Banfield Pet Hospital

I took my 3 month old puppy there for vaccines and I honestly did not think that taking her for something so simple would leave me so upset.

The wait time was about 30 min. which i did not mind. We then proceeded inside the room once called and we were informed about their wellness plans and waited for the vet to come in.

She was nice until she asked us about which wellness plan we wanted to choose. We asked her what they covered and in reality they didn't cover anything. They cover office visits and basically telling you if they're sick and that's about it. you pay for meds, surgery, and all that other great extra expensive stuff. and yes there's a discount but it's a very small percentage. once they told us what was NOT covered we were undecided on the plan and the vet made us feel pressured stating that we NEEDED to choose and that we NEEDED to know which plan we wanted at that very moment. she was also very upset because we didn't know if we wanted to get her spayed which is a decision which we had not thought about yet since we had not know about all the health risks. The spay was one of the few things covered on the plan. At that moment we said no because we had not spoken about that decision yet as a family and wanted to talk it over.

My puppy did end up with an ear infection and we did have to purchase medication and they also charged us for telling us what kind of infection it was which, were thing that if we had gotten the plan wouldn't have been covered anyway and when we received our puppy the vet tech wanted to check us out and asked us very rudely why we didn't know if we wanted to spay her and I simply responded that we didn't know yet and she then again asked "why don't you know!?" in a rude tone. She and the vet both pissed us off with their rude impulsiveness and persistent need to keep telling us that we NEEDED to get this and that! we got the meds because we wanted our puppy to get better but we're never going there again. EVER! I don't recommend them or their wellness plans

Was this review helpful to you?

I would never trust my animal in there care!!! The vet tech ,whose name is Jill is deeply emotionally disturbed & on 2 diferent medications.She also seems like she has relapsed on heroin & is totally erratic.There is no way i would bring any animal there with that type of personal.Especially when they knowingly hired her with the knowledge that she has a drug & criminal history.

Was this review helpful to you?

I have been using Dr Terri Morrison since 1990 from the Plainfield Animal Hospital, i will follow her any where, but as much as I love her, I cannot go back to see her at this so called hospital. The hospital is dirty, rooms are dirty, urine spray was on the wall, the room nurses were clearly either just hired or not trained well except for the girl with the buzzed blond hair. There was no room to sit in the so called waiting area and the wait time was over 3 hours, they only seemed like they just wanted to sell those plan things. I love my vet, but I will never go to Banfield again,,,.I have 10 pets-dogs,cats birds,lizards, do not go there unless Dr. Morrison is there.

Was this review helpful to you?

My 5 month old miniature schnauzer was scheduled for a neutering appointment on 03/31/2010. As instructed, I dropped off our puppy @ 8am with the expectation of picking him up at 5pm. As the 5 o'clock hour drew near, I became anxious as I did not hear from the facility. I called the facility at 4:45pm to check on the status of my puppy and the blockheaded receptionist said the doctor would have to call me back because they had to "re-run" his blood. When I was given this information, I was under the impression that my puppy's surgery was complete and they were waiting for results from his post-surgery test. BOY, was I wrong! Attempting to be proactive, I CALLED back at 5:45pm and spoke to the doctor. WELL, my puppy had not even had his surgery yet because of an incompetent blood technician who ran his blood work as an adult dog, thus causing his kidney enzymes to appear elevated. They finally caught the mistake in the late afternoon and had to re-run his bloodwork. The doctor asked if she can move forward with his surgery (AT 6PM) and I instructed her to do so. She was extremely apologetic, but, that does not excuse the lack of poor judgement and negligence that was inflicted on our puppy. For a surgery that takes 15-20 minutes tops, it is amazing how our dog was at the facility for 11 hours. THAT IS COMPLETELY ABSURD AND RIDICULOUS. I am cancelling my wellness plan today and contacting their corporate facility for immediate remediation. If you are a devoted pet parent, do not subject your pet to the unfit and deficient care of these morons!!!!

Was this review helpful to you?

After about 10 years at Banfield in Woodbridge, I am not going back. Due to corporate policy, they have changed their policies and their staff. It is over crowded, no seating in waiting room, over an hour wait WITH an appt. I used to enjoy the staff but now they seem stressed and unhappy. I am looking for a new veterinarian in the area.

Was this review helpful to you?

I have been a Banfield client for a few years now. But just last week it proved to me while not every DOCTOR gives that special attention to animals that come in there, DR. H is a GREAT doctor. I rushed my little Ruby to Banfield because she had a hard time breathing one morning. When I came into the office, the receptionist Marlaina (who by the way is the one to go to if you need anything, very knowledgeable of her job, and VERY compassioate), she grabbed my dog and rushed her to the back where Dr. H took immediate action on her. I must say that Dr. H has always been a wonderful Dr. to my other girls as well, but this just proved to me that I would not let any other Dr. look at my dogs except for Dr. H. She is truly great and knowledgeable of her profession. If you truly want to go to people who care about your animals go to Banfield and see the receptionist Marlaina and the Great Dr. H. You will surely be grateful for the attention your animals gets there.

Was this review helpful to you?

I have never really had an issue with this hospital. They have put my dog under anestesia twice. Once to fix her (she's a female maltese) and another time to pull a tooth. I am on the wellness plan and the only cost I pay is for my dogs heartguard pills (which is not an every month thing). I get reminder cards in the mail each year for her vaccinations. She also receives her very own birthday card and coupon from them yearly. We are usually in and out when she needs to be seen. I had one issue where they charged my wellness plan, yet charged my mother again for it when she brought the dog in saying it was "unpaid." I spoke with corporate and the issue was taken care of right away. I was offered an extremely generous offer due to their mistake and was left completely satisfied. I would recommend them to anyone.

Was this review helpful to you?

I signed up for their Wellness Plan at $30.95 a month for a year. You have to go to the Banfield Hospital you pick when you sign up. I moved and could not go to a Banfield Vet close to my home and had to drive almost an hour to this facility. The plan I got for my dog was for 2 comprehensive exams a year. I took her in to get her shots and they did not perform all the tests that is included in their plan. I took her back for her second comprehensive, which included her teeth cleaning. All they do is what you tell them to do, and not what's listed on the comprehensive exam unless you tell them that's what you want done. When I walked in with my dog, I had to sign a form saying I would have to pay $28. for an antibiotic for my dog in case she got an infection from the teeth cleaning. When they were finished with my dog, they said she did well and her teeth were in great shape, they didn't have to pull any, etc. When I went up to check out, the woman told me it would be $59. for the antibiotic for the infection. I told her I wasn't paying it, and the paper I signed was only for $28. She obviously was mad about this and stormed off to the back and having a very bad attitude about this. She brought the assistant to talk with me and I told her I could get an antibiotic for less than $10. for myself and wasn't paying that high a price for an antibiotic when my dog didn't have any problems w/her teeth. She left for a bit and came back and told me the vet said my dog didn't have to take any antibiotic, that she would be fine. They make money off of the clients by pushing medications on the animals when they don't need it and charging outrageous prices for them. They do not let you know when it's time to vaccinate your dog. All the other clinics send out a reminder when it's time to vaccinate your dog. You have already paid for the vaccinations if you're on their Wellness Plan, and if you forget to bring your animal in, they make even more money off of you, so why should they remind you?

I think this Wellness Plan and the way they handle their business at Banfield Vet is really bad business. They don't operate with integrity and I was never so happy to see my year contract with them expire. (By the way you need to call them to cancel before the year is up or your contract automatically renews with them. This is another way to get your money.) I feel this vet and this Wellness Plan are greedy and just trying to make money off of people. Please check into other plans for your vet and find a vet that really cares about the health of your pet and not just concerned with making money off of you.

A Concerned Pet Owner

Was this review helpful to you?

We have a six month old maltese names sophie. she has been going to banfield since the second day we got her. They are very caring people. When she turned 5 month old we had her spayed. The tech held my pups paw until she came out of the anethesia. The stiches healed beauitfully.

We would never take her anywhere else

Was this review helpful to you?

My husband and I adopted a dog last month. Just fours days after adopting her we took her to Banfield and explain our concern that we thought she might be pregnant (it turns out at the time she was already a month into pregnancy) all the vet did was check her nipples and gave us a definite "no". While there the vet also suggested we get one of her teeth pulled because it was terribly damaged and needed to come out. So the week after we took her in, she was placed under anesthesia and instead of extracting the tooth as originally decided they merely cleaned it and left it without discussing it with us until it was over. Even worse, our girl Pearl surprised us Wednesday morning at 2 am with six beautiful little puppies. Had those "vets" told us she were pregnant we could've better prepared. Today we woke up to four dead puppies at no fault to their mother who has been nothing but attentative and loving since their birth. We're currently in the process of determining if the anesthesia was the cause of their deaths or created other problems that could have led to it. DO NOT BRING YOU PETS HERE! I have four dead puppies on my hands because that idiot woman refused to do an ultrasound. The will be hearing from me very shortly.

Was this review helpful to you?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This "hospital" performed an unauthorized surgery which resulted in my cat's death. The cat was operated on the first time to remove an infection caused by an animal bite. He almost died the first time from the anesthetic, but miraculously recovered and was doing wonderfully. A small section of the incision started to open (clearly as a result of the vet's failure to place an elizabethean collar on the cat to prevent licking) so we brought him in a day before the staples were to be removed SOLELY for the small opening to be patched up. We were told they were too busy to attend to him, so we should leave him overnight. The next day we were told he was put under anesthetic again and reopened - without our knowlege or permission -and that he was now dying! The incompentent vet on duty who thought it was a good idea to put him under anesthetic again after almost dying from it the first time clearly did not review his chart or was completely lacking in common sense. In sum, we brought in a happy cat who was healing nicely and were told the next day that he was dying as the result of an UNAUTHORIZED PROCEDURE! Although no amount of money will ever bring our pet back, we were told by the hospital that they will not refund our $1000 because it was for the first operation and we were not charged for the second unauthorized operation that resulted in his death. The doctors and staff at this hospital are ignorant, incompetent, and rude. If a human was treated in this fashion, it would be criminal.

Was this review helpful to you?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

My experiences with these people have been really good. The team is smart and can really get your pets get going. They are pretty high on the charge, but that is still less when compared to the service. I would recommend anyone who has any problems with his/her pets.

PROS: nice and caring
CONS: price little high

Was this review helpful to you?

Over all my experinces have been very good with Dr. Debecke and his staff. As someone with a kitten with bad allergies, I have to go in pretty often. Dr. Debecke is someone that loves animals and has great compassion. My first experience with him was when my best friends cat was very sick. It was decided he should be put to sleep. Dr. Debecke was beyind compassioante and treated Keanu as though it were his own cat. A week late, I adopted my little kitten and knew I would never trust anyone else with him. The only thing I have negative to say is that on a few occassions, some of the people at the desk have been a bit nasty and once I was misquoted a price for a procedure. When I confronted the person who quoted me the price one week and when I got the bill it was $75 more, he went to get Dr. McRae who proceeded to come out and get in my face, yelling in front of her whole staff AND customers of both the hospital and Petsmart. She acted unprofessionally and I will never make appointments when she is working- unless it's an emergency!

PROS: Dr. Debecke is very compassionate
CONS: Lack of professionalism on a few occasions by certain staff members

Was this review helpful to you?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.