Anonymous

SCAM COMPANY - DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY

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This company runs a huge scam. They lie about waiting periods and conditions that are covered.

Their customer service is deplorable and you will wait on hold for hours and not get to talk to someone for weeks. I have submitted a large number of claims and they will not pay for anything, even though all were for covered conditions. They told me my gift subscription from the shelter was ending so I bought my own policy. It turns out that it didn't expire for another 2 months so I paid for two policies at one time.

Then I wasn't reimbursed for anything! DO NOT USE THEM.

It is a HUGE waste of money.

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Cons:
  • Horrible customer service
  • Invalid excuses to deny a valid claim
  • Do not pay claims
Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised
Anonymous
map-marker Raleigh, North Carolina

Refused to update microchip information with out $$$

Wow. Just got off the phone with 24petwatch.

I recently had to change my cell phone number and wanted to make sure they had updated information as any responsible pet owner would. They explained that they wound not update this ONE piece of data without an annual or better yet, lifetime $$$ membership. So the chip the shelter put in and assured me would allow me to track her for life is linked to a phone number that won't reach me in the event my dog gets away and they won't update her information without a ransom. What a racket.

I'm letting the Animal Shelter AND the Better Business Bureau know, and anyone else that will listen. Poorly played, "petwatch".

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Cons:
  • Policy management
Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised

Preferred solution: All I want is my phone number updated in your database - more broadly, why don't you do this for anyone with a pet that has this chip - without charge.

1 comment
Guest

Tried the same thing today,no editing without buying something. I just wanted to change emergency name /number from when I adopted my baby from shelter due to that person no longer being alive. Pretty *** !!!

Anonymous
map-marker Summerville, South Carolina

24Petwatch Customer Care Review

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We adopted a dog from one of our local SPCAs. We filled out the paperwork to have his ownership transferred in May. Not having heard from them in over a month, I called them. They are moneygrubbing, rude and if he didn't already have the microchip, I would have gone with the company that our last dog was with.
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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Anonymous
map-marker Lincoln Park, Michigan

Non Payment of Claims

I have been with 24PetWatch since 2009. Never had a problem getting claims paid until this year. I have been trying to get claims paid since March and it is always something is missing even though I have faxed, scanned, emailed and sent numerous copies to this people. I have spoken to three people and they all say the same thing. At this point after all the negative feedback I have been reading about this company the writing is on the wall they are just taking consumers money. I got so frustrated yesterday I told Brandon to cancel the policies on both my dogs. It's not worth my frustration or the headaches in dealing with these people. I also indicated if I see anymore charges on my CC the will be Disputed!! Cut your loses and run far away from the company as possible. Lavita
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Pros:
  • Cheerful customer service reps
Cons:
  • Claim proccessing and unfair reimbursement
Reason of review:
Problems with payment
1 comment
Guest

I have had the same problems with them...many have. It reeks of a scam.

I filed a complaint with my home state's Insurance Commission and they are now investigating. Go to any website that show there reviews...the stories are all the same.

It is really hard to believe that anyone could be that incompetent.

Anonymous
map-marker Stamford, Connecticut

Claims catastrophe

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I had Purina insurance which was taken over by another company ??? An then by 24 hour Petwatch.

I pay About $100 a month for two cats. I have The plan with the highest benefit packages.

My vet says the coverage is good, but the claims processing leaves much to be desired. Processing takes about a month.

Claims are difficult to submit and require proof of treatment was given, health histories, receipts - just about anything they can think of to add complications and require resubmission to correct 'errors'. I do not have the vet fax claims.

I always get copies of medical records and summit them myself with the claim. I anticipate that there will be problems and hopefully I will not need to annoy the vet with their Micky Mouse processes.

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Pros:
  • Coverage options
Cons:
  • Paperwork required
Reason of review:
Order processing issue

Preferred solution: Improve and simplify your claims operation. Process claims faster.

Anonymous
map-marker Panama City, Florida

24petwatch - Customer Care Review from Panama City, Florida

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After 2 yrs of my,pet being chipped with 24petwatch i changed my adress no problem 9 years later i move and need to update my info. They would not do it without a fee of $21 and some change the man said nothing is free in this world. I use found animals with my other pets and its absolutely free always! I am disgusted with 24petwatch and thier lack of concern for your pet. They just want money. My pet will be re-chipped with found animals immediately! Especially after 24petwatch customer service rep told me nothing in this world is free and i will not find any microchip service out there that is free. Well i found it. I paid for the microchip and thats the only fee. I have no annual fee and im not charged to update my info when i move or change my number. 24petwatch is purely a scam. They are all about getting money and nothing about concern for a lost pet!
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Cons:
  • Customer service
  • How they do business
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Anonymous
map-marker Ormond Beach, Florida

Reunited with our dog in less than an hour !

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Our dog was chipped by the former owner. We did not pay to change the registration names when we adopted him in 2012, because he was a rescue. We have not paid any subsequent annual fees for the chip. It is now 2016. Yesterday our dog wandered off, and the people who found him went to their vet and had the chip read. 24 Pet Watch called us within an HOUR of that vet visit and connected me directly to the lady who had him while I was still on the phone with them. The service rep. was cheerful and happy to assist. 24 Pet Watch gets 5 stars (*****) from us !!!
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Pros:
  • Cheerful customer service reps
  • Speedy microchip id service
Reason of review:
Good customer service
Anonymous
map-marker Grand Prairie, Texas

Been holdin an hour to change address

Bad is right! Some foreign woman called my cat by the wrong name when I called in and when I told her it was E.V. she said, "Eva, Evi, whatever, what does it matter?" I said, "Do you even speak English?!" Then I finally realized the person was an American Valley Girl because she kept saying, "Whatever" and, "Like, ya know" and I said I wanted to talk to an adult in America and she said(wait for it, wait for it) "Whatever" and dropped the call! I will be changing from these people to some other company when business opens Monday morning. Do any of you guys know a better company, one that doesn't put you on hold for an hour or doesn't really care about your pet?
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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Michelle Fbb
map-marker Charlotte, North Carolina

I'm looking into fraud charges against 24PetWatch

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Before 24PetWatch took over, I had Purina insurance. I filed 1 claim with Purina and had my check in about 3 weeks. Then the 24PetWatch crooks took over. My dog was diagnosed with a enlarged heart in the spring of 2014. I called PetWatch and was told because in wasn't a pre-existing condition, it would be covered under my policy. It was covered right up to when I filed a claim. They denied everything that was supposed to be covered. 1st, they said that the claim forms weren't correct, then, after the ladies at the vets did them all over and faxed them in, they were still denied. I have a letter from them saying that all unearned premiums would be refunded that was dated 10/2/2015, which was the date that my dogs policy was cancelled. I was the 1 who cancelled the policy once I found out that they weren't going to reimburse me anything. I said to the person I was talking to that if they accepted none of the claims, what the *** did I need them for. Being as they accepted none of my claims, I look at "unearned premiums" as every dime I paid them since day 1, which, at $56 a month for about 2 1/2 years I intend on getting back or filing fraud charges against them. I do not intend to back off on this. I will put them through ***.
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Loss:
$1600
Cons:
  • Policy management
  • How they do business
  • Paperwork required
Reason of review:
Bad quality

Preferred solution: Full refund

Lida Hpu

This review is from a real person who provided valid contact information and hasn't been caught misusing, spamming or abusing our website. Check our FAQ

Verified Reviewer

Pet Insurance Coverage

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It would've been two years since I signed up for 24 hour petwatch insurance on Aug 2nd, but I had to cancel my insurance this morning because of what I found out about the coverage. I was given the "gift of insurance" for a month when I adopted my puppy on July 28 2013. Shortly after that, I bought insurance for my dog on Aug 1 2013. And then I took my puppy for her first vet visit on 8/2/13. During the visit, I mentioned she'd been having exercise intolerance and the vet examined her and said she had a heart murmur. He said that sometimes puppies have it and it goes away as they grow older and that we should just watch her at home. We went back a few weeks later for more vaccines and because she still had the heart murmur, the vet referred us to a cardiologist. On 9/18/13, I took my dog to the cardiologist and found out she had a congenital heart condition called tetralogy of fallot (TOF), obviously a much severe condition than a simple heart murmur. Just her ultrasound was $500 and she had to keep getting them every year on top of the other blood work, medication needed for monitoring and managing her condition. At that point I contacted 24 hour Pet for a preapproval and they covered her expenses with a $100 deductible. But apparently the coverage was only for 1 year and only upto $1500. As you can imagine, that doesn't do much for us since we're dealing with an ongoing condition. I just got off the phone and found out that because the onset of my dog's condition was during the 14 day illness grace period after signing up for insurance, they cannot cover her condition any longer. Which I'm hearing for the first time after almost 2 years of having the insurance and having been reimbursed for other claims related to the same condition. I would've kept on paying for the insurance that could no longer cover her heart condition had I not called today to change my address and check on the claim that I submitted a month ago (that I still haven't received payment for). That's when I found out that only part of the last claim would be reimbursed because they classify the denial under pre-existing conditions. Even though the dog's condition wasn't diagnosed till 9/18/13 and the insurance was bought on 8/1/13, the insurance company proceeded to label her condition before the specialist even had the chance to. They say its because they go by the day of "onset" not diagnosis. The day of "onset" is apparently the date that they got from my primary care vet's notes about her having a heart murmur on 8/2/13; the day after my insurance was effective. What really upsets me is that they didn't bother letting me know that they will no longer cover her ongoing condition despite it having gotten actually diagnosed over a month after the insurance was purchased, well after the "14 day illness grace period". It's irritating that the day of onset is the day I took the dog to the vet, who with all his expertise, didn't jump the gun for diagnosis and waited for a specialist to look at her for a proper diagnosis. How on earth do insurance agents get to determine coverage based on onset rather than diagnosis? They would've had me making monthly payments had I not actually called and sat on the phone with a bunch of questions today. And although my experience was negative, I have to add that when you do call their customer care, despite the long wait time, they were always courteous and polite on the phone. But that doesn't do much for me when the actual insurance itself is mediocre.
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Reason of review:
Bad quality
Anonymous
map-marker Abbotsford, Wisconsin

Review in Animal Services category

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Useless bunch of lying *** foreigners who lie cheat and are coached by whoever calls. We had a foster pit bull adopted she was dumped at a rest stop and gave to a trucker. This other person is in violation of our contract now we can not find her and want her back. Petwatch will give us no information or help us. Ill NEVER use them again. If we find out something has happened bad to this pit bull, i will destroy this company personally! Useless ***!!
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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Anonymous
map-marker Brooklyn, New York

Denied claim for my dead dog

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In a nutshell, please DON'T use this horrible company. I took the "gift of insurance" for the first month after adopting my dog, then purchased a plan when the month was up. During the second month, my dog was getting really ill; at first it seemed to be fairly minor ailments but he kept getting sicker. it took a couple of weeks before he was actually diagnosed with a serious fungal infection at an emergency vet hospital. My dog - who seemed normal and healthy while at the shelter and when I adopted him - ended up dying in the hospital, less than TWO MONTHS after I adopted him. it was traumatizing. And of course, 24PetWatch made everything worse by denying the bulk of the costs. I paid about $2600 for the hospital bills (that's not including the previous costs I paid to the regular vet, which weren't insignificant). And this ridiculous company rejected my claim because they deemed it a "pre-existing" condition. their 15-day "grace period" was what screwed me over. Even though he wasn't diagnosed with the illness until AFTER that grace period was over, they found whatever they could in his records to point to symptoms he had shown previously, that came before the date where the insurance would've covered it. He had had a few prior, minor ailments and yes he had minor symptoms for those - but this was a very serious illness that was not detectable or diagnosed until AFTER the grace period. I disputed it, the vets wrote letters supporting the dispute and describing why it did not make sense to classify it as a pre-existing condition. These are doctors who know what they're talking about, but to a company like this, that doesn't matter. They rejected it again.

I put some blame on myself for not having done enough research prior to choosing a pet insurance company. because if I had, I would've seen the plethora of negative customer reviews and stayed away from this awful company. They make a big show of be SO CARING and so helpful when you sign up. but if/when things happen, good luck. you'd be so much better off choosing another company. you'd probably even be better off with no pet insurance at all, rather than use 24petwatch. at least then you wouldn't be throwing monthly payments at them only to be given absolutely nothing in return.

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Loss:
$2600
Reason of review:
Problems with payment

Preferred solution: Full refund

1 comment
Guest

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry for your loss.

We have just adopted a rescue after having to put down our 14yr old. We had been dealing with her cancer for a little over 5 years with 4 major invasive surgeries and would have gone through with another had she been able to. I definitely will not accept the 30 day gift of insurance. Like you, it's not about spending the money if that's what needs to be done.

It ran between 4&6k each surgery. 24petwatch does not cover the well checks vaccinations heart worm and flea/tick prevention and if your dog ever shook its head that's a pre-existing condition for ear infections so....

Anonymous

Cannot possibly find one company WORSE than this.

Only if there was a Zero Star Rating.... The company's name changed a while ago from petcare to 24petwatch, website became extremely hard to use. There were no information on policy coverage like it used to. I had to make a few contacts to finally get my policy package sent to me via mail (which I would prefer to just see it online / email) When I faxed in a claim a week before my policy renewal date, I followed up two weeks later, then three, then a month later and FINALLY someone replied me saying there was no claim on file. This company is ridiculous. I will be switching over to PC insurance. They've increased their price from $38 a month for my plan to now over $46 a month in the past 4 years. Service has only gotten worse. You will DEFINITELY REGRET if you sign up with them.
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Loss:
$150
Cons:
  • Delayed response to claim
  • Lack of knowledge
  • Customer service
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Deliver product or service ordered

Anonymous
map-marker New York, New York

24 petwatch

very simply, it is a scam. they collect your premium for years then make every excuse under the sun not to pay you. starting with making life as difficult as possible for you when trying to contact them. 2 hour hold times and when you get someone they just continue to delay the process until you actually give up on receiving a claim and just want to cancel.. Then they make it as difficult for you to cancel as possible and bilk you for six months more of service it is a total scam don't be deceived by the website
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Reason of review:
Order processing issue
Anonymous
map-marker Littleton, Colorado

24petwatch

It is a nightmare of a company to deal with, they even charge you should you have a change of address, phone number or vet. But hopefully you've not put your cats through an unnecessary surgery. What many don't know about micro chips is that you do NOT have to register them at all with the company who provides them. You can register your microchip with any number of companies. I have dogs and one of them came with a 24petwatch micro chip and when we transferred ownership and paperwork I registered the micro chip with the AKC CAR program. I refuse to use 24petwatch after 2 years of problems with them prior with another dog. I'm pretty sure your cats micro chip can be registered with another organization, although not the AKC obviously. Please check into it before putting them through surgery.
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Reason of review:
Bad quality
2 comments
Guest

I might do this as well. I think they are trying to fleece me by insisting my dog, adopted from and chipped at a shelter is not registered, but they won't say what that means. Thanks.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1113106

I believe this means that the yearly maintenance fee hasn't been paid therefore the chips information remains expired and they will not disclose the "owner" information if the animal becomes lost and a scan is done. Ever here them say "The animal has a chip but information has not been updated?" or "The animal has a microchip but the information is expired or not updated?" That's what it means.

You can get microchips which have no yearly maintenance fee. PetLink is one of them.

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