Banfield Pet Hospital

Their customer service at this location is absolutely awful. My dog has a leg injury from being a former race dog, and she is on pain and anti-​inflammatory medication for that leg. She was first prescribed these medications in August – the veterinarian forgot to fill the pain medication so I had to wait.
The second time i called in for my dog’s refills, they forgot to fill her medication… So I had to wait again. Low and behold the third time I called to get her refills and the customer service lady told me someone would call when her medication is ready for pick up. No one called me so I finally called them back after 5 days and the same front desk person said it was ready two days ago…
My dog is in pain and is not able to walk on that leg because she’s been without medication for a few days. I am not happy with their front desk customer service people. it is not because they are rude to me or others, it is simply because they lack any type of organization and effective communication to get the job done right. I believe they need to have someone at the front desk at all times to help the high influx of customers that come through this location, and they simply don’t have enough people or they aren’t trained properly.
I am very disappointed with the service I am receiving from this location. I hope that they will be able to improve their processes as I have seen the front desk unattended many times while i was there for appointments, and I’d rather pay more money for better, faster and more efficient service instead of incompetency.

I was really hoping that I would be able to write a positive review for this location but sadly I can not. I have two dogs with this location and they’ve done great with my Weimaraner mix, but my Pit has not been treated so well. We took her in for an emergency situation as she tore her other ACL. They did a great job getting her in ASAP and X-​rays. They did blood work to assess for appropriate pain meds and identified an issue with her liver. The doctor said that they would send for past blood work results from our previous vet out of state, then call us and go over the plan to address the liver. THIS NEVER HAPPENED. We never received a call from the doctor (still haven’t to this day and it’s been over 3 weeks)! Meanwhile we started communicating with a wonderful surgeon (not affiliated with Banfield) who assessed her torn ligament and when looking at her blood results immediately gave us a plan to address her liver issue. Following the suggestions from the surgeon (again not Banfield related) I immediately went to Banfield and requested for a bile acids tests. They did the test the following day (Sunday before the Thanksgiving holiday) which was great (5 stars for ability to schedule things pretty quickly). The doctor said they would call me the following day with the results. Also when I picked her up after being there all day they stated that she pooped on her towel… why? She wasn’t under heavy medications which do make this happen, so that was concerning. She peed instantly when we got outside. Also, she was in bad shape when I picked her up, unusual behavior for her usual mellow even at the vet. Also the doctor ignored her, showed her no love while debriefing me. The icing on the cake is that myself and my surgeon have been calling Banfield to get the results from the bile acids results all week to no avail. Black Friday I get a call stating that the blood work was never picked up so they are sending it off today. This was extremely disappointing to here with several surgeries scheduled in the following weeks and these only being delayed by the apparent inability to follow through with their word, showing no sense of urgency and questionable care. This is my experience and like I said it was positive in the past months with my other pooch when we moved her this past summer. I hope things get better or we will be leaving this company.

Dr. Thompson is the best! I’ve been bringing my dog to Banfield and Dr. Thompson since I adopted him almost 3 years ago. He was in rough shape as a rescue and Dr. Thompson helped me nurse him back to health. Now he’s a crazy, bouncy, ball of love! He’s a bit skittish, so I take comfort in knowing he has a consistent, familiar face when I bring him in. Will continue to bring him here and highly recommend it.

I’ve been with Banfield for nearly 5 years. We’ve followed a particular veterinarian, Jessica Thompson, to 3 different hospitals. We’ve always been pleased with the individualized and personal care we receive from her.
I have never had complaints about any of the other staff there, but don’t have nearly as much to say about them: they are kind and efficient.
The only tones that we’ve had any issues (billing questions), they’ve been resolved before they became issues.
At a different hospital, we’ve had trouble being seen same day. That’s never been an issue at this location.
The best thing about Dr Thompson is that she genuinely loves my 2 puppy babies. She knows they’re my world and treats them as such.

I usually do not write reviews but felt like I have to given how terrible my husband and I were treated at this Banfield location. We have some behavioral issues with our cat and were looking for their expertise and help in how to move forward with her issues before we have our baby due at the end of the month. The receptionist who answered the phone was incredibly rude and said a doctor would call back the same day and we did not get a call back. When the doctor did call back she treated us terribly and was snarky in the way she talked to us. We have been Banfield wellness plan members for 9+ years and receiving such terrible service and being treated so terribly was just shocking. I just wanted to let others know of our experience at this location as our pets our so important in our lives!

As a long term customer of this location I’m sad to have to leave. My dog, who does not like the vet got along great with an exceptional vet at this location, who was amazing with him. However after my most recent interaction with their «Chief Of Staff» Dr. Thompson, I’ll be taking my business elsewhere. She not only belittled myself and my wife on the phone, but continued to call back and leave an extremely sarcastic and snarky message after the fact. Very unprofessional and am having my pets files transferred out immediately. If this is the caliber of person running this location it makes me question every procedure that has ever been performed on my pets, its really a shame someone like this is in charge of the facility.
Edit ¹⁰⁄₅ — User «L.D. «who created an account and has posted one review to all of Unilocal combatting my review clearly is an inside job, as they seem to be more familiar with the situation at hand than was disclosed in my previous post. This reflects directly on the lack of professionalism I experienced at this location.

I have been bringing my papillons to Banfield for eight years now. I have always found the staff at Banfield to be knowledgeable, professional, and courteous at all times. Then I had the priviledge of meeting Dr. Jessica Thompson. She has brought care and excellence to a whole new level! Her warmth and compassion is evident as soon as she walks into the room to examine my fur baby. This compassion and friendliness trickles down from Dr. Thompson through the entire staff. All are well trained and professional, but more importantly, they are compassionate, personal, and open to my concerns. I feel like they are extended family that know and love my girls. The best recommendation comes from my dogs. They love going there to see their friends! How cute is that!

Banfield became my vet in 2007 when my dog became suddenly very ill and my vet of 12 years didn’t have time to see her. The kind folks at Banfield who did not know us at all said they were busy too, but to bring her in and they would work her into their full schedule. This made quite the first impression and they have kept business all this time by continuing to provide this same level of excellent service and compassionate care each time I have been there.
I have experienced about 6 different Banfield hospitals so far, both inside Petsmart and stand-​alone hospitals. Although I have lost the 2 pets I initially starting my journey with Banfield, they provided excellent care through the end of their long lives (one lived to 16 1⁄2 and the other to 15 yrs) and now help me with the next generation of 3 young dogs in my household.
I consider Dr Thompson the primary care doctor of my 3 dogs. She cares about all her patients with a sincerity that has impressed me since 2010. There are hospitals closer to my home, but I choose to travel to Uptown Banfield for Dr Thompson’s care. If an emergency, the nice thing about Banfield is that I can go to any nearby hospital for the same great care. It’s also helpful that they are open somewhere for patients during longer hours than typical vets and 7 days a week. This has saved me the cost of an ER visit more than once.
I realized after a visit for food on Friday and a minor emergency on Saturday that I had never taken the time to review these folks that make my life so much happier. Stacy at the front desk helped me during my last visit and she was especially kind and helpful !

Had a great experience with this office. The receptionist, technician and Doctor were so patient with my nervous dog. My dog got a thorough exam. The office is beautiful and price was very reasonable. I highly recommend it

Dr. Thompson and the rest of the staff at the uptown location are awesome. They are always kind and compassionate with my somewhat difficult kitty (she gets very stressed and agitated when she’s not at home). I trust Dr. Thompson’s recommendations because not only is she extremely knowledgable, I know she truly cares about my cat and wants her to be safe and comfortable while at the vet.
Recently we had to put down our older cat and all of the staff were so wonderful that it made the very difficult and painful situation a little easier. The tech who had worked with our cat was so sweet and kind and it made us feel better to know that she was being taken care of by loving people who truly cared about her.
I highly recommend Dr. Thompson and all of the staff at uptown if you are looking for a veterinarian with compassion and expertise.

I cannot recommend this veterinarian. All seems well there, receptionists are friendly, seem to love your pet (in our case, dog), and the facilities are spotless and brand new. But it quickly becomes clear just why everything is so new and shiny: there is an obvious business plan built around trying to nickel-​and-​dime you at every turn– from the stacked charges for every little procedure and piece of equipment to the «wellness plan,» which is made to sound like an insurance plan, but is far from it, sucking money from your bank account every month while providing minuscule benefits (10% off this medication, 5% off this procedure, etc.). And by the way, you can’t cancel this plan. We purchased a puppy wellness plan, and then were auto-​enrolled without our knowledge into another YEAR-​LONG contract at the end of the puppy contract. Any other contract-​based service auto enrolls you month-​to-​month at the end of the contract period (think: cell phone service providers), but Banfield: they bury the fact that they plan to auto-​enroll you for another YEAR OF PAYMENTS in the fine print of your puppy plan. Then, only after you find out you’re locked into making monthly payments for another YEAR, do they tell you about the fine print (after waiting on hold for 37 minutes) and say there’s no way out of it. Super sheisty.
FUN FACT: Banfield made in excess of $ 200 million last year and is owned by Mars, Inc. (i.e. maker of M&Ms and countless other junk foods). I would argue that they don’t care about your dog, cat, or iguana. They care about selling you services and marking up medications. They care about $$.
I am particularly alarmed by how many times they insisted on sedating our dog (i.e. charging us to sedate our dog)– for things as simple as taking a swab from his ear. It seems like they find an excuse to sedate him every time he comes in. This cannot be good for a dog’s brain.
We also never once in 1.5 years saw the same veterinarian. There is HUGE turnover at Banfield– certainly suggesting a dysfunctional organization, but more troublesome is the lack of continuity in the care for our pet.
The last straw: picking my dog up after a day of vaccinations and upon leaving, noticing from his bowel movement that he had clearly not been let outside or walked the entire day. Then he peed in the car, something he’s never done before. Either these people don’t care about the animals they are seeing (I know that a few individuals did seem to genuinely care about my dog), or they are too overwhelmed to properly care for them. The latter is probably more likely.
Either way, I will be seeking out a smaller, kinder, less corporate veterinarian that has not cast its values aside in the pursuit of profits.
(Apologies to the few receiptionists/​techs I really liked at Banfield, but I know you can do better than this organization, and presumably you already have as there are new people every time I come in)

Don’t waste your time if you need emergency care for your pet. Their name indicates they are an emergency pet hospital but they are not. We brought our dog here for an injured foot but we were told the wait would be over one hour due to prescheduled appointment. If you need urgent care save some time and go straight to Dove Lewis which truly is an emergency pet hospital and is open 24 hours.
The Banfield is probably a very good place to take your pet for scheduled care, but not for emergencies.

Seriously long wait times :(every time I go it takes an hour for the simplest visit. This combined with their repeated attempt to sell their wellness plan and pushing teeth cleaning every time, I have decided to find a new vet.

I think Banfield Uptown is a pretty good vet. I think the wellness plan is a great deal. It seemed cheaper than paying out of pocket for a spay. I like that they call to follow up with you. You can also always chat with the vet assistant about the care your pet receives and they always answer the phone when I call. That is great. Also it is never crowded. My dog is still afraid of the Vet here but they make the experience as quick and efficient as possilbe which I appreciate.

Mikew
I recently called Banfield to find out if they take a stool sample from me to test for my dog Gus.
They were very cooperative and said no problem. A lot of vets want to see the dog.
My purpose was to avoid an exam unless the test was positive for one of the many ailments dogs get from things like dirty water.
When I inquired about the price of testing the sample Sarah informed me it would be from 60.00 to 130.00.
I have had this done routinely at NW Vet Hospital for 44.00.
My suggestion is to make sure you check on routine costs for out of clinic procedures as Banfield Pet Hospital was way over priced for the sample test.

We are always happy to bring our pets to Banfield Uptown because of the professionalism and friendliness of the staff and the affordability. Dr. Dunham demonstrates that she genuinely cares for the wellbeing of our little ones. We are very pleased with their exceptional service and can’t imagine going anywhere else

I’ve been taking my dog and cat here since July 2014, and am absolutely thrilled with everything about this Banfield location. I know that people have different thoughts on Banfield in general, but this location and it’s staff will completely change your mind.
The two Vets here are outstanding. They clearly love all animals, and make sure that you understand everything that is going on with your pet. The Techs are awesome too, they seem extremely knowledgeable and absolutely love my animals. I can not say enough nice things about the staff here.
They do offer a wellness plan — which for some animals may be unnecessary. If you have pets that «like to go to the vet» (are always plagued with something horrid) it’s a great plan! Everything is covered, and the things that aren’t fully covered are discounted. Yes, you’re basically paying for the service on a monthly basis rather than at once, but I’ve done the math for both pets, and it breaks down to be in my favor. I just paid $ 12 for my cat’s teeth cleaning, and that was because I had his nails trimmed.
I love the atmosphere there– it’s always clean and bright, and I also love that it’s not inside of a PetsMart where pets can get overwhelmed. They’re open 7 days a week, which is awesome, and they have late appointments too.

Doctor’s bedside manner was great and the facility is very clean and presentable, but they really need to back off on the Wellness Plan spiel. The assistant was yammering at me about it the whole time she was prepping my cat and I probably heard more about why I should buy it than I did my cat’s health. I was also pestered with phone calls and e-​mails after our visit about follow-​ups when I thought I made it clear we were getting her vaccines elsewhere. I’m glad to have a local hospital in case of an emergency, but I’m reluctant to go back if I feel like I have to sign up for Columbia House. It almost feels like corporate is breathing down their neck about their quotas. I do plan on getting insurance for my cats, but I don’t think it’ll be with Banfield.

Pedicures are more expensive than a regular groomer $ 15-​$ 20, facility is beautiful, parking around back, & friendly staff. They are efficient & follow up after apts.

Sometimes I think that going to the vet is more scary and stressful for me than it is for my fur baby.
I was concerned about my little Mimosa. I found what I thought was a little blood in her stool and she has a patch near the base of her tail where her fur was thin. Naturally, I freaked out.
I walk by this Banfield location all the time and often thought to myself how convenient it’s only 5 blocks from home and they are open late, until 7pm and even open on Sundays. Besides just being convenient, I carefully read the reviews and felt my little Mimosa would be well cared for here. I was right.
The vet, vet techs and receptionist were all so friendly and welcoming. I really sensed they love animals and what they do for them. The facility itself is spic n’ span, zen-​like and totally odor free. I appreciate that everyone took their time and gave my little Mimosa such compassionate and thorough care getting me results of her tests quickly.
Thankfully my little girl is healthy. I look forward to partnering with Banfield for many years to come to keep her that way.
2014 — Review # 58