Four weeks ago we took our 14yo Golden Retriever to the Banfield in North Phoenix. She was having trouble with her hips, a known problem for aging Goldens. She's been on glucosamine and chondroiten for years but it was no surprise it was no longer working. The arthritis has gotten worse or this is just a temporary flare-up.in either case, she needs an anti-inflamatory and was prescribed Rimadyl for 2 weeks and then a re-check. A 2 weeks supply was about $38.
Two weeks ago we went back for her 6 mo exam. She's also been on Soloxine for hyperthyroid for about a yr now. The vet was very nice, and did various tests. The report we got was that she's also now anemic and has some unknown infection causing her white blood count to be high. She was prescribed 2 weeks of Clavamox for the infection, 2 more weeks of Rimadyl to help the arthritis pain in her hips, Hi-Vite to add iron for the anemia, and continued use of the Soloxine. (The glucosamine and chondroitin I've never gotten at the vet) The bill for the Clavamox, Rimadyl and Hi-Vite was about $149 for 2 weeks suppy!!!
I told them I couldn't afford it and would look on the internet for a better price. They said ok and let me walk out. This was on a Saturday morning. That afternoon I compared PetMeds.com and PetCareRx.com prices. I placed an order with PetCareRx.com for the Clavamox and Rimadyl. I couldn't find the Hi-Vite on their site at the time.
Sunday I called PetCareRx.com to verify that they would be contacting the vet first thing Monday morning for approval and to determine shipping time. We agreed I should have the shipment by Friday.
Monday morning I called Banfield North Phoenix to let them know they'd be contacted for the approval and I needed to get enough pills to last until Friday, as well as the bottle of Hi-Vite. I picked them up later in the day for $50 for 4 days supply!!!
Later in the week, on Thursday I wanted to check to see if the delivery of the pills were on schedule. When I looked at PetCareRx.com the order hadn't shipped yet. I called them to find out why not and they said they haven't been able to get vet approval. So I called Banfield North Phoenix to see why. They told me they had just gotten the fax that morning. This didn't sound right to me since I've been using PetCareRx.com for about a year to get the Soloxine and never had a problem. I asked if they were going to give the approval and they said not until the next day when the vet that examined my Golden was back in the office. I told them that wasn't acceptable and who could I talk to with more authority. I was told I was talking to the Office Mgr Trisha. I asked who her boss was, or who was next in line with authority and she told me no one. She then said she'd talk to the vet that was there and came back to inform me that the vet didn't want to approve medication for an animal she/he hadn't examined. (The notes and medication prescription should have been in my animals records!) Then I continues to press for someone of more authority to talk to and she said there was no one. I told her I needed more medication now to last until the shipment would arrive from PetCareRx.com. She said they would fill it for me but not a discounted price. I told her it should be free for their incompetence or at least give me the $20 to express the order from PetCareRx.com. She said she couldn't do either. I again pressed for someone of more authority to talk to and she said I could call Banfield Corporate but I'd end up back with her. I took the number for Corporate. I work in the corporate world and know that there is always someone to escalate to unless you're talking to the owner.
It was too late in the day at this point to call Corporate (Portland OR); however I called PetCareRx.com back to see why they just faxed Banfield North Phoenix Thursday morning from a Saturday order. They read all the order processing notes to me showing all the dates/times that phone calls were made to the Banfield North Phoenix office, voicemails left, no returned calls, so they finally sent a fax Thursday morning.
Friday morning I called Banfield Corporate and explained all of the above. The complaint department at Banfield Corporate was totally appalled at my experience. He told me that they have been price matching for quite some time now and that the office staff should have known all about it. He went on to explain that they have marketing brochures to be handed to the customers explaining how it works. He also told me that the minute I said I couldn't afford their medication the office staff should have made sure I knew about their price matching policy.
He wrote everything up in a formal complaint which he then explained would go to the North Phoenix Office Manager (the girl I talked to - Trisha), her District Manager (see, I knew she had a boss someplace with more authority) and several other people he didn't name. He told me to call the North Phoenix office to let them know that they need to price match the medications to PetCareRx.com or any other place I choose and if I have any trouble to call him back (or have them call corporate). He also informed me that they will honor price matching for 30 days and for me to get my previous invoices taken care of as well. All I needed was a print out from the website I was looking at that shows the product name, dosage and price.
I finished with the Banfield Corporate call before the North Phoenix office was open. Several hours later I gave them a call. They were all surprised they did price matching and claimed to know nothing about it. Sorry, but that's part of the Office Mgr's job to keep up on policies, especially customer service policies. I informed them I was canceling the PetCareRx.com order so I didn't have to wait for shipping and would be in later that day with my website printouts to get the remaining 10 days of the written prescriptions. They honored the prices for all my invoices for the last 30 days as Corporate had promised.
If you decide to use a Banfield Office, make sure you check medication prices and know that they price match even if the staff says they don't. If you need to call Banfield Corporate the number is 800-838-6738 and let the operator know you need to talk to someone about the service you received at a Banfield Office. The operator will get you to the correct department.
The Office Mgr showed little to no concern for the pain my Golden would be in without her meds. Not a good attitude for someone who supposedly cares about animals.
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