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Class Action Lawsuit Says Banfield Pet Hospital Didn’t Deliver Promise
By Dominic Rivera
A class action lawsuit filed by lead plaintiff Gregory Pero against Banfield Pet Hospital alleges it does not deliver the promised discounts and savings under its “Optimum Wellness Plan,” which covers more than 1 million pets nationwide.
“Banfield aggressively markets, advertises and sells the plans that purport to offer deep savings and discounts for preventative pet care services and related pet care products,” class action the lawsuit states. Pero alleges that Banfield did not provide the promised savings and discounts, instead upselling unnecessary pet care to its clients.
Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan charges a one-time membership fee of $49.95. There is a monthly payment, which according to Banfield could come to about $32 for an adult dog under the cheapest plan. There are reports that pet owners are paying even more and racking up bills when they take their pets to Banfield, according to the class action lawsuit.
Pero’s adult dog is under the mid-level plan costing him $479.40 per year. He says Banfield promised a “minimum annual savings” of $1,008.61. He said that he would have never signed up for the Wellness Plan of he had known about its true costs. He also allege that Banfield “routinely inflates medication costs and tacks fees onto lab tests, further overstating the plans’ benefits.”
“In truth, many plan clients save nothing and others save far less than promised. The savings depend on Banfield providing bundled pet care products and services over the course of an entire plan year. However, Banfield does not actually provide all of the bundled products and services to plan clients and/or the clients do not need all the products and services, and as a result the purported savings evaporate,” the Banfield Pet Hospital lawsuit states.
“Importantly, if the client cancels during the plan year any savings may be wiped out, leaving the client with little more than a history of overpayments. The advertised minimum annual savings also ignore the costs of unnecessary pet care products and services upsold to clients, as well as bogus ‘hospitalization’ and ‘professional service’ fees that Banfield assesses on top of other charges for services supposedly rendered.”
Banfield outlets are located in PetSmart stores but is not named in the lawsuit. Mars, the maker of M&Ms, Twix and Skittles, as well as Pedigree and Whiskas pet food brands, owns the majority stake in the company.
In his class action lawsuit, Pero alleges that for the past four years, “Banfield has misrepresented — and continues to misrepresent — the nature and amount of savings and discounts to be realized through the purchase and use of the wellness plan.”
Aside from asking that the lawsuit be certified as a class action, Pero is seeking damages for unfair business practices, consumer law violations, fraud and intentional misrepresentation.
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
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288 thoughts onClass Action Lawsuit Says Banfield Pet Hospital Didn’t Deliver Promise
How can I join this lawsuit? My cat passed away a few weeks after being seen at banfield and I was also on the wellness plan that they refused to cancel.
My Blix cat had been not eating as much as he normally did, although he was still eating and drinking. Going to the bathroom both ways He was not lethargic or acting out of the ordinary, until he got a bad cold and on the 3rd morning of the cold, at around 8:30am, he collapsed. He had been a little more active and eating better and i thought oh, hes getting better. But when he collapsed of course, I searched everywhere for an appointment at a pet hospital to get him in as quick as I could. The only place with availability was Banfield. I made the appointment, and a half hour later. We were there.
Before they took him in, they had me fill out paperwork and they pitched me a care package that they told me I’d pay $120.00 for that morning and it would be $69.00 a month after that for a year, but all his follow up care would be free. So I thought ok and did it, thinking he would be ok after he got medicine and this way, we’d have follow up care this way after he was better. After I dropped Blix off there, I got home and the doctor called & said my cat was in critical care, because he was dehydrated and that they putting him on fluids. They wanted to know how much money I could afford. I told them I had $1900.00 on my care credit card. The Vet calls me after x-rays, says a bunch of other tests are needed & tells me Blix needs at least another day on fluids to get him more stable. I say ok well what else is needed and she said “we need to do an ultrasound on him,we need another image because he has a blockage in his colon, lookes like cancer. I asked if they’d be keeping him overnight. They said no , we close at 6. You have to pick him up and then bring him back in AM. We’ll give him more fluids then, but we need to do the ultrasound today because he’s critical and we are closed Sunday and if we do the ultrasound Saturday we won’t get the results til monday and you’ll have to pick him up when we close Saturday and then we can see him again on Monday if he gets worse in the mean time, take him to emergency vet if he seems worse. I said that’s ridiculous, You said he’s critical! want him in care the whole time! And wherever he went, he could get the ultrasound there. I paid the $650. 00 for the few hours he was there, the xrays and tests that were done. They suggested Access Emergency in Royal Palm, I took him and the admin charge was $850.00 to even SEE him in the Emergency area. (There went basically ALL the rest of my funds.) They Told me he needed either days of hospital and surgery to remove blockage or if i couldn’t afford it, euthanasia. I told them I only had a little $ left because of everything done at Banfield. (At least they emailed the records of the tests over to Access quickly)The vet at Access asked me if i wanted to get care credit. I told her, that’s what i already used and she asked me if Banfield knew how much funding I had. I told her yes, I told them. She told me “They should not have sent you here, he is in shock now and any vet can see he isn’t going to make it without days of extreme extra care, surgey. He was in pain and would be in a lot more pain before he passed without extra care and that without it he wouldn’t survive. I had no choice but to put him to sleep. I am devastated!
I feel like I was taken advantage of at Banfield Pet “HOSPITAL” (THAT’S THE NAME. WHAT KIND OF HOSPITAL CLOSES AT 6?). They knew he wasn’t going to make it without all sorts of extreme care and just charged me for all kinds of tests (one of which was a worm test.) anyway, that probably helped put him in shock. They should have looked at him and told me this is beyond out care and had me take him immediately to the other place. But they caused him (and me) longer pain and suffering.
I am so fu**ing heartbroken and angry. I can’t stop crying and I still have to deal with getting off the Health plan at Banfield because my cat is no longer here.
I would like to sue them because they killed my almost two year old Rottweiler. My dog went in because she has discharge from her eyes, they PUSHED the insurance and extensive organ testing. When I continued to refuse the doctor became irritated and demeaning. She ended up sending my Serenity home with Amoxicillin, I gave it to her and 45 minutes after she was foaming at the mouth, began having convulsions and died. When I called and spoke to a office manager and expressed my concerns, she stated that the doctor has bad bed side manors.
BEWARE of signing up for Banfield wellness plans! They do not tell you your plan will auto renew. They do not reach out the month prior reminding you of your plans upcoming renewal. Once the plan renews, they will NOT refund you, and they will try and strong arm you into paying +$600 to cancel without also giving you the services you would have paid for to cancel. Banfield is a total SCAM. I am in the middle of battling them with charge backs. They will not get a dime from me, nor will I ever do business with them again. They will only let you cancel via phone call, which = 45+ minute waits, rude agents who will either not budge and/or hang up on you. I caught their first renewal charge of $47.95 the day off, and they STILL would not refund my money or cancel my subscription!
My dog was sick on Saturday morning and I gave them a call to take him to been seeing and they said vet were in surgery that’s the excuse they always have . Also they say to take him to the emergency room that’s charges 1k up just to go check him up . Why is this business named HOSPITAL if they never provide urgent care or at least a call from the vet . I had to keep my dog in my house sick the entire weekend because they didn’t wanted to help me . And refer me to another place that they only had drop off available. And when I called the place I told them my dog wasn’t drop off friendly they denied me service . So I’m paying $168.00 a month for 2 dogs and when I need the service I get rejected by 2 different location . Unacceptable. Pet owners need to get together and fight for this place to take the HOSPITAL NAME OFF THEIR BUSINESS stop over charging people for test and medicine .
I was told I had to pay 266.00 every 3 days because my Miss Roxie had an infection that she didn’t have when I brought her there because she hurt her back paw I am looking for a lawyer to help me with banfield deception in fees plans and personal injury to my dog 🐶. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how can I get a lawyer and if there is a class present class action lawsuit against Banfield and who do I contact
I lost my mom is July of this year, and I had to take over the care of her 16 year old cat. He was on a wellness plan. We were told that his lab work was covered under his plan. Unfortunately due to the results of the labs, we needed to put him to sleep. I paid over 480.00 to do so. I knew absolutely nothing about the wellness plan or the terms or conditions as it was my moms account. When speaking with the doctor, we were told that it was covered so I authorized the covered labs to be done., and nothing else. After the euthanasia I went to pay for the bill, and was told they would notify the care plan of sunnys passing. Today I get a call that I now owe 397.00 for the labs that they wold me were covered.
I had to euthanize my 14 year old dog on November 4th, 2023. The staff were fantastic and told me to call the 800 number to cancel my wellness plan (it would renew in April 2024). The man I spoke to at the 800 number was cold and unsympathetic when I told him why I was cancelling and said “you still have to pay the balance of the plan”. I understand I was in a contract… and yes, it is my duty to know what’s in it. But Banfield has a duty to explain some of the conditions as well, so there is no confusion. Duty owed, duty breached!!! That was never done… EVER. It should be part of their annual review of the plan when it renews, ESPECIALLY when your dog gets older in age. The more this customer service rep spoke to me in such an uncaring manner, the more I decided to dig into this company. I’m so sad to read the hundreds of other people who have been mislead and mistreated by this company. The staff are not educated on the program and some of the conditions, they just know they have to sell it. There is no cost savings if you compare to local vets in your area. Banfield actually increases their rates to make it look like a cost savings. My neighbor uses another vet that doesn’t even charge for euthanizing your pet if you’re their regular customer. Unbelievable the lack of empathy, sympathy, or compassion. I’m grieving, yes, but their has to be something that can be done. Add me to any class action lawsuit against them. I believe I have almost all my dogs records of care still to compare to industry standard rates.
On Friday morning Oct 27, 2023, my husband drove the nearly 40 min drive to Banfield in Conyers to take our 2 minpins to what’s been their bi-annual checkup and any vaccinations. He picked them up that Fri afternoon, and we noticed when they got home, that Rudi was showing signs of dire distress, with Thor, who is a little heavier in size, not too far behind. They refused to eat, drink water, and had trouble walking. For the 1st time ever, Rudi was unable to stand up, jump up on the bed and their sofa, and within minutes, he suddenly disappeared for a few hours as we looked everywhere for him. We found him underneath the brush in the backyard, and immediately we rushed him to our local Vet here in town, who soon told us to rush him to Animal Hospital, because Rudi was dying. At the Animal Hospital we waited in a room, and only a few minutes later, they rushed us in to see him, because, they said he was dying, and had only seconds to live. We watched our boy die right there in front of us, and there was absolutely nothing none of us could do to save him. This also happened the year before, but thank God for having a good and caring Vet here in town who after Rudi got his shots, etc at Banfield that same day, but within hours went into convulsions that day in 2022, where someone had suggested that maybe Rudi received a little bit too much in one visit, including teeth cleaning. My family and I are so devastated, and also because our local Vet had to put Thor to sleep 3 days later, saying that both Thor and Rudi had some kind of cancer, but we never saw our boys sick one day, and their Vet Dr. Martin at Banfield never mentioned that to us, in the 11 yrs; 2 mos, we signed Rudi up with them as a puppy. The thing that bothers me is, when our local Vet called Banfield to say Rudi was very sick both times, Dr Martin (Banfield) has never bothered to call and inquire about Rudi’s condition, including Rudi and Thor’s immediate insufferable and painful death, only a few hours after they both had, what came to be their last and final bi-annual health check, at their scheduled appointment on Friday Oct 27, 2023 at 9 a.m. with their Veterinarian Pet Healthcare plan at Banfield in Conyers, GA. The next day, at Covington, GA Animal Hospital Sat. Oct 28, 2023, my husband and I, along with our adult son and daughter who was there with us, watched, as our wonderful forever healthy and happy family fur baby boy, “Rudi toots”, as I called him, stared at me (mommy) with those big brown eyes of his, while he lay on his side on the table in the hospital emergency room, and breathed his last breath. I want Banfield Conyers, Georgia to be held 100% accountable and responsible for our Rudi and Thor’s unnecessary painful and shocking death, because I will always believe, that our Rudi and Thor, horrifically died from an ‘overdose’ of an extra pet vaccination serum, whatever, etc, administered by ‘someone’ at that particular Banfield in Conyers, Georgia.
Please add me me to the class action lawsuit list.
Banfield does bad business ever since my dog was 2 months old.
1. Don’t like the fact you drop them off wait for hours
2. On the intake form I specifically put NO do not cut her nails. They cut her nails anyway. Went to deep and bled. My poor dog is traumatized.
3. Overpaying yearly for wellness plan. Costs cheaper at other vets and they do a better job.
I try to get out of their wellness plan, I was told that I had to pay off the plan for the remainder of the year or keep paying until the renewal period. I couldn’t cancel my plan. So, I kept paying until the renewal.