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Petsmart Wellness Hours

Posted in Uncategorized | October 16th, 2010

Does Banfield jack up their prices in order to promote their Wellness Plan?

When we got our first puppy we took him to Banfield at Petsmart just because they were open weekends, not really intending to stick with them once he was out of the phase where he needed shots every couple weeks. They sold us on the Wellness Plan because it would cover all his shots and neutering… we saw the savings in that and signed up. Nearly three years later we are still with them and now have all 3 pets on the plan. According to Banfield they have saved us well over $4000 in that time.

It is nice not to have to worry about paying for most of our pet’s care out of pocket. The routine visits are covered and the sick visits are discounted. Lately we are wondering if it is really worth sticking with them because the service is often slow, and we have had to wait over an hour many times.

The latest visit was for the cat’s sedated teeth cleaning, vaccinations, and blood work. They claim our bill was $955, but we only paid $17 with the plan. Does that sound inflated?

Banfield does have some plans that are really good because after all it’s great to have the peace of mind knowing certain stuff with the vet is covered. However, once you begin comparing , you’ll realize that Banfield does jack up the prices.
I found out the hard way. We had the Wellness plan, and of course I went to them for vet care when one of my dogs had a UTI. A UTI is an easily treatable condition, and most of the time needs about 10-14 days of antibiotics and it’s resolved. In severe cases, sometimes you’ll need an additional med but usually just antibiotics. Banfield tried to charge me $316.00 , for the visit and for the meds. Basically, that is insane. I told them so.
I work in dog rescue(When I signed on with Banfield I didn’t do this yet) and I am often the one who takes the new foster dogs to our group’s vet. I know that I’ve NEVER seen a price like that on a UTI.
I discontinued Banfield, and I started going to the same independent vet our group uses. For the same exact problem, a UTI, I was charged $35 plus another $20 for the meds. Total cost $55. And the vet spent some real time with my baby, unlike Banfield! I believe they really inflate their prices, so your overall savings is much more likely to be half what they told you, probably less.
I hope this helps.