Chowhound Pet Supply Warehouse is a locally owned and growing small business. For many years I’ve made a point of doing some of my pet supply shopping there simply because they have always delivered excellent customer service.
I’ll never forget the day I happened to be talking to the manager about finicky kitties when she offered, “Anytime your cat won’t eat food you’ve purchased here, you just bring it back …even if it’s opened.”
That was the moment in time that Chowhound solidified our relationship. Since then, I’ve made it a point to do business with them whenever their prices are relatively close to the competitors.
A few times I’ve even taken them up on their return policy. Every experience was delightful. Even once or twice when I didn’t have my receipt.
Sunday (5 days ago) I stopped in to pick up a treat of fresh cat grass for my kitty. Quite honestly, it didn’t look fresh, but I thought, “What the heck, it should last him a couple of weeks, and if it doesn’t, I’ll just bring it back”. They charge $4.99 for a cup of dirt with 3 cents worth of seed growing in it.
Sure enough, as the end of the week approached, it was beginning to die. So today as I was heading out on my errands I stuck it in a bag and grabbed the receipt to return it.
Today’s return experience was a totally different, and I’m not quite sure why.
The young cashier picked it up, looked it over and said, “Didn’t it work for you or what?”
I must admit…she caught me off guard. I said, “Look at it, I bought it 5 days ago and it’s dieing.” In a teenage like tone of “I’m going to have the last word” she then decided to start quizzing me about how I’d taken care of it.
Mind you, the remainder of the cat grass stock is about a foot away from me and it all looks like they’re squeezing the last bit of life out of it.
By the time we reached the third quiz question, I’m sorry to say, my fuse had been lit. I’m not proud to admit that I looked her in the eye and said, “Don’t mess with me! Just take it back!”
I’m not sure what happened there today. It’s possible the cashier was new. It’s possible that Chowhound has changed their return policies. The only thing I know for sure is that it wasn’t my usual great experience. And even though the past great experiences outweigh the one “not so great” experience, you can be sure that I’ll think twice about where I’ll go next time.
Recent Comments