Chewy Website Is Not All It's Cut Out To Be!

EmersonandEvie · Jan 2, 2019

Oh, Chewy.

We have a PetSmart and a Pet Supplies Plus here, no cute independent stores. Both stores are so "dog-heavy" that it really isn't even worth going into to try and find food for the cats. All three of mine love Redbarn lamb, and Chewy is the only place I can get it without going to Atlanta or Savannah.

Chewy occasionally has awesome sales. They just had Crave as BOGO so I got crave for under $0.55/double tray. That's cheaper than Fancy Feast and Friskies, and the food is (to me) spectacular for a "grocery store" brand. I loaded up on Crave, to say the least...lol.
Right now they have Dr. Elsey's cat food on sale for 30% off.
Their house brand Frisco has a really great litter that I actually prefer over my beloved Dr. Elsey's and is about $5 cheaper for 40lb bag.

If you ever do order anything from them: Their customer service is A++. Seriously. If you order food from there and your cat won't eat it, they will refund your money and tell you to donate the leftover food to your local shelter. We have a cat window perch and one of the ropes snapped. They sent us another entire perch, no questions asked.

Summary: I'm a Chewy customer for life!

Kieka · Jan 2, 2019

Chewy doesn't always have the best prices but for my area they aren't overpriced. Since there is a poultry allergy in our home, the cats food options are limited. PetSmart and PetCo usually don't carry very many non poultry options and those they do are the same price on chewy. I do have a little Mom and Pop pet store near me who carry more of the specialty foods and I can request they order specific flavors of brands they do carry; but they are 1-5% higher then chewy. When you add in the free shipping, it makes more sense for me to buy dry food on chewy. I sometimes buy the wet too but since I want to mix up flavors and texture is an issue, I tend to buy those in store as often as on chewy. Any non food items depend on price, I tend to buy only on sale for non food items.

I agree with above that their customer service can't be beat. I've had bag arrive broken, food the cats don't like and damaged cans all be replaced or refunded without question. I wouldn't abuse it and I don't report it everytime but when it is bad enough to report they take care of it very quickly.

RajaNMizu · Jan 2, 2019

If you've never ordered from Chewy, every first time purchase through this link donates $20.00 to my local shelter as well. Chewy.com supports Long Beach Humane Society: Kitty Cove

8kitties · Jan 2, 2019

Wow, this makes me wish I had left a review for the Evolve food we ordered from them that our cats wouldn't touch. More food for the shelter kitties!

mizzely · Jan 2, 2019

8kitties said:
Wow, this makes me wish I had left a review for the Evolve food we ordered from them that our cats wouldn't touch. More food for the shelter kitties!

You can always email them too. They will refund you if your cats don't like the food.

10009891 · Jan 2, 2019

kittyluv387 said:
Huh I have a different experience. I buy a lot of my premium canned cat food from there. They have better prices and I don't have to drive to like 5 different stores to get all the brands and flavors I feed.

What wet food high quality brand you buy on that site?

10009891 · Jan 2, 2019

What quality wet can food you

Gizmobius said:
Chewy is a lifesaver for me and my cats. I've never thought they were expensive (they do stock some foods that ARE expensive, but I just don't buy those ones, there's tons of other selection) and every single one of my orders is over the $49 for free shipping but even if it wasn't, as others have stated, $4.95 flat rate is considerably less than most other site's shipping prices. Their customer service is, in my opinion, the best I have ever seen.

They've sent refunds on two occasions when my cats didn't like a certain food, they sent me all new ear wipes when I had emailed them just to advise them to perhaps package them a little better because mine opened in transit (I specifically said that they were still good and no need to send me another ), they sent me an entire case of flea combs (that I believe were $5 each, a case includes 12 ) when I had just purchased one and told me to donate or give the rest as gifts when I asked them what to do!

I don't believe their prices are that expensive. I don't buy super high end foods but I do have my list of things I avoid or won't feed. Not to mention their black friday sales in November were crazy good, I ended up spending more than I had intended but I had such a great stock of cat food afterwards! But yeah. I love Chewy, I think they're the best online store for pet products and I recommend them to everyone.

buy

Gizmobius said:
Chewy is a lifesaver for me and my cats. I've never thought they were expensive (they do stock some foods that ARE expensive, but I just don't buy those ones, there's tons of other selection) and every single one of my orders is over the $49 for free shipping but even if it wasn't, as others have stated, $4.95 flat rate is considerably less than most other site's shipping prices. Their customer service is, in my opinion, the best I have ever seen.

They've sent refunds on two occasions when my cats didn't like a certain food, they sent me all new ear wipes when I had emailed them just to advise them to perhaps package them a little better because mine opened in transit (I specifically said that they were still good and no need to send me another ), they sent me an entire case of flea combs (that I believe were $5 each, a case includes 12 ) when I had just purchased one and told me to donate or give the rest as gifts when I asked them what to do!

I don't believe their prices are that expensive. I don't buy super high end foods but I do have my list of things I avoid or won't feed. Not to mention their black friday sales in November were crazy good, I ended up spending more than I had intended but I had such a great stock of cat food afterwards! But yeah. I love Chewy, I think they're the best online store for pet products and I recommend them to everyone.

Which can wet food you buy from that website?

kittyluv387 · Jan 2, 2019

I buy cases of the following:

Dr. Elsey's Turkey, Chicken
Ziwipeak Chicken
Hound and Gatos Rabbit
Dave's Pet Food Cat's Meow Turkey
Avoderm Naturals Salmon
Evangers Premium Quail Dinner

Some freeze dried raw as well:
Vital Essentials Turkey, Chicken
Primal Turkey, Chicken & Salmon

There's no way I would be able to find all of the above in one visit! I have 3 cats so I'm constantly going through food. I do visit a cat specialty store for Rawz Rabbit since they don't do business with big e-commerce websites.

TobiDaDog · Jan 2, 2019

I always get my food from Chewy. My local pet stores sell Weruva at $50 a case...and $20 for every 15 lbs of cat litter. I can get the Weruva at around $30 a case and the litter $20 for a 42 lb bag.
So Petsmart: 2 cases of cat food + 2 small bags of litter: $140.
Chewy: 2 cases of cat food + 1 large bag of litter: $80.

tangers40 · Jan 3, 2019

JamesCalifornia said:
~ Chewy has a house brand ? I never realized that ...

Yep! American Journey.

I originally ordered a case of the AJ wet food when they had a 50% off your first case promo. At the time, Cheese would eat literally any wet food I put down for her. Once she got a taste of the AJ, she as refused almost everything else ever since. Dunno what they put in that stuff, but it must be the equivalent of kitty crack.

I recently noticed that PetSmart is selling AJ dog food in their stores, so I am crossing my fingers that they start selling cat food as well. Not that I don't enjoy ordering from Chewy, but it would be even nicer to be able to pick some up locally too if I need it.

mizzely · Jan 3, 2019

tangers40 said:
Yep! American Journey.

I originally ordered a case of the AJ wet food when they had a 50% off your first case promo. At the time, Cheese would eat literally any wet food I put down for her. Once she got a taste of the AJ, she as refused almost everything else ever since. Dunno what they put in that stuff, but it must be the equivalent of kitty crack.

They currently have a BOGO right now on the American Journey brand and I have been debating getting it! Glad to hear your kitty liked it

mizzely · Jan 3, 2019

Chewy just sent me flowers for Jasmine :redheartpump:

Some comparisons for prices on higher quality stuff I feed. My independent store and Petsmart are 45 minutes away. Nearest Petco is 1.5 hours. I do have some local options which are basically farm supply stores and they charge quite a bit.

Tiki Cat Mousse. Chewy: $1.43 each. Independent store: $2.29 each
Weruva Slide N Serve. $1 to $1.49 on Chewy, $2.19 at Independent
Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit: $1.66 for 3 oz on Chewy, $2.09 at Petsmart

If I bought a case of each of these available locally (Tiki Cat x12, Weruva x12, NV x24) I would have paid an additional $30! That's not including my time or gas involved with a 1.5 hour round trip + shopping

I also feed the following which are not available in my area. Having them available on Chewy lets my cat have better quality foods!

Wysong Archetype Quail
Wysong Epigen 90
Evangers Quail
Dr. Elsey's

When you can hit sales, it can be seriously good deals. I just recently got 3oz cans of Nutro Soft Loaf for $0.54 each on Chewy. Locally the same can is $1.29. That's a savings of about $18 per case of 24. I know that's not "super high quality" but it is something my cat enjoys.

There are some things that are slightly cheaper at the independent store. Hound and Gatos Rabbit Duck, for example, is about 20 cents cheaper per can vs Chewy.

JamesCalifornia · Jan 3, 2019

tangers40 said:
Dunno what they put in that stuff, but it must be the equivalent of kitty crack

~

´ WOW !

sabrinah · Jan 4, 2019

Where I live now some of the local feed stores are slightly cheaper than Chewy. They're well aware of how popular Chewy is, so they seem to make the most popular dog food brands just slightly cheaper. Usually, the food + tax at the feed store is the same as the food before taxes on Chewy. Their prices on cat stuff are the same as Chewy, so it doesn't really matter where I shop for cat stuff. Where I lived previously, Chewy was always way cheaper than in store.

More than anything I just love their customer service. If something shows up broken or wrong they always give a refund immediately. I also like that instead of having you ship stuff back they tell you to donate it. My mom bought my dog a pair of pajamas for Christmas and the chest area was too tight. They sold out of the next size up so they just told us to donate the small pajamas and gave a refund.

war&wisdom · Jan 4, 2019

The customer service is AMAZING. They're not only prompt, but as others have said, they always issue full refunds if you're even somewhat unsatisfied and always recommend donating unused items to a shelter (they never ask for it back).

The prices are generally better than what I can get at Petsmart (the only reasonably-priced store in my area), although I use one Petsmart-brand wet food that isn't available through Chewy.

I also order in bulk once a month, so I never pay for shipping, and because I subscribe to an autoship, I also get a slight discount on top of the cheaper prices. Plus, the convenience of these shipments can't be overstated.

ailish · Jan 4, 2019

They are extremely prompt!

I am lucky enough to have a boutique dog/cat store up the road from me that specializes in food, otherwise I'd be using Chewy all the time. However, they don't have everything, so I use Chewy. From Chewy I've gotten Weruva TruLux in a variety case (my store stopped carrying TruLux and Ailish likes it) and Ziwipeak which I WISH I could get in a mixed case. That was somewhat cheaper at Chewy than Amazon. I've never seen Ziwi in a store. Chewy was a godsend when I fed Ailish nothing but Ziwi venison for 3 months. ka-ching! They aren't always cheaper, but I've never found them to be more expensive. I also use them as a source of nutrition information.

If you don't like Chewy, maybe it's an expectations thing. I didn't ever think that they were a discounter, but maybe that idea is out there.

tangers40 · Jan 6, 2019

mizzely said:
They currently have a BOGO right now on the American Journey brand and I have been debating getting it! Glad to hear your kitty liked it

Awww, nuts! You got me all excited there, but it appears that the BOGO is the same as the "first time buying the brand" deal that I got. I flew over to their site, fully intending to stock up, but alas, it is full price for me.

mizzely · Jan 6, 2019

tangers40 said:
Awww, nuts! You got me all excited there, but it appears that the BOGO is the same as the "first time buying the brand" deal that I got. I flew over to their site, fully intending to stock up, but alas, it is full price for me.

Oh yes sorry I haven't made the plunge yet!

Kat0121 · Jan 6, 2019

war&wisdom said:
The customer service is AMAZING. They're not only prompt, but as others have said, they always issue full refunds if you're even somewhat unsatisfied and always recommend donating unused items to a shelter (they never ask for it back).

The prices are generally better than what I can get at Petsmart (the only reasonably-priced store in my area), although I use one Petsmart-brand wet food that isn't available through Chewy.

I also order in bulk once a month, so I never pay for shipping, and because I subscribe to an autoship, I also get a slight discount on top of the cheaper prices. Plus, the convenience of these shipments can't be overstated.

Chewy's customer service is second to none. I had an autoship of 3 cases of premium food. I didn't need it so I rescheduled the shipment for the next month WELL in advance. A couple of weeks later I got an email letting me know that my shipment was on its way. This was the shipment I had skipped. I contacted Chewy through live chat immediately. The rep could not understand how the order went out and assured me that it would be cancelled and brought back to the warehouse and my CC would NOT be charged. Literally the next day, there was a Chewy box on my doorstep with 3 cases of food inside which I had been charged for. I contacted Chewy again through live chat and they refunded me the entire amount of the purchase price. They were so apologetic and insisted that we keep or donate the food. Chewy is the gold standard of customer service. I am a customer for life just for the customer service.

molly92 · Jan 6, 2019

FYI, Chewy is owned by Petsmart. They were bought a year or 2 ago I think. It's why Orijen used to be available through them and isn't anymore-Orijen will not work with Petsmart/Petco at the present.

I do think I've noticed changes in attention to detail and the kinds of brands offered, but I feared the takeover would be worse than it has been so far. I am annoyed that the answers Chewy gives on product pages are wildly inconsistent and often inaccurate and contradict themselves in different questions on the same item, so I don't trust those. I think it makes them look sloppy and careless. I haven't had problems with anything since before the buyout, but when I did customer service was incredible (I got a carrier that was too small, they refunded me and told me to just donate the carrier.) I would not be surprised if that level of quality tapers slowly overtime as Chewy gets more dominant. I still use Chewy occasional, but I try to support local pet stores too. (I have some really great ones in my area and would hate to lose them!)

Chewy Website Is Not All It's Cut Out To Be!

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