Same complaint as others about unexpected charges
Same complaint as others about "unexpected changes" in cost.
While the staff at the Banfield location in Longmont, CO, are exceptional from front desk to technicians to the veterinarian whom I spoke with on the phone - friendly and pleasant, caring, understanding, and competent, I brought her in for a cleaning, was quoted 1 price for labs and wound up paying more than double that because they neglected to tell me that that price was only for in-house labs. On top of that, the cleaning couldn't be done.
Was initially quoted just under $500 for a dental cleaning for my cat plus a coupon for a free initial visit. Then quoted $191 by the vet for labs when they had concerns and couldn't do the dental yet after all. At no point was I told that the necessary DKT sedation with my cat would be another $130-ish, nor that the labs being sent out would be $234 and change, that the $191 was for the in-house labs only. The vet DID say the RBCs could be "because of stress" but were too low to put her under. OK, but I would've appreciated knowing the itemized costs upfront, especially after specifically inquiring about cost for "the labs," meaning ALL the labs, when the vet called me with news of her CBC results. I would've held off on the labs being sent out since her bloods were fine 2 months ago with another vet, and the vet acknowledged the the low RBCs could be "just stress." $558 later, the cat still hasn't had a dental cleaning. I take some consolation in the fact that, had we had the dental done with a probable extraction, the bill would've been over $1000, but now we're looking at a third higher cost because of costs that weren't shared with me ahead of time.
TLDR: My fear-aggressive cat hadn't been to the vet in 3 years (too long a story for this review), but with nearing 8 years old and having slightly bad breath, as well as starting to go outside in both an enclosed pen and a catio regularly, I knew she should at least have vaccines updated and get a dental cleaning. I took her to the shelter vet a couple months ago where we'd adopted her from, and they had to sedate her to do an exam -- which I expected because she really does become a tasmanian devil at the vet -- and okayed her for a dental cleaning, but they wanted $200 down just to schedule the cleaning, and it would be 2 months out. That had me looking elsewhere. Found Banfield nearby and thought I'd try them. Should've read the reviews first.
I took her to Banfield not even 2 months from the 2 visits with the first vet, and Banfield wanted to see her twice also to do an exam and blood work all over again, even though I had her records giving her a clean bill of health 2 months ago (bloods and urine). Because the exam was free with a coupon, I decided to go for it, although this would be extra stress on the cat ... and myself. Sure enough, they couldn't do an exam on her for the initial visit but then said they'd do everything at the dental cleaning. They didn't let me know that doing DKT premed sedation wasn't part of her exam at about $130 total. Added to that was the cost of the "Super-Chem" that the vet did not share with me. At least they did check her mouth out, and she "isn't that bad" per the vet and only has one cavity, but that probable extraction will be $600+ on top of the dental, so we're looking at over $1000 for her eventual cleaning and extraction. I'm on Medicaid and have already spent almost $1000 in 2 months between the 2 vets, so this will simply have to wait, but because of the lack of complete disclosure about all the lab costs, especially when I'd specifically asked, I will not be returning to Banfield. It's back to the shelter vet for us.