Banfield Pet Hospital
Rip off

Ok, so a year ago, on the 12th of December, I took my dog into Banfield because it was closeby work, I figured it was a decent place since I had had a dog before and had to give it away to a family member who said she gave it away to a vet thinking she'd care for it much better seeing as how the dog hadn't had its vaccinations with me. I was young and naive and thought Banfield would help with my new pet. They told me about a Wellness Plan and that it would take $22 out of my checking account on the 12th of every month to pay for all the expenses and care my dog would recieve. I signed the contract and the lady said I could renew it next year if I was satisfied with the service. So a whole year goes by that we do this and overall, I was satisfied, but I was not planning on going another year because one year of those $22 payments is $264. So Banfield made my last appointment with my dog on Dec 18th. I hadn't noticed the contract would end on Dec 12th, but I went anyways for the last one. My sister had to pick up my dog and told me they made another appointment for him in Feb. I was confused... This was supposed to be the last one. I called Banfield and they told me that the contract automatically renews so to end the contract, I'd have to call customer service, which I did. I finally did my research and was upset at what I saw. All the things that it cost me to care for my dog was significantly cheaper anywhere else. I called to end the contract and they told me that the new contract had already started and my dog had already had an appointment using money from that contract. She said it'd be cheaper to just finish another year's worth of that $22 payment every month. I was obviously upset and asked if there was anything I could do to get out of it. She said I could pay for those months that I won't use. Paying for service my dog won't recieve? She said she could get rid of January and February's "payments" which brought it down to $197 that I could pay before March 5 to get out of the new contract. She said that in the meantime, Banfield would automatically take out $22 every month on the 12th out of my checking account. She said that it would make my payment lower, but I'd still have to pay for it. I don't know what to do. She's saying that in that one visit with a renewed contract, I've wasted $197 that I have to pay back to them. No visit is that much! My problem with this is that I can either pay the 197 for visits I won't use or I can go a whole other year with a total of 264. And if I pay for the 197 and take him to another vet, that's more money! It'll be cheaper for the things the plan hasn't covered, sure, but I'm not sure if it will be more than $60, the difference between the 197 or 264 I'll have to pay... Ugh... I know i messed up. I guess i was desperate to not lose another dog to illness when there was a convenient clinic... What should i do? The only thing that absolutely * me off is that banfield knew that by making the appointment a few days after the contract ended, a new one would start and i'd have this problem...

Company: Banfield Pet Hospital
Country: USA

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