Do not bring your pets to this Banfield office. Just had my dog neutered (by another office) and he was urinating very very frequently. After a few days, a call to the regular vet I received advice that it could be a UTI. Regular vet didn't have time that day to check it out and I wanted to get my puppy checked out asap. Made an appointment at Petsmart. The receptionist was friendly but stressed they were busy in the afternoon and I should be there at a certain time. I showed up on time with paperwork filled out prior and waited 45 minutes before getting in a room. Saw an assistant for a total of 10-15 minutes across multiple visits, the doctor for maybe 10 minutes, but spent over 2 hours in the room waiting. I had passed on the info from my vet that it could be a UTI. Nobody I spoke with on the phone told me to bring in a urine sample, so the assistant took him in a back room to "get the sample". She didn't explain what that involved, I made the mistake of assuming it was to bring him somewhere to go to the bathroom. I heard my dog scream very loudly in pain and minutes later she was back. The "extensive testing" was inconclusive, so they couldn't tell me for sure if he had an infection or not, but gave antibiotics anyway.
I called their corporate office to complain about the time wasted, the fact that my dog screamed in pain in a back room and I don't know why, and that my bill was $160. A few days later I received a call from the south loop's vet office manager. We went over my experience where she told me that "they followed my direction that it was a UTI so that is what they focused treatment on" - what vet ONLY follows a customers advice without actually doing their job of being a vet and examining the patient?? I just wanted to provide all background information expecting them to investigate what could be going on. She explained that my dog screaming in pain was because I didn't bring a urine sample, so they had to extract it by inserting a catheter to get the urine. I let her know that at no time was this explained to me, I would have taken him outside with a baggie before agreeing to something like that. Her response was "I find it hard to believe nothing was explained to you". She said she believed that the assistant reviewed the procedures and reason for charges - also not true. I was told "It will be $160 for the test and antibiotics if we find need to prescribe them". After being there for an hour an a half, I can't waste MORE time arguing prices, I just want to get my dog some help.
Overall, they explained NOTHING to me, kept me waiting for hours, charged me $160 for a first time visit, urinary test and antibiotics. When they addressed my complaints, I was basically called a liar. With customer and more importantly pet service like that, I will NEVER EVER return, I will place this review everywhere I can and I will spread the word as much as possible.
Do not take your pets to this vet. These people do not care about your pets health at all. They only want money. This veterinarian office only staffs one doctor a day, how can that be helpful when there were 5 other people/pets I saw there at the same time I was? read more