Anyone here a member of the Banfield Pet Hospital? They have a Wellness
Program and I'm just curious as to if it is worth it or not. I have heard
of a couple complaints customers had, but not very many.

BTW I have a puppy

I'm part of the Wellness Basic plan, which includes a neuter or spay. I
paid $100 enrollment fee plus $20 a month. I have a puppy as well and
researched the Banfield option vs. pet insurance and the Banfield
option was way more reasonable and covered all the essentials in the
first year; vaccinations, spay, sick visits etc.

I've been there twice and both times have been riddled with poor
service where it's annoying and great service where it counts. The vets
were extremely knowledgable, IMO, but the wait times can be long.
Twice, I've waited an hour, but both times I was given coupons and
monetary deductions off my enrollment fee. The one I go to takes
cluster appointments, meaning they schedule you within a two hour
window with a bunch of other people. I don't think that works very
well.

For the first year, I just think it makes sense, at least for me. It is
so reasonable and the staff is really nice and I have heard nothing but
glowing reviews about them.

After the year is up, I am going to opt out of the program since it's a
20 minute drive and there probably are equally if not more qualified
vets closer to me. My thought was that if Banfield was competent and
nice, why not save $700 in the first year?? The other downside is that
their products are a bit pricey. I think they make up for some of their
loss on their prescription flea and heartworm medication, but I know
someone that buys hers online and just tells them that she purchased it
elsewhere and they don't seem to have a problem with it.

HTH.

We adopted a puppy (Lab/Golden mix) last year and signed her up for
the Basic plan. We've been very happy with the service and knowledge
of the vets. Our location has a "drop off" service where we can leave
Nugget in the AM or at noon and pick her up after 5 - very convenient.

Our poor pup went through mange, spaying, ringworm, and many new owner
concerns the first year. We even signed up for the Basic plan for
year 2. They must treat her good because she can't wait to get into
their office and greet all of the staff. Her leash pulling to get into
the vet is second only to squirrel chasing : )

We do have to pay additional for certain lab tests (unscheduled etc.),
but our first year savings was tremendous compared to the prices we
got from other local vets (over $1,000 saved).

We are fortunate that we are very close to many qualified vets and all
are within 5 miles of our home so we do have a choice.

Don S

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 00:27:49 GMT, "JS" wrote:

Anyone here a member of the Banfield Pet Hospital? They have a Wellness
Program and I'm just curious as to if it is worth it or not. I have heard
of a couple complaints customers had, but not very many.

BTW I have a puppy