Great Customer Service!

My recnetly adopted male (5 years old) did not eat any of the supermarket dry food I put out for him--only wet. I wanted him to have a dry option--even if he only nibbled--so I contacted four premium brands via their websites and asked for samples to try. I got an IMMEDIATE response via e-mail from all of them and the samples soon followed.

When my guy seemed to "react" (throw up) one of the best foods, I wrote to let them know that I'd had a problem--not complaining; I just felt guilty that I wasn't going to adopt their brand, and I wanted to let them know. The CS person contacted THEIR vet who wrote to suggest some things and ask for more info. No hard sell; they were really helpful. Keep in mind that even if I choose this food, I'm only one customer with one cat, yet they have really gone out of their way for me.

I don't get that kind of service when dealing with non-animal purchases!

Perhaps you can show your appreciation for the superlative customer service that you have received by identifying the company in question to other TCSers who might be encouraged to patronize the company as a result.

I'm interested to know which company it was, too. I've dealt with a few of the premium food companies, and they are for the most part good. I did have one try to mislead me about their food and ingredients, but I knew better than what I was being told. Merrick's sent me vouchers to replace some cans that had a lot of peas (or something, I can only remember that it was green and my cats wouldn't touch it) in them. Canidae is good to deal with, someone answers the phone when it rings, you don't have to "push 1" which is nice. When I worked in a high-end pet food/supply store I was in contact with the food companies A LOT (this was when the huge recall happened) and most of the times our contact number for them was the same as the number on the bag. The really high end companies tend to be smaller and more personal.

It's nice to encounter good customer service these days since it rarely happens anymore

I did the same type of thing last summer at suggestions on this site though - I emailed lots of cat food/treat companies about free samples and most of them provided samples and coupons and those without samples did provide coupons... it's always worth a shot - worst that can happen is they tell you they don't have samples or coupons. (And I don't remember all the places I emailed - I just tried to think of a bunch of different pet food companies)

The company I referred to was Taste of the Wild, and I've been dealing with them via e-mail.

Wellness was also great. They sent me samples of ALL their dry foods, AND they also sent me an e-mail to inform me that if I bought any of their products and my cat didn't like the food, it could be returned for a full refund.

Taste of the Wild is completely grain free (Wellness also has a grain-free product, but I'm interested in their "Indoor cat" blend--which my guy likes), and I think my boy got sick because I wasn't really transitioning him from anything. He tolerates Wellness, so I'm mixing them both to see if that helps him with Taste of the Wild.

My cats eat Purina NF (their veterinary renal canned food.) I purchase it by the case from my vet. On two different occasions, I've contacted the company about dented cans in the case. On both occasions, the company has mailed me coupons (3) for a complimentary cases to replace the dented cans (once I had 10 of 24 cans dented, and once there were more than half of the cans dented.) Every time I have talked to customer service, I have been treated extremely well. My cats love the Purina NF, and their renal blood work has been very stable because of it. Even though it is very expensive (about $30/case), their great customer service will certainly keep me using their product.

Originally Posted by HappilyRetired

I don't get that kind of service when dealing with non-animal purchases!

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How nice to read something positive!

Many will post experiences but the goods we forget to mention it seems

I'm all for good customer service. I will pay more for it too if I have to, no matter the business.

I did reject one company's food because on of their key ingredients was garlic. I wrote to tell them that. Their response? essentially: "We dont agree that garlic is bad for cats no matter what your research says." Umm, ok.

I hope your little guy continues to do well on his new food!

I just tried samples of Taste of the Wild with my dog...he LOVED it. But, it is a little too pricey for me, so I had to go to something else. It's nice to know, though, that they had such great CS!!!

Another thing you can do is send an email to the CEO, explaining your view of their exceptional service and identifiy the people by name. Then mention that you were so impressed that you told you friends on this website.
That way you have helped the people who helped you and you've given the company good PR by recomending them to others who might now buy their product.

I e-mailed Taste of the Wild recently and they responded almost immediately and sent me samples also. The customer service rep that e-mailed me seemed very nice.

I just e-mailed them again because I noticed that the expiration date on the bags of samples they sent me is 02/08! My kittens are currently ill (some vomiting, sneezing...) and I was thinking of everything that they had eaten that might make them sick, and I gave them some of the Taste of the Wild kibbles as treats (they loved them). My vet thinks that they have a virus, and I don't really think it is the Taste of the Wild either...

But I e-mailed anyway to see if I could get some sample bags that weren't expired... I will let everyone know what they say.

They do have great customer service. I emailed them a few months ago concerning some questions I had about a few of the ingredients. They sent me an email right away saying they would have one of their vets get in touch with me and then the next day I received a very detailed email answering all of my questions. It's great that they take the time to personally respond to their customers!