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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
280 thoughts onClass Action Lawsuit Says Banfield Pet Hospital Didn’t Deliver Promise
How do I sign up? I finally walked away from them
It has gotten way to expensive esp with 2-3 dogs. Was with them at least 8+yrs. Agree with what’s been said.rfd were high. Seems it was Mon stop for one dog. And started with them Bec of mother. She swears by them in Calif but here in Okla…wayyyy expensive.
Please add me to your class action lawsuit regarding Banfield veterinarians. We have had their wellness plan since 2012.
I was overcharged for everything. The insurance covered nothing . The vet even insisted I buy prescription
sedatives before treating my dog or cat. This was unnecessary and abusive to my pets. Please add me to the lawsuit.
Please add me to this lawsuit. I was overcharged for everything. The insurance covered nothing . Tge vet even insisted I buy prescription sedatives before treating my dog or cat. This was unnecessary and abusive to my pets.
My pets have been with Banfield for years. I lost two pets. One of my pets had severe kidney failure, which to this day I do not understand. I took my pet to her check ups, blood work, and also x-rays. Not sure how she could had kidney problems. My other pet past away of a major stroke and Seizures. I also had to put her down. I have so much to say about BanField but I would be writing all day. Many say that they do not take their pets to Banfield. They take them to a vet clinic for treatment. I am paying for my dogs $600 a month. That is just crazy.
Please add me to this class action.
Please add me to the lawsuit. This seems pretty shady!
This needs to be looked at again. we have had this happen twice, 3 times if you count my sister-in-law. they are all about sell, sell, sell. very few actually care about the animals.
we had them tell us that all 4 of our animals had Heart Murmurs. when i asked how is that possible they backed off. then it was NEVER mentioned again. like they put something in our notes to not mention it again. like they were trying to see us on that. then another my S.I.L. and my wife were there at the same time. they didnt know they were related, but BOTH her and our cat had Flea Dust. we never had fleas, she never had fleas. just another Sell.
Please contact me in reference to this lawsuit
They are doing the same thing to my wife and I we want to be added to this lawsuit