While reading some complaints about the wellness plans, I have decided that people are not being educated, and that is why there are SO MANY people pissed off. As a Banfield client AND employee (YES i pay full price), let me help break it down (and give you a few tips and tricks :) ).
1. No, the WELLNESS plans are not insurance. The purpose of these plans is to significantly reduce the risk of catching illnesses. You will incur costs for medications and other testing that is necessary to return your pet to Optimum Health.
2. Yes, they are for a year MINIMUM. As with every health plan, there is usually a fee for cancellation. However, in this case (though you may not believe it) Banfield employees are mandated to charge you the minimum cost necessary to cancel. You either have to pay for the services rendered and discounts (best option for pets passed away early, or early cancellations), or the months remaining on your wellness plan (better for mid-year cancellations).
3. Transferring your wellness plan is a pain for everyone, not just the client. This is mainly because Banfield had a plan (that seemingly was abandoned) to make your wellness plan good for all locations. Yes, the wellness plan needs to be transferred to a new location for a new year. Your records do not transfer automatically, though a receptionist has to fax whatever necessary records to the new location.
KEY TIPS: You need to follow up and make sure your OLD WP has been properly cancelled. Sometimes the employee with proper authorization to do so will not be there, and therefore not get the message. This would result in double withdrawal from your account, or collections calls in worse case scenario.
4. About renewal, you have the right to renew your wellness plan a month earlier than the anniversary date. The only reason I mention this is because sometimes your life is really hectic. Say you miss an appointment and need to pay for a booster vaccine, if it is passed a certain date from the initial immunization (3 weeks for initial, 1 year and 6 months after series was finished), Banfield's protocol is to restart the set. Eventually, you will have to pay out of pocket, and though it is discounted, of course you dont want to pay for it! I wouldn't! (Unless it's distemper, thats VERY important!)
Here's what you do:
Wait until about a month before your WP ends, get an appointment, listen to the ramble about how your WP will only cover one, smile and nod. Get the vaccine at no cost. Make a two to three week appointment. Ask the receptionist or Office manager to upgrade your wellness plan early.
When it comes time for the set to be re-administered (a year after), wait until the wellness plan is up for renewal again, because it will be within the alloted 6 month time before you need to restart the series!
What you just did:
1. Got your initial vaccine for free
2. Made sure the booster is from the new plan, got that for free too.
3. Started the WP items anew, promising some key tests and vaccines you may need a little earlier!
5. Regarding membership fees, they are first time only EXCEPT for one instance: you do not renew within three months.
However, you can have this fee waived if you were sent to collections (no need to tack insult to injury).
Also, sometimes the doctor or receptionist will waive this fee depending on the situation. Personnally, I find that out location is VERY forgiving regarding this matter. A CARING receptionist will always help you out. Being nice is always a good way to get discounts and free stuff!
(EVEN IF YOU DONT MEAN IT, smile and scream obscenities in your head)
6. Use ALL of the services off of your plan, if you can. Yes, sometimes your pet's health will prevent you from using some services (dental prophy being the most commonly discarded, a 350$ procedure!), but you can ask to use everything. This not only makes sure you got everything you paid for, but also nothing was overlooked that could be a key factor in your pets health.
7: Sign up on the PRIMARY plan first! There is no need to pay for services you aren't going to use, until you actually use them! If you need a dental, but can't get an appointment for two months, at the Basic Plus rate of 30.95 versus the Primary of 19.95 for two months, you just paid 22 dollars you could have used for something else!
This goes for puppy plans to. They dont need bloodwork until they get neutered, which is four to five months away, dont pay for a plan you wont use yet. Upgrade the day of your procedure, get all the services you need taken off and the rest discounted at a heavier rate.
THE ONLY CATCH: once you upgrade, you cannot downgrade until the wellness plan is up for renewal. Upgrade any time, can't downgrade until year is over.
Also, you need to carefully watch the date of the neuter/spay versus the age of your puppy. If your puppy gets to be EXACTLY 6 months before you upgrade, then you will miss out on the puppy plan.
Make sure you either call up to confirm the age once in a while, or schedule a few days before 6 months.
8. Yes, the staff at Banfield is VERY pushy about the wellness plans. I cannot speak for other Banfield hospitals, but there are a few reasons why we suggest them constantly.
From our standpoint:
1. It is easier to explain an invoice for 150, including bloodwork, vaccines, intestinal parasite exams, deworming, office visit, versus an invoice for 400+ for the same thing. You really do save money on PREVENTATIVE CARE.
2. Even if you only need one thing off the plan, (like a dental cleaning) it would be cheaper to sign up on the WP, use what you need and cancel, than to use a neighboring veterinarian where they may not consider that item necessary and charge you astronomical prices.
From your standpoint:
1. You have a regular veterinarian, who promises you free office visits, discounted items, and flexible hours. This eliminates the need to search for a vet, price search and possibly be dissapointed.
Now, I will HONESTLY answer a few concerns stated on this webpage, you can take or leave the answers below, and with all information, do your own research as well.
1. Yes, Banfield employees get a certain bonus from the number of wellness plans they sell. However, everyone gets a bonus from everything we provide, WP or not. Honestly, the bonus is nothing remarkable. For a whole year, and I sign about 6-7 wp's a day, I may have recieved 200 dollars all in all. That's not even enough to fill my vehicle with gas, lol.
2. Due to the sheer volume of clients per day vs the vets on staff, truthfully, people do not actually get their appointments on time unless it is a new hospital with a small client base. There is only one solution with this: hire more vets and expand the hospital. Personnally, I am very upset that I get paid chicken's feed to constantly hear client's concerns regarding their wait, and the other staff ignore them and me.
3. Frequently, mistakes are made in the computer. In defense to my fellow employees (who many of them have been in the field for YEARS), we have severely outdated program called PetWare. It is the bane of Banfield pet Hospitals everywhere. It cannot handle the number of clients, it is very restrictive in some parts, and very free in parts where it shouldn't be. It crashes frequently, and Windows doesn't even manufacture the program used to make PetWare (FOXPRO) since estimated 1995.
4. Once again, I cannot speak on the behalf of other vets (I believe the horror stories, trust me). The owner of my hospital also is the Head Vet. She is one of the sweetest people i have ever met, a little too sweet sometimes. One of the main reasons people put up with the corporate crap, long waiting times and small location, is because she may be one of the best vets in our area. She is very understanding, not pushy, and pets get better after she treats them.
However, she is only human. Alone she may see 35-40 patients a day (Banfield minimum per doctor). Of course at the end of the day she is frazzled and irritated, she may be a little less understanding. I believe before you judge the vet, take note of how many people they see a day. Are they the only Vet? How long and often do they work? Do they have their license posted in plain sight?
Personnally, I would have a COMPLETE over-hall on the entire banfield system (except for diagnostic protocols because I am not a DVM, and cannot discredit). I mean, how hard is it to link all the locations? Upgrade system, including hardware, reassess the standpoint of the customer, maybe have a plan that includes a set price in medications?
Maybe half price the vaccines if a set is overdue? Actually compete with prescription medication, instead of making set prices? Offer more frequent vaccine clinical hours for those non OWP customers, at a further discounted price?
All in all, the only thing that keeps me working is the pets. I love to see healthy pets and happy owners. I love to see invoices for 0.00 ( it's easier for all of us! ).
I appreciate an constructive criticism, good or bad.
I am a former Banfield employee and I have no idea why you say that you pay full cost because I know all Banfield employess get coverage for 3 pets. To make your point you dont have to lie to people. Yeah you have a great point about the plans but saying you pay full price is wrong.
2. Written by Tired of stupidity, on 04-06-2008 17:08
This site is such a crock. Get an education and stop blaming people for your oversight. If there was anything wrong with this company they wouldn't have lasted 55 years. Grow up and get over yourselves.
Unfortunatly, a large majority of pet owners are uneducated. That is how banfield likes to "get" people with their wellness plans. They see a young couple with a new puppy and "inform" them of how their pets just HAS TO HAVE this that and the other. There are vaccines they give that are unneccisary depending on your location. And they also overvaccinate. They will overload a small and/or sickly puppy with a ton of vaccinations in one visit and cause it to crash. The poor owners are so confused, because they thought they were doing the "right thing" by getting their puppy all these vaccinations.
Also, if the pet ever has a REAL medical problem, Banfield will send it to the emergency vet! If it is not a routine procedure or vaccination, it is like they don't know (or don't want to take the time) to treat your pet.
The ONLY good thing about the wellness plan is that it includes spay/neuter. It is overpriced and you have a long wait to get it done, but at least it keeps the uneducated owners who got sucked in in the first place from breeding their dog...
Banfield is run by crooks - plain and simple. Same as it is w/ the medical industry as a whole. It's all about the money. Period. Forget the patient care.
Banfield: 820 Paseo Del Rey Chula Vista, CA 91910. May 17th, 2008.
I actually had a Banfield vet REFUSE to write out a Rx for me that he had prescribed (and wanted me to purchase there at their Banfield clinic in Chula Vista, CA). To save costs, I very rarely purchase medication at a vet office any more. I purchase all my pets' prescriptions in local or online pharmacies.
His excuse? (As relayed to me by the Banfield vet's underlings - the vet also refused to speak w/ me re: writing out the Rx.) The topical ointment he recommended is a Banfield-branded med. He had no way of knowing a comparable med (topical antibiotic, anti-inflamatory, antifungal). What a load of malarkey! Every fool knows the ingredients are on the packaging and that every MD and DVM has a physicians' reference and Internet access. The vet was angry at me because I'd refused his $170 in unnecessary tests and other meds he'd "recommended". This in the face of my telling him I was moving out of state w/in a matter of days. Testing for allergens at that time made no sense as there was a strong possibility her symptoms would change w/ the move.
My dog needed a steroid shot for her skin allergies to make her more comfortable and maybe a topical as a preventative measure against infection. That was it. She did not need a load of tests: for mites; for fungal infections; allergens, etc. nor did she need an oral antibiotic. She had no signs of any type of infection and her temperature was normal. Oral antibiotics are over-prescribed for pets and people. It was just another way to bulk up the bill.
I am busy preparing to move cross country. I will lodge a formal complaint once I'm settled in. Needless to say, I've visited my last Banfield office.
You all forget that you are seeming to blame the staff for this issue. We are CORPORATE run! Therefore we HAVE to follow CORPORATE'S rules! IF we aren't making enough in revenues, WE get screamed at! If we are seeing enough new clients, WE get screamed at! WE LOVE animals!!! Don't blame any of the staff at Banfield for it's CORPORATE decisions! WE have NO say in what CORPORATE wants/needs/says! And it's a terrible truth! We are backed into a corner! If you want to complain to ANYONE, call our CORPORATE office!!!!
wow the lies that are told as i was an office manager for a banfield in charlotte. the wellness plans are a good thing if nothing happens to your dog in the year you have it. but as for the money we recieve for it you are way, way understating what you recieve. most pet nurses are getting anywhere between 20 to 25 per 2 week period and recieving 200 per pay period 2 weeks. second every vet that works for the company is paid a percentage of the revenue that is if they sell thing that are not needed or can inflate prices there revenue is higher and the comp check is off the chart. In my hospital the lowest i saw doing the end of week reports was 8000.00 in net profits we hade many weeks in the 20000.00 range that is per week. and people wonder why the stuff is so expencive!!!
I am a current member of banfield. I use as much of the service as I can. Now when i first started their things were great. Then some thing your banfield would do really started to get to me. If i would say no to nail clipping or anal expressions because i do them at home. I would be guilt tripped on not doing it with them. Lets not forget that if i take my dog in for a major ordeal, dental or neuter. If i don't get thier nails done I will be charge for them being dehydrated even though the night before they get a bowl of water as well a bowl of water before they go in. Banfield cares very little about the animals. The just want the money. Try to convince the people you want about their love for our pets and I can garuntee thats a lie. You care about the business of making money at the expense of the love for our pets. We aren't dumb. Just naive enough to believe that yall cared.
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