenue to obtain the support medicine that would not cost as much. I was told they did not know but if I found it for less they would honor the reduced cost.

    After many conversations and much investigation by me this liver support is a non-FDA approved OTC product that can be purchased at any health food store or from an online 'vitamin' store for less than $10.00 for more than a month's supply that the vet recommended for my dog. I purchased the product and took it to the vet to make sure I would not harm my dog and was told yes it was ok to give it to him. Months went by and what I found was that every time I took the animals in for their annual checkups I was confronted with additional problems with my pets and for the sum of $300.00 or more it could be correct.

    They are nothing but a bait and switch operation. The entire purpose of the wellness check is to bait you into additional costs for what turns out most of the time to be unwarranted treatment. There is never a definite determination just a 'possible' or 'maybe scenario' that will put you into bankruptcy. I cancelled all four contracts much to their disdain and all their threats to turn me over to a collection agency. I paid for almost a year on four animals and the bottom line cost was more than I would ever had paid for the services I received. They would print out 'cost saving' papers on how much I saved by having the wellness plan. What a bunch of bunk! Not only is the plan savings false but allows them to scare their clients into spending excessive money for additional services on no definitive diagnosis.

    They need to be put out of business. After finding a new vet and talking with him about my experience with Banfield I was told that many of his clients are former Banfield wellness participants that ran for their life and their wallets. Their practices are deceptive and just another scam perpetrated on well meaning pet owners.

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    Reviewed Feb. 8, 2009

    I signed up for the wellness plan they have at Banfield thinking that it would offer good protection for my dog that I just adopted at a local animal shelter. As it ends up, it offers absolutely nothing except for shots that I could probably get for cheaper at a low-cost clinic. Anyhow, my dog got into a bit of a pickle and ate something he shouldn't have and was throwing up for a full day. I took him in thinking that something might be covered, but they wanted to charge me 400-600 dollars for x-rays! Anyhow, I refused because that's just absurd. As someone who works on a large animal farm, I knew there was no possible way it could cost that much. After I got that news, I took him to the vet that my mom takes her dogs to. How much were the X-Rays? $120. The prices charged by Banfield are absurd, even if you are on the wellness program.

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    Reviewed Feb. 5, 2009

    I took two of my three dogs for their shots. The puppy was fine and they administered his shots and it was quick. But, the nightmare began with my 7-year- old Pomeranian. At first, the nurse told me he was fine after listening to his heart. Then the vet checked him and left the room and sent the nurse in to tell me that my dog had a murmur and would not be able to go on any plan. I told them how unfair it was to do this to him. After talking to the manager, they accepted him into the plan. They told me to leave him there to check him and see how bad his heart was. He was there 5 hours without giving me any information on his medical condition. Only that he is fine - but no dog. Well, finally, the vet came out and told that his heart was fine, but there was a problem with his throat. No medication was given for his condition - and now when I pick up my dog, he is in pain from the method used to take his X-rays. I thought that maybe he would feel better after a couple of days but he's worse.

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    Reviewed Feb. 5, 2009

    These complaints are so funny to read over. What do you people not understand about the plan not being insurance so don't compare it to ASPCA INSURANCE. Maybe you should read over your contract before you sign it??? I have a wellness plan and its wonderful. It covers all the PREVENTATIVE care items my pet would need, just as described in my contract! No more no less!

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    Reviewed Feb. 3, 2009

    I subscribed to Banfield wellness plan over the phone for my new kitten in October 2008 and signed the contract at PetSmart in Irvine. I was happy to discover that the PetSmart in Tustin Marketplace opened up their own Banfield, because that location is more convenient to me. I approached their receptionist and asked if I could make an appointment for my cat's neutering. She told me yes, she just needs to call the other Banfield and do the transfer. That was last month, January 2009. I brought my cat in today for the surgery. Again the receptionist told me she would transfer the plan, when I dropped him off this morning. Then when I was picking him up, a different receptionist, a Ms. Caroline **, told me that I would need to pay the first month of plan and sign a new yearly contract, which would start today.

    I hadn't planned on renewing after the first year, so now I was forced into starting a new contract, after the surgery was already done! On top of that, I would be charged the new increased monthly rate for this new contract. Either that or I pay some $1000 charge for today's service! After I paid and signed and got home and let my cat out of the carrier, guess what, they were so busy charging money, they had forgotten to take off the IV inlet on my cat! I had to put the poor thing in the carrier again, drive him to a critical care center and have the IV inlet removed.

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    Reviewed Jan. 31, 2009

    Met with vet who made it obviously clear that the Wellness Plan was for well pets ONLY and nothing else... so much so... that my pet who was ill and not eating was NOT treated and sent home for "Let's see what happens in the next few days..." I ended up going to another vet and having him hospitalized for five days. The vet made it clear that if my pet is not going to be here in one year from now, he was not going to put him on the plan. SO REIGNS THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR AT BANFIELD!!!! As far as I know, only God can answer whether the animal will be here in a year from now. This action borders on negligence.

    My cat was hospitalized five days and at a bill of $1000.00 and we will never know what we could have avoided if the cat was in sooner. I realize Banfield has its contractual limitations; however, subject to it's own interpretations, my cat should have been treated!!!! These actions border on negligence and malpractice. Be careful who you go to and check them thoroughly. Trust me, Banfield is interpreting their contracts to their own advantages. BE CAREFUL!!!

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    Reviewed Jan. 30, 2009

    We took our 12-year-old Jack Russell Terrier to Banfield for his annual wellness exam. He had the wellness plan since he was adopted as an 8-week-old puppy. We noted on the questionnaire that he had not eaten for 2 days. He was given a clean bill of health, other than an ear infection and skin irritation. The nurse insisted that we buy a 2-month supply of medications, at a cost of $292, to treat him. Six days later, he was still not eating so we brought him back. This time we received the devastating news that he had lymphosarcoma (cancer) and that he was terminally ill. They wanted another $1500 to conduct tests on him. We refused and took him home. We loved up on him his last week and had him put to sleep on 11/23/08.

    When I called Banfield to cancel the wellness plan, I was informed that we were obligated to pay on the wellness plan until it ended in August. So, they were going to continue taking money out of my checking account every month for medical care for a dead dog. When I protested, they said that my dog used a lot of services the last month of his life (duh!) and that we had to continue to pay. I think they are heartless as well as incompetent and I will never take another pet to Banfield.

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    Reviewed Jan. 27, 2009

    From the time I got my puppy a year ago, he has been with Banfield. We have nothing but posit