If you have a pet, stay far far away from Banfield Pet Hospitals. Also, avoid their “Wellness Plan” as it’s nothing more than a scam. We found out the hard way, hopefully you won’t have to.
We very recently had a bad experience with Banfield in Middletown, NJ. I believe our puppy “Winston” got sick from unsanitary conditions and almost had a vaccination which he already had days before accidentally given to him again by the vet at Banfield.
The manager at Banfield is refusing to help and cancel our “Wellness Plan” contract, despite everything that has happened.
Here is how it happened:
3/15: We pay adoption fees for a puppy, to be named “Winston” He will be sent to us via plane on 3/19.
3/16: Winston has his first vaccination at the vet.
3/19: Winston is dropped off at the airport to be sent to us. The vet says we’ll need to have him de-wormed.
3/19: We pick up Winston from the airport and bring him home. He’s a little scared, but very curious. Soon he’s running around having fun. He’s awesome.
3/21: We go to Banfield Pet Hospital in Middletown NJ, and sign up for their “Wellness Plan,” after information about the plan is forced on us repeatedly. This includes watching a 10 minute video which we did not have a choice on while waiting 20+ minutes in the exam room. The plan cost $139 down, and $25 per month on an annual basis. It includes office visits, vaccinations, fixing the dog, etc. Does not meds, procedures, etc.
The nurses which have been handling and getting licked by other animals (potentially sick ones) are handling Winston, and letting him lick them. After doing some research and asking around I now realize this is completely inappropriate and not sanitary. If a dog is sick it’s possible to transmit the virus to another dog if both dogs lick the same person.
The doctor (Dr. Kim) tells us the vaccination he already had is “not of quality.” She wants to give him another and nearly does. My wife barely stops her and asks if it’s too soon, as it’s only been 5 days. Dr. Kim looks at Winston’s history again and says “oh yes, sorry we need to wait it’s too soon.”
We leave and get meds for a slight ear infection and a pull for de-warming him.
The visit costs $250 (including the $139 + 25 for the first month of the Wellness Plan.) The meds are extra, almost everything is “extra.”
3/24: Winston develops a cough, it’s not bad. I am convinced that the unsanitary conditions of Banfield are what caused him to be sick, as he was examined and aside from an ear infection he was in perfect health. 
3/25: The cough becomes severe with him discharging fluids. I leave work early and go to another vet which was recommended. We get x-rays of his lungs. Turns out that he has a respiratory infection and it might turn into pneumonia. We get antibiotics and pay the $300 fee. This vet visit was very different and felt really professional compared to the Banfair vet and staff.
3/26: I am upset and I want to cancel my Wellness Plan. I know I have an annual contract but I want to try an plead my case.
1PM: I call Banfield and they tell me I need to call the Wellness Center to cancel. I call the wellness and they tell me since it’s been more than 72 hours, it’s up to Banfield to cancel the contract and refund. They suggest I call and speak to the manager, and advise that they would forward my complaint. I call banfield again, but the manager is not there. She’ll be there at 4:30 I’m told.
5PM: I call again, the manager is still not there. I leave a message for a callback.
7PM: Joan the manager calls. She asks me what’s going on, and I explain the situation to her. She recommends I call the Wellness Center. I explain that they said she’s the one who can help. Joan replies with “I got your complaint from the Wellness center and I will not cancel your plan or let you out of the contract. We are also not going to refund you any of the money for the office visit.”
I tried to argue my case that the nurses were not taking the appropriate precautions, and I also mention that Dr Kim almost accidentally gave our puppy a shot which he already had not even 5 days earlier, and if it wasn’t for my wife Winston could have been really sick from having the same vaccination twice in under a week.
Joan pretty much disregarded anything I said and stuck to “we are not at fault, and we will not cancel your contract.”
I don’t think that asking for our contract be cancelled is too much. Considering that our puppy got really sick just days after the Banfield vet visit, their unsanitary conditions and nearly accidental vaccination, I believe Joan should have handled the situation a lot better.
I would highly advise against ever taking any pet to a Banfield Pet Hospital. Furthermore, the Wellness Plan seems nothing more than a scam, as even our first visit had nearly $100 of extra charges of things not covered.
If anyone has any recommendations as to how to proceed, that would be awesome. I can’t really find too much corporate information. Any help would be appreciated.
UPDATE:
3/26: I couldn’t find any corporate contacts, so I scavenged the Banfield.net website and until I found a page listing the names of all their medial staff. I compiled an email similar to this blog post and went head to email everyone who’s name I could find. I guessed that their email naming method was First.Last@banfield.net, which was correct, as I received some out-of-office responses and no bounce backs.
3/28 (Sunday): Joan, the Middletown NJ Banfield store manager which I had spoken to on Friday called me in the evening. She said that my complaint had reached a medical chief somewhere in Banfield, and he wanted to speak to me on Tusday at 2:30PM when he would be at their location. I agreed and we hung up.
3/30 (Tuesday): At about 3:40 after not getting the promised call from Banfield I decided to call. The receptionist said that the manager Joan was not in today at all, and that nobody from their corporate offices was there.
4:30: Dr. Kim, the vet which had examined Winston, and had nearly given him a vaccination which he did not need called to talk about what my concerns were. After I explained everything she said that “Dr Ortiz”, a medial chief at Banfield would call me shortly, as he had arrived to their location.
4:40: Dr Ortiz calls me, and we go through all my concerns from the top, again. He says that he reviewed the medical file and that believes that they did nothing wrong. This is the same thing that Joan had originally said to me, so we’re going in circles now.
I ask what their policy is for the techs and nurses handling the pets. He tells me that they wash their hands and not let pets transfer saliva to each other. I tell me that I know that the nurses were not washing their hands and they were going from dog to dog and getting licked in the face. Dr Ortiz does not have a real response to this, and says that he needs to look into it. Dr. Ortiz also has no answer as to why my puppy almost get a vaccination which he already had.
He now goes on to say that it’s impossible for them to cancel my plan without charging me for the whole year. I already know that’s simply not true, when in fact it’s up to the individual Banfield location which signed up the customer to cancel the plan. I inform Dr Ortiz that what he told me is not true, and they can definitely cancel my plan. After a brief pause he tells me that he needs to present the case to someone else at corporate and they would decide. He says he’ll call me back by Friday.
At this point I feel like they’re just stalling and just don’t really want to help. They are definitely in the wrong. They were unsanitary, did not handle Winston professionally. Once again, they almost gave him a shot which he did not need. Despite all this, they will not admin they were at fault. They will not even admin that they MIGHT be responsible for him being sick. They have already lost me as a customer, and instead of trying to fix the situation by canceling the plan and possibly offering a partial refund they continue to make it worse.
I will continue to post information on blogs, and reviews everywhere I can to inform everyone at how shitty this place is.
I will update if and when they call back.
UPDATE
This is a long over due update. They finally called me back from corporate a few days after the last update and said they would cancel my plan and refund the money. The local Banfield manager called me shortly after and said that they would send me proof of the refund in the mail, which I got a few days later.
So after much struggle they finally gave in and cancelled the plan, although they never took full responsibility.
Like I said in the comments below: I am sure that some Banfield places are better than others, but I will never chance taking any of my pets to another one again.
Thanks for all the comments and info!
