Banfield - The Pet Hospital Run By Con Artists!
I don’t know how many of you have has the displeasure of taking your pet to Banfield - The Pet Hospital. You know the place, its the veterinary hospital located oh so conveniently inside PetSmart. Why they haven’t been shut down by a class action lawsuit is beyond me. Someone needs to sue these bastards!! Here’s my view on them.,
Crusty loves pets!
It’s a fair statement to say that Crusty and Mrs. Crusty love pets. We have 2 Fila Brasiliero (Brazilian Mastiff) puppies, a miniature pinscher, two alexandrine parrots, and numerous fish tanks.
We bought the Filas at 7 weeks old from a breeder. They were due for their shots, so we figured we would look into Banfield Pet Hospital as they seemed to be very convenient since we were always in PetSmart buying pet stuff AND they always seemed to have a bunch of customers there. With all those customers, they must be popular.
We walk over the desk and explain that we have 2 Filas that will need their annual shots and rabies vaccine within the next week The girl at the desk explained that it would be about $350 a piece for the annual shots and rabies vaccine. Spaying or neutering (we have a male and a female) would be some other astronomical number. But fear not! There is a wellness plan we can sign up for which gives us HUGE discounts and a monthly payment.
Since I’m always looking for a deal, the Basic Optimum Wellness Plan for puppies seemed like a good deal. It was $140 to sign up and 25.99 per dog each month for a year. This also covers the spaying and neutering!
To join, you sign a CONTRACT that you will pay the monthly fee etc. When you become a member, you can tke your dog there every day of the week if you want and won’t have to pay for an office visit (saving 40 bucks a visit). Sounds great right?
Bend over and say ahhh!!!
First, one of the veterinarians assistants (usually a girl for whatever reason) makes you sign a release form saying the veterinarian can look at your dog and then she goes through the list of things you want done.
Before giving the dogs any shots, they try to sell (guilt) you into paying for a hydrocortizone shot ($20 or so) to lessen and pain or ill effects for the dog. You don’t want you precious little puppy hurt do you? Then they try to sell you a cherry flavor pain medicine ($12 or so) to lessen soreness. After this they try to sell you a specialized heartworm preventative ($13 minimum per pill) and of course a Advantix flea/tick control medication ($25 a dose). But wait, theres more! Do you need your nails clipped for 9 bucks?
You are at the veterinarians office for at least 20 minutes going through this bullshit, are required to sign the quote for the things to be done and authorizing the veterinarian to perform them. By now you are probably shelling out another $100 or so. Up until this point….
The veterinarian has not even seen your pet!
None of the stuff above is included in the wellness plan! After the veterinarians assistant leave the room, the veterinarian walks in. He has never heard of our breed of dog!!! This is a guy with years of veterinary education, a degree, and one who is supposed to keep up with the latest and greatest. He walks in like flash, sticks the dog with multiple shots and leaves in a flash. Total time veterinarian? 3 minutes. The assistant took all the vitals (listened to the heartbeat, stuck the thermometer up the dogs ass, etc.)
A week later, we go through the same bullshit with our 2nd Fila and have spent over $200 extra on the dogs over the price of the puppy plans.
Fast Forward 3 months.
Per the veterinarians recommendation, we should have our female Fila spayed at the 5 month mark. We take her in for a checkup and to schedule. Reread the paragraphs above, because we go through the same thing. When the veterinarian mentions the spay, he says it will cost extra because the dog is over 50 pounds (Mastiffs are HUGE dogs, and ours is perfectly fit and is 85 pounds and 5 months old). I ask how much this is and he says $86.08 extra. Holy shitarrooooo Batman! I ask him to point this out in the plan, since the plan only mentions extras in the case of a obese dog (she is not obese) or if dogs nuts haven’t dropped yet (on our male fila, his have dropped and are swinging proudly). He says “It is not in the plan and I am telling you that is what I am going to charge! It takes extra time and anesthesia due to the dogs size. I tell him we’ll think about it.
Crusty is pissed!
I am the type that doesn’t take shit from anybody, so I call the Banfield corporate office. I talk to a lady (I use that term loosely) and politely explain the situation. She tells me that the doctors can charge whatever they feel appropriate if extra services or time is required. I said that is wrong because we have a signed contract and it doesn’t stipulate that. “No sir, you are wrong, we are right. The doctor has to be paid for his services.” As you see from the graphic higher up, it covers anesthesia. That is right from their site. Also say the same in the brochure for the plan. Do they charge less for our miniature pinscher who weight 8 pounds? HELL NO! This play should be based on averages, on some dogs they would make more, on some dogs they would make less. Above all, they should have informed me of this before I signed up for the damn plan!
The veterinarian informed us that a spay/neuter without the plan is typically $600, I went to see another veterinarian with our dogs, and they quoted me a price of $350 for it, without any prepaid plan needed.
Other interesting facts:
If your pet dies before paying the full 12 months, tough shit. You still have pay for it.
You cannot cancel your plan, if you ask to cancel it, you are responsible for the treatments and services you have received at the NON-plan price. Any extra, which there isn’t any, would be refunded to you. Since the jack up the prices to sell more plans, you would end up paying even more.
The Bottom Line:
Someone needs to put these bastards out of business
Reader's Comments
I was forced to pay off the rest of the plan after our dog died. I think this should be Illegal in any state of the union. That is my opinion.
I agree. They almost killed my cat twice giving
her so called required vaccines. Then I had to take her back to have fluids given because she was running a temperature of 105. This happened
twice. They charged me $229.00 for something they
caused. I am really pissed also. Mary
I am also MAD - MAD - MAD!!! My beautiful baby was just put to sleep and I’m hoping it was called for after reading all these comments! He was healthy in January after his annual check up….hmmmm? I am upset that we are FORCED to pay for the balance of his wellness plan ever AFTER his death. I think we should get together and look into a class action lawsuit here….
Look at it this way:
If you took your pet in to get vaccinated and a month later the pet passed away, you would not go back to the vet and ask for a refund on the vaccines because you barely got to use them. If you opt to pay for something on a monthly basis you can’t expect someone to forgive all debts because you do not require FUTURE services. If you take out a loan for a car and then crash the car, you are still responsible for the balance of the loan are you not? I’m not trying to minimize what happened to the original poster of the message, it should have been stated originally that an over 50lbs fee is charged at the time of the spay or neuter, or it should have been waived if they opted to spay your pet at the 5 month mark knowing full well she would be over at the time. There is also an additional fee if the pet is over 6 mos and/or in heat at the time the procedure is completed. However, requiring someone to fulfill their portion of a financial obligation that they signed a contract for is definitely not a reason to file a class action lawsuit.
Veronica,
I believe you are missing the point here. When I first took both of my dogs in, there were both over 50 pounds each. I signed the first dog up, and there was NO MENTION of an extra fee for dogs 50 pounds or over. The contract also does not mention this, nor does ANY of the marketing brochures. When I signed up my 2nd dog (also over 50 pounds) a week later, again NO MENTION of an extra fee for dogs over 50 pounds. It wasn’t until the 3rd or 4th visit that the Veterinarian said he would charge extra for both dogs My original intent for signing up for the plan was to spread out the cost of the neutering/spaying so that I did not have to pay $1000 at once to have both dogs done. Banfield clearly has breached the contract by not providing services at the agreed upon pricing for which the contract was signed.
If you need an analogy, lets say you buy a car. You get financing from your bank and drive the car home. Out of the blue, 4 months later the bank informs you that you will have to pay $5000 extra because your car is red. Would you be upset?
Crusty
i work for banfield and everything they do is a scam. not only do they scam their customers but they scam their employees. working there has shown me the exact definition of what a bad job is. many people are charged for services their pet never received. do not be duped into purchasing the wellness plan!!! the amount of money you will be pay over the year is the same amount, maybe even less, if you go to your local vet and pay out of pocket. do not fall victim to another corporate gimmick!!!! it’s not worth your pet’s life or your wallet!!
As a consumer dispute resolution counselor, here’s what I advise with regard to Banfield if you want to get resolution and possibly compensation for your Banfield billing and animal care experiences:
1. Join in on one of the THREE class action lawsuits that are being considered or in preparation against Banfield Pet Hospitals by going to the law firms’ websites and listing your complaints. Definition of a class action can be found at: http://www.claiminformation.com/classactions.htm The more people that sign-up, the greater the resolution and possibility that you’ll be compensated for your emotional distress down the road. The law firms are as follows:
http://www.schneiderwallace.com/PracticeAreas/ClassActions.htm
Once there clink on “Inquire About Your Potential Case” and fill out the online form giving specific details of your problems regarding Banfield. Please, make sure that you include either your phone number or send them an email on the link within the “Inquire” link.
http://www.price-law.com/CM/FSDP/PracticeCenter/Personal-Injury/Class-Actions.asp
Complete the online form outlining your experiences.
http://www.barronberry.com/CM/Custom/Contact.asp
Complete the online form outlining your experiences.
Please, make sure that you share your experiences regarding billing issues, pet care (or lack therefore of), names of staff, location of hospitals and if you’ve ever written to the corporate offices and if so, what was the response if any. Remember, the more people that join the class action lawsuits, the greater the chances of resolution and restitution (financial compensation for your losses and emotional distress).
2. Go to http://www.ftc.gov (Federal Trade Commission) and file a very quick online complaint. Make sure that you give any contract numbers, names of staff, address of the hospital that you used, leave out unnecessary details and get to the point (short and sweet) and name the CEO as the contact person: Dr. Scott Campbell, CEO, Banfield, The Pet Hospital, 8000 NE Tillamook
Portland, OR 97213. 800-838-6738 Fax 866-477-5120 email: scott.campbell@banfield.net The FTC will issue fines if they receive enough complaints.
3. Google your state’s Governor’s Office or Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Affairs and file a complaint. Most will allow you to do this online. It’s quick and easy just include specific names, addresses, dates, details of problems (short and to the point) contract numbers, if any, and your contact information. Consumer Affairs will issue fines if they receive enough complaints.
4. Contact the American Association of Veterinary State Boards by calling 1-877-698-8482 or http://www.aavsb.org/ContactUs/ContactUs.aspx and ask them for the website, phone number and/or address for the regulatory board for your state, then file a complaint against Banfield’s license in that state.
5. Write directly to the CEO of Banfield (or at least print and copy all of your complaints to all of the agencies above and mail a copy to: Dr. Scott Campbell, CEO, Banfield, The Pet Hospital, 8000 NE Tillamook Portland, OR 97213 Phone 800-838-6738 Fax 866-477-5120 email: scott.campbell@banfield.net VP of Operations direct line 503-922-5244 fax 503-922-6244.
6. Post these instructions on every complaint forum and website mentioning Banfield that you can find on Google.
7. Remember there’s strength in numbers. If you’re not going to take the time to file a complaint then don’t take the time to post a complaint. Change only comes through efforts to make change.
8. Contact the CEO of PetSmart and let them know that you’ll NOT shop PetSmart until they kick Banfield to the curb. They are separate companies but who would want to support a store that allows another business to operate using such bad business practices while being inside their stores? Contact: Philip L. Francis, CEO, PetSmart, Inc., 19601 N. 27th Ave, Phoenix AZ 85027, phone 623-580-6100.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
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