Horrible experience with Banfield wellness plan

[stina3246]

I don't know if this is the right place for this and if not please move it. I just wanted to vent about the awful experience I've had and hopefully keep others from making the same mistake. Sorry it's a little long.
I rescued a dog off the freeway about 1 year ago and after I was unable to locate the owner decided to keep him. I took him to Banfield at Petsmart for a check up and they talked me into getting the wellness plan for him. It seemed like a good idea. I could take him to any Banfield vet, he got ALL his shots included, bloodwork, tests, worming, health certificates for travel, check ups any time I wanted and discounts on other services. They said I could upgrade to a better plan any time. Well, he got his first series of shots and his boosters no problem. Then his yearly checkup came due. A new Banfield opened right by my house so I called them and set up an appointment. I went in and waited for an hour before I was seen by the vet. Then he did his routine check, decided my dog had Thyroid disease and refused any other service until I paid $80 for a test. He told me that the plan I had was only for well dogs and mine was sick so my plan was useless. He said since I didn't want to pay for the $80 test he didn't know why I was even bothering to pay for the wellness plan. I asked for other tests and bloodwork that were included with my plan as well as worming him. The vet refused. I understand not wanting to vaccinate if he was sick but he didn't even want to consider anything else other then thyroid disease. They then presented me with an $1800 estimate of services. They also told me that since I hadn't transfered my plan I had to pay for the office visit. I told them to go ahead and transfer the service but they wanted to charge me the monthly fee that was already set to come out automatically as well as start my contract over for 1 year. I was furious and walked out. (Without paying) I was going to cancel but then decided I wanted to at least get another vet to look at him and get the shots, tests and worming that were supposed to be part of the plan. i found out when there was a different vet there and took him in. I must admit that this vet was MUCH better, I liked her a lot and she did all the bloodwork and test that I requested. I was able to transfer the account but I still had to pay the monthly fee (which had gone up since I signed up!!) that had ALREADY been paid this month. To top that all off he tested posative for heartworm and the treatment is $1500...oh and that's with my wellness discount!!!! Some of it would be covered under a larger plan but since he's sick, I'm not allowed to upgrade!
I'm FURIOUS!!!!!!!!! and worried. I need to find some help for my little Dash dog now.

[RagTyme Boxers]

WOW!! I am very sorry you have had to endure all this. Banfield IMO is a JOKE when it comes to quality vet servives. Using them will VOID my health warranty.

They are famous for overvaccinating and misdiagnosing dogs. I have had several encounters through family and most recently a puppy buyer.

My suggestion is to cut your loses and find a new vet.

A good vet woud have explained that there are other options other than the very expensive and RISKY "treatment" you were offered. Putting him on monthly heartworm preventative will keep more worm larvae from growing up and the adult worms will slowly die and be eliminated by the body.

The treatment you were probably offered is very risky and can hurt your dog more then help. It kills all the adults at once and if he has a large amount of worms it can present big problems even death.

If they did not explain all this to you as well as ALL options available to you so you could make an informed decision for your dog the the best thing to do is find a new vet.

[Bendensteel]

I don't go there, but when I looked at pricing I don't see that they are any cheaper than a regular vet????? At least not in my area.
I'm still trying to figure out why they thought the dog needed a thyroid test? What symtoms is he showing?
I'm with ragtime, probably just find another vet.

[Shelteez]

I've used banfield vet when Casey was a puppy. I did not realize how much money i wasted until i moved to a different state and ended up going to a regular vet!. I was semi surprised that my dogs didn't need shots one after another, it made me sick that banfield over vaccinated Casey.

I would also recommend going to a normal vet banfield is just in it for the money.

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

I was with Banfield for one year. For the most part, as long as you were just utilizing the Wellness Plan, things seemed to go o.k. However, as soon as you had to step out of that plan for an illness Hold On To Your Wallet. Plus, they were using the whopper multiple vaccines including ones I no longer get like Lepto and Ghiarrdia.

There have been multiple negative posts on this forum about Banfield in general. Now, if your dog was showing all the classic signs for thyroid, then a test would be warranted. An expanded thyroid test shouldn't be more than 100.00 No talk of treatment makes sense until there's been a positive diagnosis.

I wouldn't throw good money after bad - don't walk, run! Sorry you had to learn the hard way. I've had multiple bad experiences with Banfield.

[stina3246]

It's horrible that so many are sucked in! The symptoms my dog showed for thyroid were a slower then normal heart rate (although this time around it was normal) bad skin and an ear infection. None of this was tested, just visual by the vet. This time around I paid for testing for mites, ringworm, fungal, negative for all of the above so it could be a flea allergy (This was $100 plus they hit me for the monthly fee that had already been paid) I went ahead and took the included wormer & fecal test (which was negative for worms) and the heartworm test which was posative. They ONLY offered the dangerous $1500 treatment OR the heartworm monthly pill which they told me usually didn't work. I took neither and will get it from pet meds at 1/2 the price. (any advice on petmeds.com?) She DID give me a perscription so I could go anywhere and get it.) They wanted to charge $44.95 for Heartguard and I've seen it on petmeds for $34.95 including shipping.
They wanted to charge me $79 for a tape wormer which I turned down as well. I can go to my local feed store and get it for $6.00 a dose! When i told them that they rolled their eyes and said, well we can't speak on over the counter drugs.

[Shelteez]

Originally Posted by Deb's Tiny Dogs

I was with Banfield for one year. For the most part, as long as you were just utilizing the Wellness Plan, things seemed to go o.k. However, as soon as you had to step out of that plan for an illness Hold On To Your Wallet. Plus, they were using the whopper multiple vaccines including ones I no longer get like Lepto and Ghiarrdia.

There have been multiple negative posts on this forum about Banfield in general. Now, if your dog was showing all the classis signs for thyroid, then a test would be warranted. An expanded thyroid test shouldn't be more than 100.00 No talk of treatment makes sense until there's been a positive diagnosis.

I wouldn't throw good money after bad - don't walk, run! Sorry you had to lean the hard way. I've had multiple bad experiences with Banfield.

No kidding!, i forgot what the price was but it was pretty expensive, when casey was a year old i wanted to test him for thyroids and what not. After they told me the price i told them forget it!. After moving and going to a regular vet i asked again for thyroid testing and it was alot better than i expected.

Every time i go to petsmart and i see a customer waiting to talk to a vet it makes me want to tell them to RUN and hold on to their wallets.

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

Originally Posted by stina3246

It's horrible that so many are sucked in! The symptoms my dog showed for thyroid were a slower then normal heart rate (although this time around it was normal) bad skin and an ear infection. None of this was tested, just visual by the vet. This time around I paid for testing for mites, ringworm, fungal, negative for all of the above so it could be a flea allergy (This was $100 plus they hit me for the monthly fee that had already been paid) I went ahead and took the included wormer & fecal test (which was negative for worms) and the heartworm test which was posative. They ONLY offered the dangerous $1500 treatment OR the heartworm monthly pill which they told me usually didn't work. I took neither and will get it from pet meds at 1/2 the price. (any advice on petmeds.com?) She DID give me a perscription so I could go anywhere and get it.) They wanted to charge $44.95 for Heartguard and I've seen it on petmeds for $34.95 including shipping.
They wanted to charge me $79 for a tape wormer which I turned down as well. I can go to my local feed store and get it for $6.00 a dose! When i told them that they rolled their eyes and said, well we can't speak on over the counter drugs.

I think I've read somewhere that if your dog's been diagnosed with heartworm, you're not supposed to give the heartworm medication until the heartworm has been cleared up. I don't think heartworm preventative takes care of existing heartworm. I would definately check with the manufacturer first!

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

Originally Posted by Shelteez

No kidding!, i forgot what the price was but it was pretty expensive, when casey was a year old i wanted to test him for thyroids and what not. After they told me the price i told them forget it!. After moving and going to a regular vet i asked again for thyroid testing and it was alot better than i expected.

Every time i go to petsmart and i see a customer waiting to talk to a vet it makes me want to tell them to RUN and hold on to their wallets.

I DO tell them! If the receptionist or vet tech walks away from the desk for a minute and I see people filling out the paperwork, I ask them to step over for a minute, and if they do, I tell them to run!!

It will wind up being a never ending pit to which you throw your money. If your dog does get sick, they'll run every **** test in the world except the one you need until they've gotten a wad of cash out of you. I hate that place! When I left, I wrote their corporate office a scathing letter.

[stina3246]

Originally Posted by Deb's Tiny Dogs

I think I've read somewhere that if your dog's been diagnosed with heartworm, you're not supposed to give the heartworm medication until the heartworm has been cleared up. I don't think heartworm preventative takes care of existing heartworm. I would definately check with the manufacturer first!

Well, other then the $1500 treatment, that was the only other option I was given. What else do I do?