Complaint Review: Bandfield Medical

The following is a letter I sent in to complain, the response I got back was still unwilling to make good on their mistake so I felt I'd share with anyone else. 

To whom it may conern, I mistakenly took my litter of puppies in to get their tails docked at Banfield Pet Hospital located in West Jordan, UT inside the PetsMart in Jordan Landing. They have a "Quality Assurance" policy which they tote, but it's as useless as the people behind them. The vet that did them didn't pull the skin back towards the buttocks prior to cutting the tails (which I have since found out is proper procedure). He allowed me to come in, as I wanted to stay with the puppies and also learn the procedure. I trusted that he, as a trained professional, would know the difference compared to me the lay person this specialized skill. He used sutures to close them, but because the skin was pulled so tight they didn't hold. This resulted in infection and exposed bone. When I took them into an ER vet they provided me with antibiotic and recommended that get the tails closed in 3-5 days after draining the infection. I subsequently took the puppies to a private vet (who I regret I didn't go to in the first place) for follow-up. There I was told that there was not sufficient skin to cover the tails and as a result they will all have unnecessary scarring. This vet is Dr. Winters who practices alongside Dr. Carl Pew who happens to have been an AKC judge of Doberman Pinchers and who I regret now not taking to. They have been doing tails and ear cropping worthy of show for years now and are resident experts here in Utah on the matter of a proper procedure. When I contacted Banfield in West Jordan to inform them, I didn't ask for them to pay for the ER or follow-up vet. Nor did I ask them to cover the additional surgery that will be required to remove the scar tissue when the puppies are older. I didn't even ask them make up the money that I would have to discount the puppies due to this flaw that they caused. I simply asked for them to reimburse their fee that was charged. Once I informed them of this issue the initial response from Dr. Reese was pleasant and sounded very helpful. However, the following day I received a message from Dr. Reese at Banfield stating that she had reviewed "the facts of the case and collected records and spoke with the other vets" and were not going to cover the cost. I have this message still l saved if for reference if necessary. They tried to excuse the coming out from the mother licking them and said there was no infection. Come to find out after returning her call that she hadn't obtained any records at all because the other vets wouldn't release them to her. Well duh, it would have been unethical for them to release my records without my consent. Yet Banfield claimed they had based their decision on receiving records. And how is it they can decide there was no infection when clearly all over the reports they would have seen infection being documented? Well on that returned call Dr. Reese said that she had spoken with the receptionist at the ER who had told her that there was no infection. Yet suspect enough, she didnt know who she spoke with. You would think that in fact collecting for which youd base a decision that one would make proper documentation. Rather than calling me to say they needed more time to review and my help in obtaining records, they call with an absolute denial. When I called out Dr. Reese on this she tried to dismiss it as having misspoke. You can't say she misspoke because her decision was based on this statement. I contacted the ER clinic to have them fax over records and have the vet that saw them the night I took them confirm that there was infection in the tails. Here Banfield says that it was the opinion of the vet at the ER clinic that the tails werent that bad. Well lets point out that in the medical field doctors and vets alike have specialties. Clearly tail docking is not the specialty of the ER vet which is clear by her recommendation to get the tails resutured and closed once the infection had drained. Had she had specialized in tails like Dr. Winters and Dr. Pew then she would have told me then that there wasnt sufficient skin to cover them and that they would just need to heal over. This really isnt about the money. If it was I would have been asking to cover the added costs that I mentioned before. No, this is more about the principle. You state you have a Quality Policy and Im not satisfied and the quality is not there. Not only would I like a refund of the bill from the botched tails, but Id also like it for the Vet who performed this procedure to not be allowed to do this to anyone elses litter of puppies. He clearly needs some additional training. I will only be attaching 2 photos here for you to see. One will be one showing the infection beginning to heal. But any trained professional could see that the skin is insufficient to cover and there is still exposed bone. The second shows the extraordinary amount of scar tissue with healing over. I have plenty more photos but this is sufficient to show you my point.