Just out on a sunny and warm walk. He chugged a bowl of water and is now in nap mode.
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Pretty shitty experience at Banfield today. I dropped my cat off for a mass removal this morning. A couple weeks ago we had a consult and were quoted around $1050 for the surgery and all related stuff, including a teeth cleaning while she was under anesthesia. Fine.
This morning at drop off, the lady showed me the cost of 1050, and then said there was another option where we sign up for their “Wellness plan” bullshit that would include a teeth cleaning, basically everything we had discussed already plus cheaper visits for the rest of the year, 10% off services and stuff in store, yadda yadda yadda for 1125. I essentially said “Hell no” since we have used their wellness plan in the past, its nearly impossible to turn off, it auto renews, and its overall a shit system they use to dupe people into signing up for another year after their initial year when they dont need it.
So I said no, she said ok asked me to sign a couple times on the pinpad to authorize care today and I did without reading it because I have done it multiple times before and Im a lazy American.
Midday, we get a call from the doctor. She is recommending some additional things, including a couple of tooth extractions. We ask how much, what the total would be, and she says about 1300-1350. Alright, yes, thats the total? Go ahead then. Not a mention of the wellness plan at the time.
Time to pick up Dawkins. “Thank you very much sir, that will be $1801.60”
“Im sorry, what?” “Yep, its 1260 something today plus $550 for the wellness plan paid in full, or we can do $55 today and $45 a month for the next 11 months”
“Youre kidding right? The doctor said around 1300 would be the total.” “Yep, and she did even better than that, only 1260 today, plus the wellness plan.”
“I never agreed to a wellness plan”
“Well it says here you did.”
“Well I didnt, so how about I pay you 1260 and you give me my cat back?”
“Thats fine sir, I can take off the wellness plan. Doing that, your total is 1940.”
MOTHERFUCKER.
Im bad with confrontation. Im not really sure what to do here. I totally got bait and switched for $550 bucks.
She said the doctor quoted us around $1300 because the paperwork said we were on the plan and thats the price that it would be with the plan but we hadnt payed for the plan yet and so thats the extra cost.
WWYD?
Put whatever is lower on your card, get the cat back, dispute with the CC company.
You can also throw a fit in the shop but I hate doing that shit.
Yeah, I paid the 1801.
I also hate throwing a fit, I basically told her that it wasnt right and that they were pulling a fast one, she went in the back for twenty minutes said she talked to the tech who checked me in this morning and that I had agreed and since they had my signature it was valid and that was the charge.
Wary about disputing with my CC company. Wont it eventually come down to a he said/she said with them having my signature?
You may not win, but there’s not a lot of downside. Plus it will annoy them with minimal effort on your part.
It can’t hurt to at least talk to your cc company.
I would also leave well written, poor reviews anywhere that is possible.
Are you beholden to this particular vet?
No, we’ve been using them for years but there are plenty of other fish out there. We’d probably prefer to start supporting local vets over a brand name like Banfield anyway.
Are you saying my review was not well written? :D
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If you want to go nuclear you could file a complaint with your state’s Board of Veteranary Medicine, since you’re essentially accusing the vet of shady business practices.
You would get along well with my sister. Anytime she feels like she’s been ripped off, she responds by smearing the offending company on the internet. We are polar opposites in this regard. She’s also likely to pitch a fit in the office, which is another thing I don’t do. I just think its best to work these things out on an individual basis and not make them public, especially when if one has some degree of blame for the situation. One can always take their business elsewhere.
He could just describe exactly what happened.
If I was content with all other aspects of their service I would also mention that to strengthen the point about the bait and switch.
Banfield is PetSmart? Therefore you are working with a money extracting company. It’s like taking your car to the dealer. Find a good local mechanic/vet that will only do necessary work even if the cost is 10-20% more for routine shit.
The horror stories I’ve heard from the ex (vet tech) and friends who are dental techs/hygenists where the customer is actually a mark to be fleeced.
Posting for Daniel as he’s confined to his bot thread.
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My kid made a gif of what we think is happening inside the head of our lunatic pandemic dog James
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My dog’s thoughts are no where near that coherent.
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Your pet rocks are stunning!
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Honestly you’re lucky that paw prints were the only thing left in there
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