lotsa words.

ok so we took our puppies to this vet, dont want to give the name out, but it may be obvious.

well we signed both of them up for a 1 year service plan, that would automatically roll over unless you canceled. so come near the end of one year of our first pet (we got the contracts 6 months apart) the vet called and said we are due for an appt. So knowing the policy I specifically told them "If this is part of the 2nd year appt, I dont want it, I want to cancel, but if this counts as their 1st year, then ok lets set up an appt", and they replied with "yes this counts as your final 1st year appt, since you are canceling we need to make sure the dog leaves our facilities in good health (so they dont get pinned if another vet finds something wrong)"

fair enough, i took the puppy in. no Q asked or anything and i remind them that "hey, i dont wanna have to apply for another year, we are only doing one year on BOTH animals we have"

so times goes by and they keep calling us trying to make appointments for our puppies, at that time we had our cat there too so we just figured it was a mix up on animals. Then the headquarters starts calling us about our credit cards not going through.. thats when it started.

the vet tells us that since services were performed starting the 2nd year, we must either pay for the services, or pay out the rest of the year, which is like $500. BOGUS.

i am going into today to speak to the Dr. responsible for the finances and I am having a hard time getting through to them that "I requested to have my accounts canceled" and they still want me to pay.

the worst part is, Ive not got the credit people calling me saying i owe money. I have called the headquarters many times complaining, and all they say is "if its $$ related, you must speak to your local branch".

this is getting ridiculous. there is no reason for me to pay a single dime. the odd part is that each one of the puppies came in like 3 weeks after their 1 year contract was over (that WAS suppose to be the final appt. that they said would count as the Year 1)..

i honestly feel like they tried to trick me into coming in for a 2nd year. they say that now their policy has changed, all cancellation requests must be made through headquarters, oh and this was 6 months ago that this change was made. i was in this well over 6 months ago, like a year ago. so i was told i need to tell my local branch to cancel.



ive been going at them for about 6 months now. I may get the 5 on your side or whatever to help. If i have to i will fly up to the headquarters on the west coast and speak to Mr. ______ himelf.

6/5/2008 9:36:42 AM

I've never even heard of an annual plan at a vet. Sounds like a way to screw people over.

Anyway, I had something very similar happen at a place I was studying jujitsu. They suddenly doubled the prices of my monthly payment without notifying me. I notified my bank that they were bogus charges and they refunded me the money. The place tried to claim I owed them a couple hundred dollars. Enter a back and forth argument until some people entered a class action suit against them (apparently they pulled this on everyone there) and they went out of business, solving my problem

The only thing I can see doing is digging up the last receipt for that "final" checkup and the initial paperwork for the plan. If the receipt falls within the service plan listed on the initial paperwork, there shouldn't be any issue. If there isn't, they've screwed you and I'm not sure there is much you can do without something written that states that appointment was their last appointment.

6/5/2008 9:49:20 AM

You should also be able to, if you don't have a copy, get a duplicate printed from the vet. I'm pretty sure I know what vet you're talking about...
Cancelling does incur a fee, I believe. I had my first puppy there for a month or so, then cancelled with them b/c I had to give said puppy away . I was billed for all the services to make up for the fact that the plan was only ~$100/yr.

Definitely fight this, best of luck to you!

6/5/2008 9:52:23 AM

Why not just out this vet if they're sketchy? Save other people from having the same problem.

6/5/2008 9:56:03 AM

I'm thinking that the vet is Banfield, and that sounds kind of sketchy. Give 'em hell

6/5/2008 10:12:13 AM

^i would have to agree

6/5/2008 10:13:43 AM

It is most definitely Banfield. I had the $30.00 plan for a year, never used it, and still can't cancel it because I've entered the second year (I think, haven't checked).

6/5/2008 10:17:37 AM

Has to be Banfield. They're the only one who does that yearly crap.
I refused to sign up for it because at the time I got my cat they wanted more than $100 a year, and when i refused they were always trying to get me to agree to extra things that my cat didnt need.

After they royally fucked up an appointment schedule with me and then insisted I would owe them more money than they had said the service would cost, I switched vets - and I'm very happy I did so.

They're more professional, and I trust them a lot more that they know what I'm doing. Additionally- all the "extra" crap doesn't get force fed to me that my cat "needs" x. No, now my vet tells me what the cat "needs", what the cat "should have but can live without", and what is "nice, but fully optional" for kitty.

Truthfully, Banfield is one of the worst vets in the city I believe.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 10:23 AM. Reason : ..]

6/5/2008 10:22:51 AM

yeah. thats the vet.

i understand the canceling before the year is over fee. i am doing that currently with our cat (i want him out of there).

but for the dogs, i canceled the 2nd year, before it was even started. something that they said you have to do if you want out of the contract. of course, me being the customer, imagined they would document all of that on their computers or something. not a single piece of evidence. but i do have other bits that kind of tell the vet "i dont wanna be here for year 2"

we stayed with them for a year. payed every month on time.

6/5/2008 10:30:59 AM

They did something similar to me at Banfield. My year came up, I told them I wanted to cancel, and they continued to charge me for 3 months. I called and gave them hell and they refunded all my money.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 10:39 AM. Reason : ,]

6/5/2008 10:39:11 AM

I worked at Banfield and I quit because it's so shitty.
They made us push the most rediculous shit and I just felt like a complete tool the whole time, having to smile at people and try to sell them something that i knew was just unecessary. Anytime I was able to level with them and get away with it, I did.

Hope you can get outta there.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 11:09 AM. Reason : .]

6/5/2008 11:03:48 AM

i like banfield...i did the year thing with my puppy and it was waaaaaaaay cheaper than if i had just done the regular vet thing

i'm in my second year (one month in) and i kept up the deal...we'll see

6/5/2008 11:08:41 AM

It was good the first year, because it included shots/spaying/all the vet visits because my wife was paranoid. After that, I couldnt see any benefit in it.

6/5/2008 11:21:42 AM

In addition to trying to push stuff you don't need, Banfield hires vets straight out of school and pays them almost nothing. After a year or two they all leave for better work.

I'd never take an animal to Banfield. You get overpriced BS and vets with no experience. I bet they use shitty vaccs too.

6/5/2008 11:38:36 AM

we had this problem with one of our dogs, also had the plans about 6 mo. apart. i ended up fighting it for MONTHS. mine was kind of my own fault, all the small print that said you had to give so many days notice to the corporate office that you wanted your plan cancelled or you were automatically enrolled in the 2nd year. i did end up having to pay for the last service my dog had, but fought tooth and nail and had an attorney friend write a not so friendly letter about taking them to small claims court and they dropped it. they'll keep pushing you and pushing you thinking you'll eventually fork over the $. i fought it and more or less won.

6/5/2008 11:59:59 AM

^how long ago was this?

apparently thats a "new rule" (about 6 months ago or so) that you have to call corporate to cancel.

mine was longer than 6months ago.

T-minus 54 mins til we go face to face, the Doc and I

6/5/2008 12:06:42 PM

good luck.

6/5/2008 12:18:12 PM

http://www.ftc.gov

http://www.ncdoj.com/consumerprotection/cp_about.jsp

http://welcome.bbb.org/

Usually when a large company tries to dick me over that bad and I get lost in beurocracy I do the following.....

1) Write a detailed letter of what happened every step of the way using as many dates and specifics as possible. End the letter with my expectation of what would rectify the situation.

2) File a complaint with ALL 3 of the above parties at the same time.

3) Sit back and wait for them to contact me for a resolution.

These types of formal complaints go to people you will never get to just calling around and bitching on the phone. Also since they are on public record the companies have a greater interest in rectifying the situation for you.

AOL tried to bill me for 9 months of service after I sent them a written cancellation once. I did this and all of the charges were wiped clean.

Suncom is going to be the next one to get it if they dont stop sending me bills for that 5 days I had one of their phones in January before I returned it.

6/5/2008 12:35:15 PM

ok so it went kinda well... turns out the Dr. thats in charge of the finances was the same one that my GF and I really liked, real nice guy, so it was hard to argue with him and he worked with me pretty well.

so on tuesday, they wanted $260+ from me.

i went there today, and he said that he may have a solution that would be better... after all was said and done, we agreed on $38.

first, i just want it over with, 2nd, i was in complete agreement when he said to be fair, what he is charging me for is what would have been done at any other vet, and well he was right because my parents dog gets similar stuff. he didnt charge me for anything that is specific to banfield, just what would have been done at other offices. and with me being in medical field, i was cool with it because i know how he feels.

so thats that. $38 was the total i paid. much much better than $260+ on tuesday, $250 a week ago, $150 a month ago, and $500 from the start. haha

6/5/2008 2:26:59 PM

Problem is that $38 exam is something you will have to pay for again when the animal goes to a different vet for shots, but at least you are done with them.

Or you can go to a rabies vaccine clinic and give the other ones at home. That's gonna be what I do, no way I am paying a vet $30 for a shot that costs them $3 or $4 each.

6/5/2008 2:41:16 PM

nah, that $38 covered like 7-8 things.. im no expert, so i dont remember what they were off the top of my head, i have the sheet at home.

plus it was $38 split between two puppies

6/5/2008 2:53:52 PM

Ok, you were probably paying for supplies then so that's good. Glad it's over with.

I have nothing against vets making money, but Banfield does not do it very legitimately.

6/5/2008 3:02:33 PM

Quote :

"Or you can go to a rabies vaccine clinic"

Where & when do they have rabies clinics?

6/5/2008 5:52:41 PM

email them a link to this thread. this will get you hand.

6/5/2008 8:32:07 PM

Quote :

"Suncom is going to be the next one to get it if they dont stop sending me bills for that 5 days I had one of their phones in January before I returned it."

aha, Suncom is such a piece of shit company. I don't know how they're still in business.

6/5/2008 9:30:46 PM

your vet is a national chain?

6/6/2008 7:04:21 AM

about a month after we signed with banfield, we read/heard all of the rumors. but honestly, the first year was not bad. saved a bunch. and it was convenient, we were never in a ruch to pick the puppies up because one of our had allergies so they kept both of the dogs for a couple hours so we were in no rush to pick them up.

6/6/2008 8:21:01 AM

nvm

[Edited on June 7, 2008 at 11:30 AM. Reason : n]

6/7/2008 11:29:12 AM

Quote :

"Where & when do they have rabies clinics? "

all over, you just gotta keep an eye out. Sometimes they have em at parks or schools and it is quite cheap. As an example, there is one either today or coming up soon at the Southern States in Creedmoor and it's like $5.

6/7/2008 1:23:54 PM