Banfield Pet Hospital

Thank you for providing Ms. [redacted] reply. As Ms. [redacted] concerns about the balance owed towards [redacted] plan are now based on medical concerns, this matter must be addressed by persons with the appropriate medical training. Although we appreciate the opportunity to resolve any and all client concerns, we do not feel that this avenue of communication is appropriate for concerns of a medical nature. This concern would be best addressed directly with the attending Veterinarian. We have passed on Ms. [redacted] concerns to the Sacramento hospital and we highly encourage her to communicate with them directly regarding this matter.

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets.  Although we appreciate the opportunity to resolve any and all client concerns, we do not feel that this...

avenue of communication is appropriate for concerns of a medical nature.  This concern would be best addressed directly with the attending Veterinarian.  We have passed on these concerns to them and their leadership and they will be following up with the client within the next 3-5 business days.

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets. We appreciate the opportunity to address this matter. We have no documentation of any attempts made to cancel any...

of the three Optimum Wellness Plans on file until December 30, 2015. Thus, [redacted]’s plan renewed accordingly in June, 2015. Our records also show that the payment information on [redacted]’s plan was updated at the hospital on January 23rd, 2015. At this time, our records indicate that Ms. [redacted] was in the hospital on that date for an appointment with her pet, [redacted]. Dated and signed authorization forms confirm her presence, and such a change could not have been made without her authorization, nor without her providing the credit card information. We have on file Treatment Plan dated November 6, 2015 which was signed by Ms. [redacted] authorizing those services and approving the estimated costs. This has been provided for reference. On the date that these services were rendered, which included a full comprehensive exam, blood work, and vaccinations, Ms. [redacted] paid a balance of $54.96. The total retail value of Wellness Plan services received and approved of by Ms. [redacted] on that day equaled $380.70. Ms. [redacted] has paid $174.65 (7 payments @ $24.95) towards those services. The total cost currently owed to cancel [redacted]’s Optimum Wellness Plan is $124.75. Ms. [redacted] is welcome to either pay that amount, or the remaining balance owed for the retail value of the approved services, equal to $206.05. As these services were authorized by Ms. [redacted], this balance is owed and is valid.

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets. Although we appreciate the opportunity to resolve any and all client concerns, we do not feel that this...

avenue of communication is appropriate for concerns of a medical nature. This concern would be best addressed directly with the attending Veterinarian. We have passed on your concerns to the hospital and field leaders and we highly encourage you to communicate with them directly regarding this matter.
We have included a copy of the medical records which clearly document the recommended therapies, diagnostics and conversations. Furthermore, due to the pets size antibiotics, although recommended, had to be called into an outside pharmacy for compounded.

Ms. [redacted] presented her pet, [redacted] to our Madison location on May 20, 2017. This was the first visit to the location for [redacted] and Ms. [redacted]. When Ms. [redacted] checked in she was informed of the $39.95 Office Call/Physical Examination fee. Ms. [redacted] authorized the examination and the...

associated fee (attached) and proceeded into an exam room. The team provided a physical examination, including gathering a temperature, pulse and respiration rate, and gathered a brief medical history. As Ms. [redacted] reported that [redacted] was not eating normally and had been hiding, had previsouly been diagnosed with hemolinic anemia and was not up to date on vaccines the team discussed our Optimum Wellness Plans as a way to provide the needed vaccines and blood work at a reduced cost. Banfield OWPs are a package of itemized preventive veterinary care services available at a fixed cost, such as unlimited office visits, vaccines, exams, and dental cleanings. OWP clients also receive other non-preventive veterinary care at a discount. The OWP package of preventive care services is designed to be delivered over the course of a year and at any Banfield Pet Hospital. Clients can elect to spread the cost of the OWP over a year with monthly payments or they can choose to pay up front for the entire annual cost of the OWP. Ms. [redacted] declined the plan. The medical team also discussed the need to update Stella's vaccines, especially Rabies which is required by law. The team discussed the recommended diagnostics to check [redacted] anemia as well. After being told we were unable to prescribed a medication for her other pet without examining it first the technician left the room to discuss other options with the attending veterinarian. When they returned Ms. [redacted] had left the room.Ms [redacted] left our hospital that day without paying for the authorized and provided physical examination and consultation fee. After failing to reach Ms. [redacted] by phone the unpaid invoice was sent to our internal financial team prior to being sent to a third party collections agency. As this service was authorized and provided the associated fee was valid as was the collections account. As such Banfield declines the request for a refund at this time.

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted].  Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets.  We appreciate the opportunity to address this matter.
Wellness Plans are not insurance they...

are discount membership plans designed to help make top quality veterinary care convenient and affordable. Unlike insurance, plan services should always be used; not only if the Pet is ill or injured. Wellness Plans include only the discounted services listed on the agreement, so there is no need to list exclusions, deductibles or co-payments. Wellness Plan services are provided at deep discounts under an annual agreement. Agreements may be cancelled at any time. However, if an agreement is cancelled before the end of its term, the client is responsible for the remaining payments on the plan or the full retail value for services and discounts used under the plan, less payments received (whichever is less) regardless of Pet status including Pet death or Pets given away.
In this case, [redacted] and [redacted] received services and discounts with a retail value totaling $1,053.60 and $591.56 respectively. Ms. [redacted] has paid $143.80(4 payments @ 35.95) for [redacted] and $181.65 (7 payments @ $25.95) for [redacted] towards the services received. In this case amount owed to cancel the Optimum Wellness Plan is $287.60 for [redacted] and $149.75 for Bear. Again these balances are due in order to cover the services that were provided to Ms. [redacted]’s pets under the Wellness Plan.
According to the agreement signed by Ms. [redacted], she is responsible for fulfilling her obligation under the Optimum Wellness Plan. Until Ms. [redacted] details an alternative payment plan for the services provided, the payments on the Wellness Plan will continue to be withdrawn per the agreement. If the payments are unable to be collected through the agreed method, the account will be sent to Collections within Banfield if the account has been past due for more than a period of 120 days before being forward onto the credit reporting agencies.
In an effort to help resolve this for Ms. [redacted], Banfield Pet Hospital would be willing to waive the one of the remaining Wellness Plan payments due for each pet as well as a $20 non-sufficient funds fee currently due for Bear. This would leave a remaining balance of $251.65 for [redacted] and $103.80 for Bear. This amount can be paid in full or the client can continue making the monthly payments as part of their Wellness Plan agreement. Currently the plan is past due for the June-September payments and any contact being made would be to advise of the past due amount. The client can contact our Client Financial Services department at 888-448-4070 to resolve this balance or for any further questions on payment options.”

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: this is of the unprofessional nature and I as a client am DISSATISFIED with the service BANFIELD provides. I have been with the for over 2 yrs and  am unhappy with their service. I wish to go to another veterinarian. I should not be f forced to stay at this vet. They are biased and money hungry. It's more beyond medical. They are retaliating because I filed a complaint. The officer manager was not receptive to mediate my complaint and was dismissive to me. This is not how customers are treated.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client, [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets. We appreciate the opportunity to address this matter. In reviewing this matter, we have found that Mr. [redacted]...

has no posted debts with Banfield Pet Hospital since the collections balance was paid on July 28, 2015. However, in response to Mr. [redacted]’s concerns, we have reached out to the third party collections agency, IC Systems, to ensure that there is no posted debt with Banfield Pet Hospital whatsoever, and that any negative credit information they may have associated with Banfield Pet Hospital is removed.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I have spoken to several associates of Banfield about this situation with no acceptable resolution. If you are a veterinarian and you are offering these discounted insurance plans why have I not received any answers to any of the pets I have had enrolled in these plans? I did not complain the first time I paid $500 for absolutely nothing, but for it to happen a second time; I should not have to pay this $500 again. If you are a veterinarian office and you are charging for this insurance plan but give no answers to my pets issues I should be entitled to be relieved of these $50 per month payments. I literally cannot use any of the services on the insurance plan because of my pets age except for the xrays (which were unsuccessful) that Dr. L. could not give me any answers to. I had to search for other answers through other sources and pay more money out of my pocket to find a resolution to my pets health issues. There should be no reason for this. You are a veterinarian office and it is your duty to find answers to our pets health issues and you are making this insurance plan sound like a great deal to your clients, yet when we sign up, your giving me no answers. My pets health is still unstable and there is nothing I can do because of this $50 per month payment that I have to make until I reach $500. I cannot afford to take him to another vet because all of my money if being taken from Banfield for absolutely nothing. I cannot use the dental or the yearly shot or anything else included in the plan because of my pets health issues. We will probably never know what is wrong with him, but I am doing my best to make his quality of life (whats left of it) as comfortable as possible. You are a very cold hearted veterinarian office and I will never send my pets to you again and I will make sure everybody knows what you did to me not once, but TWICE!! Sincerely,[redacted]

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets. Although we appreciate the opportunity to resolve any and all client concerns, we do not feel that this...

avenue of communication is appropriate for concerns of a medical nature.  This concern would be best addressed directly with the attending Veterinarian. We have already passed on your concerns to the hospital and their leadership. They have reviewed the issue and after speaking with Ms. [redacted] to address her concerns, they have cancelled Ms. [redacted]’s Optimum Wellness Plans at no cost as requested.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:I only wanted my dog to get his vaccines not everything else they did. The office visit was free so I should just be responsible for the vaccines. They performed unnecessary things I DID NOT request or authorizeSincerely,[redacted]

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets. We appreciate the opportunity to address this matter. As Ms. [redacted] is not the signee on the Agreement, we are...

not able to discuss this matter in detail much detail. Changes to renewal cannot be made at the hospital level, and must be handled by contacting the Wellness Plan Relations team at Banfield Pet Hospital’s home office. However, in this case, as no services have been rendered and payments made, a refund totaling $629.10 has been applied to the card on file, and should be reflected in that account within three to five business days to allow for bank processing. We now consider this matter resolved.

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets. Although we appreciate the opportunity to resolve any and all client concerns, we do not feel that this avenue of...

communication is appropriate for concerns of a medical nature. This concern would be best addressed directly with the attending Veterinarian. We have passed on Ms. [redacted]’s concerns to the hospital and we understand that they have contacted her and addressed this matter already. Our records indicate that Dr. M[redacted] spoke with Ms. [redacted] about this matter as of December 12, at which time it was agreed that Ms. [redacted] could return the five remaining Trifexis tablets for a full refund. We now consider this matter resolved.

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client, Ms. [redacted].  Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets.  We appreciate the opportunity to address this matter.
It is our understanding that Ms....

[redacted] was offered the Wellness Plan to help reduce the cost of the care and services provided on June 7th. Wellness Plans are discount membership plans designed to help make top quality veterinary care convenient and affordable. Wellness Plan services are provided at deep discounts under an annual agreement. Agreements may be cancelled at any time, however if an agreement is cancelled before the end of its term, the client is responsible for the remaining payments on the plan or the full retail value for services and discounts used under the plan, less payments received (whichever is less) regardless of Pet status including Pet death or Pets given away.
Though Ms. [redacted] did not return for Wellness Plan services after her initial enrollment on the day of enrollment her per, GG, received services and discounts from the plan in excess of $614.77. Ms. [redacted] paid $317.70 (6 payments @ $52.95) towards the services received. The monthly payments began to fail in December 2015.   After many attempts to contact Ms. [redacted] regarding the unpaid balance with no return communication the plan was cancelled and the unpaid balance was sent to a third party collections agency, per the terms of the agreement.
After reviewing the unpaid balance on the account Banfield is willing to settle this debt with a reduction in amount owed to a total $254.16, a 20% reduction. Please contact us at 888-448-4070 to discuss this settlement offer and payment arrangements.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: Mr. [redacted] did not have the authority to purchase the Wellness program even though he was acting with the best intentions.  As I stated in my original complaint.  We are a 501c3 non-profit rescue organization.  I am not surprised that Banfield is attempting to justify its bullying marketing practices or its over inflated pricing structure.  You would think that they would at least want to show some kind of good faith by refunding more than the lousy $30 they gave us after cancelling a $500 Wellness program after only 2 days of being in the program.  It's obvious that their profits come first.  It's not about patient care or customer relations.  
We will never do business with ANY Banfield facility and we have advised our foster volunteer to take his own business elsewhere.  We will also be advising any adopter or potential adopter who gives a Banfield facility as a reference, to take their business elsewhere too and we will clearly explain why.  
Thanks for nothing, Banfield.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because
I am still not satisfied with the amount of time it has taken for me to receive a workable solution and even a response. Now after waiting for some time you are asking me to contact the hospital??? That is absurd! I was under the impression you were thoroughly looking into my concern? I addressed my concern to you directly to avoid any back and forth in communication. Someone at Petsmart must take full responsibility for this careless error and misleading me with incorrect information. I request in a respectful manner that you contact the hospital and gather and/or research anything required to bring this matter and concern to a workable and fair solution. All this time I am thinking you were in communication with the hospital and here I am now after a second response from you that I need to contact the hospital. I am still continuing to see a lot of confusion on how this business operates and handles customers reports and concerns. Please do what ever due diligence is needed to bring my concern to closure.
Sincerely,[redacted]

We appreciate Ms. [redacted] bringing her concerns to us. We have informed both the hospital and the area leadership of this matter and have asked that they look into this and contact Ms. [redacted] directly as soon as possible.

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the complaint from our client [redacted]. Banfield Pet Hospital works hard to provide exceptional client experience and quality medical care for Pets. Although we appreciate the opportunity to resolve any and all client concerns, we do not feel that this avenue...

of communication is appropriate for concerns of a medical nature. This concern would be best addressed directly with the attending Veterinarian. We have passed on your concerns to the leadership team responsible for this hospital and we highly encourage you to communicate with them directly regarding this matter.

As the balance owed for the plan is valid and collectable per the terms of the agreement we would encourage Ms. [redacted] to contact us at 888-448-4070 to discuss settlement/payment options.