Puts Profit Over People and Their Loved Ones
My dog recently passed away. She was 13 years old, and over the course of her entire life, I took her to Banfield Pet Hospital for her basic medical needs. As you can most likely see, I am giving the company a 1 out of 5 stars rating, so you may be wondering why I stayed a costumer of theirs for over a decade if I was dissatisfied with their care. Let me explain. When initially choosing a veterinarian for my dog, I decided to go with Banfield Pet Hospital because I had heard a couple of favorable reviews on them, the staff seemed friendly enough, and I felt like their Optimum Wellness Plan fit my financial situation as it provided me a discounted rate on their services. When I first signed up for the plan, I specifically remember being told that it was a monthly-based payment, and that I was free to cancel at any time. For the majority of my dog’s life, she was in good health, so during that time period, I mainly only needed to bring her into Banfield for her yearly comprehensive exams, her needed shots, her needed parasite control, and her dental cleaning. Towards the last few years of her life, her health slightly declined and she needed a little more medical attention than before. It seemed like the veterinarians and their technicians were less knowledgeable on more complex medical issues, but I still felt like their basic care services were sufficient, so I continued to bring my dog there. I did not fully comprehend at the time just how influentially connected some of her minor health concerns were to some of her more major ones. I, unfortunately, would not realize that until about a week before her passing where I was told by several staff members at my local Banfield that they could not perform a specific test on her because she was not in a stable enough condition to get an accurate reading. They rescheduled her for the following week to see if she became stable enough to perform the test. Two days later, her condition did not improve, so I decided to take her to a credible emergency veterinary hospital. When I was explaining the situation to them, I was told by three separate veterinarians that the staff over at Banfield should have, in fact, performed that test on her, even with the state she was in, because while it would not be able to give an accurate reading for her base line, it could still show whether or not she was in a dangerous zone. As you could most likely guess, she was in that danger zone. While I still feel greatly disheartened by that misinformation, that was not the cause of her passing. With her age and her medical history, it was simply her time. So, with all of that being taken into consideration, if you had asked me even just a few days ago what I thought about Banfield, I would have told you that while I did not feel like they were capable of medical needs that went beyond basic care, I was mostly satisfied with the care they could give. For that, I reward them a single star, but they lost their remaining stars from me a couple of days ago when I had to deal with their billing services. I went online to their website to cancel my Optimum Wellness Plan. I saw that I was able to turn off the auto-renew feature for the following year, but if I needed to cancel the entire plan, I would have to call their customer service. I think it goes without saying that I was fairly confused about what the difference between the two options were, and why I had to call to cancel instead of just being able to cancel online. So, I called that number, and I was told by them that the maximum price coverage limit that I had on my plan was not completely used when receiving their services. They said I still had a remaining/available balance of almost $700.00, and since that it was never used, and can obviously no longer be used, that I have to pay for the remaining amount. I was told that I could pay it all off now or I could continue making monthly payments for the next year until it is completely paid. I do not have $700.00 to spare, as I am sure most other people do not as well, so, for the next year, I will be paying for something that I can no longer use. Over the entire 13 years that I was a customer of theirs, none of that was ever coherently or accurately explained to me. Also, in my opinion, what is especially mind-boggling about this is the fact that most of the medical services that my dog received was not completely covered by the plan. Most of the time, there was a certain amount that I had to pay out of pocket and it usually was not a small fee—It was just small compared to the overall amount of the bill. I feel like this was incredibly misleading. This is one of the most heartbreaking experiences I have ever gone through, and I feel like Banfield capitalized off of my grief. If you have an animal companion, and you are looking for a veterinarian, I would not recommend Banfield Pet Hospital.