Banfield Pet HospitalReviews 

I have no idea where to begin with this nightmare other than to say RUN DON'T WALK away from Banfield if you love your pet. Your pet will get zero medical attention but yet you will wait 90 minutes and never lay eyes on a veterinarian and that's only one example of the nightmare. If you even try to contact or write an email no one will ever get back to you

Our horrible Banfield experience started at the downtown San Diego Banfield office. We brought up a concerning bump on her ear every couple of weeks for months, and our vet assured us every time that it was nothing. Even after testing it and telling us that it was nothing, we begged for further tests. It was not until 5 months later at Houston Banfield, that we found out it was cancerous.



When we signed up our three animals for the Banfield in spring, we were told multiple times that our monthly payments were only $70 by the brown-haired assistant with the brown beard. I checked this every time we went in. And somehow still managed to pay them $6,000 over the course of 4 months. Every time they told us that we “needed” a treatment is the only time we would get treatment. Then a few weeks ago we were told that our account is deficient, and our monthly payment was actually $280 a month. Which is a price we would have never agreed to pay. Not only were we lied to for months, only to be a victim of fraudulent activity and a scam by Banfield, but when I brought it up at the front desk, they were very angry with me for not knowing and I was scolded by the older lady that works the desk. Even though they were the ones who were lying to us about the price for months. We have records reaching out to corporate Benifield where they verified that our monthly's were only supposed to be $98 a month. This whole process has been Banfield threatening us and holding us hostage even though we have another pet insurance company now. I am a US Veteran who is dying of a head injury/ brain infections, I am already drowning in medical bill debt and I will not be paying Banfield $2,000. The only thing I am willing to pay for is the $300 for our dog’s neutering and that is it. . Regardless, we will never use nor recommend Banfield to anyone ever again.

Every single time I call to make an appointment, nobody ever answers the phone. I've transferred my other dog to a different practice for this reason. I'm about ready to transfer my other dog out too. They need more competent CSR help.

Please trust the negative reviews you read about Banfield. They are a dangerous company, and I honestly don't know if it's due to incompetence, laziness, or just simply not caring, but they consistently misdiagnose or don't even look into your pets symptoms deeply enough to actually even try to diagnose. Post surgery with Banfield is horrifying- they will tell you over and over how your pet is fine, right up until your pet is either dying or dead. This is sadly par for the course for Banfield. Also their wellness plan contract is a borderline scam that you will have to just about sell your soul to get out of. I had considered getting lawyers involved, but they are owned by MARS, and have a legal team that is basically unstoppable. So since there's no punishing them or making them stop being awful, I feel like it's important simply for the safety of pets to make sure pet parents understand that this company is dangerous. I have put "no specific location" due to the fact that I've had experiences with 3 different locations over the last decade- one is responsible for the death of a family pet, another is responsible for almost killing my dog post-surgery, and a third ignored a condition in my current dog that I brought her in for several times over a two year span that has turned into a serious situation that now requires surgery. I gave them too many chances, because I was stuck paying for their plan that they kept auto-renewing without asking (you have to stay on them to cancel it because they will ignore you and continue to renew). I will never go back to another Banfield and jeopardize my pets' health and safety. I don't trust them, and I reccomend that you don't either.

Difficult to contact by telephone. Goes to voice mail. Appointments not readily available. Sloppy record keeping. Currently no permanent vet. Rotating vets coming and going. Nice staff, but would prefer consistency with vet.

Hands down worst experience ever. The pet plan is an absolute scam. Please trust the negative reviews and go with the much more family friendly vets. Worth the extra money. Trust me!

Banfield misdiagnosed my dog, telling me she needed knee surgery to the cost of over $6000. They also said she had severe arthritis and spinal damage . My dog was 2 years old. I took her back to the original vet - drive from Florida back to Georgia and was told she was misdiagnosed. I even thought and spoke to Banfield about putting her to sleep. I had signed up for their optimum wellness care and still was charged Emergency visit rates and higher than normal rates. I’ve asked to be let out if the contract- spoken with the store, the vet, billing and written to corporate. Even though I’ve already paid a lot, they won’t release me from my contract. now they are threatening collections. Don’t take your pet to Banfield!

10.11 UPDATE: A week later and I still do not have my dog's health certificate from the USDA. Yesterday, I returned the USDA's phone call, and they told me that what Banfield mailed was missing the payment, rabies information, and date of travel. I let the Banfield Cares team know, and Dr. Betts got back to me to tell me that the USDA kicked back the electronic upload. But all should be ok. I called today to follow-up with the USDA and guess what, it was STILL kicked back waiting on the Vet's response and need it by 3 pm today! And Warren, from the USDA told me that the paper form they sent, was null and void, even though I sent him the rabies certificate and gave payment over the phone because they also submitted it electronically. THE VET DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING. Just delaying the process even more. Mind you, it was 1:10 pm when I called the USDA (because I too have to work my own job in addition to these people's job). I get a text back from Dr. Betts saying that Dr. Marshall is on it. I literally tell her the level of dumb is wild! She wants us to be respectful on text...um lady you're not being respectful of my time, work, or mental sanity! They're doing this on purpose at this point, because no one can be this dumb/bad at their job. While one the phone with Banfield Cares, it looks like they finally sent the paperwork to the USDA. Literally at 2:23 pm. I little over 30 minutes before the deadline. These people are so inept, someone needs to get fired! I leave at 6 am on Saturday morning and they can't do ANYTHING right! I email and then call Banfield Cares. The only ones who have been on it are Genie and the other sweet lady on the Banfield Cares hotline. Everyone else is trash at this Midtown Los Angeles location. The USDA told me that the vet would need to call first thing in the morning, but we all know they don't know their left from their right. They also said that if the overnight they sent isn't really overnight, I'd have to pay over the phone at that junction. These people are by far the worst. Do not patronize them at all.

I've been trying for weeks to get a response from these people on how much it would cost for a USDA Health Certificate. It took me emailing Banfield Cares to get a response only days before. Additionally, when my dog had his exam, they didn't upload the request through the site. When I spoke to the USDA they said the fastest way is to upload in the system. They decided they would send via FEDEX further delaying the send! Mind you his appointment was on 10/4. They decided to send it to NY. We are in Los Angeles, and why they didn't send to Sacramento...Because we have our locations send them to NY. Well on 10/5 I go to check FedEx to see if it's been picked up. NOPE. why? because they decided to change it to Sacramento! I found out by calling the hospital that they said that FedEx hadn't come, and they decided that they would send it over to the Sacramento office before discussing it with me. Not to mention, they have it for pickup on Friday! Monday is a holiday. they won't get this until Tuesday. There is literally no way that I will receive this back on time before I leave to move out of the country indefinitely, and sadly will more than likely have to leave my dog at a pound because I have no one to leave him with AND I have to do visa items to tend to the week after next in another country. This is unreal the level of incompetence and thought process!

I had enrolled my three pets with Banfield for around two years. I was always going to the location in Coral Gables, Miami, FL because is the closest to me.
I've been ok with the service because is convenient as they open during the weekends and I can get short-notice drop-off appointments. I took my ill cat recently and received a very bad welcome, inconsiderate treatment, and rudeness from the front desk women.
My cat developed a condition that was not followed up there.
They want you to pay upfront for test that might be unnecessary, and they will push you to pay it so that way your pet doesn't have to stay for more hours in a cage.
The plan might have some advantages by covering some tests, treatments, and procedures but they will almost force you to use them ahead even if your pet doesn't need them and after that, you will have to keep paying for tests that are not covered by the plan.
I asked several times to both women that they were not veterinarians to be able to suggest tests and that I wanted the Dr to give a physical exam to my pet and go from there.
In the end, I will probably end up paying more with them than with a regular vet.
I was also forced to sign a release to give fly and tick medication to my ill cat in case "they find them" on her.
They mentioned not to worry because they wouldn't apply any treatment if they didn't find anything on her. I explained that she is been treated by an internist doctor for a condition that is still unknown and somebody can make a mistake and put in jeopardy my cat's health. I also added that it is an indoor cat and that I won't sign something that I won't honor.
I refused to sign and they told me that they were not going to give my cat attention so I had to leave.
I complained to "Banfield Cares" as I was told by an agent and they sent the Dr. Chief to call me and instead of making things better for me; she is defending her staff and putting in doubt my words. She mentioned using other locations or going back to this one and I WILL NEVER LEAVE MY PETS IN CHARGE OF PEOPLE LIKE THOSE TWO WOMEN.
They are rude, and mean, and have no education or consideration for you or your pets.
You Banfield are the worst. I rather pay regular prices and my three pets are going to be treated with respect, love, and dignity. About the customer service; forget about it. You have to wait for hours in order to talk to someone.

Hospital are ok however customer service over the phone are truly horrible, rude and very unprofessional. I had never experienced such of horrible treatment. This company only cares about the money and not our lovely pets . JUAN in customer services need some serious customer service training. I do not recommend this company even to my worse enemy .

Horrible experience at Banfield Brooklyn location. They have the terrible practice of doing tests on your pet you did not request and charge you for it.
I took my pet to do a tooth cleaning and they did urine analyses on her I did not requested or approved. This is the third time they have done this. They are constantly trying to give her vaccines I did not request or approve of I'm done with them...sick and tire or their treatment
It is clear when they see a new client they start planning how they are going to take as much money as they can from them

Great staff, I have been paying for my Wellness plan for 10 years they have taken care of "Maintenance", 5 years ago he hurt his back was all covered by plan. This month torn ACL cost $617 for Visit, XRAY, and meds , local hospital charged me $250 for same minus meds. What have I been paying for, plus when I tried to cancel they want me to pay till march this is just crazy to me, AVOID wellness plan.

I took my dog in to have what I thought was a dental. I am a new client and nobody took the time to explain policy’s or how the clinic operated. I brought my two dogs in within a week of each other and had a terrible experience both times. I was informed that I was not scheduled for a dental just a drop off exam. I did get very frustrated because each visit I had come to was slow, confusing, and upsetting. I got my things and left I told the receptionist to transfer my records to the Houston location. The receptionist told me to go and do it myself. This threw me over the edge and I did call her a b word. She in turn told me I was the b word and kept telling me to get the hell out. I then told her not to keep telling me that or I would jump over the desk. I know I should not have said these things but she was driving me in a fury. I don’t believe that a receptionist should act that way. It’s wrong. Nobody came up front to see what was going on.

I had and awesome experience at the hospital. It was clean the staff were nice and the services were affordable. Definitely will be making this my fur baby pcp.

My dog is 8 years old. I have used Banfield pet hospital since I got her at 3 months old. Before Covid they were great. After not so much. They started a new policy where you had to leave your dog all day for ANY type of reason. Even a wellness check. I was not happy but I did it once. I dropped her off at 10:30am and did not get a call to pick her up until 4:00pm for a routine wellness check. Agee days later she started having a horrible cough. She has never been sick. I NEVER take her to dog parks and I have no other animals. I took her back and insisted that someone see her immediately bc I was NOT leaving her again. They still would not let me speak to the vet in person. They put us in a room came and took my my dog to another room brought her back and said yes she has kennel cough gave me medication and said the vet would call me. They said they try to keep the dogs separated and the ones that are sick are kept separated. We have been battling her “kennel cough” for 8 months now. My dog had to be taken to emergency (NOT Banfield) about 3 months ago bc she couldn’t breath it cost $7000 and she is still not well. I paid Banfield for 3 months to complete the contract I will never ever use them again and DO NOT recommend them ever ! I have had many dogs throughout my life and have never experienced such terrible service.

The wellness program only benefits the Banfield corporation and only feeds more money into their bottom line. Stay away from this horribly administered Pet Hospital and definitely don’t sign up for the WELLNESS PLAN.

HORRIBLE! DO NOT DO IT! THEY SUCKER YOU INTO A WELLNESS PLAN. It is Nearly impossible to cancel even though they tell you that you can cancel within 2 days and make it sound easy, it's not at all. I ended up paying $400 for an office visit blood work an antibiotic and shampoo. I had a free office visit coupon and they told me I couldn't be used since I canceled the wellness plan. The nurse And doctor were very nice, but you could tell. They only want to sell you the wellness plan that is their main goal.

This ridiculous company vet thought she knew better than we did on whether we have reached end of life for our dog who we love dearly. Now we are being forced to make her suffer longer and it's absolutely inhumane. NEVER use Banfield.

I had no idea i was signing a contract or the terms. They took me in a room asked me what i wanted for the puppies like flea control, shots, check ups. Then they sent me to the register and an employee had me initial/sign several places and asked for my credit card. After i looked online for the dogs records i printed out a copy of the contract that said if the dogs died or got a new owner i still had to pay. What a fraudulent business!! I only had the puppies a few months because they were a gift but I'm elderly and could not keep them or care for them. Now they have reported to collections and the credit bureau a negative on my report with $400 charge for each puppy. Horrible fraudulent. I'm filing with the credit bureaus now.

TL;DR: The Wellness Plan is charging us the full years cost because it renewed two months before our buddy boy suddenly and unexpectedly passed.

I have paid faithfully into the Banfield Premium Wellness Plan for multiple animals over the past 12 years – never had an outstanding balance.

Unfortunately, one of our dogs had some chronic medical issues which required specialist care not covered in the plan, so for much of his last year or two we primarily used the specialists but kept his plan active still “just in case” since he had had it since he was 4 months old.

Well, unfortunately, he passed suddenly from a stroke a month or two after it renewed; and, as countless others have experienced, their defense is “it is on the contract” citing it does not make an exception for death. The rep told us is was to “pay for services used” … but confirmed we had no balance as of our last visit … they are literally meaning for continuing to cover future services for our best buddy who is now on the other side of that rainbow bridge. So we are being charged a little over $900 … for the passing of our best boy.

Given how much this has clearly happened to others for a long time, they are VERY ok with this as a core tenet of their business plan. So, i would either outright avoid it or cancel the plan as your pets age and avoid this predatory coverage.