Banfield Pet Hospital review: fraud, deceptive practices, ( 1 comment)

Beware of banfield pet hospital! I took my dogs to petsmart to be groomed. I have specific directions not to shave my dogs genital area as if causes him severe anxiety. The groomer chose to ignore me and clipped my dogs genital area anyway. The dog went into severe anxiety and distress. Within a week both of my dogs were in distress. I called and was directed to take the dog to banfield and there would be no charge. The vet there said nothing was wrong with the dogs. They did say that their teeth were in extreme need of cleaning (a level 4) and that one of the dogs had an infection. They told me of there annual vet plan that covered cleaning teeth, shots, etc. It made sense and so I agreed to pay the $450 plus per dog. Banfield took both dogs from the room and ran heart-worm tests and cbc's. Then prescribed heart-worm medication.

Within days both dogs were very sick. I took them to a private vet and the result was that both dogs had a severe flea infestation likely picked up while being groomed at petsmart/ banefield, one had a severe flea allergy, and their teeth were not in need of cleaning. They both had a mild, level one..., not level four! No blood work had ever been done on one of my dogs, even though I was billed for it. That dog, the one that gets severe anxiety over having his genital area shaved, had a sever bladder infection!

Throughout this ordeal I had written and called susan, the manager of the ocala, fl. Banfield hospital, and she assured me I would get a full refund. Today, some "heavy hitter" called me from corporate and harassed me refusing to give a refund of the full amount. He insisted I would be charged for the exams, the blood work they did, the fecal tests, the eye exam (Never ordered!), etc.. Recall they lied about even doing the blood work on one dog. They prescribed heart-worm preventative medication without a required blood test to assure the dog didn't have heart worms. They misrepresented the degree of plaque on the teeth - creating n urgent need. They ran tests I never requested..., like an eye exam! (Dah, who gets their dogs eyes examined?!) they ignored my verbal and written directives on grooming my dog. They missed my dogs bladder infection. They missed the severe flea's that the dogs likely got when being groomed. Since, at the groomer's I watched them take one dog off of a table, tie it to the foot of the table, and then lift another dog onto the table to groom, without disinfecting the table.

My advice is let this be a lesson from me to you. My advice is never go to banfield or petsmart grooming.