Banfield Pet Hospital

I had a fantastic experience at Banfield Pet Hospital in Leesburg! Emily, the vet assistant, was absolutely wonderful—so caring, attentive, and knowledgeable. She made sure my pet was comfortable and explained everything clearly. I truly appreciated her warmth and professionalism. Highly recommend this Banfield location, especially Emily!

We have been clients for 13 years. My family has been clients for almost 20 years. Most of the time it is excellent until a recent billing concern. My husband’s credit card was stolen. He had it replaced. We updated the card 9-10 times with Banfield. They kept saying yes it is good. We did it online and it showed it was good. Then they never actually charged the card. They even said when we called we see where you updated it. My husband even went to this store to confirm it. They said you couldn’t do it or check at the store level. I share this to show how much we tried to get this resolved. Then this month we get a bill saying we were sent to COLLECTIONS for almost $600! When we called the main Leesburg store that we go to, they wouldn’t answer the phones. It rings and rings and asks for you to press a number to be redirected back. Then just rings. We called the corporate line. The first time we were told they could see our account but we need to talk to a different department. When they transferred me the person said hello and asked why I called. In the middle of me trying to explain then hung up on me. I called again. We did this again and they said they couldn’t find our account ( they did minutes earlier) and that we need to talk to the collections dept. I was transferred and actually spoke with a person. They said we were behind 3 months, they see where we updated the card, they see we weren’t charged. They said because we didn’t pay for 3 months that they cancelled our account. We owe for 11 months because the plan renewed in the middle of this mess and when a plan is cancelled you have to pay out the remaining balance. They said there was no one to talk to to get this fixed and that we owe almost $600. This is a billing mistake on their part that we are now in collections for??? They didn’t care and said no one can change it. I asked for a manager, not to be a Karen, and they said no managers talk to clients and they can’t change it anyway so it didn’t matter. We have another account for our other dog and they wouldn’t cancel that without charging me for 6 months that we wouldn’t be using. Then at the end they asked if there was anything else they could do to assist me today…

If you had told me in 2021 when I first brought my dog to this office that I would be leaving this type of review, I wouldn't believe it. In January, I brought my dog to this office for a Cushing's test which requires the dog to be in the office for at least 8 hours. I called the office around noon to see how my dog was doing and if he had been fed. The front desk told me he was doing okay but had not been fed yet and that they would call me after they did. An hour later Dr. Esch calls me from the office and tells me that they somehow mixed up my dog with another Yorkie in the office and did a dental cleaning on him under anesthesia by mistake. When I asked how this mix up happened, Dr. Esch couldn't give me a straight reason why but kept apologizing and saying that it was a good thing that the mix up happened because they were able to extract a damaged tooth at the back of Max's mouth. I was furious because of the staff's negligence and Dr. Esch belittling the seriousness of this mistake. Thank God it was only a dental cleaning and not MAJOR SURGERY that they put my dog under. When I got to the office to pick my dog up, Dr. Esch never came out to talk to me or apologize in person, but instead talked with other owners who were also in the waiting area avoiding me like a coward. I did speak to the office manager later that day and relayed to her my concerns, but still wasn't given any explanation of how the mix up happened. I requested that Max be seen by another doctor in the office, Dr. Swieter, and never seen by Dr. Esch again in the future. A month later, I brought Max in for a routine visit with Dr. Swieter, but I found out later that he was seen by another technician since Dr. Swieter had called out that day. That didn't raise any alarm bells for me until I picked him up from the office, when he wasn't brought out with his harness and leash but instead a yellow ribbon around his neck with his name and birthdate written on it which had never happened before in the three years that I've brought him to this office. That left me suspicious that he actually was seen by Dr. Esch because why would my dog have that around his neck when no other dogs were coming out of the back to their owners the same way. I have lost complete trust with this office. The only person I trust there is Haley, one of the front desk staff. She has always been kind and thoughtful to my dog and I, and was the only staff member to apologize to me in person after the mix up. I have discontinued taking my dog to this Banfield location and have filed a complaint against Dr. Esch to the Virginia Department of Health Professionals for her negligence and empty apology.

It's not a bad place to take your pet, but if you're like me and your dog is diagnosed with a particular health issue, I highly recommend taking your dog elsewhere to a specialist. My labradoodle was recently diagnosed with lupus, and Dr. Esch prescribed him medication that made him vomit severely every day. She even admitted to not having much experience with this particular diagnosis, which meant she should have recommended that I take my dog to someone more knowledgeable instead of keeping him as a patient with her lack of expertise. It makes me distrust her to take good care of my dog and, and I have experienced much better care with MedVet in Manassas with Dr. Deppe. I think Banfield is only good for basic checkups, but not for specialized conditions. Update (as of Sept. 2024): We had to put my dog to sleep this past weekend. I'm incredibly heartbroken and I feel so upset that Banfield didn't do their job the way that they should have. They saw Teddy twice in the week before his passing, and they came back with no concerns, making it seem like Teddy was in good health and there was nothing urgent or concerning wrong with him. He was very obviously not in good health, and we took him to the emergency room and then transferred him to MedVet in Manassas, where we were told the best thing to do was euthanization as soon as possible. I do not trust Banfield to do their job, and I don't trust that they truly care about our pets the way they should. I was on the phone with them the week prior discussing Teddy's results, and I was constantly interrupted and talked over, and I felt that they were rushing through me to get to the next patient, so not only are the doctors incompetent, but their bedside manner needs work. I strongly advise advocating for your pets if you take them to Banfield, and you'd be better off taking them elsewhere anyway. I feel that MedVet in Manassas truly cares about the animals and their families, and even though it's a little bit farther, it's 100% worth it if you love your pets. I don't trust Banfield at all, and I feel as though any establishment that isn't open and honest and recommends going to a specialist is someone that just wants your business & money, even if you and your pet end up suffering as a result. If I ever do decide to get another dog, I won't be bringing them to Banfield.

My dog has gone without his anxiety medicine for over a week. As someone who supervises a customer support care team, I am incredibly disappointed with Banfield. We have been taking our dog to this location since he was 10 weeks old. He is now 5 years old. We have had their wellness plan for him since we first brought him in. Over a year ago, we were having issues where his anxiety became unmanageable. He broke a tooth trying to escape from his crate so we decided it was time to explore medication options. At that time he was prescribed prozac to be taken daily in addition to trazadone as needed. On 8/5/24 I called their office to schedule his wellness check visit. The earliest appointment available was 8/24/24. At that time, I let the person know that he had taken his last dose the day prior and the pharmacy did not have any refills left. She communicated that they wouldn't be able to do anything with the rx until that date. At which point I explained that this is something he takes daily. I had never run into this issue before. She said she'd make a note so that someone could follow up with me. The next day, around 5pm, I called back and got the answering machine (they close at 6pm). I left a voicemail to request a follow up per the previous conversation. I did not hear back. Now we are at Friday 8/9/24 and I still have yet to be contacted. How someone can leave a message for their vet and not get any kind of follow up is concerning and frustrating. I call them again that morning. The person I spoke with, also the person who I scheduled my previous appointment with, didn't know what I was talking about. I get it, I am sure you have tons of clients and correspondences. I reiterated to her that this medication should not be stopped abruptly. She said she would speak to the Vet that was there this day about having the prescription sent to the pharmacy and confirmed the phone number for that pharmacy. She said she would give me a call back once she spoke with the Vet on location. Crickets. It is now Tuesday 8/13/24. Over the weekend we found that our dog had started having accidents, not only on our floors but our bed. Still Nothing. Radio Silence. I have had nothing but great experiences over the last 5 years up until now. If anyone had cared to simply call me back and display any sense of understanding and concern, I would not have felt the need to leave this review but I can't seem to elicit any response. At this point, I have to question if I need to take my dog to another vet. Given that my wellness plan will renew in the upcoming year, it may be time to re-consider my relationship with Banfield. Our pets are our babies and I wouldn't be satisfied with this level of care if this was my human baby's pediatrician. It is my hope that I will be contacted/have my multiple calls returned within the next day or so. Otherwise, for my dogs sanity and mine, I will need to find a vet that will prioritize his needs. It's a shame truly. As mentioned, I have had nothing but great things to say about this office. Even recommending friends and family to consider their wellness plan and this office location specifically. Sigh.