Not happy with my latest Oxbow pellets delivery!

[mouse_chalk]

I've just spent near enough 2 hours sat on my bum on the kitchen floor, sifting 50lbs/22kg of pellets. By hand, with a colander. :grumpy:

I think that out of those 50lbs, at least 4lbs is pure dust. DUST!!! I have not stopped sneezing since I started doing it....

Has anyone else experienced this? I mean, I expect a certain level of dust in them due to transport etc but this much? I normally only sift out the end of the bag, but I had to do the whole thing, cup by cup this time...

I'm gonna email them! They will rue the day they sent me a pile of dust

:grumpy::grumpy::grumpy:

 

[Maureen Las]

It happened with my hay awhile backand I called them and they sent me a free 25 lb box. Where do you order it from???

 

[mouse_chalk]

We buy it from this company, in the UK:

http://www.sphsupplies.co.uk/produc...d=437&osCsid=be7e1822981d445c61f985d024cc5b02


They're usually really good- we've been using them all year, since they are one of the only bulk Oxbow suppliers and the cheapest we've found....

I guess at least they're dust free now but it was a giant pain doing all of that! I could have made a years supply of critical care for everybun on the board! Well.... maybe not...

We're definitely emailing them..... Hope for free stuff for us!

 

[ra7751]

Interesting....I stopped using almost everything from Oxbow several years ago. At one time, we used nothing but Oxbow products....we even used Oxbow hay in litter boxes. I noticed a huge drop in their quality and did have some problems related to their products which they prompty denied. There are so many options that are much better quality at a lower price. The only Oxbow products I will even consider is Papaya tabs and Critical Care.....and I have found similar papaya tabs locally and I can make something similar to Critical Care. Truthfully, I don't even consider Oxbow products for use in our rescue any longer. If something is donated, I will use it but I will not purchase Oxbow products.

I also think that Oxbow has made a huge strategic error with their recent change to selling thru distributorships only. I don't know howthey do it outside the US but with the recent changes here, theyhave lost any chance of getting any of my business. This is nothing about animals.....it's all about money. Oxbow products have long been touted by vets as the ultimate quality....which it isn't. Reality....it is a huge profit center for vets. Just another reason to check out all the other options that offer high quality products.

I would register a complaint both with the distributor and with Oxbow. They need to know. It appears they have fallen victim to the "new" ways of doing business. Like so many businesses, they seem to work by numbers rather than give good old fashioned good customer service. Seems that is the going thing recently....oddly enough, look at how many of those businesses are failing. Maybe with enough complaints they will get back to being a customer and animaloriented company that provides high quality customer service and products.

Randy

 

[Maureen Las]

I Used to order everything from Oxbow. I would call the 1-800 number and a person would take my order.
Now when I call they still take my order but I can tell they are "nicely" pushing me to order from a distributor like Foster and Smith.
The problem with my ordering is that I need Critical care all the time for Beau who cannot eat anything that isn't soft so I am still ordering CC until I get a prescription for it which is necessary for me to get it from a distributor.

When I have called the Nebraska 1800 number and complained the people have always been responsive in replacing the defective product (like 25 lbs of hay with 10 lbs of dust in it lol) I was really really pist off.

If I were you Jen I would really strongly complain and demand another 50 lb shipment of pellets at no charge.

I agree with Randy that the quality of the hay (they make the pellets from the hay) and the pellets has gone down. It was explained to me by a representative as being due to the weather during the growing season that caused them to have to get hay from outside sources.

I can understand that...but at the same time it is really annoying to continually get dust in products.
I just got Kleenmama" timothy

and compared to the oxbow timothy it is 100% nicer. I know that you probably have fewer choices

I am now ordering from different places and have to get that figured out as the shipping charges cost more than the hay.

Oxbow did tell me awhile back that their larger orders (at least of hay) are not processed as carefully as their smaller bag items.

You are a really nice person, Jen, but I would get it together and give them ***:grumpy:

Maureen

 

[degrassi]

A few months ago I ordered some hay from oxbow for the first time. 3 out of 5 bags were so dusty and all small pieces(2-3" pieces). I emailed them to let them know I was disapointed and they sent me 3 new bags of hay for free.

If you are really disappointed in the quality i would let them know. I'm sure they will replace it.

 

[SecurityStacey]

That's really too bad - you're so dedicated to sit there and sift it all.

And despite a bad situation, I gotta say I cracked up at this line:

mouse_chalk wrote:

I'm gonna email them! They will rue the day they sent me a pile of dust

:grumpy::grumpy::grumpy:

 

[mouse_chalk]

Thanks for the replies you guys...

Randy, please don't take this the wrong way, as I mean it as a compliment, but your replies so remind me of my dad! Always so 'wise' and clearly explained, helpful, informative and to the point but not brief, and always trustworthy advice!

Maureen- you're so right- I am too nice normally lol, I need to toughen up and deal with Oxbow! Actually Steve puts in the orders so he's the one to email lol, and he doesn't take any crap so I'm sure he'll get somewhere at least....

I do really like Oxbow stuff, and to be honest I haven't had much to complain about up until now. I expect to sift out the very bottom of the pellets once we get to the bottom of the 'bin' we keep them in, but they'll have been there for 3 months, being scooped about, the bin gets moved for cleaning, and they are air-freighted so I can expect SOME amount of dust. But not almost 10% of an order! I know that with the hay, we ordered small bags originally and they were quite dusty, but we order the 1.1KG bags (2.4lbs), and they come in great quality. Even if there's a slight bit of dust it's still better quality hay than I've seen here so far...

Don't get me wrong, I could choose from a few pellet ranges over here, but the reason I love Oxbow BBT is because of the fibre content. When we first got Barney and Snowy, they were very prone to mushy poops, on a 16% fibre pellet. It turned out to be dietary, and cleared up pretty much completely, and they've all been fine on the Obow pellets ever since. Barney and Snowy now only ever leave their cecals if you scare them at 'snack time', but apart from that never any sign of them So I don't want to stop using Oxbow if I can, because they have been great up until now and the pellets available over here don't match the nutritional content as I'd like.... None of the other pellets you have in the US ship over here I don't think..... I will have to think about it though if I get many more orders like this......

We will email and let them know.... To get another bag would be great! Because it's £45 / $67 for a 3 month supply, so it would save us a lot lol....

Stacey, yes I guess you could call it 'dedication' lol! I lined a laundry basket with a black bin bag, had the colander held over it, and used the cup to scoop out 2 cups at a time into the colander. Then I sifted around with my hands until no more dust fell, tipped it into our storage bin and started again. Steve bought Chalk in at one point and said 'this is the lengths that mummy goes to, to make sure your food tastes good' Lol.... I worry about myself sometimes...:?

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I just went after pellets today and Petsmart still hasn't gotten them in. Just as well since I got them at Pet Supply Plus (further away) for half the cost I think!

Hay has been a bit iffy with them lately. I think it's a seasonal thing.

 

[ec]

I switched to Sweet Meadow timothy pellets about a year ago. My bun likes them *much* better than Oxbow, and Sweet Meadow's customer service is great. (Very personal.)

I'm honestly not sure why I stuck with them for so long, as I quit ordering their timothy hay 2 years ago.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I've seen that in the pet supply plus we go to. It's a bit cheaper too isn't it?

 

[maherwoman]

I've noticed with our latest order, too. We buy them at-cost from a local tack & feed place, and I noticed with the last couple bags we brought home that they had more dust than usual. The good thing is that our goofballs lick the dust from the bowl, and almost every one of them have what look like spotless bowls by the time they're done, lol! (Well, all but Maisie, who will leave every speck of dust, no matter how hungry she is. I think she's just too much of a lady to lick the bowl clean. LOL!)

 

[ec]

Sweet Meadows' website: http://www.sweetmeadowfarm.com/products.html

(Includes info. on retail stores that carry their products.)

I direct-order from them. Their customer service is wonderful, and the only time there was a problem, they were ultra-quick on responding and fixing things.

I'd like to visit their farm someday.