This is the first time I've had to…
This is the first time I've had to write a negative review. It doesn't feel good.
1. First interaction on February, 2022 (can't remember exact date as I don't have receipt): Took my cat for checkup. Asked employee at counter if Wellness plan would cover the visit; Employee said the plan would not cover. I had outstanding balance because my card had expired. So, I paid the outstanding balance with different card and asked the employee to cancel the Wellness Plan. Employee confirmed the plan was cancelled. Waited whole day and at the end of the day, they said I need to bring my cat for check up next day. Paid oustanding balance, and cost of day's visit out of pocket.
2. Second interaction on February, 2022, the following day: Cat was checked up and I paid the visit's cost.
3. April 04, 2022: Received an invoice for Wellness plan, although their Employee confirmed the plan was cancelled. Thought this was a mistake and I tried calling Banfield. I didn't leave any message.
4. April 18, 2022, 10:44AM: Tried reaching out to Banfield again and this time left a message.
5. April 18, 2022, 14:42PM: Received call from a representative, who was very nice and understood my situation. Representative also was confused because I had already paid outstanding balance from before and that I paid out of pocket for February visit. Representative told me their Program manager would call me on April 20 to resolve this issue.
6. April 22, 2022, 13:32PM: Hadn't received any calls from their Program manager. So, I called them again and left a message.
7. April 23, 2022, 11:22AM: Representative apologized saying Program manager could not call because she was out sick and program manager would call me on April 25.
8. May 02, 2022, 15:24: Didn't receive any calls from program manager on April 25. I called again and left a message saying nobody called me on April 25 or until May 02.
9. May 04, 2022: I've not received any calls on this issue. But instead I got a letter stating that my account will be sent to collection.
10. May 05, 2022, 12:42: Tried calling again and was able to get their corporate number. Hoping I would be able to speak with someone to resolve this issue. I got the corporate number 888-894-7927 from representative, calling this number just played promotional questions. I called local Banfield office (Gainsville, VA) again and got a different number: 870-500-2288, this time I left a message, but again nobody got back to me after leaving a message.
11. May 18, 2022, 13:13PM: Called local Banfield office asking for Staff Director who had given me his card on one of past visit. Again, nobody got back to me after leaving this message asking for Staff Director.
12. August 30, 2022: As of this date, nobody from Banfield had called me, nor did I recieve any additional letters. I did however get a call from IC Systems (Collection agency) saying my account is in collection. I was confused thus asked the Collection agency's rep to send me a letter.
13. November 16, 2022, 15:32PM: Got credit score change (negative 59 points) alert from Transunion. Checking my credit showed IC System deducted 59 points in Transunion. It was strange to see this action after just one letter from collection agency and despite several attempts, Banfield hadn't called me.
14. November 16, 2022: Made several calls to local Banfield office and finally got a correct corporate number 888-894-7927. I was able to reach their Collections representative. Explained my issue, and Collections representative offered me 20% discount on the invoice. It was baffling to me that the representative didn't work for Banfield and showed little to no desire to understand my problem. After several minutes of talking, we ended the call. I told the representative that I will look for a lawyer for this issue.
This is the shortest summary I could write, but I have notes if Banfield cares to fix this issue and asks for additional notes. This issue has taken too much of my time and energy, and at this time I am just ridiculed by how these businesses operate. I am leaving this note here for others to read and get a feel of how Banfield abuses customers' trust. This "Wellness Plan" to me appears to be some sort of scam as I've been a victim of it. I will not recommend Banfield to anyone because of this issue.